Books... I am getting rid of a few

I am in the midst of packing. I am taking the opportunity of going through each book shelf courageously, and rather than allowing nice folks from the removal company to pack, I am placing them in the boxes themselves, and getting rid of some - where they are going has not quite been determined. I have a shed load of books from the time of my PhD which was awarded in 1995. I lots from my ordination training (1999-2001). I have lots about Wales, Welshness, Liberation theology... and for a particularly peculiar reason about two dozen commentaries on the Revelation to St John the Divine.

Each book might be considered an old friend. Might be considered. Some are in a condition of newness and look like they have not been read, which is largely because they have not. I will still take too many.

But this time, they might reflect who I am: a scholar priest, with a love for Wales and a longing to speak articulately in the context that I find myself.

Another box awaits... and books silently whispering, read me, read me please....

Why I am voting Labour

I grew up in Sheffield. Dw i dwad o Sheffield yn wreiddiol. I think my childhood in Sheffield Brightside saw only 2 MPs, both of whom were Labour. My parents voted Labour, I think :-). In my teens, I saw recession for the first time, with the decimation of the steel industry and coal fields, with men losing their jobs and often their self-respect. (They were the men that I noticed. I grew up on an estate, where men only were present in the evening and at the weekends, so the change was obvious and profound). I was allowed to stay on at school in the 6th Form through the aid of a grant provided by Sheffield City Council, and did my first two out of three undergraduate years at university before student loans came in.

Obviously, the reasons for my voting Labour are shaped by my faith, although I would acknowledge that Christians vote for other parties with integrity, even though I might want to have robust discussion over a pint with a Christian Tory.

 I do not pretend that the Labour Party has got everything right. There are policies advanced by the Green Party, Plaid and the Liberal Democrats that I admire. I also with that the leadership of my party was robuster in some areas.

I will vote Labour because intrinsically I believe in the Welfare State or more accurately what I would all a Welfare Society. I believe that those of us who earn a little more should pay that bit extra in terms of taxation. I am perhaps more radical than Corbyn on this. I would not say 95% of the population will not pay any more tax. Taxation can be used to redistribute wealth fairly and appropriately in a welfare society, where each person is treated equally and fairly. This is not socialism but an egalitarian Christian ethic, although there is nothing wrong with the former. My notions of a Welfare Society are rooted in the Old Testament prophets, the teachings of Jesus and the example set by the earliest Christian communities. I draw upon them as a person of faith. There are other reasons why people who do not share my faith vote Labour, but that is for them to articulate.

I take the Labour leadership at its word that it is for the many, not the few.

I am also voting Labour because it is internationalist in its outlook. I think this is important after the result of the referendum. We need as many friends and allies as possible, and the Labour movement prides itself on being open and standing in solidarity with others around the globe, rather than perhaps investing in a 'me first' culture.

I will be voting Labour, and in particular for Albert Owen on 8 June.

My hope is that you will vote too, so that whoever is our/your representative will have the biggest mandate possible.

Something old, something new; new ways in an ancient setting

Cybi Unplugged is a new venture, but for it to have genuine credibility it must share an identity with what has happened in the Roman fort in Holyhead for a millennium and a half, that is, Christian worship.

Much of the worship that would have been offered in the fort would have been liturgical, usually, allthough not always centred on the Eucharist/Mass/Lord's Supper.

Since the Reformation, the worship would have been Anglican, which has prided itself of being in the vernacular (language of the people) and rooted in the teachings of the earliest Church fathers and mothers, and of course the creeds. Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi has been a strapline for Anglican worship for generations, essentially meaning that was what we believe is expressed in our worship.

It would seem clear that in times past, indeed within my own life time, Anglican Christians could be formed by the liturgy. Given the reshaping of habits of worship it is not as easy for this to happen today.

• “As we pray, so we believe”, may not be true for those who only participate in our liturgy 6 to 12 twelve times a year, as is increasingly the case in our early 21st century landscape. With a once-a-month attendance pattern, a “regular” attender may only hit one Sunday in Advent or Lent, and only experience the Day of Pentecost once in three to five years.

 This is acute for Cybi Unplugged, as it is for Messy Church in Morawelon - the majority of our worshippers do not come from traditional liturgical church backgrounds. 

We do say sorry to God and each other. 

We do listen to the word of God through the Bible (this could be done from a video clip or listening to an audio reading)

We do have a talk

We do respond to each other and to God

We do have a pattern. It is not quite the same as what happens on a Sunday morning, but then again it is in a very different language to that which Cybi spoke (Latin, Cornish, Welsh)