Jude Smith

Ok: so my little preamble is that Church of England clergy are asked to show respect for one another by not pulling down other clergy or parts of the church. In reflecting on that- and trying to genuinely honour my brothers and sisters in this strange calling that I haven't said too much about the St Paul's stand off. Today I was heartened in a strange way that Giles Fraser felt he was able to resign. I feel heartened that on first comments his diocesan Bishop appears to be exercising appropriate care over his staff and is perhaps going to see him alright. But I am sad at the wider situation. As I type there appears to be something going on (riot vans or something nearby). I can't help but feel a little glum about what has happened- but there is a strange sense of inevitability about it all. Because St Paul's Cathedral lives right on the fault line of several dilemmas faced by the Church of England. The first is that of having a place of worship that is also a touri...

Sometimes I'm not very good at remembering who I am. I get all caught up in either feeling very special, or very not special. That, at my worst, can be entirely dependent on how well something is going. When it gets bad I usually need rest and to do normal things and be around normal people. This weekend I didn't get a whole heap of rest but I did do some normal things.. I read a book: The Blasphemer by Nigel something.. rubbish.. trying too hard to be profound and missing by a country mile! I watched a film.. the Help. Beautiful.. anger making and over the heads of many of the audience. Lots of choosing to laugh at the angry character... Civil Rights was my special subject- say no more. I went for a walk.. I hung out with friends- lunch in Liverpool, dinner in Manchester, breakfast in Leeds.. I'm starting to feel more normal. I'm starting to remember that I am special, but not because of what I do. I can see that I am unspecial, in that I am a sister in this mes...

I am sure that all Church of England clergy and officials occasionally find themselves hiding behind their hands as one of our colleagues takes to the screen. In a fast moving media age any one of us could fall foul of a bad few moments on camera- and in reality we have colleagues who don't always share the most 'normal' of views. And so I have been pleasantly reassured this morning: as one of the clergy from St Paul's (Giles Fraser to name) was interviewed by Sky News. Speaking in normal English, with no pastoral head tilt, Revd Fraser said clearly and concisely that he supported the Occupy protestors right to protest and that he had asked the police to move in from the steps of the Cathedral. Good job sir: the most lavish of cathedrals sitting amidst that most wretched Square Mile, but still speaking for the rest of us. (Westminster Abbey and its golden dome proposals might want to take note.. ) Add to that that all 26 bishops who were present, voted against the hurr...

Morning world. A whole month has gone by without a blog post. Hmmm. How do I explain that other than by saying, September.? September is an odd month in the life of the church. Its the return after the summer (mentally only, nowhere here holidays), its the beginning of the Methodist year, schools return. All in all it adds up to a month of end to end meetings. But now its October: harvest has been harvested (well in one of two churches). In my diary this week I have coffee based meetings, you know the ones where you really catch up (none of your sitting with a big agenda). I'm looking forward to October.. More soon.