Following the Call - 13th Sunday After Trinity

‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.’ (Matthew 16.24)

I’m not at all sure how well I have followed this call of Jesus made to any who want to be one of his followers in this Sunday’s gospel reading. The day to day implications over a lifetime of denying ourselves and taking up our cross are far from clear to many of us; with so much of our lives being beset by hard choices, many having an element of compromise between competing demands and commitments. While some continue to offer very clearly the kind of response Jesus seems to ask of us, for the rest of us we hope that what we do offer of ourselves is in some way caught up in the whole offering of the church to God.

There are many ways that I recognise members of our churches giving generously, and even sacrificially of themselves for the sake of God’s kingdom - offerings made for justice, in compassion, in worship, and for the building of community. Taken together this is an offering of beauty and life, and expressions of what we are called to be as the ‘body’ of Christ. Many of us are remembering and cherishing Eric’s presence amongst us as we mourn his death earlier this week - Eric’s deep commitment, his lively and enquiring faith, intellect and personality offers us a compelling image of what ‘following Jesus’ can look like.

There is certainly nothing more sacrificial in the ministry that I and others who are ordained offer, no deeper fulfilling of the call of Jesus. Our commitment to our calling as priests and ministers is simply to support, enable, encourage and inspire the offering of love and service made by the rest of you - a ‘living sacrifice’ of community turning our hearts and lives towards God.

However, it continues to be a great joy and privilege for me to support, enable, encourage and inspire others who are at various stages of discerning a vocation to ordained ministry; and this in turn is a source of inspiration and renewal for my own ministry. The involvement of these ‘ordinands’ with us in the Benefice brings us many gifts, and all of them continue to be grateful for the support and encouragement they receive from so many.

This coming year, we are going to be supporting three students who are beginning or continuing their training for Ministry: Rachel Hadley, Joel Mines and Roger Dubois. While most of you will know Rachel (and indeed some of you will remember her as a student at St Paul’s!) Joel and Roger will only be known by a few, and so I thought it would be good to introduce them. All three of them are doing their ministerial training through Sarum, the theological institute opposite Salisbury Cathedral.

Roger is the Head Verger at Bristol Cathedral, and just beginning his third and final year of training at Sarum. His previous placements have been at St Barnabas, Knowle and St Stephen’s in the City. Music is one of Roger’s great passions - he always takes annual leave to allow full immersion in the Three Choirs Festival. We look forward to all that Roger will bring, from his long experience in Bristol cathedral, and much more.

Joel first came to us as an Early Foundations dad, with his wife Lou and their daughter Ada; and since then they have added Selina to the rich mix of family life. Joel is also involved in Foundation and looks forward to becoming part of the morning congregation at Cotham. Joel and Lou worshipped at St Agnes for many years, and Joel’s journey to beginning training for ordination has been a long and winding road in the midst of a busy life as a senior Social Worker in Weston.

It is wonderful that Rachel is remaining with us as she begins her training at Sarum. Her depth of spirituality and loving attentive presence will continue to enrich the life of our churches.

Meanwhile Sally Bellamy, along with her husband Mark and their sons Harry and Dylan have made their home with us as Sally continues to explore her vocation with the support of the Diocesan vocations team (and us). Sally is a Special Needs teaching assistant and brings a wealth of experience of involvement in church life, most recently in the Fromeside Benefice of churches.

Roger, Joel, Sally and Rachel each bring their own particular faith, life and journey of vocation to their presence amongst us. I’m a little aware that their respective ‘stories’ involve times of struggle and sacrifice that reflect something of what Jesus calls his first followers to, and continues to call us all to now: as we often pray in a post communion prayer:

Through him we offer you our souls and bodies

to be a living sacrifice.

Send us out

in the power of your Spirit

to live and work

to your praise and glory.

Please keep Joel, Rachel, Roger and Sally in your prayers; as well as as our dear brother Eric as we entrust him to God. And this comes with my prayers and thanksgiving for each of them, and for you all, as I delight in the ‘lively’ offerings that each of you bring to the ‘living sacrifice’ we make together in worship, community and mission.

In peace, David