10• feature

JOHN RACKLEY

Reflections

Children into adults

‘But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market-place Calling to one another: we played the flute for you and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn’ Matthew 11: 16-17 ONE OF Bath’s most popular locations is the playground in Victoria Park. On a hot summer’s day it is alive with children of all ages enjoying fun on the grass and rides. I walked through there recently and was engulfed in the cut and thrust of sibling rivalry.Two little boys who turned out to be brothers wanted to get on the same swing.Neither was prepared to give ground and eventually their mother arrived to exercise the wisdom of Solomon,although in this case her name was Debbie. I stopped to watch her grasp of diplomatic skills and realised that this was not an untypical event.In a space with more than a couple of hundred children there were more than a few squabbles going on. Jesus would have recognised what was going on.He used the scene of children not agreeing on to what to play to describe the dissatisfaction and confusion of His culture toward Him and John the Baptist. His contemporaries could not make up their minds about Jesus and John.Some thought one was more like a prophet,some the other.They could not make up their minds because they could not decide what mattered when it came to recognising a prophet.Jesus insults them by comparing them with children. He would not have made Himself popular by doing this. Childhood was not admired in His culture.It was to be left behind as soon as possible.The age of 12 was late enough. Paul reveals this way of thinking in 1 Corinthians 13:11 – ‘When I was a child,I spoke like a child,I thought like a child,I reasoned as a child;when I became an adult,I put an end to childish ways.’ It is not enough to dismiss this as Paul talking as his culture had shaped him.For the point he is going on to make is that in order to cope with the provisionality of adult experience we have to grow away from the childish approach that expects to find an answer to every question and stamps its foot when it does not. Childhood It is common these days to idolise childhood and overstate the need for Christians to become more childlike in their relationship with God.It seems to me that this has given sanction to all sorts of behaviour and attitudes that have not served us well. It is sadly my experience to meet people who were brought to a faith in Christ that encouraged them to believe it was just about being simple and trusting.They are now casualties of what amounts to deceit.They now discover that there are hard questions and complex issues that cannot be reduced to oneline answers.What worked at Key Stage One no longer holds at Key Stage Three. They are encountering the raw truth of adult faith that God does not do what we want,even when we say ‘please’nicely. Jesus did indeed say that unless we change and become like little children we will never enter the Kingdom of heaven (Matt 18:1-5).But,as His comments about playground whiners show,He had a realistic view of children too. He knew they could be petulant,aggressive,tyrannical and abusive.Above all,they could miss what is really important because they only wanted their own way. Hans-Reudi Weber writes:‘There is no romanticism in Jesus’s evaluation of children.Sometimes they are touching in their spontaneous joy and expectancy.Often they astonish us with deep insights.Yet sometimes children sulk and refuse to respond or understand’(Jesus and the Children,WCC). And so do adults.Sulky adults are children that have not left childhood behind.Paul knew the type.They were in Corinth falling out over worship,relationships,shared meals and so on. But in 1 Cor 13:11-12,he is not trying to be a foot-tapping parent waiting for his childish congregation to pay attention. He is offering them a way of believing for when life becomes opaque and does not turn out the way we expect.He tells them to drop the know-all attitude;to accept their limitations;leave the ‘I’m going to live for ever’generation behind and start realising that there is a point when all will become clear,but when that happens is not for us to decide. God is not the provider of answers to every question in this life.God is the understanding companion who accompanies us through life’s complexities to its end. The task is not to get children to believe this but to help them to become adults who do.

The Revd John Rackley is minister of Manvers Street Baptist Church,Bath

Two days living on the Edge

Leading Edge celebrated its tenth anniversary last week. Ruth Dickinson and Kristen Nicole Sayres went along to see what all the fuss was about

IF YOU’VEnever been, it’s easy to think of something like Leading Edge as little more than a week’s camping holiday with a bit of Bible study thrown in. That was certainly my attitude as The Baptist Timesjoined 1,200 Baptists for a couple of days.It turns out I may have rather underestimated it. Tuesday First things first – there are 500 people here under 18, so we ditch the adult sessions and spend the morning ducking and diving between each different age group finding out what they are doing. We get sidetracked by the eight-11s who are making towers out of copies of The Baptist Times. It’s a fast-paced, highly energetic session, with lots of short activities. ‘The morning session is basically designed to be a Saturday morning TV show,’ explains its leader,Stuart Mathers. That explains the paddling pools of squashed tomatoes,and the game involving smashing eggs over children’s faces then.Still,it’s clear they are having a blast. The 16-18s are making timelines.‘I know it’s a bit like school … but give it a go,’ says Mark Massey, one of the session’s leaders, encouragingly,explaining to me that it’s part of a scheme to give them an overall picture of the Bible,and how to read it and understand it. Children in Church has been a big issue for the Baptist Union of Great Britain recently, and everywhere we go it’s encouraging to see that young people are not just being entertained,they are engaging with God. ‘I don’t babysit, I’m here to build up and develop kids’spirituality,’explains Stuart.‘You’re going to neglect children if you don’t see their needs as equal to adults’needs. ‘Things like Leading Edge are important for children. If you don’t bring them together in a meaningful way, they won’t recognise they are part of a wider body.’ Next we wander between the adult seminars – apologetics, leadership, family matters and evangelism. I choose Jim and Juliet Kilpin who base their evangelism seminar around the five core values of the Baptist Union of Great Britain – prophetic, inclusive,sacrificial,missionary and worshipping. ‘Values are important in shaping the models of church,’explains Juliet,adding that they help us to understand what we as Baptists stand for. ‘They help us to look at what makes us distinctive.’ It’s thought-provoking stuff in a postdenominational era, where, as Juliet says, many people choose a church not for its denomination, but because it’s where they feel comfortable.Why be a Baptist? What does it matter? At 12.30pm, we take a break and put up our tent.We are approached almost instantly by John

and Janet Taylor from Stoke Newington Baptist Church, and are bowled over by their friendliness. They invite us to have a meal later with their party – 28 members of their church. After calling in at a drama production by our neighbours – The Silhouette Theatre Company – which children loved because it was interactive, we head for tea. It’s John and Janet’s eighth year at Leading Edge, and each time they have brought more people from their church along with them. This year’s posse includes five deacons, the three elders, lots of kids and some non-English speaking people. ‘You get to know people in a way that you just don’t have a chance to at home,’ says Janet. ‘We don’t go to every single meeting there is here, because there is equal value in just sitting down and nattering to people.’ ‘Just being together, living together, is very important,’ adds John. ‘And it’s been wonderful to watch people grow spiritually.’ We eat, play football,wash up and it’s like being part of a big, messy extended family. ‘This is what all church should feel like,’ says Kristen. It’s 7.15pm and time for the evening celebration, which is packed again. There’s a young lively worship band which is polished and soulful. ‘Sometimes you don’t know how to connect with God in a setting like this,’says Girls’Brigade director Ruth Gilson, one of the contributors. ‘The music is playing, and there is a sense of God’s presence, but you’re just not sure what you’ve got to bring.’ She reminds us of the woman with the alabaster jar, and encourages us fill our own jar with troubles and worries and to let it drop before God. Someone else shares a picture of a clear beaker with water which can’t get out because there is cling film on the top. The message is becoming clear – we have to let go and unblock,and that will allow God to work. In his sermon, Dennis Pethers seizes on the theme. We do Church in a certain way because it’s the way we’ve always done it,he says.Most churches are not places he would bring his seeking friends to because he’s not sure they would find what they were looking for there. His advice is firstly, to be creative in the way we do Church and life; secondly, to be inclusive; and thirdly,to be passionate. ‘I just think that is missing so often.If we can let go of our old ways, then God can do a new thing, and I long for that to happen.’ It is an intensely spiritual experience and at the end,lots of people go forward to receive prayer. At 10pm,we meet up with some of the youth leaders who have had a ‘totally inspired and Goddriven evening’ with their young people. It’s excited them,not just to see children responding

THEBAPTIST TIMES Thursday,August 24,2006

4.35pm – Archery was a popular choice for the afternoon activities

2.39pm – Chris Baron is brought o production of The Piper at the Gate

5.05pm – After finally getting their spend some time relaxing
THEBAPTISTTIMES Thursday,August 24,2006

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6.32pm – After dinner, a young girl learns how to make a cat’s cradle

7.19pm – Evening worship was led by Leigh Barnard

10.20am – Hundreds gathered for the morning Bible study led by Stuart and Jill Briscoe

on stage during the Silhouette Theatre Company’s tes of Dawn

r tent set up, our neighbours Matthew and Sam Deal

9.05am – Staple Leading Edge refreshments: pancakes and cups of tea

5.21pm – members of Stoke Newington Baptist Church prepare for their dinner

10.06am – While the adults took part in the Bible study, the eight to 11-year-olds competed to make the tallest tower out of old editions of The Baptist Times

to altar calls and receiving prayer, but also for themselves – it’s making them think about what they might do in the future. Wednesday AT 8AM we wake up cold, stiff, a bit soggy from the dew and tired due to an uncomfortable night. We should have brought a caravan. Our cheerful neighbours offer us tea and bacon sandwiches but,as we have to get to communion,we reluctantly decline. At 8.50am we sheepishly creep in late and join 15 others for a contemplative communion in the chapel, and then it’s time for breakfast. People I don’t know very well comment on how many pancakes I seem to be eating. Over a cup of tea, I talk to director Jon Stannard about his day,and the point of Leading Edge.His hope is that people will leave the event feeling inspired and empowered to make a difference at home,and in their churches.

‘Especially this year, there was a sense that Leading Edge was not there to condemn or to make people feel like they weren’t doing Church,’ he says, ‘they know that: they know Church is not what it should be, and our job is not to keep telling them but instead to say,“You can go back and do something about it. God’s not finished with you yet.”’ It’s now 9.40am.We arrive late for the Bible study, a series led over the week by Stuart and Jill Briscoe.Today it’s Jill,preaching from Luke 4. She is composed, engaging and sobering. At the end,she urges us not to look too far for our mission field – more often than not,she says,it’s outside our front door. During a break at 10.30am, we wander round talking to people about what they get out of Leading Edge. Some highlight particular worship sessions, speakers or seminars. For many, it’s about the meeting with other Christians, the family atmosphere and the

chance for a break while still being able to spend time thinking about their faith. ‘It’s a time when I can get my focus back on God again,’says David Oakes of Bethel Baptist Church in Swavesey. ‘When you’re in your normal church, you’re busy doing things you have to do and you lose sight of what you’re meant to be doing.I come here to be refocused.’ There’s much food for thought there, and I want to sit and think about what everyone has said. I wonder what my mission field is. I wonder what’s holding me back. Part of me wishes I was hanging around for the rest of the week to try and figure it out. My mind keeps drifting back to what Jon Stannard said about sending people home equipped and inspired and ready for change. ‘God is doing things here, and that’s why Leading Edge is so much more than just a holiday,’he said.I’m inclined to agree. Words: Ruth Dickinson, pictures: Kristen Nicole Sayres