REV ANDY’S NEWS
AUGUST 2018
FESTIVALS
August is the time for festivals. 
This year I am taking part in two; New Wine in Somerset, and Greenbelt in Northamptonshire. I went to New Wine on my own and camped. Normally I rather dread camping, but this year was great, with good weather and a proper camping chair and table. I heard lots of interesting talks and had loads of conversations. In particular I tried to ask any teens I found – and there were lots – what social media they would use if they were me. To my surprise they all said facebook!
One of the most popular speakers was an almost-30 Miriam Swaffield who had moved to Middlesborough three years ago to be a Christian worker. Her secret weapon was tables! If you wan tot impact your neighbourhood, get to know your neighbours. and the key strategy is to invite them for a cuppa round the kitchen table. The rented house she had had no kitchen table, so the first thing she did with a friend was to buy one from the local second hand shop. A lovely solid wooden table. She did not realise how heavy it was until they had carried it half a mile to their house. Only one problem: it would not go through the front door! A single mum was passing with her baby in a buggy and immediately went to fetch a screwdriver, undid the legs and got the table in. That’s how Miriam met her first neighbour. And it is something we all can do! All the speakers were blessed with a sense of humour, and I left in better spiritual shape than when I arrived. Next year’s festival is on united.new-wine.org
This weekend Linda and I are going to the Greenbelt festival, but staying in a farmhouse b&b. Linda is looking forward to the hilarious poetry of Harry Baker, and the wide vision of the world that Greenbelt provides. See greenbelt.org.uk. I am specially looking forward to the talks by Paula Gooder who always shines a new light on to the Bible, specially Paul.
PAUL
One of my favourite Bible writers is St Paul, but he’s not always easy to understand. And since most Church of England churches started having holy communion as the main service every Sunday, most sermons are based on the gospels, not the letters. So to fill the gap I have beed writing a series of blogs on Paul. You can find them all at bibleinbrief.org. These are they:
Paul – Who was he? His life story, including his two other names!
Paul and Jesus What did Paul know about him?
Paul – why we get him wrong? The questions which bother us are not what bothered him, and vice versa.
Paul on circumcision A painful topic, but key to understanding Paul’s letters
Paul on Food A follow-on from the previous blog
Paul on the Law What Paul meant was quite different from what we mean.
Paul on sex Perennially interesting, though was he right?
Was Paul anti-women? Has he been misunderstood?
Was Paul anti-gay? Yes, but not the end of the story
Paul on Justification The heart of Paul’s message, and why we keep getting it wrong
And coming shortly:
Paul on faith Just what did he mean?
Paul and ethics A few surprises here
Paul and the Spirit Finally, some really good news!
But they will come at more than weekly intervals, because they need quite a bit of research and thinking. But they will come! I would love to hear your thoughts!
WHAT GOOD NEWS? Progress Report
Last month I said that I had finished writing the essay about the context in which the gospel was preached over the first 18 centuries of the Christian era. I said I would be finishing it this last month. Well, I have failed. I wrote the section on the 20th century with little problem, but came to a screeching halt at the year 2000. I suddenly realised that in the last 20 years our whole culture has changed profoundly, and I will have to do a whole lot of reading and exploring in order to write something that makes sense.
What I now realise is that what I have here needs to be part of a completely separate book called “What Good News – Addressing Post-modernism”. There will be a series of other sections like “The End of the End”, “The History of Hell”, “Dawkins’ mistake – it’s all story” etc.
So I am afraid it won’t see the light of day this year. I hope it will be worth the wait.
MY WRITER JOURNEY Slip-ups and recovery
Correcting mistakes One of the strong pieces of advice writers are given is to use, and pay, a proof-reader. I have not done that, with the consequent discovery of 42 corrections which need to be made to my book “Bible in Brief”. One mistake was to specify Isaiah 25 as one of the readings, when it should of course have been Isaiah 24. (You have to be seriously nerdy to spot that one!) Next week I plan to sit down with my book designer and sort it out. I will also amend the cover to bring it into line with my other titles.
Copyright Problems The other day I was surfing the net about copyright and the Bible, as one does, when I discovered that I needed permission from the copyright owners of the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible – there was just too much Bible text in my book on Job. My publisher was quite sanguine about it, saying it was unlikely they would sue me. Let’s hope not. So my next task is to write to them in the States asking for permission to publish. Keep your fingers crossed!
DISCOVERY IN A CONVENT
Finally, do have a think about joining me at St Michael’s Convent on 14th September. And if you can’t manage it, could you perhaps host a weekend at your own church. I would be happy to come.
Discover how to help families explore the Christian faith in five user-friendly steps in their own homes
Rev Andy Roland, author of Bible in Brief,
will lead five interactive sessions
based on the book “Five Steps to Faith”
in a relaxed weekend in the beautiful setting
of St Michael’s Convent, Gerrards Cross.
14th – 16th September 2018
£120 for the weekend (residential)
or £30 non-residential
The Five Steps are:
Who or what is God?
Who was Jesus?
The Cross – a tragic mistake?
Resurrection – can you believe it?
Holy Spirit – presence and power
For more information email aoroland@gmail.com
Book at: hospitality@sistersofthechurch.org.uk