First thoughts

I just wonder how much time is spent in meetings about meetings to discuss something or other? Or is it that I am the odd one out and would much rather get on with the job.
Maybe we should have a meeting do decide about the next topic for the next meeting to debate the options about when to hold the meeting next term to decide the date of the next meeting.

So the Roman Catholic Church are changing their doctrine of Limbo.
I pose the question to everyone in blogland who has been to church in the last ten years. When did you last hear a sermon in which Hell was mentioned? Maybe it hs gone the same way as school playing fields and public parks and been sold off to a property tycoon or supermarket. Hell has not frozen over but been redeveloped with neo-georgian executive homes for 4x4 drivers. There might even be a branch of Tesco there.
I recall a time when the congregation was not happy unless they were threatened them with Hell at least once on a Sunday. What has the Church of England done with Hell?
Maybe I should break the duck and preach about Hell in my next sermon. I mentioned this to an evangelical friend who is from an independent chapel background. He smiled and agreed that even in his tradition he had not heard Hell mentioned for a good few years.
Of course those of us from a more liberal background have thought about Hell as being like a derelect industrial site where the former occupents have been released by the risen Christ. Like most derelect industrial sites it might just be redeveloped by some less than savoury business person with ill gotten pounds and a white van.Watching the trailers for the film Jesus Camp I can't help feeling that these property developers have arrived!

When I was a small boy...even smaller than I am now my mother used to say look me in the eye when you are talking.
Eye contact is a vital part of communication, the eyes are a window of our soul. So it seemed correct for Mr Straw to ask the Muslim women to remove their veils when he is speaking with them. I am sure it is an attempt by Mr Straw to engage in communication and not a matter of offending their religious beliefs.
There is no problem about the covering of womens head it is simply that Mr Straw would rather have eye contact with people. It seems he has walked into the pit of PC police who patrol our daily lives. Whatever next?
This is not an issue of religious freedom or human rights but simply an excuse to bash Mr Straw.
If people are so concerned about religious freedom they should concentrate on reclaiming Christianity.I can't help feeling that for some people PC is very one sided and an excuse to bash those of us who call ourselves Christian. Will there be a time when those who jump up and down about Muslim rights start to defend Christianity? I somehow think not. It is far too easy to bash Christians- we don't tend to take to the streets and burn flags etc etc. Our society is multifaith and multi ethnic, it might be time to consider that all religions should be treated the same rather than bowing down to Islam out of fear rather than respect.

It comes as no surprise to find that the good old CofE along with most other churches is in terminal decline. As we freefall towrds a fate like that of the dodo or some obscure Latin American tree frog we might want to consider how we got ourselves in this situation.
The biggest decline of church attendance is amongst those under the age of 20. Yet more and more parents want their children to attemd CE schools. Now it does not take an expert to figure this out, a cynic may suggest that many people attend church just so their offspring can get in the desired CE school. If such people are remove from the stats we face an even greater crisis. It is not possible to quantify the numbers of those attending just so their children can get in a school but anecdotal evidence seems to suggest that it is a considerable number. Yet, few people seemt to suggest that this is an alarming feature of the recent stats.
The solution to the decline in numbers attending Church lies in many areas not least of all our CE schools. It might be time for those at the top to start to consider the vital role our schools play in the future of the CE. After all it might even be said that we, the humble teachers of the Church of England schools hold the future of the mighty Anglican clergy in our chalky hands.