The demise of i-church

 Earlier in 2021 the Diocese of Oxford made a decision to discontinue i-church a project which they started in 2008 to bring Mission and Evangelism to the internet.  These were exciting time when exploring out reach via the quickly expanding Christian Presence on the internet was exploding with many start ups, independent of the various denominations were exploring how to be Church in cyber space and to find a valid way of expressing the Christian faith to a wide range of people across the globe. i-church reached out and attracted people from around the world from different continents and Churches, many of whom became long term, committed members.

i-church, not to be confused with another startup ichurch was Oxford Dioceses way of doing this. It would have a licensed Web Pastor and would welcome all comers of different faith traditions or none and provide a space for online discussion, for worship and fellowship.  i-church was a registered Charity and a Company limited by liability.  Both registrations will now be surrendered.

There was an aspiration for committed members to explore Benedictine Principles and to adopt a Rule of Life, loosely based on those principles  This led eventually to the foundation of a website which was built to resemble a B&M Benedictine Religious Community, with the Gate House as the entry, the Courtyard as the Public Forum and the Beehive as a private inner community where members who desired a slower more thoughtful place to share their more inner musings and this became a community of love and shared journeys of faith.

Today, after 14 years of continuous and faithful presence i-church website was taken down forever It is no longer accessible to those of us who were long term members and our Web Pastor (Rev Pam Smith) and System Administrator (Caroline) have lost something which had been a focus of their online ministry for a long time.

I regret that the diocese of Oxford came to this decision, but it was obvious they had a new and sharper focus for their Mission and Ministry and i-church no longer had a role in that. A sad decision, but one that was not to be changed.  

When any ministry ends, there is a sense of loss, of something precious shared with other faithful friends and family (yes, it felt like family) who care deeply for the welfare of others and those who visited the site. In my view, the internet is the poorer for its loss.

Ending Covid19 Precautions

 I note from the media that the Government seems convinced that the end to all Covid19 precautions will end on the 19th July, with a move away from compulsion (law) to guidance and personal choice.

The situation isn't the same across the devolved regions, they are taking their own stance, but it seems that the UK government want to take the lead, in anticipation that the devolved administrations will follow it. That might happen, but the pandemic has given the devolved administrations a more assertive profile and they may continue to make their decisions based on the advice from their own scientists, not the governments ones.

So, what will it look like for individuals faced with choices in a situation of widespread vaccination, albeit that is not actually 100 per cent. And children and those under 18 are still excluded from the vaccine deployments. This is the group where the virus is increasing rapidly, so some decisions will need to be made.

And the government promised booster doses from September for all over 50's and those in all age groups were or are most vulnerable, suffering from conditions that compromise their ability to resist the serious complications of the virus.

The booster doses will be administered alongside the flue Jab, so the prospect to two vaccinations at the same time is raising fears of unexpected consequences for people, certainly I would prefer to receive them with one or two weeks between administration.

In terms of the restrictions becoming voluntary, we will continue to wear masks in indoor situations, including shops. We will attempt to keep social distancing to the best of our ability and will avoid situations where crowds or present or expected. So, pubs etc remain out of bounds for us.

My spouse is working two days a week, and is expecting to be asked to increase that to 3 days a week soon, with a return to full time by September. Given her highly vulnerable position having had a stroke last July, she will be sheltered as Occupational Health have laid down criteria on what she is able to do safely and what she should not be required to do.

Fortunately she works for an employer who has taken a proactive approach to this, and has been supportive. She has worked there for nearly 50 years, so soon she will be making decisions about retirement. She has told them that next year will be critical for this, albeit, she might decide to go earlier if it gets to much for her. She is well over normal retirement age for her role in the Civil Service and even for the stage mandatory age of 66.

I look forward to her being home permanently as I take her to and from work, as her driving licence was rescinded due to complications arising from her stroke, and she doesn't want the hassle of jumping through hoops to get it back.

We discuss these things regularly and both agree that despite the hoo hah in maintaining some personal restrictions, our health and well being are the important thing, so for us, the so called "freedom day" will mean little change. We have got used to precautions which have kept us safe, and are unwilling to be risk takers at the expense of our health.

I pray that common sense will apply to people receiving their freedom and we will not be exposed to the ongoing antics of those who protest that their freedoms are compromised by lockdown measures, or worse, deny the the virus exists and it is all a conspiracy, we've all had enough of them. :

This Is Not the New Normal just yet

 Today was auspicious for the media portraying the relaxation of Covid Restrictions as some sort of freedom from prison.  BBC Breakfast featured a reporter flying off to the Algarve with others, taking the opportunity presented by the relaxations to travel to a country, which still have the virus, but is judged to be safe for tourists.  Something which could change overnight leaving people either stranded or rushing home to avoid quarantine.

Quarantine or self isolation, however you describe it is the most unpopular of the tools employed to fight the virus, alongside the closure of virtually everything that we value in our society, sporadically since March 2020. 

 It is inevitable in my view, that the there will be an increase in new infections with consequences for the NHS, but the hope is that the high level of vaccinations will at least prevent the worst that could happen, serious illness or death.  We can only judge that with hind sight as so far, as I know, the Government doesn't have a "Seer" who can accurately predict these things, so it is a best guess based on a risk assessment and the law of probabilities, which can be a fickle thing.

I don't begrudge those who feel relief at the relaxation of measure and choose to do things that I would consider risky (I won't be hugging anyone apart from my spouse anytime soon). They are entitled to behave as the choose, as long as their actions do not harm others, whether unintentional or otherwise. 

I have hope that we as a family can meet (at a distance) but we won't be popping in and out of each others homes anytime soon. Just being able to see and talk to them face to face, without a mask will be enough for now.  The have vulnerable members as do we.  Both of us are among the older generation, I am diabetic, my spouse had a stroke last year, which with her pre-existing conditions make her very vulnerable indeed.  We will need time, space and evidence that we can do these things safely before we relax our guard.

The thing lots of people is ignoring is that the virus is still alive, growing and spreading, with increasingly different and possible more dangerous variations.  We are told that we will learn to live with it, with vaccines being updated as needed, just like the annual Flue Jab.  That the virus will become another one to catch, like the measles or chicken pox (or Shingles) or the Flue. We can vaccinate it all away.

But more recent evidence has emerged that vaccination denial is an issue.  Many parents who left their children unvaccinated after the MMR (Mumps, Measles and Rubella) scandals in the past 20-30 years means that we have a hidden rump of vulnerable adults now, who could catch anyone of those diseases and potentially become seriously ill or even die.  They haven't been got rid of like Small pox, but are there in the background, like Coronavirus, waiting for a victim to infect.

We don't hear much about it, until a story hits the media of an individual who has become seriously ill or died from one of those infections that we all forgot had been sorted years ago.

So the anti-vax people who are currently actively spreading their misinformation need to take a pause. They have the choice or not to accept vaccination, but seeking to manipulate public opinion through their misleading and outright lies is something they should be held to account for - soon I hope.

Providing Comprehensive Mental Health and General Healthcare Services in the Pandemic

 There is a huge amount of Evidence on how the Mental Health of individuals has been impacted by the Pandemic and the lockdowns over the past 15 months in the UK and world wide.  In the UK, the Cinderella service in the NHS, Mental Health resources notoriously underfunded for years, having been shrunk during the tenure of various governments over the last 40 to 50 years, found themselves on the back foot.  

Early on in the pandemic numerous charities who provide services to meet mental health needs in the UK, warned of a huge increase in demand for their services, alongside the demand on the NHS which increased quickly to unmanageable proportions, particularly as many mental health services had been impacted by demands of virus managements on resources.   

The government stepped in with a lot of new funding to increase service availability in both the NHS and Charitable and Private services, but it remains evident that mental health services, particularly talking therapies have waiting lists of months or years in some sectors.  Someone who presents with an urgent need, will face delays at the least or a complete non-availability of services locally, being expected to travel long distances to access those services, when they are at their most vulnerable.

That government and local public health authorities have recognised the lead has led to an explosion of "Self Help" services and advice, provided free, online to service users.  These are aimed more widely than those exhibiting or presenting with symptoms, but the for the wider mental health well being of those newly affected, those isolating, the more elderly and vulnerable who might have never needed such services in the past.

There is also the impact of  dealing with the demands of the virus across the NHS and health service providers, which it is believed will leave a lasting mental health harm for years to come.

Some simple examples are those living in care homes who have been deprived of person to person contact with family and friends for well over a year.  Many suffering from dementia have gone downhill due to the lack of such contact, which has left them and their families desperate and disappointed.

Those who have been bereaved by the virus, who have been unable to be with their loved ones during their last hours and than, have had to put up with funeral arrangements reduced to a minimum for public protection.  This is storing up huge issues for them in the future.  One friend, who was bereaved recently, is in a waiting list of at least three months for access to bereavement counselling from a national charity.  Informal support is in place from friends and family, but proper support from an independent counselling service is suggested as the preferred method of support and family and friends are to close to be objective.

I doubt if the challenges of delivering services as the rate expected before the pandemic can be effectively calculated, the scale of the problems being so huge and wide spread.  But we are constantly being told that waiting lists have doubled for everything except emergency treatment, with projected trebling of demand and waiting lists stretching as far as two years for routine scheduled surgery or treatment. 

One of the biggest impacts has been on cancer services. While a limited number of treatments have continued to be available, they tend to be in specialist cancer centres, not in the mainstream hospitals as is the norm.  The other recognised issue is the inability to refer any possible cases for investigation. I believe that Oncology specialists are seeing less than one third of the normal cases expected to present annually.  There is hope for cancer sufferers as the NHS becomes less burdened with covid cases, some routine services for cancer will reopen as a priority.

Last July my spouse suffered a stroke. I managed to get her emergency care very quickly, but having been taken to an Acute Neuro unit, she was transferred after three days to another hospital as we were supposedly in different CCG groups from the Acute Stroke Unit. The acute unit was closer to home and had its own Rehab Unit, but she was sent 24 miles to a hospital much further from home than needed due to the stroke of a budget holders pen.  This caused her (and me) considerable distress as I had further to travel to take her the necessary items she needed for a prolonged stay, even though I could not actually visit her.  Fortunately she was able to come home after 27 days in the hospital and the after care at home from our local Neuro unit was excellent.   I thank God that prayers were answered as she was fit enough to return to work by November on a reduced hours, adapted workplace environment. Ongoing she has surrendered her driving licence as the conditions for its return are quite difficult and means engaging with GP, Consultants and having a driving assessment (driving test) which she is reluctant to undergo.  That is a loss for her of her independence.  Needing me to drive her to work and collect her afterwards.  How many others have lost their former independence due to the pandemic conditions?

We can only hope that things will get better soon, but continue to be careful, observing "Hands, Face, Space" for a considerable time to come.

Easter 2021

 Easter this year has been a powerful experience, something I haven't felt for a few years, not that Easter and Passiontide hasn't  been special, but perhaps having to miss the physical presence and experience in Church last year due to lockdown, this years participation has seemed more powerful and intense, something of a surprise to my perhaps locked down, jaded mentality.

In the last year having to be locked down and excluded from my in-person Reader Ministry has had a huge impact on how I have lived for the past few years since I became an Anglican in 2008, and particularly since my training for and involvement in active ministry.  

 I was unable to give as I had wanted, and than in July I was presented with a new, life changing situation when my spouse suffered a stroke, which I witnessed and reacted to on auto pilot, phoning 999 for an Ambulance, because I had recognised the classic signs.  

The golden hours were there, she was in an acute stroke unit within an hour and given the treatment which gave her the best prospect of recovery.  But I had initially face the prospect of losing her, and than, thank God, knowing she would recover, but would be changed in ways, that would impact her ability to function as he had enjoyed previously.  

Cutting a long story short, she has made a really good recovery, and I am attributing that to her own inner strength and determination and a bit to the prayers and lament that I offered and for the many prayers of others for her recovery.  God, I am sure was involved in the healing.   She is left with a ban on driving, and some right side weakness and a very slight speech impediment, but both of these are improving with time.  She went back to work in November for two days a week, was promptly furloughed and has only resumed work this past week.

I was able to resume in Church presence in October, and have been able to support the ministry team in Church consistently every since, despite the closure for two months after the post-Christmas lockdown, we kept streaming services from Church, rather than from the Vicarage.

I am a fan of Reflective practice, I just with that I was better at it. I normally write notes in a journal, which record what is going on, how I am feeling and what I am praying or hoping for.  Sharing some of this can be an emotional experience, so I am quite sparing in how I share, Apart from this blog.

This leads me back to Easter 2021.  This year, we have been vaccinated, which I know we are fortunate to have, when so many have not, but also it isn't a passport to relax and return to normal.  It has been an Easter and Passiontide like nothing I have experienced before.  We had a covidsafe Palm Sunday, Holy week provided Stations of the Cross, led completely differently in a contemplative service, streamed online, Maundy Thursday a BCP Holy Communion with the Passion Gospel and a Liturgy of Maundy Thursday, where I had the privilege of having my feet washed by the Vicar and was permitted to preach. We were unable to hold the vigil or watch, due to restrictions and guidance. 

Than today, the Liturgy of Good Friday, much stripped back.  One hour of the liturgy with communion and again the Passion Gospel. 

Somehow, all of this has been intense in a way that as I said, I haven't really experienced since the early days of returning to faith and becoming an Anglican, when I felt excitement as I experienced the seasons of the year, while at the same time, discerning a vocation, which eventually, after twists and turns ended up in Reader Ministry.  Somewhere along the way, perhaps I allowed it to get all to familiar and because a bit of a habit, rather than a experience of power and grace.  

I have to thank God and the Holy Spirit for that.  After the disappointment of 2020, after the experience of enforced lockdown, after the experience of trauma and anxiety following the stroke, something changed at the start of Lent, something clicked into place.  I attribute that to many influences, but chiefly to God's Grace, which has healed, transformed and mended a shaky, routine faith and revived it to the excitement of that first experience of faith in 2008.  Thanks be to God.

Public Protest in a Pandemic

 It seems that Public Protest is illegal under the current lockdown rules. So people have been defying the rules for a variety of reasons. Some are against lockdown, some are vaccination deniers or conspiracy theorists, others such as the peaceful turnout by women at Clapham Common, were motivated by the sense of how dangerous it is for women on our streets, following the murder of Sarah Everard.

Whether small or large turnouts of large gatherings of people for protest or commemoration are inevitably a vector for transmission of the virus, and people appear to be prepared to break the law for their cause, however unrepresentative it is.

The protests against the terms of the Police and Crime Bill going through Parliament at the moment in Bristol were a case in point. Even the peaceful parts of that protest were against the law, but the case of where people determined to use that cause as an opportunity for violence and attacks on the Police and Property are well known, which is why the government seem to want to criminalize any form of protest, which has not been approved by local authorities or police.

People are calling the terms of the proposed legislation as a challenge to their freedoms of free speech, of the right to assemble for a protest, and a way of introducing a "Police State". I haven't studied the proposals in any detail, but it seems to me that the way to "kill the bill" the mantra of Saturdays protesters is by exercising their right to lobby their MP's to vote against it. In other words, following the democratic process, including peaceful protest, when it is safe to do so, not in the middle of a pandemic.

Surely we all feel a grievance sometimes when restrictions are imposed on our freedom to do just as we like, but we have a responsibility to observe those restrictions for the protection of ourselves and others. We have a duty of care for each others, and we disregard this at our and others peril. Surely the figures of deaths so far and those hospitalised with severe, life affecting long term conditions should be evidence enough for us to stick to the lawful pursuits, but so many don't see it that way.

I could ask whatever happened to the "British Commons ense and stoicism"? perhaps it is a well meaning myth and the "Spirit of the Blitz" never existed?

I just pray that the population at large will see sense and stop these sort of protests until it is safe to do so, legally and for the right reasons. 

Keeping the Sabbath Holy

 Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy is one of the 10 Commandments.  I am particularly drawn to the extended text of the Prayer Book commandment:

“Six days shalt thou labour, and do all that thou hast to do; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. In it thou shalt do no manner of work, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, thy man-servant, and thy maid-servant, thy cattle, and the stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it”.

It is obvious that we work in some way or other and welcome a day of rest on the Sabbath, although if you are in ministry of any sort, including the Choir, the Sabbath may not feel like a day of rest, as believe it or not, those working to prepare for worship will have worked hard to prepare it beforehand, rather than just playing it off the cuff and hoping for the best.

For many of us these words  will be well outside our comfort zone. For instance, how many of us have a man-servant or maid-servant (I wish) and unless we are farmers, we don’t have many cattle in Urban, Belvedere (Unless you know different of course).  But the sentence I want to concentrate on is “the stranger that is within they gates”.

I suspect that many of us will take this to mean someone we don’t know, someone newly arrived in our neighbourhood, someone perhaps of a different racial, ethnic, religious or cultural background to ours, but I think that that conclusion is pretty stereo typed. 

If you look around Church (when we are in it) and we meet each other wearing masks and socially distanced, we will recognise each other if we know each other well enough, even by sight, even if we have forgotten, for a moment or two, their name.   But are we kidding ourselves, do we really know them well?

No doubt we think that we  are heeding that other greatest commandment about “loving our neighbour as ourself” but how can we truly obey  that essential second greatest commandment if  we don’t really know them?

 If we haven’t made the time to speak to them, to socialise with them or to have shared our lives with them wider than the short meeting in Church on a Sunday, if we have not engaged enough to know their full back story, about them and their family and in return, shared our story with them.

Without that sort of engagement how can we truly say that we are obeying the commandment?

Of course, not everyone feels confident to engage in the way described, there might be inhibitions about meeting people in that way. That  famous “British Reserve” even “Stiff Upper Lip” might be getting in the way of our being truly able to assent to the commandment,  And of course, we are hesitant to invade peoples personal privacy or space, or perhaps unsure of ourselves, not wanting to be that “nosy neighbour” poking their nose in where not wanted, not wanting to be rebuffed, not wanting to be embarrassed.

But if we hesitate to commit to extend our network of fellowship in Christ, perhaps those I write off, share most of those same traits or inhibitions, perhaps waiting for the other to hold out the hand or breaking the ice and offering the hand of Christ in welcome, love and friendship and fellowship that we need to both build our gathered community of God, but also in building his Kingdom.

Might I suggest something quite obvious?   The idea of the “stranger within our Gates” goes back to that “Ministry of Welcome” that is portrayed in the commandment.  It is an invitation for us to look beyond ourselves, to see each other, including the “stranger” as someone created in God’s image as we are, someone who we need to invite into our community, our lives, not just in a shared communal act of worship (though that is central to what we do and who we are as people of God), but as friends, as family, as a fellow member of God’s people, just like us, with all or flaws, strengths and weaknesses and by doing this, we build the Body of Christ, here in Belvedere  and his Kingdom wider in the world.  I for one know I have more to do in this respect.

 

How about you?