"Here I am. Send me." (Isaiah 6:8)As followers of Jesus, we all have a vocation to discipleship first and foremost with some feeling an added sense of calling to a particular ministerial role. When I look back on the situations or activities that have fuelled me in the past such as teaching in one of the largest all-girls schools in Europe and Guiding UK, I realise I have always had a passion for women’s empowerment.I have been Diocesan Advisor for Women’s Ministry (DAWM) for several years now and frequently feel inadequate or insufficient in the role. Yet, like Isaiah, God touches my sense of unworthiness with cleansing words of assurance and sends me to ‘Go tell His people’.As DAWM I represent Guildford Diocese at a national level communicating relevant outcomes to the Director of Ministry. The National Association of Diocesan Advisors for Women’s Ministry (NADAWM) aims to be a resource to the Church of England. We advise and support the National Church, our Diocesan Senior Staff, and women in ministry on a range of issues, as we all work together to make the Church of England a place where women and men can flourish in their calling. NADAWM seeks to EQUIP, EVALUATE and ENGAGE.Consequently, I try to keep abreast of national and regional research and developments in relation to the ministry of ordained women alongside any specific training needs. I welcome the opportunity to listen to women’s stories and come alongside any who are struggling or in need of mentoring. I am fortunate that relatively few women contact me but maybe they are not aware I am here? Please feel free to contact me and I shall continue to be an advocate for women in our Diocese for as long as God calls, and Bishop Andrew requires me to.Reverend Rosemary Donovan, Vicar of Christ Church, Epsom.
The Church of England values our precious choral tradition which is at the heart of our Christian worship and the cultural heritage of the nation, and which offers a first class musical education to thousands of children and young people.Discussing the Government’s four-stage plan, The Bishop of London, Sarah Mullally, who leads the Church of England’s Recovery Group, said:“We understand the frustration that many feel at the limitations in current Government guidance at this stage and share the longing for amateur choirs and indeed congregations to be able to sing without restrictions.“During the Covid-19 pandemic we have worked with the Government to try to ensure that guidance for churches and places of worship was proportionate, and informed by a detailed understanding of our environments and practices. All along, we have encouraged the Government to be alert to the consequences of our choirs’ continued silence as well as the loss of congregational singing.“We are reminding the Government of the importance we place on singing to lift our prayers to God, and look ahead to step four and the enabling of the singing of choirs and congregations to fill our churches and cathedrals once more.”
Pentecost isn’t quite what we’d expect. The power and presence of Jesus is available to everyone everywhere, but, let’s be honest, if you were planning a worldwide mission - and had this sort of power at your disposal - surely getting everyone to speak the same language would have been the best way forward? It’s almost certainly what we’d have done if left in charge.But the Holy Spirit does the opposite. Not us speaking one language, but the Church speaking every language.God doesn’t reverse the astonishing human variety of language and culture. God blesses it.We shouldn’t really be surprised. You only need to glance out of the window to see that God delights in variety.We human beings – each and every one of us - are made in God’s image – with all our differences. What Jesus has done in his dying and rising is make that into a new community, the Church, which is like a body, made up of lots of different, but equally important, members. It’s the birthday of that Church that we celebrate today.By enabling us to speak about the Christian story in every language and every culture, the Holy Spirit not only affirms that all this variety is from God, but helps us understand and appreciate and serve the world in all its variety and difference. The Church should reflect this diversity and help every person to hear the message of the gospel in their own language. No one should be excluded.Thy Kingdom Come invites us to invite others to find their place and their joy within God’s Church. Invites us to go on translating the Christian message into the languages and cultures of the world and therefore reach out to those who don’t know Christ.We have something that everyone needs: the forgiveness that Jesus brings and the gift of the Spirit that binds us as one.But those who are not members of the Church yet have something we need. Because the Church is a body where every part is valued and necessary, when some people are cut off or excluded; or where some don’t even have an opportunity to hear the invitation of the gospel or are driven away by our failings, the whole body suffers.But when other people are invited in – as happened on the first Pentecost - the Church is expanded: not just in size, but in beauty and variety; and we even learn more about the beauty of God. For the God we worship is the one God who is known in the three persons of Father, Son and Holy Spirit: unity and diversity together.We are told that the coming of the Holy Spirit was like a rushing wind. You can’t see the wind, but you can certainly see its effects. So with the Holy Spirit. We can’t see it, but when we learn to love each other and love god and appreciate our differences and live together in love, then God’s Holy Spirit is at work.Oh come Holy Spirit! Amen
