Last week I wrote about holidays, times of rest and battery recharging. I am sure we are all different in this respect but for me, a holiday is a time to let go and recalibrate myself. It is a when I put back into perspective the parts of life that may have got distorted by the pressures of the moment. A chance to rebalance obsessions.
This week, The Hymn Society annual conference takes place in Lancaster University, with a Festival of Hymns in Blackburn Cathedral. I am a relatively new member of The Hymn Society, only joining about ten years ago. I was introduced to it by a retired URC Minister friend who was a lifelong member and past President. The late Martin Ellis was also a member and he too had been a leading light in the Society for many years when I joined.
For me, The Hymn Society conference provides spiritual refreshment. It is full of worship, good speakers and some interesting insights into different ways of expressing faith. A bonus is the privilege of meeting some of the ‘names’ beneath the words in the hymn books we use (provided your book is not Sankey and Moody or the original Methodist Hymnbook!). Gracious people with remarkable gifts.
Preachers and church leaders everywhere need to be renewed. Our denominations offer many forms of training and opportunities for growth. What works for you will not necessarily work for the next person. The Hymn Society works for me because it is rooted in our faith and rises above denominations, but with great insights into the different dimensions our denominations bring to modern Christianity. What is completely lacking is any form of ‘church politics’ and we are far away from the reality of problems of ministerial deployment and running the local church on a daily basis.
This is my variation on a theme of an annual retreat and the opportunity to boost the foundations of faith. Having found it, I would regret losing it again. The two bleak COVID years made that point abundantly clear.
Do you have a similar way of stopping for renewals and repairs in the course of your pilgrim journey. There will be something, somewhere that ‘works’ for you. It can be real without bearing the denominational badge but it can only be useful if it is a way of re-engaging with our living faith.
A Prayer
Lord God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, through the ages you have inspired people of faith to write words and tunes that have become an integral part of the life of the worshipping Church. We give thanks for them all and for what they bring to life in us, in our different ways and theirs. Spirit of God, go on inspiring us to respond to the Father who made us for the sake of the Son who redeemed us, to the glory of all. Amen.