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The number of people living with HIV in the UK has trebled in the last 10 years.
UK Statistics

People living with HIV:

* More than 80,000 people living with HIV in the UK
* One in three people with HIV are undiagnosed
* One in every 360 pregnant women in the UK is HIV positive

New HIV cases in 2007:

* 7,700 new diagnoses in the UK in 2007
* 2,700 new diagnoses among men who have sex with men
* 3,500 new diagnoses among people from black and minority ethnic communities

All figures from the Health Protection Agency report: UK HIV New Diagnoses, August 2008.

HIV is increasing in every region of the world

International Statistics

People living with HIV:

* 33 million people living with HIV worldwide
* 30.8 million adults
* 15.5 million women
* 2.0 million children under 15

New HIV cases in 2007:

* 2.7 million total new cases
* 2.3 million adults
* 370,000 children under 15

HIV-related deaths in 2007:

* 2.0 million total deaths

All figures from UNAIDS.

I ended the service at Drumchapel Essenside URC with these brilliant words from Roddy Hamilton:

let us go out
with quiet boldness,
tender daring,
simmering anger,
impatient justice.

let us go out with provocative peacemaking
into advent,
enough to crack open the moribund and dry faith of the world
in it’s spent and necrotic cravings.

let us go out with a message
that disturbs the world with restless whispers
about god and incarnation,
goosebumps and justice.

let us go out
and muffle our laughter
behind an unnerving truth
heaven-shaped
sharp-edged
waiting to crack it all open
and let the glory through
with a living word:
jesus

Restless whispers.  Goosebumps and justice.  That’s what Advent is for me.

Let the waiting begin.

Looks like quite a nice place!

Christmas is coming

The waiting begins

It should be a time of joy and anticipation and yet the lectionary gives us Isaiah 64:1-9.

7 No-one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and made us waste away because of our sins.

God is gone

The people wait

Impatient

Fearful

Trusting

that God will return… soon

God is missing… but the rumours persist.

God is missing… but hope remains.

God is missing… but the people keep watch.

The waiting begins

what do you wait for?

Peter Johnston and Scott Rennie have the first part of a fascinating conversation about the book ‘Why Liberal Churches Are Growing’.  Listen HERE to their discussion about the challenges facing the ‘progressive’ church, creating community, the church and young people and much more.

Today was at an event organised by the Church of Scotland called ‘Emerging Church - Centre Meets the Fringe’ in a new church development in Gilmerton, Edinburgh (domain of the inimitable Paul Beautyman).  We’re hearing about ‘emerging church’ from people who are ‘on the edges’.

In some ways the day so far has been inspiring and in others ways frustrating.

Firstly, it’s a Church of Scotland event and despite the large minority of people here from out with the CofS it’s a bit Church of Scotland centric.  That said, the issues that they face are the same as every other denomination.  

The tension between denominational church and the expressions of faith out there in the wild was very evident as is the thought that ‘emerging church’ is just for children and young people, that 11am is a rubbish time for a service and that power is both a problem and an opportunity.

But what is also evident is that there are people around who are thinking deeply about what the church is, how we express faith and how the ‘church’ of the future might look and be.

I’ll try and get some proper thoughts together later but for now I’m inspired by Paul Thomson’s vision of Christians in the wild, being followers of Christ where they are.  Groups of people who share a dream coming together to make that dream a reality.  Grasping that thought that the Good News is for the poor, that people outside the institution still have faith and are managing to resource their spiritual journey just fine thank you very much.

What’s my role in all of that?  I work for a denomination.  I try my best to support, challenge and encourage it.  To help it’s congregations to develop and wrestle with how to be church here and now.

But part of me has disengaged.  Part of me wonders what the Sunday morning thing is all about (you might have detected some of this in yesterday’s sermon).  My questions are similar to the ones voiced here by Paul and by Doug Gay.  What is the church?  How can we reclaim some of that rich heritage of the word church?  Where does liturgy fit and how can it resource a richer experience?  How do we understand heracy and orthodoxy?

Questions, questions.  I like the questions.

Today’s sermon, preached at Barrhead URC.

Why are you here?  Today?  Why did you choose to come here this morning?  When you come here, what do you find?  Why do you come back every week?  To meet your friends?  To sing songs, to listen to people me, to hear the Bible read?

Your role in this whole Sunday thing is really very passive.  I decided the hymns, the prayers, the readings and the content of the sermon.  Your job seems to be to sit there and listen and to sing what I tell you to.

I suppose I hope that something you will hear or sing might cause you to think about your faith, your God, your place in the world, and if it does then that’s a good thing.  But if that is all that happens, if we have a nice time and are maybe stirred a little in our souls then we have completely missed the point.

Our Gospel reading today (Matthew 25: 31-46) is most definitely the point.  It is the reason for our being here, although it’s sometimes hard to see the connection.  Jesus tells the people listening to feed the hungry, give a drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, and visit the sick and the imprisoned.

Join the Advent Conspiracy!  Give your presence this Christmas!

Right.  I’ve decided what my Masters research will focus on.

I’m going to explore youth workers in church settings’ attitudes to social media.  I had a couple of chats over the last few days with Chris and Tim and they have helped me to focus.

So, my initial plan is:

To investigate youth workers in Scottish church based settings’ use of and attitude to social media tools.

I hope to find out

1. Who uses social media tools - demographics of use
2. What do they use and how
3. Are there policies or guidelines around use
4. what benefits do workers perceive?

How does that sound?  Your thoughts comments and insights are very welcome, as always.