……… I was leading worship at a Partnership service in the church in Wooler. It had become clear that the theme of identity was crucial in this area. An identity shaped by history and tradition, by isolation from the bigger centres of population and by the distinctiveness of small areas within the larger one. Such an identity can make us insular or it can give us the security which we all need to identify with wider issues and different situations.

The lectionary readings for the day included one from 2Kings chapter 2 which tells the story of the end of Elijah’s life, leaving Elisha to take up the mantle. It is a story of two prophets, journeying on a circuitous route from Gilgal to Jordan via Bethel and Jericho. There are interfering prophets and miracles, chariots of fire and horses and there is a journey into the unknown made possible by parting the waters by striking them with a rolled up mantle. There are promises about the future and mystery and hiddeness in the present. It is not an obvious story to try to link with the identity of people in small churches in North Northumberland or anywhere else in 21^st century Britain.

But it is a story about endings – Elijah has reached the end of his life and his service. Recognising when it is right to end something is as important as deciding on a beginning whether that is about individuals or about church families. Maybe it is time for some piece of activity or some form of service ‘to be taken up into heaven by a whirlwind’ even if only metaphorically. 

It is about journeying, Surely many of us can identify with that tendency to make circuitous journeys as we have listened for God’s call,  maybe following someone or some group which is powerful or persuasive, longstanding or sparkly new and innovative or maybe it is merely about loyalty just as it was with Elisha.

It is about the crunch time. Elijah and Elisha made a journey across the Jordan – an unknown crossing leading to crunch time, handover time and uncertainty about whether Elisha would inherit Elijah;s spirit. There followed despair and an acceptance of the need to carry on in the confidence that God is leading. Even when, like Elisha, despair overwhelms us, we discover we have skills beyond anything we have known before and so can move on to serve God.

There is so much in this story with which we can identify wherever we come from and whatever our experience. For Elijah, Elisha as well as each of us are a part of God’s plan and share the experiences which responding to his call. If we are wise we share too, the lessons learned from generation to generation as we try to do his will.

Preparing for worship

Some of the unusual windows in this church

Thursday morning (9th May)found us a little further north from Crookham, in the town of Berwick and at the Coffee Morning of the United Reformed Church. I met elders and members as well as people from other churches who support this piece of community activity and I learnt how important it is to identify exactly where people come from – Berwick itself or Spittal, a specific part of Berwick or Tweedale. I was shown round the building which had been reordered some time ago but carefully planned and well cared for the building was now much more ‘user friendly’ as well as being warm and welcoming. My husband (who often gets to see parts of

The clock mechanism

the building that I don’t) was shown the clock with its particular history and mechanism confirming for me the uniqueness of so many of the details of the buildings we inhabit and the stories which are a part of that particular history.

One of the bonuses of this visit was staying on Holy Island and though not part of the North Northumberland Mission Partnership it was good to join Rachel Poolman – the Warden – for morning prayers at the St Cuthbert’s Centre.

St Cuthbert’s Centre

This unique piece of mission work means that it is never known who will come for prayers nor indeed who will leave matters for prayer on the prayer tree which is in the open-all-day Centre. On that Friday morning we were joined by a Roman Catholic nun resident on the island and one of Rachel’s colleagues and a couple from the Netherlands. Later that morning I met with a retired minister, his wife and a lay preacher who are members of the small Leadership Team in the partnership. We discussed something of the difficulties to be found in a rural area with (numerically) small church membership and few ministers but with communities to serve.  We agreed that all mainstream denominations need to find new ways to do things and new ways of co-operation. In some senses the discussion could have taken place in any part of the country but somehow there seemed to be extra dimensions to the issues in this area with its history, its largely Presbyterian roots which bring a particular perspective and its sense of isolation from the centre of power in terms of government of the country – also a long standing matter for those who live here.

Saturday involved another short journey – south this time to Belford where we met the Church Secretary and saw the church building. We heard the story of this small congregation bravely deciding to hold a meeting for the community to tell them that they were no longer able to maintain the building and stay open and how the community rallied round to support what was an important part of their town and we was told about the extensive use which the community make of the building. This Church Secretary was enthusiastically into a project with a group of local people researching the history of the church and was pleased to share some of her new found knowledge. She showed us the ‘bride’s door’ – with a main entrance which takes one into the front of the church there was no means for brides to enter the church and process down the aisle, hence a small door round the side to enable that to happen. This was another place with a historic clock 200 years old and built by Thomas Tait. I wondered whether the buildings and their particular details are more important in small communities where the history is important to people with deep roots in the area

The North Northumberland Mission Partnership (NNMP) was the almost final place on my Moderator itinerary. NNMP consists of six churches – one a church worshipping in two places – spread over a beautiful and quiet corner of these islands of ours. This was a five day visit and I will add to the blog over the next three days. The theme which ran through all my visits was one of identity – this is an area where identity is important, no doubt partly the result of a history of being a border land where skirmishes and full scale battles between the Scots and the English are a part of the history, where indeed, the border moved from time to time.

Flodden Monument

It was against this background that my first visit was set. I went to the village and United Reformed Church in Crookham where I was to help to open a Peace Garden. Crookham is only a few miles from Flodden the scene of a historic and violent battle between the English and the Scots in 1513. The loss of life was appalling, in just a few hours more than 10,000 were killed. 2013 is the 500^th anniversary of the battle but the PeaceGarden is not about celebrating the battle – it is about promoting peace. The intention is that the church, which the garden surrounds, should become a Peace and Reconciliation Centre with a speaker programme, working in conjunction with BradfordUniversity’s Department of Peace Studies. The church was well filled for the opening ceremony with explanations from the garden designer, the vision from Dave Herbert, the minister of the church and a talk from a local poet, Noel Hodgson. It was good to hear too about the co-operation across the borders of the two countries and across the United Reformed Church with the joint involvement at Crookham of Mary Taylor a United Reformed Church minister based in the Synod of Scotland. Everyone went outside to see the garden and a first for me, of cutting

Cutting the ribbon!

the ribbon to open the garden!

The Clash, Conflict Erupts

The design of the garden takes you on a journey, colours designate the different areas. Black to indicate gathering storms where anger, fear and repression reign. Red for confrontation, grey for loss, white and gold for conciliation and finally The Garden of Renewal where despite the mess we make of it all, nature redeems us. Though we are also reminded

The Garden of Renewal

that we have responsibilities, nature cannot do it alone.

Tea followed with the lively sharing of news amongst locals and visitors from other churches in the partnership.

In the evening there was another first for me. The opportunity to sit in on a TLS group based in Belford and to join in discussions about the Servant Songs and what Isaiah might be saying to us about church today. I knew of the time and commitment required of TLS students and I have seen how people grow in faith and confidence as a result of their involvement but it was so good to get this first hand glimpse of the work in progress and I was grateful for their generosity in allowing me to join them.

Last Sunday I travelled to York so was on home territory (at least I was within my home Synod). York is a geographically flat city but St Columba’s with New Lendal is a church with steps – steep ones – up to the front door and down to the halls. On Sunday morning there were queues for the lifts to get down to the coffee at the end of the service. As a church situated in the centre of a city it has looked for ways to serve that city in that location and as a result, five years ago they formed and registered their own charity, the St.Columba’s Community Foundation. Five separate and independent charities, all with a Christian basis, were invited to use the Church as a base for their activities. These charities have their own Trustees and their own aims and objectives. The Church’s facilities are provided free of charge and the Foundation continues to seek ways to develop this work encouraging and enabling others in their Christian witness.

The readings on Sunday included a passage from Acts telling the stories of Aeneas and of Tabitha and a passage from John’s gospel which recorded Jesus talking about ‘works’. Miracles and ‘works’. It seemed appropriate to remind ourselves that miracles were not just the preserve of 1^st century Christians but that we are surrounded by them in our day-to-day lives if we care to look. The service included the baptism – by her minister grandfather – of twelve month old Annabel Grace who gave us an immediate example of a miracle. Babies and young children emphasise the miracle that is every human life. As adults we don’t give the matter much thought (until of course something goes wrong and we realise what complex beings we are and how fragile life can be).

I was interested in the accounts of the miracles in Acts. Luke tells the stories but makes no comment – there is no proclamation of the gospel in the accepted sense of the word but the actions of Peter we are told lead to ‘many believing in the Lord’. Other than that we are left to make our own conclusions.

Two weeks previously on Easter Sunday I was overjoyed to hear the United Reformed Church  (amongst others) being quoted as a result of the Joint Public Issues Team’s publication – The Lies We Tell Ourselves: ending uncomfortable myths about poverty. I have since discovered that there are those who were less pleased, thinking that we should have shared the message of the gospel of resurrection on that particular day. Leaving aside the fact that the churches rarely if ever have the luxury of determining the content of the headlines these views led me to reflected on the link between ‘works’, resurrection and transformation.  Maybe we all need to think more carefully about where we find God at work transforming lives, where he is calling us to join him and exactly what he is calling us to do.