|
Other reviews:
A Little History of the English Country Church
by Sir Roy Strong
Reviewed by Juliet Wilson MBE More
How Many Lightbulbs Does It Take To Change A Christian? by Claire Foster and David Shreeve
Christian Congregations and Mental Illness by Edna Hunneysett
Appreciative Inquiry, a framework for facilitating groups
Foundations 21, a web based discipleship course from BRF
Spirituality Workbook: A Guide for Explorers, Pilgrims and Seekers by David Runcorn
Yob Nation by Francis Gilbert
Dancing Girls, Loose Ladies and Women of the Cloth by F Scott Spencer
Stately Passions by Jamie Douglas-Home
How Many Lightbulbs Does It Take To Change A Christian? Top
by Claire Foster and David Shreeve. Church House Publishing £4.99
This review is from Revd Stephen Trott
At first sight, changing light bulbs does not seem too difficult - whoever would buy a guide to the subject? And even if it means changing all our light bulbs, it is neither difficult to do nor expensive. In fact there are considerable cost savings to be made, if we need any incentive to make the effort, quite apart from the serious benefits for the environment.
We are learning more and more about the impact our own lives have on the planet, so that the implications of switching on an electric light, which we have always assumed to be pretty harmless, are now understood much more clearly. We still need electric light, but how much better if we can significantly reduce the amount of electricity it consumes. This little book provides some encouraging statistics. Replacing one light bulb with an energy-efficient bulb saves 75kg (165lbs) of carbon dioxide a year. Turning down the central heating thermostat by one degree can save 10% of the energy requirement for our houses. Double glazing can cut energy consumption by 50%. At current energy prices, these measures are well worth considering!
It's not just our use of energy for heating and lighting, however, which makes a difference. Transport consumes massive quantities of fossil fuels, but there are ways significantly to reduce our own demands on the environment. Buying locally-produced food cuts out long journeys by road or even air from farm to supermarket. Travel by train rather than in the car minimises the damage caused by burning motor fuels. This book explains very effectively some of the simple and practical ways of changing our lifestyle for our own good and for the sake of our planet.
Above all it is a Christian thing to do, since we know that the world belongs to God and that we must answer to him for the ways in which we use or abuse it. Caring for his Creation ought to be as natural a part of our religious lives as worship or bible reading, not only for our own benefit, but as a prophetic witness to society at large. The authors point out that the world is consuming about 20% more each year than the planet can sustain. We can play an important part, in our own lives and in our churches, in helping everyone to see how precious our world is, and how important it is to conserve it as the home of all God's children. This pocket guide is an excellent place to start.
Christian Congregations and Mental Illness Top
A survey of contemporary attitudes in their historical context by Edna Hunneysett
This review is from Margaret Mallace
Edna Hunneysett began her thorough research several years ago for this book from the position of one who has experienced within her own family the problems confronting someone suffering from a mental illness.
She shows how places of worship can be where vulnerable people with a mental illness find a secure friendly environment, in which they can feel accepted and be able to participate in religious activities and socially. The benefits of this experience may help considerably towards their psychiatric rehabilitation.
However, she provides all the statistical information to support her conclusions that in reality these vulnerable people often find themselves isolated or ignored in places of worship, because leaders and congregations are lacking in awareness and have not sufficient knowledge of mental illness and its related issues. They are therefore, unable to provide the supportive help needed by people with mental illness.
Unsurprisingly, Education tops her list of recommendations. Leaders, ministers and congregations need to be better informed if they are able to begin the process of providing spiritual and practical support to people with mental illness, their families and their carers.
We are already making our churches more welcoming and accessible to people with physical difficulties. Edna challenges us to take the next step that will help people with mental health difficulties feel equally welcome and included.
Although there are many statistics to digest, her summaries and conclusions are clear and precise. I, therefore, recommend this book to all involved in ministry and pastoral care. I also recommend that a diocesan course in mental health for all ministers would provide a good grounding in these issues.
Appreciative Inquiry Top
This review is from Joanna Cox
Several people at the Local Ministry Consultation spoke enthusiastically about 'Appreciative Inquiry' as a framework they had found invaluable when facilitating groups / framing questions / working on parish development etc. From what I've read, the ideas underlying this approach are:
You create more effective organizations by focusing on what you want more of, not what you want less of.
Whatever you want more of already exists, even if only in small quantities.
It's easier to create change by amplifying the positive qualities of a group or organization than by trying to fix the negative qualities.
Through the act of inquiry we create the social realities we are trying to understand.
Getting people to inquire together into the best examples of what they want more of creates its own momentum toward creating more positive organizations.
Susan Wiffin (Diocese of Aberdeen and Orkney) writes:
"I first came across the concept of Appreciate Inquiry a few years ago in Dennis Campbell's book Congregations as Learning Communities, and was immediately impressed by this positive approach to development, rather than the problem identification that so often takes over. "Appreciate Inquiry" is
an approach to development that helps to discover the best of ‘what already is’ in order to imagine ‘what can be’ and then design ‘what will be, starting from the lived experience and building the future on critical analysis of that. AI is used as a major tool in organisational development by businesses across the world and is consistent with affirmations of scripture.
Hebrews 10..24 “And let us consider how we may spur on another to love and good deeds.”
Philippians 4.8 “And now, my friends, all that is true, all that is noble, all that is loveable and attractive, whatever is excellent and admirable – fill your thoughts with these things.”
In its participative methods it is also consistent with “taking the least of my children “ seriously and with biblical principles of co-working and mutual encouragement. Within the Scottish Episcopal Church and beyond a number of congregations and groups are now reflecting on their life and vocation, and planning for the future, through the use of Appreciative Inquiry. An excellent resource to start you on this path is Memories, Hopes, and Conversations by Mark Lau Branson."
Paul Barlow writes :
"I used Mark Lau Branson's book as a guide and mentor in the process of Appreciative Inquiry with my parish. It's always tempting to focus in the negative, so it was good to give everyone an opportunity to remind ourselves of the positive in our church life. I had two "inquiry" sessions, asking questions based on the questions in the book (there is the possibility of downloading the appendices from the book if you have bought it), one for the PCC, the other open as a general invitation. We inquired over cheese and wine, to underline the enjoyable nature of the process. Everyone's replies were gathered together - a printed to show they had been heard. Then came the task of drawing the threads together. The process reminded us of what we're like at our best. We drew up a set of "provocative proposals" beginning: All Saints' Church is God's Church here; God moves, motivates and touches us when: There follow 9 sentences touching on what works well for us. We have our "provocative proposals" on our notice board, and printed on postcards to go in daily Bible reading notes. We know we are a church "like this" and this gives us confidence to ask of God, "What is your call to a church like this, in a place like this, at a time like this?"
I found a very helpful 70 page summary of Appreciative Inquiry theory and Practice in Sue Annis Hammond's book 'The Thin Book of Appreciative Inquiry'.
Further information and sources:
Dennis Campbell, Congregations as Learning Communities, Alban Institute,
ISBN 1-56699-237-0. A useful comment on this is at:
www.churchofscotland.org.uk/councils/reviewreform/downloads/rrlearningcongregations.doc
Mark Lau Branson, Memories, Hopes, and Conversations: Appreciative Inquiry
and Congregational Change, The Alban Institute, ISBN 1-56699-288-5.
www.alban.org/BookDetails.asp?ID=1817
Sue Annis Hammond, The Thin Book of Appreciative Inquiry, ISBN 0966537319.
www.alban.org/
www.nspeidiocese.ca/resources/alban/documents/Renewal%20through%20Appreciative%20Enquiry.doc
Foundations 21 - a new web based discipleship course from BRF Top
www.foundations21.org.uk
This review is from Chris Peck, Diocesan Co-ordinator of Adult Education
If you have bought a computer in the last couple of years, are on Broadband and like the idea of being in control of your own learning then this course is definitely worth seriously considering.
It is attractively presented and offers a variety of pathways. You can choose your learning style (Matthew – working through systematically from beginning to end in logical order; Mark – newspaper style, starting anywhere and moving in any direction; Luke – journey style, going back or forward over steps; John – digging deep, getting at what lies underneath) and the level you work at. You can choose whether to do it on your own, or link up with others and work through it as a group. You can do assignments or not as you choose. You can log in at times which suit you, rather than only when your house group meets.
There are three levels, so you can choose the level that suits you. The assignments are related to the levels and the pathways so you have a variety to choose from. So, for example, the Luke pathway assignments are relational, getting you talking to people, rather than involving reading.
It makes good use of web facilities, so for example you can keep a journal in a folder which is only accessible to you, and trace your own journey back through the period of learning. There are reference sections so you can easily look up maps, or find more information about things mentioned. You get updated lists of books and other resources for discipleship.
I was impressed by an initial look at it. It appears relatively easy to navigate your way around, if you are comfortable with exploring websites. I suspect this is trail blazing the way much of our Christian learning will be done in the future. There are bound to be some teething problems, but it seems to have been very thoroughly put together.
It may appeal more to the person who is on the fringe and either wants to explore on their own, or would like to be linked up with others but without making a heavy commitment at this stage.
Foundations21 Is currently being offered with a "try before you buy" 45-day deal for £7.99. A broadband internet connection is desirable, but not essential, to run it. If you'd like to know more or get free a introductory DVD - visit www.foundations21.org.uk or call 01865 319700 for the Foundations21 Newsletter.
Spirituality Workbook: A Guide for Explorers, Pilgrims and Seekers by David Runcorn London: SPCK 2006 Top
This review is from Revd Dr Andrew Rayment, October 2006
There is an endless run of books on spirituality and prayer these days, many,
perhaps most, of no lasting value. So when a striking exception appears it
should be 'gossiped' enthusiastically. One such text is David Runcorn's latest
offering.
The author writes clearly and well, without sacrificing depth, and from a very wide range of carefully reflected experience. He has been a parish priest and theological educator but it is his humanity, focus and wide sympathies which should make this book accessible and useful to the whole gamut of Christian readers. It is quietly very Anglican - rooted in scripture, history and the flesh-and-blood company of fellow-disciples. From this tested place of sanity and balance (not cheaply acquired by the author, I suspect) he ranges across major emphases of charismatic, evangelical, orthodox and creation traditions, earthing his comments in an acute awareness of the times in which we are actually living now.
Another and unusual recommendation is that each section concludes with very helpful suggestions for reflection and activity to further the reader's own access to what has just been considered. When this book landed on my desk it had a note from Chris Peck accompanying it. This is an excellent resource: comprehensive, open, accessible, practical! Indeed it is! If you only get hold of one book on spirituality this autumn, do make it this one!
Yob Nation by Francis Gilbert. Portrait Books. Top
This review is from Revd Canon George Burgon, September 2006
This book takes us on a frightening journey to the dark heart of Britain's yob culture. Starting with his own encounters with yobs in his childhood and while working as a teacher, Gilbert moves beyond his own experiences to investigate the thuggery and foul behaviour that blights our streets, our work place - and even the height of the British Establishment! Yobbery is not just confined to the young and the poor. Some of the people in the most important positions in society - in the media, in politics, in the City - are essentially yobs. This book will disturb the reader.
Dancing Girls, Loose Ladies and Women of the Cloth Top
(The women in Jesus' life) by F Scott Spencer. Continuum Books
This review is from Revd Canon George Burgon, September 2006
Scott Spencer is a young professor of New Testament studies at the Baptist Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia. He believes that a feminist approach to bible studies is a liberating experience. As a mere male he dares to see in the women in Jesus life from a woman's point of view. There are seven studies in this book which will send the reader back to the biblical text with renewed interest. I especially enjoyed his critique of St. Matthew Chapter 1 and as he unfolds the riotous yet righteous nature of Jesus' foremothers, we are given a clear message on our need for redemption as human beings. Herodias and Salome, Mary Magdalene, Rhoda and so on are fascinating people to discover anew. Scott Spencer is a much needed antidote to the Da Vinci Code !
Stately Passions by Jamie Douglas-Home. Michael O'Mara Books Ltd
This review is from Revd Canon George Burgon, September 2006 Top
This is a fascinating journey round 13 of the stately homes of the land and
the secrets they hold. Scandals abound and there are many indiscretions of aristocratic proportions revealed in this well written romp. Five hundred years of potted history come alive from the pen of this nephew of the late Sir Alec. No one escapes Jamie's insights and one is left with the over riding feeling by the time one gets to the last page of Stately Passions that today's scandals from -our elected politicians are but a pale reflection of fallen humanity!
Reviews should be sent to liz.holdsworth@peterborough-diocese.org.uk
Top
|
