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Wandering in my most beloved of woods after my parents' deaths - part of nature’s healing cathedrals, offering sustenance and protection for the spirit and the senses, restoring wholeness. Green, not least, is such an earthy resurrection colour, pagan and Christian in the very best senses. . No wonder Hildegard talked of greening (viriditas); nearby legends here sing of Robin, Marian, of the May and Merrie folk; and Lincoln Green is the colour of life-giving - particularly appropriate in wintry lives. For, as the medieval balladeer sang, “When they were clothed in Lyncolne grene they kest away their gray"
Or, as the poet Letitia Elizabeth Landon (LEL) put it: “Come back, come back, my childhood; Thou art summoned by a spell From the green leaves of the wild wood, From beside the charmed well! 'Tis Red Riding-Hood, the darling, The flower of fairy lore…. a younger sister for the heart”
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Different faces of rural England are marked strikingly by this little stretch of road known as Chapel Street in Market Rasen, The central feature, alongside the trees, is the impressive Methodist Chapel (a witness both to the continuing powerfully transformative faith of John Wesley (here in Wesley's own county and so far beyond), and to the temptations of renewing movements of living Christianity to risk becoming somewhat 'respectable' and just 'another Church'). I used to fold and staple the Methodist Circuit magazine for distribution when I was a child - I guess, thinking back, that was my first significant ecumenical ministry?! A little unusually, the war memorial stands by the Chapel not the (Anglican) Church - a symbol perhaps of the strength of Methodism in the hearts of so many people.
It is so lovely to see the old Liberal Club again too - built in 1908 during the time of Britains's first great reforming government - a reminder of how British Liberalism (such a different thing from Australian forms) was, and still partly remains, the carrier of rural radicalism (land, people and liberty). The physical connection with nonconformist religion is so very striking here Meanwhile, the station entrance is a reminder of the great changes brought to this place and its land by the modern age - and a gateway to wider freedom and new and different worlds for some (of us) #landandplacescarryinghistory #ourlittletiown  This is probably my favourite view of St Thomas' Church - where I grew up, was confirmed, sang in the choir and was an altar server. Some 800 years old, it has offered sacred community, celebration and comfort through good times and bad (including many plagues, political horrors and upheavals, Reformation, revolutions and renewals, and contemporary changes). It was probably originally named not for the early disciple but after the martyr Thomas a Becket - politically murdered for standing up for (genuine) religious freedom against tyranny. So it knows how to adapt, survive and still provide space for divine flourishing. It will see out COVID-19 and maybe even the latest convulsions of the Church of England - some things are so much deeper than viruses and institutional failings. It has also held and helped grace so many personal family joys and sorrows - for what it ultimately stands for will always prevail 🙂 #ourlittletown
Have to love the history plaques on the Lincoln County Hospital walls - there are contemporary features too! - not least those to amazing women and interesting women’s contributions from pre-NHS days. Some of those women were remarkable active first-wave feminists, and all achieved things against the odds - just like those ministering amid the different struggles of COVID-19 pressures and under-resourcing today. I like to think the spirits of those named (and otherwise unnamed) will them on
 Dawn breaking on another day as I looked out from a bedroom window at the home my parents shared as our family home for 50 years. I returned yesterday as they are both in Lincoln Hospital with not much time left to live in this world, yet open to the next adventure.
 At the Actors Centre today for the Australian Directors Guild awards, with the wonderful Rachel Lane, celebrating her awards nomination for our short Equal Voices trans faith documentary with Rhett Pearson - ‘Faithfully Me’.
As leading organisations representing and advocating with LGBTIQ+ People of Faith and People of Faith who support LGBTIQ+ members of our communities, we urge that the current Religious Discrimination Bill be withdrawn from Federal Parliament and a genuine participative process be established to enable widely-agreed protective, not persecuting, rights for all. As it stands, the Bill can only enflame and enable further religious-based repression, without addressing the most pressing issues of religious concern, which impact upon marginalised people like ourselves.
So many of members of our religious communities are victims of religious-institution-based abuse and these experiences of abuse are a significant driver of our desire to see real safeguards for people of faith and all Australians, so that we are all able to live out our religious beliefs and other convictions without experiencing harm in our community places, where there should be safe places for all Australians. We have seen (not least in the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Abuse) how easily that safety can be lost - and how easily the true religious values of church or religious institutions are lost - when leaders exercise power without scrutiny and accountability. As LGBTIQ+ People of Faith, and People of Faith who support our LGBTIQ+ members, our participation in religious bodies takes many forms, but one central aspect is to challenge the self-serving actions of institutional leadership, and to create and push for checks and balances to the abuses of power and political influence in the hierarchies of religious bodies. We are concerned that this Bill would further embolden those who currently wield so much institutional power, to use this power to the detriment of ordinary People of Faith in religious institutions and schools, who find themselves the target of harassment and bullying for their sex, ability/disability, marital status, sexual orientation or gender identity - ordinary People of Faith who are there in every congregation and school, and who ask only to be accepted and supported in their faith journeys.. This Bill, as currently framed, would make it extraordinarily difficult for ordinary people of faith to experience this safety and acceptance; it would make it difficult for us to hold our leaders to account. LGBTIQA+ people are to be found in every faith community, and have particular need for understanding and support in contexts where they have historically been abused, misunderstood and scapegoated. LGBTIQA+ People of Faith don’t just cease to exist because a particular religious faction refuses to acknowledge their presence. LGBTIQ+ People of Faith and People of Faith who support LGBTIQ+ members of our communities refuse to stop existing simply because an institution would prefer us not to exist. We are a part of our faith communities, and that we continue to offer service to our faith and our religious institutions. We ask that our basic human rights to be recognised and those of all other vulnerable people whose lives are at threat from this legislation. Signatories: Australian Catholics for Equality Equal Voices Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches Australia Progressive Christian Voice Rainbodhi LGBTQIA+ Buddhist Community Rainbow Catholic InterAgency for Ministry Spark Church Sydney Queer Muslims Uniting Network It was wonderful to see photos of good friends and other people from across my old Diocesan community gathered with Elders and other First Nations community leaders at St John's Cathedral, Brisbane after the launch of the second Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan with which I was involved.. The gathering commenced with Yuggera Traditional Owners welcoming to their Country, dancing and carrying out a smoking ceremony on the grassy Cathedral grounds. Following this, community members processed into the Cathedral where the Reconciliation Choir sang and RAP Working Group Chair and Wakka Wakka priest The Rev’d Canon Bruce Boase gave an address, before introducing Archbishop Phillip Aspinall and respected Elder speakers, including Wangan Jagalingou Elder The Rev’d Aunty Alex Gater, Saibai Elder Aunty Dr Rose Elu, Kabi Kabi Elder Professor Boni Robertson and RAP Coordinator and Quandamooka Bundjalung Elder Aunty Sandra King. Following a moving time of truth telling and story sharing, fellowship over afternoon tea was enjoyed, with refreshments provided by First Nations caterer Three Little Birds Events. With thanks to all those who gathered in person and online to officially launch the RAP, as the journey in Reconciliation together continues. Visit the ACSQ website to explore our new Innovate RAP, which particularly embraces stronger procurement and recruitment strategies to support and engage with our First Nations peoples and endorsement of The Uluru Statement from the Heart: https://bit.ly/3r3DR8i.
 It was lovely recently to discover a copy of this book - bringing together two of my greatest Anglican muses. Originally written for the Welsh parish where both served, Jim Cotter juxtaposed his and other reflections with the poetry of R.S.Thomas. Such depth of interweaving continues to inspire and challenge me - for, at its best, and in different ways, the Anglican gift is that of poetic spirituality for the wider Church and world. As Jim Cotter wrote in introducing this book:
Writing this Preface near the sea in Aberdaron, and about to release this book into the world, I'm even more than usually aware of the prayer of the Breton fisherman: 'Seigneur, votre mer est si grande, et ma barque est si petite.' This is a book of grand themes, vast seascapes, mysterious divinity, and questioning humanity. - if only all faith outlooks were like that, how much richer and less troubled would our world, and our churches, be... I'm delighted to share this short non-binary video enacted poem, released on this Trans Day of Remembrance, as a tribute to our diverse lives and in memory of those whose lives have been so cruelly abused and taken from them this year - with thanks to artist & facilitator Chalise van Wyngaardt and their team, West End Uniting Church in Brisbane, the UCA Transforming Worship gender diverse liturgy group I’m coordinating, and all who have supported this initiative, financially and in other ways 🙏❤️🏳️⚧️🌈 |
AuthorJo Inkpin is an Anglican priest serving as Minister of Pitt St Uniting Church in Sydney, a trans woman, theologian & justice activist. These are some of my reflections on life, spirit, and the search for peace, justice & sustainable creation. Archives
November 2021
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