The BBC documentary on Hillsong in the Storyville series

It was fascinating but uncomfortable viewing. It touched on the subject of child sex abuse and the devastating consequences of the distasteful crime. 

The documentary used the fly on the wall, cinema verite, technique with frank and penetrating interviews alongside footage of the phenomenal popularity of Hillsong services in enormous worship centres packed to capacity.  The growth of Hillsong and its popularity among young adults cannot be ignored. 

Having worked in the area of public protection and custody of sex offenders, and in prison ministry, I know how tragic and truly horrific these crimes can be.  The care of post custodial sex offenders raises many problems and painful decisions.  We need the vetting and safeguarding processes in our churches, youth organizations, workplaces and leisure clubs etc. 

 In the 20th century many sex crimes were not reported, recorded and recognised. Some have only come to light in recent years, because of fear, guilt, denial and disgust. During the wartime evacuation of children in 1939 onwards, children were put in perilous situations and sometimes people in positions of responsibility took advantage of these troubled times. Some children were too traumatised to complain and to tell what they had experienced.  In some cases the perpetrators were considered to be completely above reproach, like Pentecostal Pastor Houston in the Hillsong documentary.  

For some the effervescent Hillsong worship will be appealing and edifying, but others will find it shallow and ephemeral, without depth and substance.  I rejoice in seeing thousands singing praise to God. I also want to see serious measures taken when child abuse takes place.

     

 

 

The Dear Old Diocese of Winchester Dispatches its Bishop

 For the first time in history a motion of no confidence against a senior bishop in the Church of England, the Right Reverend Timothy Dakin, had been levelled but withdrawn when the Bishop agreed to resign. He was clearly an unpopular church leader, as the motion was signed by more than a quarter of the diocesan synod. There were many voices calling for him to go, which seemed inevitable in the face of such strong opposition. Tim Dakin knew that his disputed decisions and style of ministry had caused division, sorrow and anger. The highly controversial Bob Key/Channel Islands affair was a nail in the coffin of his career at Winchester. A financial and staffing crisis followed, and dogged demands for Tim Dakin to go were forthcoming. 

Tim Dakin will lose his seat in the House of Lords, among the Lords Spiritual, as the bishopric comes with a peerage while in office. The Diocese of Winchester ranks highly in the dear old Church of England, being only one below the Sees of Canterbury and York. It is one of the oldest bishoprics in Western Christendom, dating back to 676 A.D.

Penalty Pain Again

Well, not so well, we blew it again on penalties. It was very painful to see three penalties missed. The first miss was the worst as it was off target. Woeful. The next two were down to some extent to good goal keeping by the Italian giant keeper, Donnarumma, who is a hero. So is Jordan Pickford, who was magnificent and did not deserve to lose a penalty shoot out. It is sad for Saka and Sancho. They were not ready for this occasion, boys out of their depth. After two misses, Saka looked so nervous, and deep down I knew he was going to fail. Sadly he did, but I blame Gareth Southgate for putting him in this painful position. (I understand that he has now taken responsibility for this gamble.) Three misses will be remembered and not forgotten; the forlorn three (Rashford, Sancho and Saka) will be forgiven but they will carry the pain all of their days.

Roberto Mancini was the master manager. Southgate is still learning his trade. Yes, he has done wonderfully well and deserves praise for England performances, but his selection of penalty takers was unwise. Mancini's decisions at half time were magnificent and Italy were the better team with England on the back foot and struggling to retain the ball. Look at the possession stats. Italy were putting England under pressure and causing problems. England failed in the second half to make much impression on the Italian goal. Kane had no service and dropped deep in a midfield overrun by Italian maestros. Chiesa was brilliant. When Jordan Henderson came on as a substitute I knew that England would not win. He was not up to the job, not at that stage of the game.

 Roberto Mancini is now a national hero and his record is impressive, excellent. He will go down as one of the great head coach/managers in Football History.

 It did not help England when the referee failed to look closely at the monitor to review the Jorginho tackle on Grealish. Jorginho should not have been allowed to play on. A red card, in the opinion of many commentators and a former referee, was justified. It was a very bad and reckless tackle. Somehow it was not given, even with state of the art technology. Italy were, when all is said and done, the better side on the day. Even at Wembley, home turf, England could not win. The trophy did not come home, but will now go to Rome. That hurts!

The Dear Old Church of England

One of the former Archbishops of Canterbury once described the CofE as being like an elderly aunt at a family gathering, sitting in the corner and largely being ignored by other members and guests of the family, being treated with respect but really out of touch with what was going on. Another commentator on the CofE, who was in leadership, said that the CofE had been driving along but spending too much time looking through the rear view mirror. It was Stephen Fry who used the phrase "The Dear Old Church of England" in a debate on the Roman Catholic Church, not a force for good in the world. Fry spoke of the dear old Church of England as if it were a family pet or some benign old lady. I have visited quite few parish churches in the lovely Hampshire countryside and I am sad to report that some of them are like museums and historic places of interest. There is, in some cases, little evidence of vibrant spiritual life. In some parish churches there are few pew Bibles, sometimes no Bibles, a boring bookstall, no indication of a Sunday school or youth ministry, drab artwork and far more interest in the past than in the present. In some places the Spirit of the Lord has clearly departed. Ichabod?

MacArthur muddles along

Please correct me if I have misunderstood John MacArthur's teaching, but are we not to take the Scriptures literally when the text is clear and certain, as in the case of Romans 13:1?  Let every person (which includes John MacArthur) be subject to the authorities over him, for there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are ordained by God. That's clear and unambiguous. Yet, it seems to me, that JM is now opposing the Californian State on Covid-19 regulations. He is even getting involved in legal action. True? When it becomes apparent it is in direct opposition to sensible health and safety guidelines then there are problems with hermeneutics. There are other problems too. The legal costs, and the witness of his church, which seems to be ignoring medical opinion concerning the dangers of Covid-19 etc., will be remembered in church history.

Farewell dear Joel Edwards, we'll meet again one day (Yom Yahweh)

I was, and still am, so sad to hear about Joel's death yesterday. We were undergraduates together. His room was next to mine in Aldis Hall, Northwood, when we were studying Theology, sitting at the feet of great scholars, great Evangelical scholars, men who wrote commentaries, learned journal articles, worthy tomes and best selling books, which were found on church bookstalls. Although we both grew up on the streets of North London, our backgrounds were so completely different. Joel had lived with his mother and sister in one room in a rented flat. I lived in the wealthy suburbs where N2 meets N10. My grandparents were very wealthy, owning property that would be worth loads of money today. My paternal grandfather had three music shops, the flagship was in Highgate, N6. My maternal grandmother owned a whole street in south London, coastal bungalows in Essex, some coastline near Barnstable that Billy Butlin wanted to buy, and acres of land in Northamptonshire with a small thatched cottage. Joel grew up in abject poverty, as his mother worked at cleaning jobs, which were badly paid, to feed the family. His local Pentecostal church fellowship provided financial support, so Joel could go to church in his Sunday best and was well dressed at school. Coming from Jamaica the Edwards family faced lots of racial abuse. It was not easy to be black, poor and living in a single parent family with little means of financial support for education etc. Getting into college would have been a considerable struggle for Joel. I praise God for what Joel achieved. He was a great Pentecostal preacher, anointed, gifted, humble of heart with a tremendous sense of humour. He was unique. It was a privilege to have known him.