The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has given an interview on Radio Four's Today Programme this morning on consumer debt, poverty and inequality.
Today is the fortieth anniversary of Enoch Powell's infamous "rivers of blood" speech. There's been such a lot of coverage in the media - so much so that I'm a little tired of it all. I thought for a while about not writing on the subject but given my connections with Wolverhampton, our family situation and the currency of the issues in a place like Oadby, I decided to offer some personal thoughts.
Powell's Wolverhampton constituency had seen a rapid increase in immigration, first from Jamaica and then from the Punjab in north India. I was almost five years old when he gave his speech in the Midland Hotel in Birmingham and though I obviously can't remember the details, I do know that the topics of immigration and 'race relations' were often discussed as I grew up.
The speech (full text here) still makes for a shocking read. There's no doubt that Powell knew that his words would cause a storm and in the speech itself he anticipated that he would be judged to be inflammatory and stirring up trouble. He was certainly right in this one respect - the speech provoked widespread condemnation.
But while many objected, there were also large numbers of people who claimed that Powell spoke up for them. Dockworkers and meat porters marched to show their support and in pubs, factories, offices and shops it wasn't unusual to hear people agree with him. I grew up in a town that was partly ashamed of Powell, but in which very often I would regrettably hear, "Enoch had it right."
In the 1990s, Nick Budgen (MP for Powell's Wolverhampton constituency) was interviewed on an early morning programme on Radio Four. He backed a colleague who had said that Powell had been right to highlight the problems of immigration. Specifically, the claim was that it had been a mistake to allow immigration to happen on the scale that it did. By this time I was married to Jennifer, the eldest daughter of two Jamaican immigrants who had moved to Wolverhampton five years before Powell spoke. I contacted the Wolverhampton Express and Star to alert them to the fact that Budgen had spoken out like this. Within a couple of hours the paper sent a reporter and photographer to our home to interview us about my concerns. I explained that I wanted to know from Mr Budgen exactly how I should tell my children that it "had been a mistake" to let their grandparents into the country. The paper ran it as the lead story on the front page and so, much to our surprise, we found ourselves as a family entering into the potent public debate on immigration. We had abusive letters from people we didn't know but on the whole we received an overwhelming amount of support for taking a stand.
In 2008 something is happening in relation to the debates about immigration. We seem to be losing our confidence in ourselves. The project of multicultural Britain' has been called into question and, for the first time in a long time, people are asking if Enoch Powell was right. The very question is saddening to me.
I believe he was wrong. Wrong, not only for his vile rhetoric, which irresponsibly fuelled the fires of prejudice and racism, but wrong in his logic as well. The main thesis of his speech was that immigration had imperilled the very life of the nation and that down the line, we would inevitably face violence and destruction. "It is", he said, "like watching a nation busily engaged in heaping up its own funeral pyre."
The truth is that, despite some notable setbacks, Powell's apocalyptic vision has not come about. In a remarkable way and with not a little difficulty, people from different cultures, religions, ethnic backgrounds and faiths have found it possible to live together. I am proud that our churches have been leading agents of reconciliation and a force for good, alongside many others. Contrary to Powell's sniping about "archbishops who live in palaces, faring delicately with the bedclothes pulled right up over their heads", our church leaders have worked hard to rectify the failings of the past and to build a sense of a shared future. The Diocese of Leicester's track record is excellent in this regard. Forty years on, I live in Oadby, a multi-cultural neighbourhood where community relations are very good. Our own church has many members who were not born in this country and we are richer for their presence.
My deepest disagreement with Powell is not that members of the "settled" community have found it hard to accept mass immigration. Plainly, some have. It's the way he described the inevitability of racial conflict that is simply wrong. Thanks to daily investments by millions of ordinary people, as well as by governments of differing parties, we have learned to live together. Britain today (and Oadby too) is thriving, diverse, culturally rich and a good place to live.
True, there are imperfections with the 'multi-cultural project' and it is the case that some people and some neighbourhoods live in a worrying degree of isolation from others. But we have found that given enough goodwill and the willingness both to accept the stranger and to integrate, we can live in cohesive communities. There are warning signs that we shouldn't presume that this cohesion is automatic. But these signs should induce us to further commitment to mutual purpose and shared values. Now is not the time to risk losing all the good we have achieved.
The future of neighbourhoods like ours in Oadby is certainly not to hark back to the offensive and erroneous theories of Powell, or to wonder what if immigration hadn't happened. It's to heed the potential for trends of separation and isolation and to work actively against them. It's to engage across apparent differences. It's to listen and to talk and to understand. That's why, in a small way, those members of different faiths and ethnic backgrounds who use our buildings and encounter each other in a precious community facility like St Paul's are part of the constructive resistance to all that Enoch Powell promised.
Helen Bence, Convenor of the Gartree Mission Partnership, writes:
Our first Quiet Day promises to be a very special occasion.
Led by Rev'd Dr Alison Morgan of ReSource, it will take take place at Gartree House, Illston on the Hill from 10 am - 4 pm on Saturday 17th May 2008.
The theme for the day is Streams of Living Water. Why not put this day aside to allow yourself to be spiritually refreshed?
To book your place, please phone our Lay Convener, Liz Smith, 0116 241 4270 or e-mail Liz at admin@thurnbychurch.com
This year’s full and mini walks start with a picnic lunch (bring your own food, drinks provided) at 12.15pm on Sunday 11 May at United Reformed Church, Rosemead Drive. Signing on will take place during lunch and the walk will start promptly 1.00pm. Boots or strong shoes are essential for those walking and the route is unsuitable for pushchairs. This year the walk will take a very picturesque route from Mere Lane and Newton Harcourt via Wistow to Kilby, down the field paths to the canal and Newton Locks before returning to the URC. Money raised will go into general funds that finance emergency aid and long term projects in the third world. So, whatever your age, please join us! Those under 16 need to complete a separate parental consent form. Sponsor forms can be obtained from your Christian Aid Representative, Chris Burberry.
The organisers are looking for marshalls – can you help? See Colin Chettle for details.
Churches Together in Oadby (CTO) is planning an informal and informative evening where Christians from a range of local churches can share our similarities and differences and learn from each other.
Following the very successful evening exploring different perspectives on Holy Communion, there will be a gathering on Monday 19 May 2008 at the United Reformed Church in Rosemead Drive to explore Baptism. All are welcome from 7.30 for a 7.45pm start.
For more details contact Revd Mandy Flaherty.
I've just received the latest electoral roll and counted 132 members of St Paul's Church, out of a new parish total of 336. The figure for St Paul's is around 7 more than a year ago. Thanks to Diana Courtney and John Thompson for their work in collating the records and a warm welcome to our new members.
There are lots of interesting reports in the printed booklet which has been made available in advance of the APCM next week. I thought I should share through the blog the report which I wrote for St Paul's:
I often welcome people to funerals at St Paul’s with an encouragement that our church is a safe place for laughter and for tears. In this last year, I believe we’ve shared together in joy which transcends a spirit of fun and that we’ve experienced tender care for our sorrows.
The highlight for me has been the wonderful Alpha Course, which has just finished. Nineteen guests joined us for a series of ten evening sessions and one whole day. Of these, thirteen had connections with St Paul’s which were only slight or non-existent. The greatest thrill is of sharing in the forming of trusting friendships as people experience the good news of the gospel. At the end of the course, over half the group want to continue in a follow-up group or join an existing home group.
Alpha has flourished because of our Lord’s presence, working in and through a wonderfully gifted team of leaders and helpers. Izzy, Anita, Ruth, Graham, Paul, Gill, Vivien, Colin, Anne, Gillian, and Gill have worked so hard and served so effectively. I sense the energy and motivation in Alpha has spilled over into other areas of our church life, so that a number of people have commented that St Paul’s has a particular ‘buzz’ about the place at the moment.
Numerical growth is important in any church but for the longer term the quality of discipleship and depth of faith are even more significant (and harder to measure). I continue to be heartened and humbled by the generous, faithful and prayerful commitment of the church community. We do count numbers though and here the news is encouraging: the steady trend of growth continues. On average, the number of adults attending worship was 82 in Dec 2004, 90 in Dec 2005, 89 in Dec 2006 (affected by the refurbishment) and 95 in Dec 2007. In the year to December 2008 the increase was about 7% and the attendances in the first quarter of 2007 have been strong.
We welcomed new people who have joined us, including June, Anna, David, Stephen, Lindsay, Helen, Daniel, Graham, Virginia, Gilbert, Alistair, Iain, Steve, Khosi, Linda, and Carey. They each bring unique gifts and I trust they feel very welcome among us.
In September we gave thanks with Steve Carter for the journey he had shared with us as a member of St Paul’s for many years. Steve had decided that the future for him lay as a member of a Baptist church rather than within the Church of England. We are very grateful for his ministry at St Paul’s, his prayerful teaching ministry and his total commitment to serving our Lord. It’s a pleasure to continue to meet Steve at CTO events in Oadby.
We also said farewell to Irene Townsend who moved away after many years with us.
We were thrilled when Chloe Thomas was selected for training for ordained ministry and last autumn waved Chloe, Gwion, Angharad, Huw and Sian goodbye as they set off for Ripon College, Cuddesdon.
Sadly, we lost dear Jack Cooper this year, whose sudden death shocked us all. The church was packed for Jack’s funeral and the praises we sang and the love that surrounded Grace and the family in their bereavement were a testimony to the affection in which we held him. In Jack’s last weeks his bold and fervent faith was apparent in a very striking way. We miss him.
For a long while, St Paul’s was one of a rare number of Anglican churches whose ministry in weddings, funerals and baptisms was minimal. I’m delighted that this is no longer the case and that we serve the wider community through the whole range of these ‘occasional offices’. This couples with our outreach through our buildings (again at record levels) and the work in our local schools to ensure we are fully engaged in mission to our neighbourhood.
I jotted down a list of the words and themes which have been familiar in our mission this last year. I don’t believe that a specific blueprint for anything as dynamic as a church community is appropriate. But I am certain that a sense of direction, strategic planning and openness to the Spirit’s leadings are vital. If you’ve been around at St Paul’s this list will probably be familiar to you:
“opportunity church”
gratitude
truthful, powerful storytelling
personal welcomes, public goodbyes
“you’re invited to share in cake after the service!”
silence
flowers
intentionality
simplicity
attentiveness (especially to the small voices)
just being there
quality (offering the best to the Lord, especially in worship and witness)
laughter and teasing
Breakfast at Barney’s
blog
hospitality
reverence
grace, gratitude and growth
As I learn more in ministry I am convinced that the work of the church is simple-but-demanding. I contrast this with the kind of novel, complicated-but-easy solutions that we sometimes fantasize about. They just don’t exist. In reality, the church’s work is what it always has been – loving service, faithful witness, devoted worship, patient prayer. Simple but demanding. In the power of ourselves, impossible. In the strength of the Spirit, transforming.
This requires a team effort and I am grateful to all my colleagues in ministry for their gifts, patience and kindness. In closing this year I want to single out two people for a special mention. Dinah Cheney has retired from her role as Church Secretary after 20 years of service and I am very grateful for the co-operation and collaboration we have enjoyed in the past five years. It’s also time, under the rules of the Church of England, for Vivien to step down from her role as Churchwarden. We are all enormously indebted to Vivien for her tireless work, prayerful devotion and always-positive attitude.
Above all, we give glory to God and trust him for the year that lies before us.
As I said during a sermon in March, I rejoice at being able to echo the words of St Paul, “In our prayers for you we always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. You have heard of this hope before in the word of the truth, the gospel that has come to you. Just as it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world, so it has been bearing fruit among yourselves from the day you heard it and truly comprehended the grace of God.” Colossians 1.3-6
Last night we enjoyed ourselves with 32 people packed into our home for one of our regular "Welcome Nights". The idea is really simple. We invited everyone who's been involved with the recent Alpha course plus all those who've joined St Paul's in recent months. No agenda, no planning, just people.
It's good to chat over a cuppa at the end of a service but often those conversations are limited to a few minutes. So a longer evening gave us all the chance to get to know each other a little better.
Thanks to everyone who came and made it a very special night.
