Summer 2012
NEWS from
www.ridley.cam.ac.uk
In this issue: THE QUINQUENNIAL INSPECTION REPORT The encouragements and the challenges p 2
A CHRISTIAN RESPONSE TO SUFFERING Retrieving Old Testament lament in Charismatic and Pentecostal theology p 5
WHAT KIND OF CLERGY DO WE NEED? Report on a Roundtable discussion between educators and bishops p 6
PRAYER CENTREFOLD PULL-OUT The 2012 Ember List p 7
YOUTH WORK IN THE NAME OF CHRIST CYM student Barry Easton on sowing the seeds of communion in God p 10
A CHALLENGE TO CLERGY Kina Robertshaw highlights a neglected but prime Kingdom battleground p 13
An archaeological dig at Ridley p 3 Roman and Iron Age finds
ANGLICAN PERSPECTIVES FOR CHINA Sabbatical guest Professor You Bin on what the UK can contribute to the Church in China p 16
College Inspection: The encouragements and the challenges Back in November, a mirror was held up to Ridley Hall by the team carrying out its quinquennial inspection. In the inspection report, published this month, the College is commended for delivering ‘high quality theological education, ministerial training and formation for ministry’. It is described as being ‘in very good heart and a vibrant learning, worshipping and praying community’. Benefitting from Cambridge’s rich academic and ecumenical environment, it provides ‘exciting opportunities’ for contributing to the mission of the wider church. According to the Report, the College earns the highest rating of ‘confidence’ on the majority of the inspection criteria. Where there is an overall verdict of ‘confidence with qualifications’, this is ‘based mostly on the need for better teaching facilities and other limitations on its present buildings’.
The Inspectors described the Victorian buildings as ‘a stunning architectural gem in excellent condition’ and ‘a pleasant place’ in which to live and work. However, they judged that facilities were ‘at the limit of what they can provide’ and that ‘more space and better space is required’. They offered strong affirmation for our ‘exciting, well-conceived and well-planned Development programme’ for improving and enhancing facilities. While encouraging the preparation of a ‘Plan B’ in the current financial climate, the inspectors judged that the ‘bold and imaginative’ plans were based on sensible assumptions and fully addressed perceived inadequacies.
The mirror held up to us reveals The College is applauded for the quality of much that is encouraging, for which The College is its community life, with its ‘distinctive, unwe can thank God. However, it leaves applauded for the embarrassed’ evangelical identity which no room for complacency. There quality of its ‘dynamic engages positively with diverse traditions are recommendations to address to through the common life of the Cambridge worshipping’ and ‘make good practice better’; and, as Theological Federation. Inspectors were the inspectors affirm, we must press ‘genuine praying’ ‘very impressed by the student body’ ahead with our development plans community and encountered ‘a real “buzz” to student in order to uphold excellence in minlife’ within a ‘dynamic worshipping’ and isterial formation and maximise our ‘genuine praying’ community. Another of Ridley’s contribution to the wider Church. Please pray for us strengths was ‘the cohesive and well qualified staff’ as we respond to these challenges. who ‘excel in service to the Ridley community and Andrew Norman, Principal of Ridley Hall are assets to the wider Church’. Linked to this was affirmation of Ridley’s well-integrated outreach initiatives, many of which are featured in this publication. Also meriting ‘confidence’ were the College’s curriculum formation and development, its training for the leading of worship, ministerial, personal and spiritual development, and the areas of business planning and finance.
The report offered strong affirmation for our ‘exciting, well-conceived and well-planned Development programme’ for improving and enhancing facilities.
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An archaeological dig at Ridley Finds date back to Roman and Iron Age times
Above: The site of the former Principal’s Garden, prepared ahead of the dig
Before the ground is prepared for Ridley’s proposed new building, we were delighted in the spring to work in partnership with Access Cambridge Archaeology on an exciting archaeological project. The 11-day dig was led by Dr Carenza Lewis, director of Access Cambridge Archaeology, and opened up to local residents and sixth form students selected to take part from across the country.
Neolithic scraper (front and back)
Silver buckle
Dr Carenza Lewis, with some of the finds
Dr Lewis described the finds as offering ‘tantalising possibilities...We have found signs of a Roman settlement and there may also be some Iron Age remains which will be excavated and recorded.’
Musketball Copper alloy ring, possibly Roman or Anglo-Saxon
Sixth formers and local volunteers were given the opportunity to take part in real research and to gain new skills
Copper alloy toiletry article, probably Anglo-Saxon
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The eyes of prayer The classical evangelical discipline of the ‘quiet time’ of Bible reading, study and prayer has sustained many generations of Christians, and continues to do so. For many reasons, not all to do with spiritual laziness, there are some who find this pattern and discipline difficult or unhelpful. One of the aims of the Simeon Centre for Prayer and the Spiritual Life is to encourage exploration of new patterns and ways of prayer, both because guilt does not help our Christian discipleship, but also because God is not interested in style. What matters to God is relationship.
theology of beauty; to find ways of new or ‘deep’ seeing that might be revelatory; and to learn a little about the playfulness that ought to be inherent in our relationship with our heavenly Father.
We are familiar now with the idea that God, who is the goodness underlying all that is good, and the truth of all truth, is glimpsed through things of beauty. That’s why Paul enjoins us in Philippians 4 to ‘think on these things’. Play, too, is much more a part of Christian spirituality today. Perhaps the hardest thing for us to learn is the central theme of the day, that when we allow the Holy Spirit to give us ‘eyes to see’, we may once again glimpse heaven, and worship. To that end, the use of a camera may well become the ‘eyes of prayer’.
Two years ago, the Simeon Centre held a day on Spirituality and Creativity, using a number of art forms as the stuff of prayer. On June 9, Ancient and Modern: The medieval church of St Peter Mancroft in Norwich, Adrian Chatfield another such day was held reflected in The Forum, home to BBC East (Photograph by Adrian Chatfield) on ‘Spirituality and PhoAdrian is Tutor in Christian Life and Thought and Director tography: Praying through the Lens’. The purpose of of The Simeon Centre for Prayer and the Spiritual Life it was threefold: to help participants to engage with a
Into Africa: Doctoral research on Pentecostal and Muslim relations in Nigeria Vicki Grebe, wife of Ridley ordinand Matthias Grebe, tells us about their plans to live for a year in Nigeria while she continues fieldwork on a topic with current global significance. For the last three years I have been working at the Faculty of Divinity here in Cambridge, though I guess you could say that my research differs quite significantly from that of an average theology degree. My PhD focuses on two new religious groups based in Nigeria – one Pentecostal, one Muslim – and their impact on each other and on the religious and cultural landscape of the country.
From September onwards, I will be undertaking the second stage of my anthropological fieldwork in Lagos and the surrounding area. The ‘religious marketplace’ in which competing radical revivalist 4
groups have operated has historically led to intolerance, and the interreligious relationships in Nigeria are apparently paradoxical – within the Nigerian context, competing fundamentalist movements have led to violence, but also to pragmatic co-existence. Holding to the distinctly evangelical idea of a personal faith, new movements in born-again Christianity and neo-Orthodox Islam correspond in the way that they seek renewal through a return to the ideals of the distant past (the Bible or Qur’an).
I conduct all my research Competing fundamentalist through ‘participant obmovements have led servation’ – that is, I get to violence, but also to involved in the religious and non-religious life of pragmatic co-existence all the groups I study, whether through worship and prayer, preparing food, or carrying cement on my head from A to B as part of an effort to construct new buildings! Last year I was based at the University of Lagos and lived with the family of a Professor there, but this year, my husband Matthias finishes his own PhD and ordination
Retrieving lament in charismatic and pentecostal theology Final-year Ridley ordinand Stephen Torr writes about his recently-submitted doctoral thesis, entitled ‘A Pentecostal/Charismatic Anti-Theodicy: Improvising on a Divine Performance of Lament’.
theology is often found wanting, which in turn often leads to unhelpful pastoral responses. My PhD thesis therefore sets up the question ‘what does it mean to speak rightly to and about God in the face of such situations in a way that is conducive to Pentecostal/Charismatic theology?’
In answering this I have attempted to retrieve the practice of lament, found predominantly in the Old Testament, in a way that takes into account the EasHaving grown up in Pentecostal and ter event and common beliefs in Pentecostal/CharCharismatic Free Churches for the ismatic theology about the role of God, sin, Satan first 25 years of my life, triumphalisetc. in one’s experience of, and responses to, suftic rhetoric in response to situations fering. In doing so I argue that Jesus actually legitiof suffering – sickness in particular mises and qualifies the practice – was something I was of lament as a fitting and faithful used to. I believed then, I have attempted way of speaking to and about God and still believe now, to retrieve the Old Stephen Torr in situations involving the type of that God can and does Testament practice of suffering in question. The thesis heal and intervene via ‘miraculous’ means, lament as a response to therefore acts as a counterbalance and that the presence of sin, demons and Sasuffering in which God and corrective to the lopsided, oftan all may play a part in the origins and/or appears to be absent ten overly triumphalistic theology continuation of specific situations of sufferand practice in many Pentecostal/ ing. I also continue to believe that God someCharismatic communities, and in doing so aims times allows suffering for a particular reason. However, to provide a much-needed pastoral resource for there are also times when suffering occurs that appears those in such communities who are experiencing innocent and meaningless and in which God appears to the type of suffering on which the thesis focuses. be absent. In such situations, Pentecostal/Charismatic
has long been a problem across the country, but since the year 2000 twelve states have adopted full Sharia law, prompting a sharp rise in clashes between Christians and Muslims over the issue. Interfaith dialogue and study is therefore particularly significant for Nigeria at this time. However, the significance of the Christian/Muslim encounter in this country is not only local, but global. Nigeria is an increasingly important player on the global socio-political stage and within transnational religious change. Vicki and Matthias Grebe
training. Matthias has deferred his curacy and we will go out to Nigeria together. He will be teaching at a theological seminary and I will continue my fieldwork. I hope to apprentice as a tailor in order that I might chat with Yoruba women about their experiences of life and faith. The significance of a study of Christian/Muslim relations in Nigeria is ever increasing. Religious violence
Please do hold us both in prayer – we very much find west Africa to be a comfortable milieu but we are also ever aware of the need to rely on God for things that often come more easily in Europe. The logistics of moving and settling into a new home and job, improving my language skills (and Matthias learning from scratch!), and finding close Nigerian friends will be so important. And pray for our continued safety, of course. Thank you all for your support – if you’d like to stay updated with our news then do email us at m.grebe@cantab.net and v.grebe@cantab.net. 5
Members of the Bishops’ Roundtable hosted by Ridley and Westcott House
What kind of clergy do we need? It was with some trepidation that I returned to Ridley for only the second time in 25 years to share in the Roundtable conversation with 23 fellow bishops and 14 very impressive but challenging theological educators. John Holbrook
I needn’t have worried. The quality of welcome and collegiality was outstanding, rooted in praying together in the two chapels. The mutual respect between Ridley and Westcott staff made an important contribution to the positive, good-humoured and open atmosphere of the consultation.
As a bishop I was grateful for the invitation to do some serious theological thinking with professional guides. It was no accident that almost one quarter of the bishops made time to attend. We were not disappointed. The event was stimulating, encouraging and inspired me with a new vision of ordained ministry.
It was no accident that almost one quarter of the bishops made time to attend
The complexity of our contemporary world, which is both sceptical towards the Church and open towards some forms of spirituality, was acknowledged and explored. We heard some cries from the heart; the desire that future clergy should be ‘gripped and formed by the 6
good news’, be themselves on the path of transformation through pursuing a sacrificial call to holiness, and inhabit a non-anxious resilience in the midst of a rapidly changing world and a slowly The clergy who inhabit this changing Church. vision will need a spirit of
adventure, a stability of There was much stress character and a delight upon the primacy of charin relating to others acter over performance, of ‘being’ over ‘doing’, the ‘competency of the core’ being as important as ‘core competencies’. We shared a longing for people of depth and breadth, mature disciples open to the whole mission of God in the world. The Consultation Report concludes: ‘The clergy who inhabit this vision will need a spirit of adventure, a stability of character and a delight in relating to others. They will also need a humble confidence: in their calling, in the gospel and in God’s continuing involvement in his Church and his world’.
My own call to ordination was greatly encouraged by hearing Archbishop Coggan’s enthronement sermon, words from which later featured on the Ridley brochure; ‘There is no finer life than that of a parish priest. Covet this calling. Train for it. Pour your best into it. Glory in it. Count yourself thrice-blessed, if you hear God calling you to it’. The Roundtable reminded me that this is still the most exhilarating and challenging vocation in the world.
John Holbrook , Bishop of Brixworth (Ridley 1984-86)
With this pull-out centrefold we invite you to pray for this year’s leavers as they prepare for their future ministry, whether it be in the world of work or in parish or youth and children’s ministry.
Ember List 2012 John Aldis (formerly Lay Worker for International Students at St Ebbe’s, Oxford) Parish: St Nicholas’, Newbury (Oxford) I was born in Galmi in Niger while my parents were serving as medical missionaries. I studied law intending to become a barrister but I experienced a call to ministry. After my curacy I would love to return to Africa with my darling wife Rachel, as a theological educator.
Natalie Andrews (formerly Mother and Speech and Language Therapist) Parish: All Saints with Holy Trinity, Loughborough (Leicester) I have met some wonderful people at Ridley and I’m looking forward to walking the ordained life with some of them! During my time at Ridley God has challenged, changed and called me. I now look forward to stepping out from Ridley to continue to be challenged, changed and called!
Kevin Barnard (formerly Project Manager for software implementation and consultancy projects) Parish: St Nicholas, Warwick (Coventry) How do I distil what I’ve learned at Ridley (and over my life so far!) about my beliefs and hope for the future into just a few words? 1. God wants us to know Him, and 2. Just when we think we know Him, He surprises us...
Stephen Broadie (formerly Pastoral Tutor, FE College) Parish: St John’s, Welling (Rochester) It has been a privilege to be able to live and study in such a beautiful and historic place. We have been blessed during our time here in Cambridge with the birth of our third child, Daniel. We are excited to by The Centre for Pioneer be moving toOrganised St John’s, a charismatic evangelical church in Learning and the Cambridge Centre Greater London, and to getting involved in parish life. for
Youth Ministry Mark Capron (formerly Employment Advisor) Parish: Joint Curacy in parishes of Pakefield and Carlton Colville with Mutford (Norwich)
It has been a true privilege and joy to have both lived and studied in Cambridge for three years. As a family we have loved being a part of the Ridley
Community and have numerous happy memories. Please pray for the transition for our family and effective ministry in two separate parishes. We are excited for what God has in store for us near Lowestoft.
Charlotte Cook (formerly Music Teacher) Before coming to Ridley I worked as a music teacher in Norfolk. It has been a privilege to spend the last three years living, working and worshipping here, and I will take a lot from my time in Cambridge. After a gap year I will begin my training in September 2013.
Sue Cooke (formerly Deputy Headteacher) Parish: Holy Trinity, Sunningdale (Oxford) Highlights of Ridley have been Gospel Choir, the prayer weekend, early morning prayer on Wednesdays, B Bar, croquet and my prayer triplet. I leave with great memories and precious friends. I am looking forward to life in the parish and trying to fulfil my God-given calling, and am delighted to be moving closer to family and old friends.
Lesley-Ann Craddock (formerly Director of a Multinational Nanny Agency; Community Education Programmes Consultant) Parish: Hatfield Hyde, Welwyn Garden City (St Albans), as an Ordained Pioneer I have enjoyed my time at Ridley, yes even the work! I have found support and friendship in the community and will always remember walking through the archway for the first time and feeling so proud to be there. Other archways are out there to go through now.
Daniel Critchlow (formerly University Student) Parish: St Hilda’s, Old Trafford (Manchester) My wife and I are really excited about moving to Manchester and helping serve St Hilda’s in Old Trafford. We hope and pray we can be a blessing to the parish and that God will be glorified through our time there.
Greg Cushing (formerly Student of Architecture, Christian Youth Worker, then Church Worker and Student at Cornhill Bible College) Parish: Holy Trinity & All Saints, Wandsworth (Southwark) I’ve loved spending three years in beautiful Cambridge. I’ve made some lifelong friends, played in five
losing Varsity matches (Rugby Union & League) which isn’t so good, but married gorgeous Ele in my third year which makes the losses worth it!
Matthias Grebe (formerly Student of Theology at the Universities of Tübingen and Cambridge) Vicki and I shall be moving to Lagos, Nigeria in September and plan to stay there for one year. I shall be working as a theological educator in a bible college/seminary, whilst Vicki continues with her doctoral research amongst local Christians and Muslims. I have therefore deferred my curacy-hunt for a year.
After years of various forms of lay ministry, training at Ridley was far more transforming than I had expected. The incredible value of residential training is now clear to me; the Ridley community has blessed me in countless ways, making me as prepared as I could hope to be. Now preparing for a new leg of the journey in Holborn, Kate and I leave as proud parents of Henry – the greatest blessing of all!
Ed Magee (formerly Community Outreach Worker, with focus on fresh expressions) I will be working three days a week in a therapeutic school as a therapist whilst I finish my therapy training.
Eileen Harrop (formerly Government
Jacqui Parker (formerly Early Years Teacher)
Advisor, Prison Governor, International Organisation Consultant, Hospital Administrator, Teacher) Parish: Tenterden Benefice (Canterbury)
Parish: Voluntary Chaplaincy work, Addenbrookes Hospital
God revealed that my call to ordained ministry was his desire since missionaries from Great Britain, Australia and America brought the Good News to my ancestors in China, Malacca and Singapore five generations ago. God’s refining fire has been at work in my life at Ridley, and so too his compassion. Brian has shared my journey and been my joy. Together we rejoice that God has gone ahead to receive us in Tenterden Benefice.
Andrew Jones (formerly Investment Analyst) Parish: Sprowston with Beeston St Andrew (Norwich) My last two years at Ridley have been challenging and engaging but also great fun; Cambridge will always hold a special place in my heart. I’ve made many friends and will look back fondly on my time here but as seasons change I look forward to joining in with what God is doing in my new parish.
Cliff Kay (formerly Operations Director) Parish: St John’s & St Hilda’s Halifax (Wakefield) Following years of combining church lay leadership with management in Industry I am looking forward to full time ministry with a specific interest for mission and collaborative leadership in varied contexts. Jane and I are grateful for the blessing of Ridley and its community.
Anders Litzell (formerly Project Delivery Manager, Technology Department, Holy Trinity Brompton) Parish: St George’s, Holborn (London)
From the moment I walked through the archway, it has been life-changing, revealing, challenging, loving and grace enhancing. It has been to be part of a community in Christ, living with others in prayer, love, acceptence and welcome. I look forward with hope and joy and peace to wherever the journey with the Lord takes me.
Trevor Raaff (formerly Accountant) Parish: St Lawrence, Biddulph (Lichfield) The last two years at Ridley have been a fulfilling and rewarding experience. I leave with a deepened sense of God’s presence and will carry many new friendships with me into my curacy. We look forward to seeing what God has in store for us in Biddulph.
Mark Scarlata (formerly Doctoral Student at the University of Cambridge) My past two years at Ridley have offered me greater insights into the Church of England. Having been ordained in the Congregational Church in the US, my journey to Anglicanism has been filled with many ups and downs, but I am thankful for the community at Ridley guiding me through each step of the way.
Nicola Shephard (formerly Youth Worker) Parish: St Philips Dorridge with St James Bentley Heath (Birmingham) I have learnt a lot during my time at Ridley and feel blessed to have been able to do so. The subjects I have learnt have grounded me with a great starting block for ministry. I shall miss friends and walks by the Cam but I am looking forward to where God is calling me next.
Mark Smith (formerly History Schoolteacher)
forward to stepping out into the parishes and not having to drive. I have made a lot of wonderful friends at college who have helped me greatly in my formation.
Parish: Assistant Chaplain of Peterhouse, Cambridge; and Assistant Curate of All Saints, Little Shelford (Ely) It’s been four wonderful years at Ridley, full of splendid friendships, top-notch cake, thrilling cricket, the 39 Articles of Religion, and the defence of the doctrine of divine impassibility. I will be serving my curacy whilst pursuing a PhD in Patristics, and I’m excited about exploring how academic study and pastoral ministry can be combined.
Andrew Taylor (formerly Project Manager, Youth with a Mission) Parish: St Barnabas, Cambridge (Ely) I have enjoyed the two years I have spent at Ridley. I’m really looking forward to spending another three years here in Cambridge working at St Barnabas as a pioneer curate helping to develop a House of Prayer.
Mark Thomson (formerly Children’s Worker, St George’s in Stamford) Parish: St Guthlac’s, Market Deeping and The Priory Church, Deeping St James (Lincoln)
Stephen Torr (formerly Office Manager for Burton Youth For Christ) Parish: Holy Trinity Wilnecote, Tamworth (Lichfield) The past two years in Cambridge have been an important time for getting to grips, in a fresh way, with who God is and who He has called me to be...as well as finishing a PhD! In the months and years to come I look forward to carrying on my journey with Him in the new surrounds of parish life.
Graham Wilkins (formerly Industrial Chemist) Parish: St Mary’s South Wootton and All Saint’s North Wootton, King’s Lynn (Norwich) After three exciting and challenging years in Cambridge, Anna and I look forward to the next part of our ministry together. In the last three years we’ve gained two children in Kitty and Sam, many friends and some great memories. We cannot wait to see what our curacy brings!
I have greatly enjoyed my time at Ridley but not the daily commute on the A14. I am looking
The Centre for Youth Ministry Please pray for students at the Cambridge Centre for Youth Ministry who have just completed their final year at Ridley. Their training placements have been varied, from church- and community-based youth projects to national youth organisations. Some will continue in these posts after graduation, others will be going into new posts in an equally diverse range of roles.
Emily Irving Sarah Dale
Craig Hutton Sarah du Boulay
Avril Timson
Sarah Armstrong
Joanna Smith
Ruth Evans Nicola Grieves
Lorna Wood
Amy Rushbrook
Monica Cooper Barry Easton Verity Townsend
Luke Pedlar
Jane Brooks
Katie Roe Andy Shaw
Youth work... in the name of Christ Linton; a picturesque village south east of Cambridge, full of polite, well-to-do, middle class families. Gentle youth work… or so I thought. As with any community, one needs to scratch the surface to see what lies beneath and as I did so over my time on the course, so I encountered a more diverse community then I had first imagined, a range of church traditions and of course, young people with all the joys, tribulations, excitements and stresses that accompany this stage of human development. In truth I found your average community with plenty of ‘edgy’ and challenging youth work opportunities. Of course it is my desire, my hope and even my belief, that in my work with the young people of Linton ‘The Kingdom’ has broken through, at least to a greater extent, and the young people have been transformed, at least become closer to our heavenly Father – but this doesn’t mean that the challenges facing me as a youth worker are any less present than they were on my first day.
I have tried to do God’s work throughout, not by fixing the problems of the community and the young people, but to somehow reveal them. For example, revealing to the young people ‘who their neighbour is’ or even how they view other people has challenged their ideas on what they consider right, and how they would feel if treated similarly. And of course it has opened up reflection on the place of God in this. Here, if the young people felt treated unjustly, they have the potential to become agents of change and, in many cases, have worked towards addressing the problems of division between different classes and It becomes something more when it is done not in the name of equality, right, or justice, but in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ
groups of young community members. This is of course laudable in its own right but it becomes something more when it is done not in the name of equality, right, or justice, but in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
For me, youth work in Linton has been about breaking down divisions, be it between old and young, the wealthy and those in need, the council and the youth; for where there has been division, there has been judgement, but where there is interconnection, there is communion, and where there is communion there is God already at work. As youth workers we need to plant these seeds of communing in God. Barry Easton, Student Youth Worker, Cambridge CYM
Frances Shoesmith reflects on attending Pioneer School. The trouble with being a Pioneer is that mostly we tend to be making things up as we go along! There is no blueprint for creating or sustaining a Fresh Expression. There’s a lot of try it and see, and lots of realising with hindsight what God was doing in us and through us. It’s exciting and challenging and exhausting and surprising and discouraging, and sometimes all five in any 24-hour period. I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else.
But while the Church of England now has a selection and training track for Ordained Pioneer Ministers; for those of us who trained and were ordained before Mission Shaped Church was published, there is a real need for a place to learn and reflect on the issues with which we grapple in our pioneering settings. Enter Pioneer School. Our mornings, on the six Saturdays of the School, have been spent ‘sitting at the feet’ of wise and experienced academics and practitioners, as they
helped us to dig deeply into Evangelism and Mission for our New Times, Pioneering Leadership and Teamwork, Secularisation and its Influence, Mission shaped Discipleship, What shape the Church?, and Worship for a New Context. Each morning has been a brain workout, such as I haven’t had since leaving Ridley ten years ago, but also an opportunity to reflect theologically on my daily ministry as a pioneer.
Our afternoons have been spent in ‘hub groups’ – a space to begin to digest the morning’s input, with the same five or six other pioneers each time, and a space to share and pray with each other – vital support for anyone working on the ‘front line’ of pioneering. The material from the morning sessions will be a valuable resource as I continue my pioneering, and almost more valuable will be the network of Pioneer School graduates, my new fellow pioneer friends, as we continue to support each other in our work of ‘seeing what God is doing, and joining in’.
Revd Frances Shoesmith (née Hall) studied at Ridley 1999-2002, and was one of the Church of England’s first Pioneer Ministers, in Bootle, Liverpool from 2005 to 2011. She is now Pioneer Vicar of St Luke’s in the High Street, in Walthamstow, northeast London.
Pioneer School is organised by the Centre for Pioneer Learning and the Cambridge Centre for Youth Ministry. This coming year’s Pioneer School begins in October. To book your place or for more details contact Fiona Bell-Williamson by email on cymrid@hermes.cam.ac.uk or by phone on 01223 746583 or visit www.ridley.cam.ac.uk/cpl 11
‘Cain and Abel’ and globalisation Ridley ordinand Mark Scarlata talks about his book-in-progress. Drawing on Augustine’s City of God, it examines the story of Cain and Abel and asks what it can hold for us in today’s globalised society.
Like most biblical narratives it raises a whole host of issues that human beings experience in their relationship with God and with one another. It also asks us – as readers – to respond. The author of Genesis does not allow us to walk away from such a tragic narrative without questioning who we are, how we relate to God and how we relate to our neighbour.
In the past year at Ridley I have been working on a more theological and practical book that will reach a wider audience. It is a meditation on the Cain and Abel narrative that listens to the voices of ancient interpreters and translators as it draws out theological Christians can no longer motifs relevant to contemthink of discipleship porary Christian life.
simply as a personal,
Titian’s Cain and Abel (1544)
Mark Scarlata
For three years I devoted myself to the study of the Cain and Abel narrative in Genesis 4:1-16 as part of my doctoral research at Cambridge University. My particular interest was not only in the original Hebrew text, but also in the ancient translations that tried to best represent this simple, yet profoundly insightful, narrative.
Whenever I mentioned my area of study to others, I was confronted with a response that often went something like, ‘Oh yes, Cain and Abel. What do you think that story is really about?’ Years later I confess that I still do not quite know! I realised, however, that, like any good story, it is not necessarily about one thing in particular.
An Englishman Goes East
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Each chapter begins with a brief analysis of the potential difficulties in the Hebrew text (Gen. 4:1-16) and then examines some of the ancient Jewish and Christian interpretive traditions. As specific theological themes emerge from the narrative, they are then set in the wider context of relevant Old and New Testament texts. The final section of each chapter is dedicated to understanding our contemporary cultural context and how Christians might form a theology which addresses the needs of a globalised society. Christian businessmen, along with others right at the heart of China’s political and academic life, are keen to understand the role played by Christianity in the global dominance of the West during the last 500 years?
Director of Faith in Business Richard Higginson reports on a surprising speaking invitation. Who would have thought that a leading business school in communist China would devote a long weekend on its post-MBA programme to learning about Christianity? And that successful
Taking its cue from Augusindividual undertaking tine’s City of God, the book draws parallels between the earthly city – founded by Cain – and the heavenly city in relation to our globalised society. The fundamental argument is that, for contemporary Christians, citizenship in God’s kingdom requires them to re-think their lives in the light of globalisation and the cultural shifts experienced by this generation. Christians can no longer think of discipleship simply as a personal, individual undertaking, but must recognise their role and responsibility as citizens in a global community.
Richard Higginson lectures in Christian Ethics at Ridley Hall
I can testify first-hand that these things are true. Last December I spent a whole day lecturing to forty businesspeople at the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business in the Hilton Hotel, Guangzhou. My topic was Christianity, Culture and Capitalism – essentially a potted history of Western Europe between
A challenge to clergy Before studying at Ridley, business was pretty much my life! For ten years I owned and ran a successful retail business operating in Lusaka and Johannesburg. But now that things have changed and I have the space to look back, I am struck by the motivations and behaviours that drove me during those years.
Clearly I was ambitious, driven by a competitive nature and a strong desire to achieve success, but this also mingled uncomfortably at times with my strong sense of faith. I never doubted that somehow God was behind me even though I am not certain God approved of all of my ways and means. I wonder now what difference it would have made if I had more I wonder now what consistently incorporatdifference it would ed Kingdom principles in have made if I had more the way I did business? consistently incorporated
Kingdom principles in the way I did business?
Recently a student attending the Judge Business School in Cambridge challenged me with the strong statement that ‘business and Christianity are as incompatible as oil and water’. This took me aback, particularly as it was a couple of days before I was due to attend the Faith in Business conference at Ridley. At the Motivation in Business event (30th March – 1st April) I was surrounded by a sea of senior business Christians leaders struggling with these very questions. How can business be more ethical? Are profits at the expense of people? What makes trade fair? How can we secure win-win outcomes? What is corporate social investment? How can we better support employees? 1300 and 1900. I spoke about the role played by medieval Cistercian monks, the Protestant Work Ethic and the philanthropic Quaker employers in fuelling enterprise and wealth creation. We made interesting comparisons between Victorian Britain and contemporary China. Hardly any of my audience were Christians, but the growth of the church in China and in particular ‘Boss Christians’ mean that there is an exciting
Harold Holt (Chair of Noroff AS in Norway) talking during the conference with Kina Robertshaw
Church leaders, like the Judge’s student, may assume that the trading floors, banks and corporate boardrooms are not the prime Kingdom battleground. Sadly, although they were invited, no clergy attended the conference, thereby giving up the opportunity to influence the thinking of business leaders eager and committed to tackling these questions. I feel this is
Kina Robertshaw
Church leaders may assume that the trading floors, banks and corporate boardrooms are not the prime Kingdom battleground
shortsighted; business permeates society, in part structuring it and defining it. Much of the language and symbolism Christians use has its roots in the agelong history of trade and exchange. At this present time, during a profound economic crisis, when accumulation and greed have met head on with the disillusioned masses, it was hardly incidental that this drama played out in front of St Paul’s. Faith in Business has an important role to play in this wider debate. Kina Robertshaw, Ridley student
opportunity for Christians to have a significant influence on the way China develops at this momentous stage in world history.
This summer Richard will return to China to speak at the Beijing Campus of the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business
All this helps explain why I keep going back! I’m very honoured that Cheung Kong have invited me to do a repeat of my day’s lecturing to another post-MBA group, this time in Beijing in August 2012. 13
Bursaries – a way to be thankful
The John Stott Auditorium
When our daughter was at university she was fortunate enough to have an older couple who voluntarily gave a lot of time to being her advisors and mentors.
Many people from Ridley Hall attended the Memorial Service for the Revd John Stott, one of the college’s most distinguished alumni, at St Paul’s Cathedral in January 2012, a service in which Ridleians played a prominent part.
Their gift of time helped her towards a fulfilling career. They hoped that when she was in the position to do so, she would give back to the next generation in gratitude for what they had done for her – and she has. One of the joys of being Development Director is hearing from those whose Ridley years were crucial, even if sometimes gruelling, and how thankful they are now for their time here. Ridley’s goal is to provide the finest preparation for the ministerial vocation. Each year highly motivated men and women go forward to a life of service, and a new cohort of future Christian leaders takes their place.
Today Ridley faces fresh challenges. Changes in higher education funding and the Church’s response to them mean that from now on the price of theological education at Cambridge is shooting up. For example, over the coming years the cost of the BA Tripos degree will rise significantly, as will the BTh. While we expect there may be some support from Ministry Division, Ridley’s friends and alumni/ae will be increasingly important as we step up to this challenge. This means we must strengthen our Bursary Funds for both home and overseas students. For domestic bursaries alone in the coming academic year we are seeking to raise an additional £50,000, a figure that will continue to rise in future years. We are delighted that we are more than halfway toward that goal, but this is no cause for complacency. Like many of you who are reading this, my university and ordination training was fully paid for. Perhaps a good way of giving thanks and giving back is to help the next generation to such an advantage. Richard Kew, Development Director
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Following his ordination in 1945, John Stott inspired tens of thousands around the world for over sixty years, investing himself in raising up men and women motivated by ‘radical discipleship’ and ‘balanced, biblical Christianity’. He last visited Ridley in 2006 during the college’s 125th anniversary celebrations. Ridley’s planned £10 million new building will have as the jewel in its crown a large, airy pavilion-style auditorium, a setting for learning, worship, growing in faith, and recreation. It will shape Ridley’s life for decades to come. With the encouragement of the Langham Partnership, John Stott’s ongoing ministry, Ridley Hall is privileged to announce that the auditorium will be named in memory of John Stott.
A recent artist’s impression of the planned John Stott Auditorium, as viewed from the college’s archway
Time moves on Time no longer stands still in Ridley as the chapel clock is finally working again! Richard Higginson, Director of Studies, comments, ‘For most of my 23 years on the staff at Ridley the chapel clock has been notable for not working. About ten years ago Vic, an enterprising ex-engineer ordinand, mended it, only for it to stop again shortly afterwards. It is now a great joy to look up at the chapel clock and see it actually telling the right time!’
The repair was paid for from the college’s Annual Fund, which raised an amazing £70,000 in 2011, its first year. The 2012 campaign is now at the halfway point, and we are delighted to say that it looks set to match the high target set in 2011. The Annual Fund supports the whole Ridley community, and we are very grateful for the support it has received.
Is this book for you?
Getting theWord out
Ridley’s Tutor in Mission and Homiletics Paul Weston talks about his new edition of some lectures by Lesslie Newbigin, published in the Spring.
New publications from Ridley staff and students
Faith in a Changing World (HTB/Alpha International, 2012) is a collection of talks originally given by Lesslie Newbigin at the School of Theology at Holy Trinity Brompton back in the mid-nineties, and published separately in 2003 under the titles Discovering Truth in a Changing World and Living Hope in a Changing World. Last summer, my good friend Graham Tomlin (Dean of St Mellitus College, London) asked me what I thought about the possibility of republishing them for a new audience under the new St Paul’s Theological Centre/Alpha International label. I was really interested by the idea, and worked to re-organise the material for publication in a single volume. My aim was to provide a useful and accessible compendium of Newbigin’s thought for a new generation at a more popular level. The first section introduces the idea of thinking about theology from a trinitarian perspective; the second section opens up some of the central themes of Christian doctrine, beginning with a characteristic discussion about the question of how we ‘know’. The book closes with a section that begins to draw out some of the implications of this material for how Christian faith relates to the world of science, to the debates about religious pluralism, and to the place of Christian truth in the realm of politics and public life. I’ve added an introductory chapter on Newbigin’s life and thought, to help orient the reader who is discovering Newbigin’s work for the first time.
Lesslie Newbigin
The talks are written down pretty much as Newbigin delivered them, so the style is relaxed and accessible, more informal than his other works. But you will find the full array of Newbigin’s characteristic concerns, expressed in his usual clear and thought-provoking language, which repays careful attentiveness and serious reflection.
Who is it aimed at? Well, the original audience was made up of committed, thoughtful lay Christians who were willing to give up time to be stretched theologically. If you’d count yourself in this bracket, I think you’ll find much to stimulate here. If you are new to Newbigin’s work, it would provide an ideal introduction to his thought, and could provide a stimulating workbook for church discussion groups.
Ridleians write, edit and contribute to a wide range of publications, including books, book chapters and journal articles. We have selected some recently released and in the publishing pipeline.
New Testament “From Jesus to Paul” by Michael B. Thompson in Gordon D. Fee and Robert L Hubbard Jr (eds), The Eerdmans Companion to the Bible (Grand Rapids/Cambridge: Eerdmans, 2011), pp. 665-66 “The Gospel of Mark: Origins and Eyewitnesses” by Richard Bauckham in Michael F. Bird and Jason Maston (eds), Earliest Christian History: Essays from the Tyndale Fellowship in Honor of Martin Hengel (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2012), pp. 145-69
Theology
“Recovering the glory of divine impassibility” by Mark Smith in Churchman Vol. 126 Issue 2 (Summer 2012), forthcoming
Church History
“A Robbers’ Den? A Fresh Look at the Second Council of Ephesus, AD 449” by Mark Smith in Studia Patristica, Vol. LII (2012): 295-304
Business and Ethics
Faith, Hope & The Global Economy: A Power for Good by Richard Higginson (IVP, 2012)
Mission
“The Missionary Church in the Theology of Lesslie Newbigin” by Paul Weston in Christoph Ernst et al. (eds), Ekklesiologie in missionarischer Perspektive (Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt), forthcoming. Lesslie Newbigin, Faith in a Changing World edited by Paul Weston (HTB/Alpha International, 2012) (See article left) 15
Anglican perspectives for China Professor You Bin is a professor in the School of Philosophy and Religious Studies and Director of the Institute of Comparative Scripture and Inter-religious Dialogue at the Minzu University of China in Beijing. Ridley’s Vice Principal Michael B. Thompson spoke to him as he prepared to return to China after his sabbatical at Ridley during Lent Term. What were your goals in coming to Ridley? My first goal actually was to come back to see Cambridge, because I spent one year here in study fourteen years ago. So I wanted to come back and have a look. The second goal was that I wanted to know more about Christianity in England, how the Anglican Church practises education today. The third goal was to get away from academic administration and to concentrate on my own writing. I wanted to use the library and to make friends here. Has your time here been successful?
I’ve almost finished revising my book on the Old Testament to produce a short version to be used as a textbook for our undergraduates. I’ve also finished a project proposal for more research. And I know more now about the Anglican Church and how it educates its clergy.
Has anything struck you in particular about the Ridley community? I found the chapel services to be very good, and I’ve enjoyed lunchtime talks with people in the dining room. The buildings are very beautiful here; it is so pretty. I learned a lot from one particular student, and enjoyed his evangelical motivation. The general evangelical atmosphere here is very impressive, and it gave me new spiritual inspiration for my own work. Do you think the Church in the UK has anything to contribute to the Church in China?
First of all, after this experience at Ridley I want to do more research into how the Anglican Church works. Because I don’t think many scholars in China know about the Anglican system. So I would like to write a paper about how the Church here is exerting a good influence upon the whole society and culture. I think the way the Church of England If teachers in Chinese seminaries can contribute is come over to study for a period here, to help to educate it could help to change thinking qualified teachers for the seminarabout the relationship between the ies in China. If the government and religion teachers there can come over to study for a period here, it could help to change the way of thinking about the relationship between the government and religion, and how churches can be planted in the Chinese context. That would be the best way to help the health of the Chinese Church in the long term.
What will you take away with you when you leave Ridley?
Professor You Bin and his son enjoy the late winter snowfall at Ridley!
Actually the first thing is that I began to enjoy British food! When I first came I thought the food was so boring, but I began to realise that to have simple food is good for life; for the Chinese, to prepare food is very complicated. The second thing is that I began to understand the national Church and how it can be integrated into society. I will miss the British food!
Sabbaticals with an international focus Insights and fellowship from Tanzania and Romania In addition to Professor You Bin (see above), Ridley hosted two further sabbatical guests from overseas for the Lent Term. Bishop Mwita, the first Bishop of Tarime (a new diocese in Tanzania) came to Ridley as this year’s Langham Scholar. He spent his time working to convert his PhD into a book about how indigenous Tanzanians brought the gospel to Tanzania. Professor Stelian Ridley’s Principal Andrew Norman with Tofană from Romania also concentrated during his sabbatical on Bishop Mwita during his sabbatical writing a book on John’s Gospel. A professor at the Faculty of Orthodox Theology at the University of Cluj-Napoca, Professor Tofană is also an Orthodox priest in the city’s cathedral, and spent some of his time in the UK visiting Orthodox institutions across the country. The community at Ridley benefited enormously from the perspectives on the Church brought by both Bishop Mwita and Professor Tofană, and we are immensely grateful for the time we shared with them.
Father Stelian Tofană on the chapel steps at Ridley