Archbishop of Canterbury’s final New Year’s message; Archbishop of York tells Coalition ‘find moral courage to tackle care scandal’; A judge rules Sunday is not important to Christians
Archbishop of Canterbury: appreciate the silent conspiracy of generous dedication
The Archbishop of Canterbury has used his final New Year’s message to pay tribute to people whose unsung efforts and sacrificial generosity helps to transform lives and build communities.
In the BBC message, the eleventh he has done since taking office in 2002, he drew on the experience of the London Olympics to illustrate what it took to make the games so successful: “…everyone who visited the Olympic site or watched the broadcasts will have been made aware of the army of volunteers who cheerfully gave up their free time and worked away, without complaint, all hours of the day and night to make these great events happen. They were the key people who translated the Olympic vision into reality for the rest of us.”
Similar things are happening in many communities, he says, and points to the work of London churches in caring for the disadvantaged: “…over twenty local churches are combining to offer food and shelter to homeless people in London. Religion here isn’t a social problem or an old-fashioned embarrassment, it’s a wellspring of energy and a source of life-giving vision for how people should be regarded and treated.”
This kind of contribution, he says, explains why so many of the things which work well in communities come from the hard work and selfless generosity of ordinary people who want to make things happen:
“If you have the good fortune to live in a community where things seem to be working well the chances are that if you slip backstage you’ll find an army of cheerful people making the wheels go round – and don¹t forget just what a huge percentage of them come from the churches and other faith groups”
“So let’s recognise this steady current of generosity that underlies so much of our life together in this country and indeed worldwide. It’s all based on one vision – to make our society, our whole world, work for everyone, not just the comfortable and well off.”
And he challenges people to ask what they can do:
“We should be prompted to ask the tougher question: what can I do to join this silent conspiracy of generous dedication? There’ll be those who have time and skill and strength to offer; there¹ll be those who have less of these, but can support in prayer and goodwill.”
All of this, he says, gives us joyful glimpses of the quiet, unfailing generosity of God.
Full text of the Archbishop’s New Year Message is below:
Whenever I make a broadcast like this one, I’m acutely aware of the gap between what I’m seeing here and what you’re looking at, at home.
You see me now sitting quietly in my study. What I’m seeing is a small crowd of wonderfully expert and efficient technicians doing the filming, meticulously checking the pictures and the sound.
What we see happening is only a small part of what’s going on in order to make it happen.
And this last year we had a chance to notice this, for once, in a very vivid way.
The extraordinary events of the Olympics and Paralympics last summer provided an unforgettable spectacle.
But everyone who visited the Olympic site or watched the broadcasts will have been made aware of the army of volunteers who cheerfully gave up their free time and worked away, without complaint, all hours of the day and night to make these great events happen. They were the key people who translated the Olympic vision into reality for the rest of us.
It ought to make us think a bit harder about all the other folk who quietly, often invisibly, turn vision into reality and just make things happen – especially volunteers.
Here at the Robes project, over twenty local churches are combining to offer food and shelter to homeless people in London.
Religion here isn’t a social problem or an old-fashioned embarrassment, it’s a wellspring of energy and a source of life-giving vision for how people should be regarded and treated.
So let’s recognise this steady current of generosity that underlies so much of our life together in this country and indeed worldwide.
It’s all based on one vision – to make our society, our whole world, work for everyone, not just the comfortable and well off.
And it’s a vision that sometimes seems to need Olympic levels of patient hard work and dedication.
If you have the good fortune to live in a community where things seem to be working well the chances are that if you slip backstage you’ll find an army of cheerful people making the wheels go round – and don’t forget just what a huge percentage of them come from the churches and other faith groups.
How very good that people like that are there for us, we can say – but as soon as we’ve said that, we should be prompted to ask the tougher question: what can I do to join this silent conspiracy of generous dedication?
There’ll be those who have time and skill and strength to offer; there’ll be those who have less of these, but can support in prayer and goodwill.
And as we think about this silent groundswell, perhaps our minds can begin to open up to the deepest secret of all – the trust that the entire universe is held together by the quiet, unfailing generosity of God.
What we see and grasp isn’t the whole story – but just occasionally we can get a glimpse.
I hope there will be lots of joyful glimpses like that for you in the year ahead. Every blessing and happiness for the coming year.
BBC report – Archbishop hails UK’s volunteers
The Archbishop of Canterbury pays tribute to unsung volunteers who help transform lives and build communities, in his final new year message.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20873719
Archbishop of York tells Coalition ‘find moral courage to tackle care scandal’
The Archbishop of York has urged David Cameron and Nick Clegg to find the “moral courage” finally to solve the funding crisis in elderly care.
Dr John Sentamu said it is time for “action now, not more posturing” over whether to implement the recommendations of the landmark Dilnot Commission to cap the cost of care.
He said it is a simple question of doing what was “morally right” and upholding the basic Christian values of compassion and respect for elders.
His comments represent an unusually direct intervention into a party political issue for a senior churchman.
They come at a time when the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are embroiled in delicate negotiations over whether to implement the Dilnot report as the centrepiece of a “relaunch” for the Coalition.
Writing for The Daily Telegraph, Dr Sentamu insisted: “The virtues of compassion and care have helped make our country what it is today – but sadly they are becoming forgotten, along with the people who gave us them in the first place.
A judge rules Sunday is not important to Christians
By Cristina Odone, Telegraph – I’m scared that was the last Christmas we celebrated with a church service. The High Court ruled last week that Sunday is not a core part of a Christian’s belief; next, they’ll decide that Christmas is not, either. Mr Justice Langstaff has decided that a Baptist who works in a care home can be forced by her employers to work through Sunday too. This, even though her colleagues were happy to take Celestina Mba’s Sunday shift so she could do what all devout Christians do on a Sunday – go to church.
It didn’t matter that no one was complaining about Celestina Mba’s Sunday observance; her employers, Labour-led Merton Council, wanted her to drop her religious obligations. They’d decide what she was to do on the Sabbath day – not some dusty Bible. God? Who’s He? The Fourth Commandment? What’s that?
Christians like Celestina Mba had better take note: they live in an environment so hostile to Christians that any show of allegiance to this religion will get them into trouble. Don’t wear crucifixes, don’t pray for a patient, don’t try to foster a child: practising Christians are now barred from any of these activities. This, even though the majority of Britons still count themselves as Christians.