Church in a spin

It’s all go here, as it is in Cranford where the body count mounts. Poor Matty. Last week her sister, and now her on-off gentleman friend. Who said TV was dead? Well, the chappy from Apple who was at our DC Conference for one. Good article on the subject in last week’s Media Guardian. Has the death of mainstream TV been exaggerated? http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/nov/26/mondaymediasection.television11

Big news of the week – I’ve joined Facebook! It had to happen. I resisted My Space, I’ve got an Avatar on Second Life who is in hibernation – if you’re ever there say hello. (His name is Carter Thursday). But Facebook was the one area I’d not got into, partly because all three of my grown up children have been on it for ages and will probably be a bit cross/embarrassed/ or worried that I am now their ‘friends’ and can check up on them. Amazed and mortified to discover that four diocesan colleagues are already there ahead of me. Ah well. Can’t always be cutting edge.

Last week, the big event was the bishop’s Advent Address, a now traditional feature in the Ripon and Leeds calendar. When he gave me a preview I was quite excited. Topical – bishop speaks out about the Lambeth conference; Controversial – bishop says those who refuse to come are misguided; Popular, as it turned out – everyone I’ve subsequently met has said wasn’t it a good, could we have a copy. Well the answer is yes. Its at http://www.riponleeds.anglican.org/documentstore/ADVENTLECTURE2007.pdf.

But if you don’t want to read it here’s my synopsis:

Bishop John told clergy and lay leaders from throughout the diocese that it was precisely the need to air disagreements that led to his predecessor, Charles Longley, the first Bishop of Ripon (who went on to become Archbishop of Canterbury), to call the first Lambeth Conference in 1867. In his Address, Bishop Packer states unequivocally that both he and the suffragan (or deputy) Bishop of Knaresborough, James Bell, will be attending the Lambeth Conference - where he said it was important that divergent views were listened to.

Good stuff. Hope it’s read by my colleague Tina Evangelides Donavan in New York. Mark Sisk, her bishop, would I think approve and be encouraged.

This week it’s still all go. Ripon Cathedral have just been awarded more than half a million pounds by the Heritage Lottery Fund. A bit much for changing a light bulb you might think, but I understand the new lighting scheme is a bit bigger than that. Then I’m in London, doing a presentation on my study leave in Rome and New York to the quarterly DC Network Day and possibly eliciting support for a Conference in Rome in 2009. We’ll see. I’ve been doing my research though and it all looks feasible. I will report back!