Best-selling author, Alexander McCall Smith, launched a new range of innovative online theology modules on March 25th for STETS. When launching these new learning materials, Alexander McCall Smith said:

“Many people are interested in the profound questions of life that theology and philosophy address. This is a wonderful initiative to make these thought-provoking theological resources available to anyone with a computer.”

Alexander McCall Smith is perhaps best known for his series of novels about the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, based in Botswana. He is also Emeritus Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh. His cousin, Michael Anderson is a STETS alumnus.

STETS (www.stets.ac.uk) is one of a growing number of colleges making higher education learning materials available online at low cost to students anywhere in the world.

It is a world leader in online theological learning, with a distinguished forty-year track record in delivering distance learning. The modules were originally created in 2012 by British and international scholars for undergraduate students on the college’s validated degree programme.

STETS staff member, Beth Dodd, said at the launch:

“These online modules are lively and interactive, and written by people with a passion for doing theology. They make good use of the immense educational power of the internet. I think it is great that people can now access really good quality theological resources at home and at low cost.”

Sarah Guinness, one of our students in Vienna, Austria, spoke about her experience of studying online:

“These modules can be done anytime, anywhere – all you need is internet access. I’ve been studying at STETS whilst living in Vienna, Austria. I buy core books for each module, but have otherwise not needed access to a local library, as the modules provide a lot of varied reading material and STETS suggest websites if you want more information. Although I had a degree, I hadn’t done any academic study for almost fifteen years by the time I started at STETS. I found the modules very accessible and easy to follow. Their interactive style guides you through the process of learning and reflection, giving you articles to read, presentations to listen to, videos on YouTube, podcasts and other media. I’ve found the modules stimulating and have been able to plan my study around family and other commitments.”

• A is for Arrival, thinking back to when we first got here, when all that is now so familiar to us was new and unknown
• B is for Bossey, our chateau, with its classrooms, its library, its chapel and its wonderful views.
• C is for Cultural differences, where do we begin… I think it is safe to say that living and working together has made the world seem a much smaller place, but at the same time highlights those differences that makes us unique.
• D is for Dialogue, whether its been in the classroom, over coffee, with each other, with visitors, with staff or with friends we have made outside of Bossey, we keep on listening and understanding.
• E is for Ecumenism, well what can we say, our whole purpose for being here.
• F is for Filioque, one of the first ecumenical issues we came across here, our way of understanding our faith isn’t the same for everyone.
• G is for Geography, no longer having to look at google earth to check where a country is, because the chances are we know someone who lives there now!
• H is for Hospitality, for everyone who fed us, looked after us and answered our queries, we thank you.
• I is for Ignorance, what we may have started our journey with. Now we have gained knowledge, it’s hard to go backwards. In the council for Interfaith dialogue discussion in Rome, they suggested we should enter in to dialogue with other faiths by listening so we could recognise their values and find common ground for cooperation. Fear and lack of knowledge often assist in fuelling prejudice. 
• J is for John and the organic garden, for the fresh air, the hard work and the passion he developed in many of us
• K is for Koinonia, for fellowship and togetherness in Christ, wherever we may be  in the world.
• L is for Lund principle – The Lund Principle is important in ecumenical relations between Christian churches. It affirms that churches should act together in all matters except those in which deep differences of conviction compel them to act separately.
• M is for Myanmar and all the other countries represented here today.
• N is for Normality, what we are going back to, will life ever be the same after our time here? Should it ever be the same, if we are going to grow as Christians, all part of the journey.
• O is for Orthodox and other denominations, what we have learnt and how it will affect our ministry, lay or ordained in the future.
• P is for Petit Bossey, our home for 5 months.
• Q is for Questions, how would we learn without them, as Bob Marley would say, emancipate yourself from mental slavery.
• R is for Rome experience, still fresh in our minds, a week of worship and sightseeing, history and fellowship, a week never to be forgotten. 
• S is for Students, father Ioan speech at the being of this course, if you put a group of Bishops together and tell them they are students, they will behave like students. 
• T is for Taize experience, sharing in the spirituality of the place, coming together in prayer and silence.
• U is for Umbrellas, not just umbrellas, but the weather in general, from the warm weather in September to the snow in January, it was the first time some of the students had experienced it!
• V is for Visible Unity, what we should continue to seek. it is a gift from God, it is our responsibility as humans to make it happen for all.
• W is for the World Council of Churches, this provisional organisation which has and continues to do so much towards working for visible unity between us.
• X Is for the love shown to one another during our time together, forming friendships that will out live out time here.
• Y is for Yahweh, Father, God, whatever name we use, God is at the centre of all our lives.
• Zzzz is for sleep! The temptation maybe to leave here, return home and go back to sleep. But the reality is that this has been a life changing experience, and one we now need to go and live in the real world.

But I met you mostly in your work – I know that you have had your critics, finding your writing inaccessible. So what if I had to stop on every page, at every paragraph to wonder what you were getting at? When I grasped just a little, you left me wondering… changed somehow. Are we not commanded to love God with our mind? Thank God you couldn’t be summed up in a sound bite, though they tried. Thank God you wouldn’t allow Christianity to be locked behind church doors, but talked about the market place, the public sphere. Many religious people didn’t take to you, nor those in power… you are in good company.

The finest since Anselm? I am not qualified to judge but it has been an honour and a privilege to have lived during the same time as you and to have had you as Archbishop. You recalled me time and again to what really mattered.

Farewell and God bless.

Let me start by telling you a story.  When I was still in Circuit and about to move on, one of my churches was asked to describe the minister they would like to replace me.  Some on the leadership team announced that they had greatly valued my ministry and would like a man next time.   I now suspect that, because they were gracious people and knew that a small minority were more comfortable with men, this was their way of including everyone.  (Does that sound familiar?)  I found out about this in a Steward’s meeting and, well, let’s just say I slammed the door on my way out.  But looking back I learned two important lessons from that incident that I think might help you.

First – it was inordinately difficult to get people to understand that this was a matter of justice and of the church depriving itself of potential ministers.  They were good, kind and nice people (and one of my clearest memories of that time is of those who had the grace to come round to my house, look me in the eye and apologise); but because they were, most concern was focussed around the fact that I was upset.  Well, yes, I was, but I’m a grown up and I had loads of support.  The bigger issue that the church needed to face was that, had this statement been allowed to stand, they would have severely limited the potential candidates and that they had devalued the ministry of all women. 

I’ve read some tweets and blogs from Anglican women priests and my heart goes out to all of you.  To the women especially let me say this.  You have every right to be angry and hurt and must find appropriate ways of expressing it.  But please remember that tweets and blogs are public documents and that those who see things differently do actually believe their own arguments.  In other words, they actually believe that because men and women are different in some ways, we are somehow less fit to lead.  If the public discussion becomes too focussed on how you feel, can I suggest that you risk feeding the very prejudices against which you have to stand.

There is something here about being wise as serpents as well as innocent as doves.   Yes, I do believe that there is strength in weakness and that a person can be vulnerable and strong, I’m just not convinced that everyone does.  When you finally do have women bishops one of the gifts they will bring will be the fact that it is still easier for a woman to embody this than it is for a man.  My problemback then (and still) was that I cry when I am angry and a response of tears is interpreted as a weaker response than one of anger.  You may even need to work at finding good ways to show in public how furious you are, but keep the debate focussed on your arguments.

Congratulations to all of you who, having been kicked in the teeth then returned to your pulpits and your congregations and continued to minister.  Writing a book on shame has taught me that the worst thing about prejudice and about situations like this is precisely the way in which they get inside a person until, no matter how ridiculous the prejudice is, the person being putting down begins to be affected by it and has to work to remember why it is not true.  Don’t let that happen to you.

The second part of my story comes a couple of days later when I rang my District Chairman (and he was a man).  I thought I should confess the door slamming incident (shouting at your stewards is not high on the list of desirable ministerial attributes) but that phone call has left me with another overwhelmingly positive memory.  He said something along the lines of ‘if only I had been there I would have slammed the door with you.’  I can still remember the difference it made to know that he was 100% behind me.  How I wish you could receive the same gift.  So, perhaps I understand something of how difficult it is to have bishops who both make clear their own personal support for women bishops, but then have to reach out a conciliatory hand to those who oppose them.  I do find a kind of bitter irony that in a debate that is supposedly about the leadership of bishops they are struggling so hard to actually lead.

So let me finish by saying what I wish someone in authority would say to you and for you.

Paul has set us the example of how we are to care for the spiritual needs of those with whom we disagree.  Both Romans 14 and in 1 Corinthians 8 he urges us not to put stumbling blocks in the way of others, even if we think they are wrong.  We do not need to argue about who is the weak and who is the strong in this case, the issue is that the Church of England has turned itself upside down and inside out trying not to put a stumbling block in the way of the opponents of women bishops and in doing so has instead put them in the way of all (female and male) who are in favour.  The cost of doing so has been high.   It is time for the opponents to recognise that not having women bishops is stumbling block for their brothers and sisters in Christ and to work to care for the spiritual needs of others.

It is quite clear that this is an argument about the interpretation of Scripture and not the authority of Scripture.  Everyone in the church has an obligation to demonstrate and even argue for their understanding of what Scripture says, but no group has the right to expect the rest of the church to live by their interpretation.  To quote the Bishop of Sheffield, ‘The Church of England has determined for some years that the ….reading (supporting women’s leadership) is the right one for our times and, indeed, is (sic) our adopting it is overdue.’  The vote from the House of Bishops makes clear their position on this issue.  Would those who are so concerned about the authority of Bishops care to actually submit to it?

The vote in General Synod has also made it clear that according to theology of the vast majority of the Anglican Church, it is entirely possible that you are currently being deprived of the ministry and leadership of those whom God has called to be a bishop, purely because of a minority interpretation.  This is a serious issue, this is why you I pray you find the grace to remain within the Church of England and fight.  I am sure that speak for many in your sister denominations when I say that this is what we are praying for.

Yours,

Judith

Quotation from the Bishop of Sheffield taken from http://bishopofsheffield.blogspot.co.uk/ accessed 30/11/12

I went to our local hospital yesterday morning for some tests on an ailing shoulder. The parking and booking systems worked well. A cheery cleaner helped me use the new computerised scanner at radiography reception and offered me a copy of the local paper to read. A receptionist updated my medical records with a smile, even when I couldn’t remember the name of the new GP who had referred me. The professionals who conducted the tests operated their high tech machines skilfully, while relating to me personally. My visit ended earlier than scheduled, and the parking barrier worked flawlessly as I left.

We often think of hospitals being run by medics, managers and politicians. But, behind their work lies the work of researchers and engineers, transforming our lives through work in interdisciplinary fields like crystallography.

As if this were not enough, in the short time between my tests I marked one of a fine set of essays all of which integrate online study, experience and practice. That particular one thoughtfully assessed an imaginative church project that was meeting the practical needs of a new immigrant community with flair and faith. On my way home I listened to a new CD by a ‘has been’ musician. But the music was superb, and her work was supported by skilled but unsung backing musicians.

So, without forgetting the suffering of those who are out of work, or underemployed, I want to thank God for those who do ordinary good work, day after day. And, to all the ‘the regular working stiffs’ out there, I offer my thanks for what you are doing today.

Britain’s oldest man, Reg Dean, a retired URC minister, has just celebrated his 110^th birthday. Life expectancy has increased massively in Britain in the last decades. Seventy is now the new fifty! Many, though not all, of those retiring now can look forward to a long, prosperous, and, at least initially, healthy retirement. But this is now being seen as a problem. Will society continue to afford the rising cost of pensions and care for the elderly? Will the young begin to resent the resources being soaked up by ageing baby-boomers? These are genuine issues, but let’s not lose sight of the other side of the coin: a growing supply of wise, playful grandparents and energetic community-spirited volunteers. And, when people reach advanced old age, they sometimes gain the wisdom to gauge what is really important in matters of faith – not the petty differences that divide, but the love of God that unites all people of faith.