Winter 2010/11
NEWS from
www.ridley.cam.ac.uk
In this issue: MISSION TODAY “From Everywhere To Everywhere” p 2
PIONEERING VENTURE New Centre launched at Ridley p 2
RIDLEY IN THE MIDDLE EAST Reflections from Ridleians serving in Baghdad, Bahrain and Yemen p 4
CAPE TOWN 2010 The Third Lausanne Congress p 6
MOVING IMAGES, CHANGING LIVES Brand new Christian course for young people p 7
MISSION-SHAPED EVANGELISM Book review by Adrian Chatfield p 7
COMING UP AT RIDLEY THIS YEAR... Preview of conferences and events p 8
Mission Today: “From Everywhere To Everywhere”
Images from Cape Town 2010. For more about the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelisation see p. 7
Joining Christian leaders from 198 countries, I spent ten unforgettable days in Cape Town in October. The Third Lausanne Congress carried forward the vision of the first Congress in 1974, whose chief architect was Dr John Stott (Ridley 1944-45). Picking up the catchphrase from that first Congress, Lausanne III inspired fresh commitment to “the whole Church taking the whole gospel to the whole world”. Ridley Hall continues to play its part in that stirring global vision. It does so through former Ridleians serving in regions such as the Middle East, as you can read in this issue of News From Ridley (p. 4). It does so just as much through its commitment to pioneering mission and youth ministry in the UK or supporting thoughtful Christian discipleship in
Pioneering Venture In partnership with Westcott House and Ely Diocese, Ridley has jointly launched a new Centre for Pioneer Learning. Directed by the Revd Dave Male, Tutor in Pioneer Ministry at Ridley, the Centre aims to resource and equip those who are training for pioneering leadership in the Church of England, and to serve all pioneers, lay and ordained, who are establishing new forms of church and taking the church to new and unreached places across the denominations. It seeks to offer an environment where pioneers can meet together, and be resourced, challenged and supported to take pioneering forward in its scope and effectiveness.
Free and Rooted
The inaugural event, held at Ridley in November, was sold out, with people travelling from around the Eastern counties and as far afield as Somerset and Cornwall. 3 2
the workplace. The first Principal of Ridley Hall, Handley Moule, paved the way for this twin emphasis. He supported some of the first Ridleians in their call to serve in China as members of the famous “Cambridge Seven”. Yet he also urged Ridleians to see England as a mission field too. Where things have changed since Handley Moule’s Day is that mission is now “from everywhere to everywhere”. So it is a sign of the times that nine of our current Church of England ordinands originate from outside the UK: from Germany, Brazil, South Africa, Singapore, the USA and Sweden. “Free and Rooted: Shaping the Future of the Church” brought together pioneers in training with those already involved at the cutting edge of mission and fresh expressions of church. They looked at the issues we face in a post-Christian environment, and sought practical ways forward that will enable the church of the future to be both rooted and free.
Reinfecting the world with worship
The day was co-led by Dave Male and Adrian Chatfield, Ridley’s Tutor in Christian Life and Thought. Dr Chatfield, who is also a member of the Fresh Expressions national team and an Associate staff member of the Centre, challenged everyone present to “reinfect the world with worship at home, on the street, at work, and through the calendar”. Drawing from our rich tradition, yet creating something fresh and new, he gave examples of what this might look like in practice.
New territories
Dave Male explored what missional leadership needs to look like in these new times, using the analogy of switching from land to sea travel. Where once we perhaps relied on following the roads we now need to enable leaders to navigate the open seas.
A visit in Michaelmas term from a Ugandan “I am convinced that an former Ridleian was international perspective a reminder of how is invaluable for ministry Ridley has for many in today’s church” decades been training Christian leaders from other parts of the world who return to their home countries. This contribution to “taking the whole gospel to the whole world” took off in the 1970s when Keith Sutton took over as Principal, having been Principal of Bishop Tucker College in Uganda. Next term, in partnership with the Langham Trust, we will be welcoming a visiting New Testament scholar from the same college at which Keith Sutton served as Principal. The presence of leaders from other parts of the Anglican Communion enriches our community life and gives us fresh perspective on global issues. Last term we were delighted to welcome a Nigerian clergyman, Zion Ngoka, for postgraduate study, as well as sabbatical guests from South Africa and Australia.
Our ordinands served in placements over the summer in Cairo, Beirut, South Africa, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Paris, Bermuda, Canada, New Zealand and the USA, as well as in the UK. I am convinced that an international perspective is invaluable for ministry in today’s church. Our building plans are intended to help us to play an even fuller part in God’s global enterprise. Andrew Norman, Principal of Ridley Hall
A DATE FOR THE DIARY On June 15th we welcome Moule Day: world renowned missiologist th Professor Andrew Walls. June 15 2011 In his Moule Memorial Lecture, Professor Walls will be looking back and looking ahead, assessing the changing face of mission. All alumni/ae will receive invitations by post.
Free All-Age Resources
This is the new place for pioneers...
An imaginative set of resources for a series of allage services has been made available for download by Ridley students on the Ridley Resources page: www.ridley.cam.ac.uk/resources#worship
• to find support and resources
Each lesson, based on a parable, gives guidance on the parable, advice on preparation, and a full service plan. The resources offer a complete series of six lessons:
• to learn together
1 The Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds
• to receive high quality input
ed ncourag • to be e ll
e cha
• to b
d enge
info@centreforpioneerlearning.org.uk www.centreforpioneerlearning.org.uk You can now also find CPL on Facebook
2 The Parable of the Ten Bridemaids, with Eucharist 3 The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector
4 The Parable of the Wicked Tenants, with Eucharist and Meal 5 The Parable of the Great Dinner
6 The Parables of the Lost Sheep, Coin and Son
Also available for download is an audio file of the services’ “theme song”, and a video for use with the first lesson.
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Ridley in the Middle East Generations of Ridleians have been obedient to God’s call to serve Christ in demanding places. Perhaps one of the most challenging today is the Middle East. Here three graduates of the college who are working in the region offer some reflections.
Vicar of Baghdad: Ministry Under Fire When I arrived on Ridley’s H staircase in 1986 my life changed forever. I knew I was called to the ordained life, and although I little suspected this calling would take me abroad, my time in Cambridge would shape me for what was to come.
It was whilst at Ridley that I first studied Judaism and Islam, and made my first trip Andrew White with Catherine to Israel. Seven years into Dawkins (see article on next page) ministry, I was appointed as on her recent trip to Iraq, in front residentiary Canon at Covenof the entrance to Babylon try Cathedral with responsibility for International Reconciliation, and found myself increasingly working with both the Jewish and Islamic communities in the Middle East. As I sat in my Coventry study one autumn afternoon, planning to return to Iraq the next day, news started to come through of the tragedy in New York that would simply be known as 9/11. From that day the world was never the same. “Abouna (father) Andrew,” shouted Tariq Aziz (Sadam’s deputy), when I visited him the following week in Iraq, “tell them we had nothing to do with it”. Without thinking I replied “It does not matter if you did or didn’t – they are still coming to get you”. A year later, they did.
Much of my work since formally becoming the Anglican Chaplain to Iraq in 2005 has continued to be diplomatic and political – but above all I have been caring for the Church I re-opened in 2003. The Iraqi congregation has grown to over 4000, and in addition we have the largest clinic in Baghdad.
“I have been held at gunpoint, shot at, kidnapped... not the kind of job that would get many applicants”
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Two things Ridley never taught me: how to make churches smaller, and how to write Islamic Fatwas. Each day on my way out of morning prayer at Ridley I used to look at the names of old Ridleians who had been martyred. We studied the history of the early Church and saw how they suffered. Last year 93 of my congregation were killed. I baptised 13 adults – and 11 of them were killed the following week. I have been held at gunpoint, shot at, kidnapped, thrown in a room with chopped off toes and fingers over the floor. I am surrounded by soldiers all the time for my protection and am not allowed to walk down any road. Last Sunday the temperature reached 56°C. Not the kind of job that would get many applicants from a Church Times advert. Yet it is the most wonderful job I have ever had. I love the people in my Church and they love me. So much of what I learnt at Ridley took place in this region. Here in Iraq salvation history begins with the birth of Abraham. The second exile is here in Babylon, with Daniel and Ezekiel. The most miserable evangelist Jonah came here to Nineveh. To this day the people of Nineveh – who I learnt about back in the lecture hall at Ridley – are still Christian, and all of my congregation come from there. Andrew White (Ridley 1986-90)
Since this article was written, the persecution of Christians in Iraq has escalated. 107 members of Canon White’s congregation were killed in the three weeks before Advent.
From St Barnabas to Bahrain When I arrived in Ridley, after a year as a volunteer teacher in Kenya with CMS, I was immediately aware of the international community both in Ridley itself and in the wider university. My pastoral involvement was very much drawn to international students; so much so that my ordination was delayed a year to develop the ministry to international students among the Cambridge churches and to go as curate of St Barnabas, Mill Road. That year The Barn was launched from St Barnabas and the Kairos Trust to support continuing ministry to international students, and is still thriving thirty years down the line.
Friendships made during that time continue to this day. Two months ago I was staying with Steve Williams, Dean of Armidale, in New South Wales and we
pored over a Ridley photo, sharing news of what our contemporaries were now doing. Last Friday the son of a Ridley contemporary, here with the Royal Navy, read the Gospel at our morning eucharist, and a few days ago I received a letter from Seth Ayettey in Ghana, then doing a PhD in Selwyn, who shared in the vision to reach out to international postgraduates. He has served as Dean of the Medical Faculty in Accra and is also a Presbyterian minister.
Chris Butt is Dean of St Christopher’s Cathedral, Bahrain
And now here I am in Bahrain, as Dean of St Christopher’s Cathedral, in a wonderfully vibrant and diverse international community with people literally from all continents of the world. Among my colleagues is Stephen Thanapaul, from the Church of South India, whose main task is with Mission to Seafarers. To keep up our theological reading – something we were always encouraged to do at Ridley – we are reading and discussing together The Mission of God by Chris Wright. Chris was a former tutor of Stephen’s in Union Biblical Seminary, Pune, and a contemporary of mine at Ridley.
Children’s passion play at St Christopher’s
Another book, one that really excited me as I prepared to come to Bahrain, is Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes by Kenneth Bailey. It opened my eyes afresh to see Jesus in the context of Middle Eastern culture, enabling a deeper appreciation of the roots that the Christian Church has in the Arab culture that surrounds us here in Bahrain.
Chris Butt (Ridley 1975-78)
A Christian in a Muslim Land A year into her ministry in Yemen, Catherine Dawkins reflects on a challenging task. Pictured here with clinic staff, Catherine is Assistant Chaplain at Christ Church, Aden. To find out more visit: www.christchurchaden.org
When I arrived at Ridley in 2006 I was not able to place Yemen on the world map. Never did I imagine that four years later I would be married, ordained and based at Christ Church Aden! Yemen is a country plagued with problems – dwindling natural resources, an on-off civil war in the north, a growing secessionist movement in the south, a known Al Qaeda presence throughout the country, an overwhelmingly large Somali refugee population, and mass unemployment and poverty.
It is a wonderful privilege and huge challenge seeking to serve God in this land. Christ Church is the only Anglican (and in fact the only protestant) church in the country. We serve the small Christian Community in Aden, all foreigners from a variety of different countries and church backgrounds, presenting its own set of challenges when leading worship! However the main ministry of Christ Church is the medical clinic, Ras Morbat, which reaches out to the poorest people in the local area by providing essential healthcare. I’ve taken responsibility for the finances and fundraising aspects of the clinic, allowing me to draw on my professional background. My time at Ridley taught me many new things and provided me with lifelong friendships, for which I am deeply grateful. However there is still much to learn and grapple with as I seek to minister here: being a Christian in a Muslim land, being a westerner in an Arab culture, being a Brit in a former colony! But as we reflect on what God is calling us to do we pray that the love and light of Christ will shine out in this place. Catherine Dawkins (Ridley 2006-09)
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The Ridley Hall Miracle Strategically set in the middle of one of the world’s leading university cities, Ridley’s business is shaping the rising generation of Christian leaders – although as this magazine reminds us, the college does a lot more than that. Behind our multi-million-pound building plans is a massive longterm vision and a dynamic future.
So, Ridley must be financially prospering, then? The Ridley Miracle is that so much is achieved with so slender a budget. The bursar runs a tight ship, and Ridley is served by a devoted bunch of people! However, we confess to occasionally glancing enviously over our shoulders at the endowments of other Cambridge colleges.
But isn’t Ridley well-funded by the Church of England? Yes, we receive grants but these barely cover educational costs, do little to address fixed running costs, and now we are wrestling with the implications of the Browne Report on funding higher education.
Ridley is resilient and entrepreneurial, and this goes way beyond mission and ministry. Each summer, for example, the college is crammed with students from all over the world learning English. Income from the language school enables the bricks and mortar to further earn their keep! But in the years ahead the generosity of our alumni/ae, parishes,
friends and family will be increasingly important as Ridley continues doing its job well while responding to new challenges.
The Ridley Miracle, if you will, is not just about how hard each pound works, but how important are steady, regular gifts: monthly, quarterly, annually. Not only does a standing order or direct debit commitment enable us to budget wisely, but Gift Aid adds to its power! For example, a monthly commitment of £20 when Gift Aided grows into £307 a year. Gifts like these have huge potential. Please think about such an opportunity as Ridley launches itself into God’s call upon us for tomorrow. Richard Kew, Development Director
www.ridley.cam.ac.uk/standingorder.html
The group of 26 observers, with hosts Andrew Norman and Paul Stephens
Cape Town 2010 – The Lausanne Congress “It is awe-inspiring and deeply encouraging to be amongst nearly 4200 Christian leaders and 1100 staff and volunteers, gathered from 198 countries.” Paul Stephens, currently training at Ridley, was emailing from Cape Town, which had laid down its World Cup vuvuzelas to play host to a unique meeting of Evangelical and Pentecostal leaders from across the globe.
Representatives of the Catholic and Orthodox churches were among those present as Observers, and it was as hosts to this group of 26 that Ridley’s Principal, and ordinand Paul Stephens, played their part.
This, the Third Lausanne Congress, described as “not just a one-time meeting, but God willing ... a catalytic event in the life of the church”, sought to confront the critical issues of our time as they relate to the future of the Church and world evangelisation. It was unique not just in the number and diversity of Christians under one roof, but in its extension via virtual sites in 90 countries which enabled thousands more Christians to participate.
Ridley itself was one such global link site, enabling staff and students to follow events online and via special screenings of sessions from the Congress, 7 6
including an inspirational Bible Reading on Ephesians 1 given by Sri Lanka’s National Director of Youth for Christ, Dr Ajith Fernando.
At a further screening, the Ridley community was joined by the Revd Dr Jeffrey Powell, a Presbyterian minister from California currently in Cambridge as a visiting scholar. Dr Powell shared his experience of being a volunteer at the First Lausanne Congress in 1974. Speaking of Cape Town 2010, which focussed on the theme of the whole Church, taking the whole gospel, to the whole world, Dr Powell said that the Third Congress had “comprehensively addressed the evangelism challenges of the 21st century and passed the baton of leadership to a new generation of Christian leaders”.
“A Great Church Away-Day”
global phenomenon requiring ... churches born anew arising from a gospel spoken only in local dialect”.
Book review by Adrian Chatfield Mission-Shaped Evangelism by Steve Hollinghurst (Canterbury Press 2009; 192pp; ISBN 978-1853118425) How quickly catchphrases become clichéd. They too have their sell-by dates. Though Steve Hollinghurst rightly says that not all approaches to evangelism are mission-shaped, you may have passed this book over simply because it sounds like yesterday’s book. Please don’t!
The book has a simple formula. The first part – Listening to God in the Cultural Context – told me little that I don’t know in general terms. Christendom has collapsed; in our “postmodern” world, new spiritualities are emerging alongside a new, more virulent secularism. What Steve helpfully does, however, is show the statistical reality of this and bring the figures right up to date. It’s a “You may have passed clarion call to all of us. this book over simply because it sounds like The second part – Listening to God in the Chrisyesterday’s book. tian Tradition – is a clear summary of Christian Please don’t!” responses to the mission of God down the ages, of good news entering new cultures, of decisions about engagement and counter-cultural distinctiveness. It ends with the challenge that “there is now only foreign mission, a
What this might look like is the thesis of Part 3: Mission-Shaped Evangelism in the 21st century. I liked his suggestion, born out of Transactional Analysis, that evangelism needs to become adult-to-adult, less paternalistic. He proposes the need for a range of new languages of discourse and encounter in quite a practical way.
At times pedestrian and overpacked with ideas, the book came alive for me in the last two chapters. The last of these tells us that “evangelism after Christendom is ...” and would make a great away-day for a PCC or church leadership team.
Moving Images, Changing Lives Co-authored by Ridley ordinand Phil Greig, this brand new introductory course on the Christian faith and confirmation explores key issues through popular film, and promises to be a valued resource in the Church.
Film is one area of popular culture that isn’t afraid of exploring life’s big ideas and big questions. Even comedy or animated films often have powerful and thought provoking undercurrents. This resource offers an entirely fresh approach to an introductory course on the Christian faith based on popular films available on DVD.
Moving Images, Changing Lives: Exploring the Christian Life and Confirmation with Young People Through Film is by Phil Greig and Sarah Brush (London: Church House Publishing, 2011; 128pp; ISBN 978-0715142073)
Ideal for those exploring faith for the first time and as a confirmation
course, its eleven sessions focus on God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the Bible, prayer, the Church, communion, living the life of faith – and more.
Everything is provided for the busy youth leader, from equipment lists, ice-breaking activities, questions for reflection, prayers, film clips and You Tube links. 7
Coming up at Ridley this year... The Prayer of Asking
5 March 2011 (Sat 10am-4pm)
The next “Simeon Day” will explore the prayer of asking, through a mixture of input, reflection, space and corporate prayer.
Led by Adrian Chatfield and Jane Keiller, it’s the latest in a series of events hosted by the Simeon Centre for Prayer and the Spiritual Life. • Registration fee £20 • Drinks will be provided; please bring a packed lunch • Early booking advised as places are limited Book your place today at:
www.simeoncentre.co.uk
Life after Debt?
8-10 April 2011 (Fri-Sun)
What do the Bible and Christian faith have to say on the issues raised by the recent global financial crisis? • • • •
How far should we be pursuing the programme to slash public debt? How can debt-reducing measures be fair as well as tough? Should business become less dependent on debt? How can we manage our own personal finances better?
This Spring’s Faith in Business conference brings together business people, economists, politicians and theologians to tackle debt head-on. Bookings can be made through our secure online payment system at:
www.faith-in-business.org
Dying Well
15-17 Sept 2011
Faith and Compassion in Dialogue Thoughtful and prayerful exploration of end of life issues from a range of perspectives: legal, medical, theological and spiritual. The panel of invited speakers represents the breadth of position and opinion in the current debate. We invite participation from all involved in the provision of care, whether formal or informal, as well as from those who have a responsibility to formulate good practice: clergy • theological students • medical and legal practitioners • laypeople concerned for a robust Christian discussion
Dying
Well
Faith and Compassion in Dialogue Venue: Ridley Hall, Cambridge Date: September 15-17, 2011
theological insights
medical viewpoints
prayerful discussion legal perspectives
For more information or to book a place please visit: www.simeoncentre.co.uk