What is in Kelvin's Head?

  • Guest Post: Beth Routledge on the Grosvenor Essay on Marriage and Human Intimacy

    During this blessed time of sabbatical, I’m going to let other people do some of the talking on this blog. I’ve not done any guest posts before but it seems right now. The first of these is this piece from Beth Routledge who is a doctor working in the NHS and an altar server at St Mary’s. Beth blogs brilliant things at The Road Less Travelled

    This week, the Grosvenor Essay on Marriage and Human Intimacy was published online [having been presented at General Synod in June]. This is a euphemistic title for a report into how the Doctrine Committee of the Scottish Episcopal Church feels about same-sex relationships. If you follow me on Twitter, you will be unsurprised to know that I was one of the alleged Twitterati who read it on Tuesday and ended up live commentating on all of the many ways in which it managed to offend me.

    In my opinion, it is poorly written, badly referenced, and riddled with factual errors, and on that basis, irrespective of what it actually said, I find it difficult to understand how the SEC allowed it to be freely released to the public. (more…)

7 responses to “The Antisemitism Notice”

  1. Gordon Avatar
    Gordon

    Helpful, thank you

    What is the concern with the reproaches? I’m not familiar with them

    Reply
    1. Kelvin Avatar
      Kelvin

      They can be interpreted as being directed at us the listeners. But they can also be interpreted as speaking to Jewish people as all the imagery is from the Hebrew Scriptures and doesn’t reference the experience of those who actually were around Jesus during his life on earth.

      For example:
      “I led you out of Egypt, having drowned Pharaoh in the Red Sea:
      and you have delivered me to the chief priests.”

      Who is being addressed here?

      Reply
      1. Nick Drew Avatar
        Nick Drew

        That’s interesting, because whenever I have sung the Reproaches I have always felt them as being expressions of personal repentance rather than accusations thrown at the listener.

        Reply
  2. Rosemary Hannah Avatar
    Rosemary Hannah

    I must admit I had always read the Reproaches as directed to the listener. That the Egypt from which we are delivered is the Egypt of the modern world, the slavery of ghastly jobs (I’ve had a few, in fact a lot) and the oppression of terrible political systems. But I come from a totally different thought world to that of most people today, and I absolutely see they wouldn’t commonly be read that way.
    But I think it would benefit everyone to find a way of expressing BOTH what faith can offer in terms of freedom AND the mess we do make of the world, and sitting with that tension.
    And I think the church as a whole urgently needs to find a compelling and deep reaching way of doing both.

    Reply
    1. Kelvin Avatar
      Kelvin

      You might be interested that we’re looking at Isaiah 59 as a helpful text for this year, given the current ways of the world.

      Reply
    2. Christine McIntosh Avatar
      Christine McIntosh

      I’m of much the same mind. (A mind that is still blown away when I hear them sung)

      Reply
  3. Dan Floyd Avatar
    Dan Floyd

    Thank you

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Previous Posts

  • Cross listing

    I find myself starting to be listed o­n other people's blogs – most notably this week the textweek blog. Textweek is an excellent collection of resources for preachers. I post sermons after the event – www.textweek.org has lots of links to people who post before the Sunday in question.I wonder how many get abuse because…

  • Sermon – 14 March 2003 – Lent 3

    Sometimes o­ne opens the pages of scripture o­nly to find written therein, questions and comments which seem to relate very precisely to the current conversation in the global village.This morning, as the world reflects o­n the sudden outbreak of terror and destruction in Madrid, the gospel falls open at a page when Jesus is speaking…

  • 10000 hits

    When we’ve been there 10000 years, bright shining as the sun…. The 10000th page hit on this website occurred a couple of hours ago. I had no idea when starting this weblog in August that it would reach such a number. Indeed, I had no idea that I would continue it for long at all.…