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The Speechless Sing - Page 29

  • Stokes Bay Festival

    It's Wednesday, we are in the campervan on a camp site in Moira, South
    Derbyshire near to it's border with Leicestershire and Warwickshire - it used
    to be mining country, now its the National Forest.

    If someone is reading this - then I must have found an Internet connection -
    hopefully that will be tonight, according to the book the site we are booked
    into for tonight has wi-fi, so we will see how that works.

    Last weekend we were at Stokes Bay Festival. Camped on the edge of the
    Solent, we had beautiful views of the Isle of Wight (when the rain stopped)
    and from our tent could watch the ferrys, hovercrafts, cargo ships and yachts
    fighting for space on the busiest piece of water imaginable.

    The festival was small - no more than 3000 people and had had to fight for
    the right to be the - with a number of the locals objecting to its presence. It
    sounds like it has been a bitter battle with lots of politicking going on, hence
    the was some tight restrictions on their licence - in particular the 10pm close
    time.

    Thursday was headlined by Glenn Tilbrook, playing a selection of his own
    songs and a few old Squeeze numbers - his own were good, but I must admit
    it was great to hear songs like Up the Junction and Slap & Tickle once again.
    He was followed by The Blues Band, Paul Jones, Tom McGuiness et al. must
    be old enough for their bus passes, but they still play some wonderful blues
    rock 'n' roll and of course know how to put on a show - great stuff.

    Friday, one of the highlights were second on - Circa Compania are twelve
    women who play, sing and dance to songs from around the world - often
    combining different styles and traditions in one piece - breathtaking stuff. In
    the evening Tony Benn appeared with Roy Bailey - telling stories and singing
    songs about radical dissent - it was interesting stuff, with Tony Benn's own
    cutting asides about the modern political scene and it's similarities to the
    Peasants Revolt, or the Diggers or Tom Paines's Rights of Man - not sure
    what happened in the second half, as the venue was uncomfortable and
    anyway I wanted to see The Saw Doctors. I've always enjoyed The SawDoctors
    and it was great to see them live, the humour of their songs. their own sense
    of fun and the sheer excitement of their music came through at every
    moment - joyful.

    Saturday, and the festival site was filling up, those who could only manage
    two days away from work and the day trippers, changed the feel of the place
    and provided some interesting insights into the way space is used - but more
    of that another time. Huun Huur-Tu had come all the way from the eastern
    Russian Federation - close to the border with Mongolia. They sang from the
    back of the throats, an amazing sound that merged in with high tenor voices
    and the instruments of the East - wonderful music. The Ukulele Orchestra
    were as good as ever - the whole notion is ridiculous, classic rock songs
    played on Ukeleles - but the muscianship is stunning and the delivery superb
    and the final piece - a Ukelele playing a piece by Handel whilst the other 7
    members each sang a different song at the same time - summed up the skill
    and beauty of their performance. Martyn Jospeh had the tea-time slot. I've
    always enjoyed Martyn Joseph, he sings about faith and grace and politics and
    justice and mercy with passion and commitment. But, this was an audience
    who don't know him and it was interesting to see him in that setting - in
    some ways he seemed to try too hard and so his warmth and humour didn't
    really come across and some of the issues he wanted to raise were lost in the
    sandwiches and quiches. Show of Hands are another band I've seen a number
    of times, they were very much on home territory having started out playing in
    pubs and clubs around Gosport - they were as entertaining and skilled as
    ever. The headliners were Capercaillie, great music - we needed space to reel
    but had to tap along instead - soulfilled

    Sunday, we took ourselves along to Bury Road URC - we had found them on
    Friday morning when we went looking for extra tent pegs having nearly been
    blown away on Thursday night and decided to worship there. I don't think
    they quite knew what to do with visitors - they were nice enough but seemed
    amazed that a new face had walked through the door. The service was
    pleasant, the singing uninspired, the sermon safe and sound - we were glad
    we had been. Back at the Festival, it was overcast, damp and then torrential!
    3 Daft Monkeys were a lively band playing pogo music. The violinist was the
    spitting image of my brothers partner - it was weird - her looks, her
    mannerisms - but then she was up on stage full of confidence - so it can't
    have been Mary - can it? They were followed by The New Rope String Band -
    a comedy act using a variety of instruments - violin, accordion,
    boomwackers, yes boomwackers - a child's toy that Chris uses at school -
    constantly telling children not to hit themselves or one another over the head
    with them - which is just what TNRSB did to make music. They were followed
    by Bellowhead - one of the acts that attracted us to go there - they were as
    good as expected, big band folk music that is exciting, skilled and creative.
    Up next Phil Jupitus & The Blockheads - Hit Me With Your Rythmn Stick - as
    Chris said, "they can play that to us when we get to the Old Folks Home". But
    then Alabama 3 - just didn't get it - don't like hip hop dance beats at the best
    of times, but there was an aggression there that was out of step with so much
    else, and then The Levellers - I loved it, Chris hated it (but we will see them
    twice more in the next fortnight so she might grow to appreciate them!) -
    reasons to be cheerful part 3!

    Cropody next up on Thursday - more music, more to experience.

  • Holiday Reading


    A week in Hunstanton with nothing to do but seek the shade, eat and read was a chance for some good solid holiday reading.


    Israel: A History, Martin Gilbert, (1998) was a Christmas present from my brother which I had been saving until I had time to read 700 pages of history in one go. It is strange reading a history which I have also watched on television and read in my newspapers  throughout my life. Some I remember with clarity, other bits surprised me - was the invasion of Lebanon really in 1982 at the same time as the Falklands War? I had never put the two events together. 

    Gilbert argues that the Jews have created a thriving nation out of barely occupied wilderness and desert, creating one homeland for the Jewish Diaspora whilst the Arabs have 5 nations in which to live and express themselves. There should be space for both communities to live together. He contrasts the way in which Jewish refugees were integrated into the new nation whilst Palestinian refugees were left in refugee camps by their Arab hosts in a deliberate policy of fermenting aggression towards Israel. He argues that the ideal of Zionism expressed through the first twenty years of Israel as a nation benefited Israeli Jew and Israeli Arab alike but that from the moment Israel became an occupying power on the West Bank and Gaza that the ideal was running into problems. With the political change from Labour's social democratic principals to Likud's hardline nationalist agenda and the rise of a more militant Islamic movement a peaceful solution was always going to be harder. Gilbert clearly believes that The Oslo Agreements were a chance, but he concludes the book still grieving the death of  Rabin and concerned by the renewed settlement policies of Netanyahu.

    I found myself reflecting on my own attitude towards Israel - sympathy for the need for a homeland; the logic of going ahead in 1947; amazement at the way in which they defeated their more populous better armed neighbours in 1948, 1956, 1967 and 1973; wonder at their ability to create a sustainable economy from refugees moving into a desert; but then sadness when confidence increased aggression: anger at their policies on the West Bank; confusion at those who work against any peaceful solution; sympathy for the plight of the Arab population and then the frustration of the missing last ten years! - although it looks like there is an updated version being published in September - I will need to sneak into the corner of a bookshop and read the last two chapters.

    For anyone who wants a broad overview of the history of Israel - the idea, the implementation, the political and military campaigns - this seems like a good source.

    And then it was time to move onto something completely different - a book that has been doing the rounds of St. Andrew's Coffee Morning.  Unveiled: Nuns Talking, Mary Loudon (1992) is ten conversation with Nuns and Sisters living in Religious Communities. It is a fascinating read as they tell of their background, their calling - some to enclosed communities, some to apostolic communities (living in a community but working in the wider world), their life, their frustrations and their faith. There was much to think about - the way in which God calls each of us to the place we are to be; the way in which we respond to Gods call; what it means to live in poverty, what they understand and how they have been impacted by chastity and obedience; the changes there have been as each Order responds to a changing society; the different ways of life that each woman has led and is leading; the challenges of contemplative life or an apostolic life. If you spot a copy somewhere - well worth a read.

    Anyway, time to go and pack ready for Stokes Bay Festival, which starts tomorrow - I will return when I find and then figure out how to use a wi-fi hotspot.

  • Sabbatical Plans

    Thursday morning and it feels like the sabbatical is beginning - not least because I've nothing to plan for Sunday, other than where to take my Mum & Dad for lunch after worshipping at their church. 


    Monday went well - a good funeral. Tuesday was a long awaited day in Bolton Local Studies Library finishing up some research on the Bolton Labour Church - more on that when I've revised the 10 year old essay into an article for the URC History Journal, and then yesterday returning our eldest to his new flat in Leicester - seems he can find more casual work there than here.

    So to plans - well on Tuesday I ordered a pile of books from URC Bookshop:-
    Africa Bible Commentary, General editor: Tokunboh Adeyemo
    God At Ground Level, Peter Cruchley-Jones (Editor), 
    Journeying Out, Ann Morisy
    Leading Ordinary Churches Into Growth, Alan How
    Mission Shaped Church - A Theological Response, John M. Hull
    The Word Militant, Walter Brueggemann

    and yesterday in Leicester I picked up up Christianity's Dangerous Idea, Alister McGrath on the sale shelf - I do like a bargain

    But I've begun with David Cornick's Letting God be God: The Reformed Tradition. So lots of reading to be done, hopefully picking up some ideas about mission and the ways in which a modern Reformed Church might respond to the 21st Century. And I will try to write some book reviews as I go along.

    But it's not just all reading. At the end of July Chris and I will set out to attend a series of Music festivals in a campervan we will hire from Derby, leaving our youngest to look after the house and the dog. The sabbatical purpose will be to to look at the way in which performance space is used and see what lessons can be learnt for worship. I'm particularly keen to move away from everything being done from the front facing rows of people who take a passive role - and have made various innovations that are equally loved and loathed by my congregations. So what can we learn from a different sort of performer? But of course we also looking forward to hearing some great music. At the Stokes Bay Festival - Glenn Tilbrook, The Saw Doctors, Show of Hands, Martyn Joseph, Bellowhead, Phill Jupitus & The Blockheads. At Cropedy - John Tams & Barry Coope, Levellers, Julie Fowlis, Fairport Convention. At Bideford - the way lots of venues around the town are used by different performers. At Beautiful Days - Squeeze, Levellers (Again!), Seth Lakeman, John Cooper Clarke, Arthur Smith. Then at Greenbelt, I have volunteered this year, so will see a different side of that festival - although Greenbelt need to pull their finger out and let me know for certain if they want me as I've not been impressed with the way they have taken ages to respond and then the long delays between each part of the process and then the sudden "Oh sorry didn't we send that to you?" - doesn't inspire confidence.

    And that will be August. In September the aim is to visit churches that are using a different pattern for their main Sunday morning service and places where midweek worship is happening. In doing so I want to see what is going on and of course borrow for my own context. Ideally these churches will be URC, Congregational, Methodist or Baptist and will have developed from a traditional inherited way of working - and will be small or medium side (< 60 congregation) and within decent public travel distance of Rochdale or can be visited whilst on our festivals jaunt, or visiting family in the East Midlands.  So If anyone has any ideas of who is doing what or want to invite me to something you are doing - then please do so.

    October will be spent at Westminster College, Cambridge - with three purposes in mind, reflect and write up the previous two months; get along to some lectures around the Federation; and as a Governor of the College get to know the staff and students a bit better than has been possible so far.

    So for those who sent me off last week with, "I wish I could get three months paid leave from work" - I hope you will see that there is some work going on ... but right now it is time for a brew and then the Tour de France without having to worry about hymns for Sunday!