Realms of Glory by Catherine Fox Reviewed

Realms of Glory by Catherine Fox is the third of the Lindchester Chronicles (after Acts and Omissions and Unseen Things Above). It again looks at life in this fictional Anglican diocese over the course of a year. As the third book it of course provides continuity but this one felt different, less catty – certainly from June and the middle of the book onward and desperate to give us some hope.

The books were written in weekly blog installments, but I have preferred to wait for the complete books. Thus, I didn’t know what to expect – although I did know this is the one where some of the loose ends or perhaps loose characters were likely to be sorted out. This tying up of loose ends was arguably too neat, but one knows that just because the end of one stage of life ends with apparent tidiness and just the odd frayed end that it can all unravel again and this is a mere snapshot of one point in time.

As I say this book somehow differed in tone but was perhaps my favourite as it was less pantomime in places. There was no moral commentary on what we should think of people and perhaps most importantly no highly characterised villain - (just as well because after the last one I spent two years as a university chaplain wearing a navy hoody with the word chaplain on the back being mocked by my husband). There were ordinary people struggling the difficult aspects of ordinary life.

This book contains no sensational affairs or falls from grace, although the ones from the first book is touched upon at one point. It does contain compassionate, sensible safeguarding and pastoral care – perhaps reflecting on how the world and the church has moved on from when the first book was written. In fact, there is only one point when it moves into the realm of possible, but really? And that is when one of our heroes delivers a baby – but really? I mean he’s good but delivering a child that quickly as well as keeping the other kids occupied with cookies?  Still it did raise yet another smile in relation to this character who the reader has been rooting for through all three books.

The author lets herself slip through slightly more in this book I think. She is a lecturer who teaches creative writing and there are writing tips peppered through this one. Whilst all fictional it was interesting to see how life has mirrored art. The lecturer married to the archdeacon finds herself married to a bishop when he gets promotion. In real life Fox wrote this in blog form whilst married to a cathedral dean and by the time it was published in book form her husband had been promoted to bishop. The angst she, like many, felt about both Brexit and Trump also comes through.

But what of the CofE politics you might ask? Those things so prominent in the first two books. Well they’re here in this one…..the Green Report and the ongoing debate about same sex marriage. Yet they are less of a focus, certainly after Brexit. They move, rightly, into the background with points (such as the reliance of many diocese on LGBT+ staff) being implicitly rather than explicitly made.

Did I enjoy this book as much as the other two? Yes, and in some ways more. It wasn’t the happy endings it was the fact surprising things happened but in a more gentle way.

As I end this review I want to say thank you to the author for the trilogy, which I have very much enjoyed.

Reclaiming Hope by Michael Wear Reviewed

Reclaiming Hope: Lessons Learned in The Obama White Houseabout the Future of Faith in America is the new book from Michael Wear. It was the title of the a lecture he recently gave at the University of Birmingham, where he is a Honorary Research Fellow in the Edward Cadbury Centre for the Public Understanding of Religion.

I must admit I was wondering, after the lecture where Wear was clearly jet lagged, what the book would be like. I found it an easy but thought provoking read and not at all the academic text I was perhaps expecting.

This book can be described as part memoir, part political and social analysis and part reflection on Obama. It might be best described as thoughts from a reflective practitioner. 

The relationship between evangelicals, Catholics, staff in the Office of Faith Based and Neighbourhood Partnerships and more secular staff in other parts of the Obama team is examined here from the perspective an insider located in a particular place.

He is an evangelical and by virtue of his Democratic involvement, clearly a more progressive one. He also has a Catholic background coming from an Italian Heritage background. These aspects of identity which he outlines in the book clearly shape his perspective on a range of issues he looks at, particularly those which might be described as moral issues.

As an English reader I found this book useful to highlight where similarities and differences lie between our two cultures and the political and religious landscapes within them. Some like the way in which our welfare system means some of the debates have been dealt with and put to bed for many years (such as on the funding for contraception) are widely known and discussed.

Others like the similarities between the place Obama found himself on with regard to same sex marriage in his initial campaign and where many in the British system are now were enlightening. This latter issue is one where my analysis differs from the conclusions which Wear came from and perhaps also stem from the fact we appear to have different positions on the issue.

For Wear the fact that Obama appears to have had a different personal and professional position on same sex marriage during the first election campaign and part of that candidacy and then appears to reverse it when advocating the legitimacy of same sex marriage is very problematic. It is, he argues, an example of why we might then find ourselves questioning what is said by Obama on other issues. I want to argue that whilst there is some truth in that it is actually emblematic of how many evangelicals (and others) have behaved on this issue. It also illustrates how some of the problems that Bishops in the CofE (following synod’s decision not to take note face).]

If we go back to 2008 there were known to be many people, including some cis het national evangelical leaders on both sides of the Atlantic, who were privately of the view that same sex marriage in monogamous, loving relationships was ok, but none had broken ranks. Publicly, they towed the line they were opposed to these and so Obama was simply taking the standard line. He wasn’t lying as such….rather he was separating his private and public view on it.

Coming back to 2017, this tension between the private and the public view does not hold in the way it did. However, in some groups such as the CofE there has been a tacit approval of this being the way to hold consensus on an apparently controversial issue.

Whilst I don’t agree this is ideal it is why I don’t condemn Obama on this in the way Wear appears to. For those who might fall into this category of having “private” and contradicting “professional” views reading Wear’s analysis may be useful in seeing exactly what the problems with this are.

With regard to the subject of Hope, Wear ends with some thoughts regarding where we have come to. Within this section he talks about how in an increasingly secularised world we have put hope into politics which becomes problematic and turns politics itself into a religion. Within this thinking he gives an indication of how we have reached our current polarised situation with regard to politics and how we might move on from this.

Is this a book I would recommend? The answer is yes as a quite interesting book which can be quickly consumed by somebody with a general interest in politics and or religion. For those who might be looking at this in light of his work at Birmingham University and expecting something meaty, probably not. I enjoyed the book and learnt some things from it but it did not give the depth I hoped it would.

Religion and Higher Education in Europe and North America Reviewed

Religion and Higher Education in Europe and North America edited by Kristin Aune and Jacqueline Stevenson is a book focused primarily on research from the UK and the USA, although as the title suggests there are interesting chapters that look at the European context more widely and include Canada. It is an interesting and useful interdisciplinary text which brings together the world of Higher Education practice the sociology of religion which reflects both the editors and contributors’ fields of specialisation.

 

What I particularly liked about this book is that it contains chapters looking at a range of different faith groups and their interaction with Higher Education. Jasjit Singh’s chapter “Samosas and simran: university Sikh societies in Britain” gave an interesting overview of their development and current position. As a chaplain who interacts with a range of users of the university multi-faith centre in which I am based this gave me a useful insight.

Similarly, Charlotte Shira Schallie’s chapter looking at Jewish student identity and the politics of identification in Canada was useful in giving an insight into the experiences of students from that faith. Whilst primarily focusing on the debate within British Universities on Israel-Palestine Ruth Sheldon’s chapter gave a complementary insight into Jewish student identity.

These chapters came within section two of the book: “The religious student experience: learning from qualitative studies”, which was for me the most interesting part of the book. It also contained a paper from Aune and Guest developing some of the material from the research study and book Christianity and the University Experience which they were involved in.

The most enlightening chapter within this section was Invisible Islam: Muslim student migrant’s everyday practices in French secular universities by Anna Virkama. The portrayal of the French Secularism tends to be stereotyped within British media and discussion as does the way it is negotiated. This article reminded the reader that the construction of identity and the negotiation of context is complicated and differs according to individuals. The reductionist approach many of us take towards that situation is shown to be reductionist by this chapter.

Qualitative research and case studies are interesting and have much to teach us but it is also useful to examine the wider scope of the landscape and this is what the first part of the book does, using more quantitative methods coming from survey data.

The United States has more data available and so it is not surprising that two of the three chapters in this part of the book focused upon them. Jonathon P. Hill sought again to caution people against reaching reductionist conclusions about the secularising impact of secular universities by arguing for people to look at a wider range of variables in relation to religious affiliation and belief by students. This chapter adds a useful new piece to the pile of material relating to the secularisation debate.

This common theme of “it’s complicated and varied” was echoed by Paul Weller and Tristram Hooley looking at How religion or belief frame participation and access in UK higher education. The argument they gives argues that with regard to the core concerns of education, retention and achievement / teaching and learning / the university experience religion is important and there should be far more data being gathered, analysed and acted upon in relation to it.

This argument that much more notice should be taken of religion in relation to the policies and planning of universities is taken up in the final third of the book “The place of policies, structures and curricula”. This chapter focused more upon the UK and Europe and dealt explicitly with some of the issues which come out of us living in the era of PREVENT and the events which are argued to have made it necessary.

The chapter by Sariya Cheruvalli-Contractor and Alison Scott-Baumann about Islamic Studies in UK universities: challenging the curricula did this more implicitly than other papers in this chapter. They looked at the way many courses still have their roots in Orientalism and the way in which the courses need to update themselves to deal with the lived experience of Muslims and Muslim young people today. This goes back to the earlier themes this book dealt with so well, the importance in recognising the diversity of religious identities and negotiation of context. This theme is further underlined by Joke van Saane who looks at “the role of religion and personal life orientation in curriculum development processes within the domain of religious studies”.

Adam Dinham’s chapter calls loudly for higher education institutions (HEI’s) and society more broadly to deal with the urgent need for an increase in religious literacy. This call coming loudly from within practical theology and the sociology of religion community and beyond is one which we need to take seriously. Doing this would enable HEI’s and others to do what Duna Sabri is calling for when she talks of the need for us to take the religion part of the 2010 Equality Act as seriously as we do other parts.

The conclusion and overall recommendations coming from this text come within the introductory chapter from Stevenson and Aune where they give 12 practical recommendations about how HEI’s could move further towards being “religiously inclusive”.

Is this book worth getting hold of? Yes, most definitely, if you have any kind of role in planning, policy formation or teaching and learning within universities or are involved in HE Chaplaincy work. It is a unique book which was published as part of the Society for Research into HigherEducation (SRHE) series. The breadth of the book, the multi-faith contributions and the fact it is the most contemporary text available with a range of contributions from top researchers in the field make it, I would argue, an indispensable text for those currently seeking to develop medium term plans in the current HEI context with all its shifting sands. 

The Invisible Church by Steve Aisthorpe Reviewed

Invisible Church by Steve Aisthorpe is a book I was eagerly awaiting having heard some good things about this study into Scottish Christians who were not church attenders. It is a book which has some excellent cartoon illustrations from Dave Walker whose work you may be familiar with.

The book acknowledges that it builds upon the work of Francis and Richter in Gone for Good? And Alan Jamieson’s A Churchless Faith. What it fails to mention is that both these books are somewhat dated now. Gone for Good was published almost 20 years ago and A Churchless Faith published in 2002 was followed up by Church Leavers: Faith journeys five years On in 2006. The texts this study is building upon are therefore not cutting edge. Yet, as Aisthorpe acknowledges they are still useful.

What I was surprised about was that he did not make mention of much of the work that has arisen on the subject of pioneering and which has itself build on Jamieson’s work. He does make passing reference to FreshExpressions and new monasticism as well as the recent Church Growth research but I felt the text could have made more use of some of the contemporary work. It was a particular loss that it was clearly produced just prior to Grace Davie updating her text on Religion in Britain since 1945 and producing Religion in Britain: A Persistent Paradox. I believe that reference to this updated text would have been particularly useful to the author.

The sample for the qualitative part of the study was relatively low at 30 interviewees. However, Aisthorpe does make use of other social survey material which had a much larger data set and used a random sample.

It was a highly readable book which was easy to work through, but perhaps that was part of the problem with it. It was too readable and seemed to lack depth. There were so many places where I wanted him to expand because he seemed to be only skimming the surface of some very important points.

One area where the book was very good was critiquing some of the stories and studies which have given rise to a range of assumptions about who leaves church and why. His myth busting chapter two was well balanced and made some important points which people who have not been closely following the development of the secularisation debate in the UK may be unaware of. This, summed up both the strength and the weakness of the book for me. It provides an excellent introduction to the current situation but for the more knowledgeable reader if felt sadly lacking.

The “So What? Questions and Activities for Further Reflection” sections at the end of each chapter were useful reminders and provided some useful tools for reflecting on my own practice as a local preacher and experience as a church member.

Whilst he is wary of the models of stages of faith as put forward by Fowler and others this topic is what he is really discussing in various forms in the chapters on “exit routes” and “life really is a journey”.

My favourite chapter was “A Longing for Belonging” which explored a range of issues related to welcome and inclusion in churches beyond those topics which are normally included.

The view of the church which came out of this was one which was realistic, if at times stark. I think these parts of the book are important for all of us to consider.

As with many others Aisthorpe is of the view we are at a pivotal moment in the history of the church and in the mist of something happening which we need to be ready to go with. He highlights some of the risks associated but this book explains why they are important.

Would I recommend the book? Yes, if you are new to the topic or if you are a local preacher, etc who needs a kick up the backside. As I say it is certainly very readable.

Pioneer Spirituality edited by Jonny Baker and Cathy Ross reviewed

Put this up on my review blog earlier. Realised that it may be interesting to readers of this blog too. Pioneering Spirituality: Resources for reflection and practice edited by Cathy Ross and Jonny Baker, published by Canterbury Press, is the latest work from the CMS stable.

Whilst distinctly different from its predecessor , which I reviewed last year -The Pioneer Gift ,it still has the familiar format of having a range of chapters from practitioners in a range of contexts. The work that Baker and Ross do involves seeking to facilitate the hearing of voices which might not otherwise be heard. This has primarily involved seeking to ensure that it is those who would describe themselves as pioneers whose stories and theological reflections are heard.

The scope of contributors to this book seems wider than in previous texts of this kind. It seems that going beyond the traditionally recognised type of fresh expressions and pioneering projects they are engaging more widely with different types of pioneering. This includes hearing the voices of Harvey Kwiyani who is one of a group of Malawian pastors living and working in Nottingham and Berdine Van Den Toren-Lekkerkerker and Benno Van Den Toren who are originally from the Netherlands but have worked in various parts of the world. The former discusses African Spirituality in Western Contexts and the latter From Missionary Incarnate to Incarnational Guest: A Critical Reflection on Incarnation as a Model for Missionary Presence. There is also a chapter by anti-FGM activist Ann-Marie Wilson, who started 28 Too Many, on An Active Spirituality for Mission.

That said there are the familiar type of Pioneers in here too such as Gavin Mart of Engedi Arts who is a Methodist Venture FX Pioneer. Whilst Ross and Baker are careful not to speak with the voices of academics, rather presenting their introductory chapter in a more conversational form the academic voice is here too. Not only via Ross (and to a lesser extent Baker) but also through Stephen Bevans of Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. Bevans chapter Dancing with the Missionary God: Towards a Mission Spirituality seeks to identify six constant features of spirituality which provide a template for those engaged in pioneer mission.

The Bevans chapter is one which seeks to invite the practitioner to reflect on their own spirituality and seek to identify what both unpins it but also what sustains it. This concept of ensuring the pioneers own spirituality is sustained and the sharing of ideas and practices to help with this is the focus of the first part of the book. The most powerful chapters on this topic I believe are Kate Pearson’s on Angela of Foligno as a Model for Pioneer Minstry and Beth Honey’s Pioneers as Pilgrims. Both of these chapters were particularly useful to me personally as I seek to identify how to develop my own spirituality having moved into a lay university chaplaincy role – a role that in her chapter Pearson who is a chaplain at a different university describes as having “been a space for pioneers for a long time.” (p80)

Other chapters particularly in the second half of the book talk more about practice and how to help others develop their spirituality. Johnny Sertin’s chapter on Getting Dirty talked about doing this within a Church of England Parish Context whilst Tina Hodgett talked about it in relation to a group for young mums in her chapter on Doors in the Air: Baby Spirituality. These were interesting chapters telling the stories of what they were doing in a way which readers of the Ancient Faith, Future Mission series will be familiar.

Overall though this is more of a book to help pioneers themselves reflect rather than a book for those outside the system. It is a text to help understanding between different groups and to facilitate a conversation as illustrated by Kim Hartshorne’s We Are One Body Because We all Share in One Bread: Pioneering and the Eucharist. This chapter was focused on explaining to those from lower church backgrounds particularly why the Eucharist is so important to many practitioners from an Anglican tradition. This chapter articulated clearly why the rules matter to some people and why in finding new ways of doing things respect needs to be given to existing etiquettes. Again as somebody who doesn’t at times understand the need for the rules and restraints this was something I found particularly useful.

Overall this is a book which I would highly recommend to those who are seriously following developments in this area of pioneer ministry and mission because it highlights how maturing is now occurring. There is also more space being given to voices of those who have come from elsewhere to the UK which is good. I would also recommend it to practitioners who wish to reflect on their own practice and rootedness. Would I recommend it beyond that readership? I am not sure. Whilst it is a very good book and very readable and far less of a text book than some recent books I have read in this area it is still I believe quite specialist reading. It is clearly seeking to support the growing band of practitioners whilst developing some important conversations. It is a book of sharing ideas and also asking important questions of pioneers themselves.

Advent Reading by Richard Coles and Fiona Joseph

Fathomless Riches by Richard Coles and Beatrice: The Cadbury Heiress Who Gave Away Her Fortune by Fiona Joseph may not sound like the most obvious Advent reading. Yet, they’ve been what I’ve been delving into in recent days.

Why? Well part of it relates to the comments I picked up from one of the Queen’s lecturers whilst I was sitting in college communion (something I tend to do on Tuesday evening). He was talking about Advent being a time to examine our history and look for evidence of God breaking through. It is a time for looking back and looking forward whilst focusing on the difference Christ’s coming makes.

Both books enable you to reflect on the ways in which God’s kingdom breaks through and how this occurs in ways in which you might not expect. They also both, in their own ways, provide challenges for the reader because they show that ethics and actions are not simple.

Beatrice was a book I first heard about when the author gave a talk at Greenbelt a few years ago which I found absolutely fascinating. Somehow, though I never got round to reading the book until this week. It is a biography of Beatrice Boekes (nee Cadbury) whose Quaker roots and understanding of Marxist theory saw her adopt an increasingly radical lifestyle during much of her life. This included outdoors preaching which saw here frequently arrested and at one point giving up the use of money amongst other things. She was also responsible with her husband Kees for setting up a school and helping Jewish children escaping persecution in the Second World War.

This sounds admirable and it might be easy for one to get overly romantic about the world of Beatrice and her family. However, the book veers away from uncritical praise of her actions. Rather it details the difficulties this caused to her family and others who were seeking to ensure the welfare of the family.

Thus it shows that we need to think about our actions. God uses those who are willing to take risks and work beyond the status quo to help build his kingdom but those people have a duty of care towards those around them too.

Before I’d turned my attention to Beatrice and a Brum based book I had read Richard Coles Fathomless Riches or How I Went from Pop to Pulpit. This was a book I had pretty much avoided for a year. I suspect part of it was that I didn’t quite trust what I was going to get from it. I’m not entirely sure why but I didn’t. Then there was the fact the only comments I had heard about it seemed to focus on dogging, (suggesting people had not really gotten past the first few pages).

My view on the book changed in when I went to an event at the Birmingham Literature Festival where Coles was interviewed by Catherine Ogle, a Dean at Birmingham Cathedral. This previous post from my review blog explains something about why that evening changed things.

So it was I read the book, a memoir which does what it says on the cover and tells how a former pop star ended up training for ministry.

The book talks of his family and youth and then moves on to his life within the early 80’s gay scene in London before looking at his life post-fame and his involvement with the rave culture. It then moves on to exploring his interest in religion and the tensions he encountered between an Anglican and Catholic identity. Within this sex and drug use are a part but there is far more within this text.

First is one of the most moving accounts of the impact of the Aids crisis on the ‘80’s gay community I have read. This is something in the Literature Festival talk Coles had said he had not found cathartic to write. The pain within what he writes is clear and it is movingly described.

Scattered throughout the book are accounts of how he messed up and the regrets he has. It’s a book which seems scattered with references to repentance and gives some examples of what this might look like in practice.

I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed reading both books. They were both highly readable whilst subtly challenging. They also in their own way did show a real picture of God’s Kingdom breaking in on the margins as well as within the establishment.