Godly Play Italia

Some Fridays I think it's ok to feel just a little smug and pleased. I've set the sunday school programme for the next 5 months and ordered Godly Play resources for the whole 5 months. This is because today I got very wet trying to buy felt in the centre of Florence (pashminas win again as substitutes but they are still more expensive).

I only know of one other person using some GP in Italy, in Italian. Sadly, the American church has stopped runing GP sessions - I had hoped to be able to borrow their resources. GP needs a good name in Italian, something that will appeal to the protestant churches because I have a feeling that "play" could be too frivilous a thing. GP itself could well be viewed as too catholic, as it has a sacramental focus and enjoys exploring traditional symbols. As I (and others that I find to volunteer) translate the language, we will need to try and translate some of the culture too --- and that is what makes working outside your own culture difficult/interesting/entertaining/embarrassing/challenging (delete according to your experience this week!)

Ecumene and Interculturality

I have been fortunate to enjoy a lovely break away for the training organised for "young" ministers and international ministers. (Young as in, in ministry for less than 4 years). I travelled to Rome and quickly left again to the satellite commuter town of Velletri. On the hills outside town is Ecumene, a youth/retreat/conference centre owned and run by the Methodist Church. It is mostly quiet (there's a neighbourhood dog that tends to bark at night and we had an incredible wind storm), with well-kept premises, grounds and wonderful cooking. We were the only group so could occur the snug bar with large wood fire without interrupting anyone else.

The theme of the week was being a pastor in a multicultural church. Italy, like other countries in Europe (including UK) is struggling to adapt to being a country of immigration. For the churches, the challenge is not only how to welcome a handful of migrants, but in some places, how to create an identity for a church that can be bi-cultural, with the Italians in the minority. There was a clear desire for communal worship to be in Italian, with many churches offering free language lessons to the whole community. There are tensions between churches that offer two services (Italian and the English) and churches who experiment with largely Italian worship, but the preaching that re-offered in English, by an African (usually Ghanaian) preacher. So many models, so much to celebrate, and still, many struggles. But who said that the Kingdom of God was going to be easy?

Being creative, worshipping together

I've always found it easiest to be creative about worship when planning in a group: people give you reality checks on your weirdest ideas and develop your fledgling ones.
In Italy, we have a circuit, but it seems to be a theoretical, academica exercise - perhaps Toscana is simply too big to have a united sense of mission. But the effect is that worship appears to me to be in the hands of the pastor alone. Few Local Preachers, no Worship Leaders, no Worship Consultations and no Circuit Services that require collaboration.

So, you are invited to inspire our creative Tuesday night worship! The "brief" is below, please contribute!


Theme: All Saints/All Souls - a new look at the traditional festival and an antidote for today's Hallowe'en festivities.

Ideas so far:
Light candles in memory of someone
Ask people to reflect on their legacy (but not sure how)

Suggestions welcomed for: worship songs, prayers, prayer stations/activities

Thank you! Alison

Understanding difference

Here is an excellent explanation of the differences between Italy and the rest of Europe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQWNGLv8w74

Trying to live the God way Inspite of, despite of and because of the church

Today we launch the english speaking service @Via de' Benci (if you've missed the publicity then pop over to www.englishlanguageworship.blogspot.com and if you're in Florence, see you at 7pm!).

It is fair to say that the summer has been frustrating because the italian church simply disappears up mountains and to the coast - living the poor pastor to sweat it out in the city! (actually we did well by taking holiday in July and going to Sinodo in August). It means that I have barely spoken to the congregation for 2 months, and not seen some of them for 3 months. It kinda makes you ask: why I am here? why I am bothering?

So hopefully September brings us another fresh start, a new way of working and being in contact. John Cooper pointed out this blog - Journey through the field of life - so thanks to tractorgirl for this reminder, rallying call and realism.

I am old skool

because I sit in church on a Sunday morning

I am old skool

because I am immersed in the culture

I am old skool

because I’m not “dechurched” or ”unchurched”

I am old skool

because I like to sing “And Can it be”

I am old skool

because I’m doing the “trad” LPT training

I am old skool

because I believe the church belongs to God, but also all those within it

I am old skool

because I like pews and structure

I am old skool

because I’ve moved on from a desire

to be part of a “post-evo”, “emerging” collective

And settled happily into “the mainstream”

Yet I am new skool

because I live on the net; blogging, social networking and generally surfing

I am new skool

because I network with peeps within and beyond

I am new skool

because I live inclusivity

I am new skool

because I look and live “out there”

I am new skool

because I have chosen to cut the crap

I am new skool

because I recognise that the church will die

if we don’t do something

and so am ready to step out of the box

I am beyond your collectives and emerging vision

I am not cool

I simply believe in worship and mission

I’ll work with you and network with you

Whether you’re young or old

New skool or old skool

I am one of the many

Faceless, nameless mixing it up

Trying to live the God way

Inspite of, despite of and because of

the church

http://www.greenbelt.org.uk/blog/2010/09/if-heaven-2-by-rosie-miles/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+greenbelt%2Fblog+%28Greenbelt+Blog%29

Really sad that we missed Greenbelt this year - again! We did instead spend time in beautiful Torre Pellice for the Methodist-Waldensian "sinodo" (aka Conference), but the coffee stall was a poor substitute for the Tiny Tea Tent! So, instead, this poem has evoked the sights (and smells) of GB 2010.


http://www.greenbelt.org.uk/blog/2010/09/if-heaven-2-by-rosie-miles/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+greenbelt%2Fblog+%28Greenbelt+Blog%29

Ferragosto - bit like a bank holiday

We have been in Florence for nearly a year and still parts of Italian culture and practise remain very strange to me.

For example, today. Typically for a bank holiday weekend, yesterday was rain and thunderstorms but today the sky is once again blue. "Ferragosto" is the name for the festival of assumption (or ascension) of Mary. It's a festival that has previously passed me by, as it isn't exactly a Protestant occasion (but for more on that, see below).

"Ferragosto" may come from the latin for a holiday to celebrate Emperor Augustine, but the Catholic/Orthodox/Anglican festival has different roots.

In San Marco Convento (home of the beautiful murals by Fra. Angelico including the famous Annunciation) is also a small art museum. There for the first time I saw a sequence of paintings of gospel scenes which culminated in the Crowning of Mary as Queen of Heaven. Strange, I thought, as I've not read that in any canonical gospel! When, during a general conversation at language school, I related my confusion that this Crowning is not a gospel story the teacher (a non-practising Catholic) was quite adamant that it had to be!

And so today, I've paid a little more attention than normal to the meaning behind the day of holiday. The theory seems to be that Mary is the fulfilment of the promise of the general resurrection. Christ is the first-fruits of the resurrection from the dead, and the assumption of Mary is our proof. There is no canonical biblical evidence for this, although a quick google reveals a few biblical one-liners that are interpreted through the lens of Mariology. Quite honestly, this seems to me to be the worst kind of hermeneutical twisting.

The Catholic Church has remained imprecise about the details of the assumption. It is possible to believe that Mary died, was resurrected and then ascended, or that she ascended directly to heaven without dying. It seems to depend on quite what you believe about the sinlessness of Mary - if she is sinless, she cannot die so ascends directly. If you take this view, you may believe that "original sin" did not apply to Mary, and thus when Jesus is described as the "new Adam", Mary becomes the "new Eve". The Anglican Church again holds a variety of viewpoints: you may recognise the death of Mary, or you may hold either of the Catholic Church perspectives.

Besides wondering what on earth it means to compare mother and son with Adam and Eve, none of this made any difference in the Methodist church this morning. We are still enjoying the presence of the brothers and sisters from the Chiesa Valdese (and with only 1 Methodist in the congregation of 16 this morning, they are essential!). We were also confronted once again by the needs of the Romanian community here on the streets of Florence and the surrounding area. It is impossible to know how to respond when people ask for money to pay accommodation, or for a bus fare home, or, in one case, to pay a loan secured on the family home in Romania. The loan, for a reasonable substantial sum, was taken out to repatriate his father's body. To me, to take out the loan seems to have been a foolish decision, but what we do with bodies matters profoundly, what we believe about bodies is fundamental to our existence. Whether or not Mary ascended does affect what we believe about our life after death and about how we deal with "earthly remains". The impact of one funeral could see his family made homeless. At least believing in the assumption of Mary means that there has been no search for her body. It is very sad that cultural expectations about death are about to fall harshly on the living.

Springtime

The river Arno running through the centre of Florence deserves its very own "Springwatch". The river changes endlessly and is now gently subsiding from the winter full flow. The large bricked walls give an easy indication that the level is lower, the grass is reappearing on either side. The canoe club by the Ponte Vecchio(perhaps the most expensive in Europe!) has gorgeous roses in full bloom and today I saw a duckling family (6 or perhaps 7) with a protective mother hissing away the crow.

The river hosts a surprising variety of wild life: mallards, grey herons and little egrets, hooded crow, pigeons (of course) 2 varieties of gull, kingfisher (the whizz of colour is incredible), sparrows, blackbirds, starlings, swallows, wagtails and a small yellow bird that I can't identify and several species of geese

The range of birds is lovely, but it is the mammal and reptile population that I particularly like: otters, geckos and terrapins. As for fish, we've seen plenty of fishermen and some sudden flaps in the water, but no evidence of actual fish.

Humans are not absent; beneath some of the bridges sleep Roma families, and as you walk by in the day you can spot bags of belongings stashed in openings and shelves, whislt their owners are presumbably working the streets.

Preghiera d’Intercessione per la festa dell’Ascensione

 

Gesù è liberato dai confini di spazio e tempo,

dal corpo umano e dai bisogni umani.

Cristo vive con noi adesso,

il Risorto, l' Asceso, il Signore di tutti.

 

Preghiamo per ogni persona che potrà conoscere la presenza del Dio liberatore nelle loro vite.

 

Dio di ogni spazio e tempo,

preghiamo per tutti quelli che lavorano per libertà:

per le persone che resistano a governi repressivi.

per quelli che promuovono la commercio giusto e libero tra paese poveri e ricchi,

per quelli che forniscono educazione e assistenza sanitaria per i bisognosi,

per quelli che predicano il vangelo del perdono e della nuova vita.

Le nostre preghiere sono ascoltate: grazie a Dio.

 

Dio presente e ad ogni ora.

preghiamo per tutti che vogliono liberarsi.

Dalla malattia,

da una vita difficile

dalla tristezza o ansia,

da paura o colpa.

Le nostre preghiere sono ascoltate: grazie a Dio.

 

Dio è dentro di noi e intorno a noi,

preghiamo per il dono del tuo Spirito Santo:

per rompere le barriere che ci dividono,

per liberarci dalle nostre paure,

per liberarci dell' essere noi stessi in Te,

per fortificarci con il tuo amore.

Le nostre preghiere sono ascoltate: grazie a Dio.

 

Sei con noi, Dio d'amore, in ogni situazione della vita,

ora e per sempre, nel nome di Gesù. Amen.

 

 

Tradotto dall'inglese: Alison Walker e Milo Papini.

Originale © Christine Odell "Companion to the Revised Common Lectionary vol. 1 Intercessions" (1998, Epworth Press)

 

Poster, perhaps

OK, so I can through the insert picture business, but nothing appears...

church publicity

There is very limited space for putting up a poster outside the church, so it needs to be eye-catching. I've tried doing this one, but perhaps there is just too much info? The church speaks italian, but there would be no problem accommodating english speakers, as long as they were content with translation, rather than actually hearing an english sermon or english prayers.
What do you think?

Hopefully I've managed to publish the poster, but I'm not sure...

Listen : Think : Act: Methodism and Migration - In Italy

Listen : Think : Act: Methodism and Migration - In Italy

I have not blogged here about the last few weeks, but instead took up John Cooper's invitation to expand my facebook updates into something a little more considered. Thanks John for the opportunity to blog "away from home". You can follow John's blog on the above link, and then I will post an update on my own blog. We are currently hosting our third group of Rom, 6 adults and two very small babies. The Methodist church here has therefore welcomed a total of 12 people.

Ash Wednesday and Festival of Religious Liberty

We spent a lovely Sunday night-Monday at www.casacares.it with great food, company and the traditional falò (bonfire) as a slightly in advance celebration of the granting of religious liberty to the Jews and the Waldensians (17 February 1848). It is a festival that seems to go unmarked by the majority of the country, but is significant as the religious freedom granted then opened the doors to the further freedom that is part of the country's consitution.

However, there continues to be widespread ignorance about the Protestant churches and faith. I think that Protestants are no longer seen as potential enemies of the state, but a sense of being separate clearly persists. On Saturday the Methodist Church hosts a conference on the theme of the expereince of religious minorities. I am wary in the UK when the Church starts to see itself as a religious minority, after all we exert an influence way beyond our membership, however here perhaps the term is correct.

It is also Ash Wednesday, althoug there is no service here. It has not been requested and I suspect that the practice of ashing would be seen as far too Catholic! One reaction to the experience of being a religious minority is to withdraw from practices that look too much like being quasi-catholic. Perhaps this combination of festival and fasting invites us to get back a sense of balance in our relationships with other churches, with the earth, with God.

Anglican-Methodist Unity

David Gamble (President of Methodist Conference) and Richard Vautrey (Vice-President) made interesting reading yesterday. The Methodist-Anglican Covenant has been going somewhere since 1 November 2003, but the direction has not been clear. David re-affirmed the Methodist Church commitment to the Covenant, fine. But I am still waiting to hear such an affirmation from the Anglican Church. Even at the time of discussion leading up to and after 1 November 2003, many Anglicans still assumed that unity = Methodists becoming Anglicans. It is my understanding that the Covenant does not take us in that direction.

However, Ruth Gledhill was wrong when she wrote: "In 2003, in the presence of the Queen, who is Supreme Governor of the Church of England, the leaders signed a covenant affirming each other’s orders and sacraments and committing themselves to full unity." (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article7023713.ece). As far as I recall, the Covenant says that we will in the future affirm each other's orders and sacraments, but at this point in time, I cannot celebrate Communion in an Anglican Church. I cannot, because the CoE does not recognise my ordination as being valid. On the other hand, the Methodist not only allows Anglican priests to celebrate communion, but when there is a joint Methodist-Anglican Church agreement, it is automatic that the Anglican priest receives full access to the Methodist structures, including voting rights. But this is not reciprocal.

Leaving aside the vexed question of the inequality inherent in the Anglican system, (and the way that bishops opposed to the ordination of women have been allowed to recruit new male priests who are also opposed, thus perpetrating this denial of the gospel), until Methodist orders of ministry (presbyterate and diaconal) are fully recognised by the CoE, the Covenant is as still as pondweed in stagnant water.

Meantime, there are more important things to do be doing. The work of the Kingdom is active, right where I am, where you are. Synods and Conferences can talk, it is the relationships we have that will make the difference.

Prayer letter - settling in

Settling in: We knew before we arrived that travelling with our dog was going to be “a good thing”. In fact, she has helped us talk to people from day 1. Our Italian has slowly improved, but she was quick to learn that “Che bella!” was usually directed at her. It seems the Italians are quick to praise and caress children and pets, so Gabrieli certainly feels right at home. With her, we are distinctive, and our neighbours quickly realized that we are not just tourists, but here to stay. However, without her, it has taken a few more months to reach the stage where we can smile, wave and “ciao” people as we pass by.

Prayer letter (2)

The local neighbourhood: We are sandwiched between the river and Santa Croce, just round the corner from the statue of David. The night-life is lively, with a nightclub and bar next door to the church, and a kebab shop and restaurant on the other. The streets are filled with people, and the area therefore feels very safe, if somewhat noisier than you might like at 2am! However, it was puzzling when we arrived because there appeared to be no shops. Instead great corrugated iron shutters obscured any clues of what lay beneath. Firenze is so hot in the summer (see above!) that anyone who can simply leaves the city, and that includes many local shop-owners. As August wears endlessly on and the heat diminishes into a hot UK summer in September, shops re-appeared, as if we were on Diagon Alley . We are not living in a graffiti inscribed, vacant lots, scruffy area, but instead can enjoy the small businesses – pet shop (Gabrieli’s 2nd favourite place), fruit & veg. shops, butchers and ice-cream parlour (Gabrieli’s favourite place). We are also a short walk from one of the Firenze markets with plentiful selection of meat, greens, clothes, household goods. It is a good place to watch the world go by (as you sip your cappuccino at the market bar): the group of Africans selling dusters, tissues and umbrellas, the stall-holders are Indians, Italians, Filipini, the beggars are Romanians and Italians, the shoppers are from everywhere.

Prayer letter - part 1

[Knowing how my followers are hanging on my every word, I thought I'd send out my prayer letter on my blog over a few days; although you may receive an email as well, sorry!]

I am serving as Mission Partner in Florence, Italy with the Italian Methodist Church. I am very happy to be here with my husband Robin and our standard poodle, Gabrieli (the Italian name is just a coincidence!)

First impressions may be misleading: We arrived into Firenze (Florence) in the middle of the holiday season. It was hot. It had been hot since we’d entered Italy (in our camper-van) on the 6th August. Sun is lovely on holiday, but it has a strange effect when you are living in the city. You selectively open windows and shutters, trying to keep the sun out, but find the breeze (there isn’t one). During the day, the apartment is so shady, you begin to feel nocturnal. No matter what combination of windows and shutters, open and close, morning and afternoon, it doesn’t matter. It is still hot. The apartment has beautiful floor tiles throughout, which we had imagined would be cold to our feet. They are now, in early January, but in August and September, they’re hot. The terrace is too hot. You have to walk the dog before 8:30am, or it is too hot. And you simply have to go round for the corner for gelato at midnight, because it is still…