The Final Score

First of all I want to express my heart felt gratitude for everything that has been done over the last few months to support me. The messages, practical help and most importantly prayers have been invaluable. I could not have made without them.

I have been propped up by those I came to support, I have been helped by those I came to aid and I have been loved by those I came to care for. I have seen Christian community at its best, and I have to say I have faith in that form church as a result. I am incredibly grateful.

We need to read this all in a context of the original diocesan budget which looked to be a £1.4 million shortfall. Against this backdrop the diocese clearly needed to make some changes and, of course, it is much more difficult to make changes in the pattern of parochial ministry than it is to make cuts at the centre or indeed in sector ministry (College or University chaplaincies in other words)

Of course since then the diocesan budget looks a little bit healthier and so some things are being revised. There was some hope of a Free Church and Anglican appointment and I would love to tell you why that didn't work and probably will some day when I have left office!

Now the diocese is looking to put something in place for the academic year 2011-2012. This will be I think probably some kind of combined post. It's up to them how they do and what they do. They also want to look with their ecumenical partners to review the chaplaincy.

In the mean time there is the question of continuity of pastoral care since none of this will be in place before September 2011. There is as well the question of what becomes of me as well.

For that reason the diocese has decided to keep me in post.

I have already been in post for 5 years and that is how long most University Chaplains hang around anyway, so to do one more year is about right, and indeed we are now talking of 15 months.

So I know what the immediate future holds, and I am in God's hands for the long term. It has been a roller-coaster ride, and right from the start it seemed like only a miracle could keep me in post. Well anyone who works for God gets used to miracles, they seem to happen quite a lot.

So with that in mind, I ask you to pray; for the future of chaplaincy; for next year; and for me.

Thank you.

The Final Score

So there have now been countless meetings.

There have been talks and finances have been looked at. Budgets have been consulted and finally a decision has been taken.

A decision about me and the chaplaincy.

And I've decided to tell everyone tomorrow. As many people as want to come are being invited to the chaplaincy at 4pm when I will be making an announcement about not only my own future but that of the chaplaincy.

I have decided to do it this way so it doesn't go round like a rumour but so that everyone who wants to know gets to hear at once. I will post something here shortly afterwards.

The Sun is blue not yellow

I had a conversation with an old lady once about the colour of the sun. I said it was yellow. She said flames were orange. I told her the sun wasn't a ball of fire it was a gas.

'Why isn't it blue?' she asked.

Objective, impartial journalism. The stuff of democracy. Many of newspapers were founded to give a voice to the voiceless. Indeed the Sun was formed to give a voice to striking workers and was proudly socialist for a number of years.

Now of course it is true blue. We know that, it's obvious. But today I give you two of the most blatant examples of the Sun spinning the election for Rupert Murdock.

Number one the Sun has been telling everyone that if you vote for Clegg you will get Brown, because Clegg will keep him in power in the event of a hung parliament. The argument is clear; the only way you can decide this election is by giving Mr Cameron a landside victory.

This was very damaging to Clegg so he countered it this Sunday, saying that there was no way he would keep the third party in power. Effectively, if the Conservatives win the most votes, they have to be given the chance to form a coalition. How did the Sun report this?

Like this

Clegg, we are told, will insist that he becomes the Prime Minister, in a back room deal with Labour. The only way for the voters to defeat that nasty undemocratic Mr Clegg, is to choose a Conservative government for themselves.

Story number two: Mumsnet. This has been trumpeted as a real election battleground. Which is why today the Sun gives us a clear indication of their anti-Clegg sentiment. The details aren't important in this story, the truth is that mumsnet don't want Clegg.

A quick look on the front page of the site reveals just how easily David Cameron is winning this battle with a poll revealing over 53% going for the Yellow party.

Hang on I seem to be getting my colours mixed up here. Perhaps the Sun isn't a gas it's just hot air.

Some people are never happy

It seems Ubuntu has finally got a new theme



Apparently there are those who don't like it because it looks just like Mac OS X



By contrast here is my computer running Ubuntu 8.04.



I can't see what their problem is.

It seems I agree with Nick!

But it was Rupert who told me so I should probably disregard that.

This weeks political news in 'Sound Bite' form:

Bird shits on tree and flower.

Hell and Dibley

Not the most charitable thought I've ever had, but I wonder if there's a special place in hell reserved for you if you divorce the Vicar of Dibley.

Or does he go there anyway for giving the world 'Chef'?

In the privacy of your own mind

You have, as Kierkegaard is famously supposed to have noted, freedom of thought (it's one of those blindingly obvious internet quotes that people pass on because they think being able to quote a philosopher makes them look clever)

You have also freedom of belief. No one can climb inside your mind and tell you to sort it out.

You can believe in God or fate or blind chance. You can hold fast to good things, you can ascend to the heights, you can dream, you can hope and you can fantasise. You can also believe some stuff which you really shouldn't.

We come back to this issue of gay rights verses Christian rights, on which the shadow home secretary spoke recently. I agree with Chris Grayling people have a right to say who comes into their own home. The trouble is when you are running a business you have decided to do away, at least in part, in that right in order to make money. They open their doors to people they would never have in their house, people they probably don't even like, they cook for them, they clean for them, they even thank them for coming, all for cash.

So why gay people?

If I were in a room with the couple who sparked this whole thing off I would ask what other sins do they not allow on the premises? How about lying? What about being rude? What about praying with your head covered? How about a couple who are straight but not married? What about a couple who are, but she used to be his secretary and he left his first wife for her? Will they be turned away? Will they even be asked? If two men aren't even allowed to sleep in the same bed...what can't straight people do? Is spanking OK? How about with a wire brush? Some silk ties and a gag? Or Pegging? Or snowballing? Or Tea bagging? Now there's something that sounds like Christians should definitely be doing it. That's what I would say if I was in a room with the couple that turned away two gay men who had turned up to stay at their B+B because it was against their faith.

You I suspect that underlying their refusal is a deep disgust at homosexuality, which one finds all the time when one talks to people about this. I have lost count of the amount of times when a statement about homosexual acts being sinful is followed up by a homophobic comment. Something like "Well just thinking about two men doing that to each other, it's just disgusting, isn't it?"

Actually no, there is nothing inherently disgusting about two people having sex, and the fact that you find it more so when it is two men than when it is an unmarried couple or say an abusive straight relationship, indicates a level of bigotry I'm not comfortable with. But hey, you can still stay in my house! At least while I still have one.

The Bible it turns out is very positive about having strangers to stay

"Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." Heb 12:3

It forgets to point out you need to check if they are gay or not.

Oh dear

What is it about that man, that wonderful, kind, considerate, thoughtful man who leads this little church?

How doers Rowan do it?

Child sex abuse. A subject that is so black and white that the only people with descenting views are filthy perverts with vile lusts recognised as such by the rest of humanity. Clerical sex abuse, definitely totally wrong. Church cover ups and concealment, allowing offenders off the hook, recognisably reprehensible.

So how, in the name of all that is holy does Rowan Williams manage to get himself on the wrong side of this debate? To be forced to apologise for his remarks before they have even been aired marks a new record and low point in his inglorious history of mass communication. Following on from Sharia Law we now have something even better. He has managed to accidentally, completely screw his relationship with the Roman Catholic Church.

It's like he has special access to another realm, beyond this one, populated by things made entirely of crap. He is a Midas of mire, and anti alchemist who can turn almost anything to dust. Funnily enough though I'm actually starting to like that about him.

That air of complete buffoonery that is the hallmark of so much of our church and now feels strangely comforting.

Almost like home.