What is in Kelvin's Head?

  • The Affirmation of a Transgender Person

    There’s yet more debate online about people calling for a special service to be approved by the Church of England in order to recognise and support someone following their transition from one gender to another.

    I happen to think that it would be an interesting thing for the Church of England to consider. However, we’re lucky in Scotland that we’ve already agreed a form of service that could be used as an affirmation for transgender people.

    Here are some of the prayers:

    THE LAYING ON OF HANDS
    The president says
    God of mercy and love,
    new birth by water and the Spirit is your gift,
    a gift none can take away;
    grant that your servants may grow
    into the fullness of the stature of Christ.
    Fill them with the joy of your presence.
    Increase in them the fruit of your Spirit:
    the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
    the spirit of love, patience and gentleness,
    the spirit of wonder and true holiness.
    The president lays hands on the candidate in silence, and then says
    Come, Creator Spirit,
    rekindle in N. your gifts of grace,
    to love and serve as a disciple of Christ.
    Amen.

    Renew her/his life in Christ
    and bring to completion all that your calling has begun.
    Amen.

    Either continuing the laying on of hands, or anointing the candidate
    with the Oil of Chrism, the president says:

    Empower your disciple, N.,
    to bring life to the world.
    Amen.

    At the conclusion of the laying on of hands
    the president says
    Living God, sustain all your people
    to be hope and strength to the world;
    through Jesus Christ, our Lord,
    to whom with you and the Holy Spirit
    be honour and glory, now and for ever.
    Amen

    The congregation share communion.

    The president addresses the congregation:

    The light of Christ is within you. Shine as a light in the world.
    As the seed grows secretly in the earth,
    As the yeast rises in the dough,
    May the power of God be at work in us.
    Like a city on a hill,
    Like a lamp in the darkness,
    May we witness to the glory of the kingdom.

    It seems to me that as we’ve already agreed these prayers, there’s going to be no fuss about it at all in Scotland whereas there might be in Englandshire. I’d be very happy to conduct this service for anyone who has completed their gender transition and who wants to express their faith publicly in their new identity.

    The great news is that the service is available to cis people at moments when they want to express publicly the renewal of their faith too. Indeed, some of these prayers were used at a particular point in my own life when I came into ministry in St Mary’s nine years ago. We don’t discriminate and so this service is available for all God’s children whether they are trans or not.

    The service can be found online here:
    http://www.scotland.anglican.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/affirmation-of-holy-baptism-2006.pdf

    , ,

4 responses to “Retreat”

  1. Carole Avatar
    Carole

    Retreat
    Interesting choice of theme for the Advent retreat.
    Mary Magdelen was of course know to be an energetic, implusive and caring woman. Quite a dream really.

    Unusual combination of food stuffs lentils and banana, anyway.

    Reply
  2. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Retreat

    Just struck by the coincidence that you and I were on retreat at the same time.  While you were considering the place of Mary Magdalene I was being led to listen more deeply to my dreams.  Through a process of table fellowship and sharing I came to find much meaning in what seemed like a completely random collection of items which regularly arise during the silent hours of the night:  medical pots; gas masks; military apparel; a purple stole; a half-mauled rabbit; a friendly ghost and a bottle of single malt.  I was really appreciative of my fellow retreatants one of whom, realising it was my first time, was very gentle with me and showed me the ropes.  The other, the slightly more talkative of the two, showed a persistent yet Liberal interest in delving deeper into my darkest recesses to see what might come up. If your retreat was anything like as rich as mine you should have enough to chew upon for a very long time, Kelvin.  Thanks for reading this anyway.

    Reply
  3. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Another dream
    I don’t know what that retreat started but since posting that last message I have had yet another dream.  In this latest one there were two soldiers carrying a sofa up a glen!!! What on earth does that tell me.  Any offers of help most gratefully accepted.

    Reply
  4. Saph Avatar
    Saph

    Another dream
    As a person of quite mature years, let me share with you my thoughts on your dream.
    I see the soliders with their uniforms as a sign of discipline – perhaps you are searching for someone to take you in hand and put more structure in your life. The sofa to me represents comfort and familiarity maybe this is what you are searching for but combined with the rugged landscape of the glen are prepared to take the rough with the smooth. Sometimes our dreams are like a humane mouse trap, we are lured in with the promise of something nice to taste but in the end we are trapped and at the mercy of someone elses hand to release us back into the wild.

    I hope this has been of some help to you. Thank you for taking the time to read the ramblings of an old woman anyway.

    Reply

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