What is in Kelvin's Head?

  • Inspirational Conversations: How to change the world

    Last week I had some inspirational conversations on Sunday with David Kenvyn, who is the verger at St Mary’s and one of the servers.

    David was talking about his involvement in the anti-apartheid movement.

    Now, lots of people in the UK can rightly think of themselves as part of that struggle, but David has been stuck right into it all his life. Indeed, he had first hand memories of Nelson Mandela and Trevor Huddleston.

    I found the whole conversation hugely inspiring and made me think a lot about the amazing gifts that people have to offer around the altar in St Mary’s.

    If you want a bit of inspiration, take a look at the videos.

    Forum conversation with David Kenvyn, talking about his involvement with the Anti-Apartheid Movement in South Africa.

    Forum conversation with David Kenvyn, discussing setting up libraries and sending books to South Africa.

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4 responses to “tae see oorsels as ithers see us”

  1. Rev Ruth Avatar
    Rev Ruth

    My children just don’t understand it. Nor do they understand why I stay.

    Reply
  2. kelvin Avatar
    kelvin

    I suspect that the children of very many Christians in the UK these days don’t understand and don’t stay. We can see that laid out for us in page after page of diocesan and provincial statistics.

    And still we are expected to cheer on Archbishops who propose amendements which would institutionalise treating women as having less authority than men and also Bishops who tell us that banning gay people from leadership roles is good.

    In both these cases we are supposed to believe that these actions keep the church together. Meanwhile the children leave bewildered.

    Hear what the Spirit says to the children.

    Reply
  3. Tim Avatar
    Tim

    What surprises me is that it’s the same term “evangelical” that went from connoting “student-ish” in the 90s to “happy” (reserving outright clappy for those of charismatic designation) to “evangelicals come in Open form too!” now to “traditionalist” in matters of Backwards Beyond Belief(TM).

    Now I’m used to the arguments being “our tradition, restated more-so and louder” versus “put the Bible in context” – at least one party talking theologically.
    For a fresh thought, is the CoE (in particular, but also the AC in general) a bit preoccupied with not losing any *one* bum-on-its-3-legged-seat? There is a tension in the dynamic that could be resolved well by a large-scale rotation in membership – redefine the denominational lines by issues not history – that leads to a slimy weasely position of “I sort of want to go but don’t have the honesty to get on with it so I’ll sit around being a thorn in the canonical flesh and blame the church for trying to push me out”.

    Social evolution is too slow; that is where injustice lies.

    Reply
  4. Rosemary Hannah Avatar
    Rosemary Hannah

    I often ask me why I stay, and I’m in my late fifties. In the end, it is because I feel cheated without other people to worship with, and, well, to be a kind of thorn in the canonical flesh for the conservatives!!

    Reply

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