What is in Kelvin's Head?

  • Tuesday Update

    Tuesday: Useful comment article by Colette Douglas Home in today’s Herald, on the Roman Catholic Church’s position on #equalmarriage: http://www.heraldscotland.com/comment/columnists/core-message-of-christianity-is-one-of-love-and-forbearance.18704767

    Includes good key quotes from Sunday’s sermon and this:

    [Kelvin Holdsworth] welcomed gay Christians to the service and discovered, not surprisingly, that his congregation had increased.

    A senior Catholic source reportedly accused him of “incendiary and uncharitable language” when he issued his invitation last Friday. Mr Holdsworth said: “I think people get weary of hearing a negative message from church people. What they want to hear is positive – about changing the world for the better, about justice, about love.” Amen to that.

    ,

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

  • Missionary Position

    In addition to working at the University of Stirling today, I'm going to Edinburgh o­n missionary service. The people there need someone to teach them about human sexuality you see.1730 in the Cornerstone Bookshop. Be there or know nothing!More details o­n this poster

  • Shrove Tuesday

    It occurred to me yesterday that the Shrove Tuesday thing in the supermarkets really is strange. The idea of pancake day was to use up all your eggs before Lent. Now we are encouraged to buy all the ingredients in order to use them up again. The genius of late western capitalism frying in a…

  • Supermarket Religion

    It seems to me as though the supermarket over the road follows the liturgical year with more zeal than many Episcopalians. They do have a tendency to celebrate things a bit early and also to celebrate more than o­ne thing at o­nce. This post-modern trend might be where the church is heading, of course.Last Saturday…

  • No Sermon

    I was not preaching this week, I was baptising a child instead, so there is no sermon to post.Instead, how about the Prayer over the Water. It is worth mulling over.Lord God, well-spring of life, in your love and justice, you use the gift of water to declare your saving power.