Florence Li Tim Oi

We have been focusing on women in the church here in England over the past 48 hours or so with debates about women bishops at the General Synod. I received a letter from Pam Wilding, the Chair of the Florence Li Tim Oi Foundation asking us to think about women in other parts of the world who do not have the chance of an education or any voice in the church or in their society. Many would love to be able to train as teachers, doctors, nurses, linguists, theologians, social workers. Many have political aspirations to reform their own churches and societies.  Li Tim Oi was the first ever woman priest in the Anglican Communion. I know that I would not have spent the last 25 years doing what I'm doing if it were not for her!  It may be that some churches or some individuals would like to act on what Pam suggests in her letter below - if you want to share in this with others, then do e mail me and I'll do my best to put you in touch. You can read the stories of some women who have benefitted from education arranged through the Li Tim Oi Foundation on http://www.ittakesonewoman.org/

The Revd Li Tim Oi

Pam writes

A year of celebration!

 This is an exciting year for England, with the London Olympics and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee! 2012 also marks the 20th anniversary of the vote in General Synod to ordain women to the priesthood in the Church of England. Since that vote, over 5,000 women have been ordained as priests, with nearly 3,000 currently serving as licensed ministers. It is wonderful to realise that now a whole generation of children has grown up in our Church with women as clergy. Across the Anglican Communion there are many thousands more ordained women, with a growing number of the 38 Provinces opening their orders to women.

 A long and winding road

 Today we take this situation for granted, but women’s journey to ordination has been long and difficult. It is easy to forget the people who came before us and who took bold and courageous steps that helped to make all our ordinations, and the ordination of other Anglican women, possible. Most people do not know that the first Anglican woman to be ordained as a priest was a Chinese woman by the name of Florence Li Tim-Oi, who was ordained in 1944 in war-torn China by the Bishop of Hong Kong. Tim-Oi’s life reads like an adventure story, with much heartache, twists and turns, before her priestly ministry was finally accepted by the wider Church.

 The challenge goes on

 That was over 68 years ago, yet there are still places in the Anglican Church that do not ordain women, and also, in some of the provinces where women can be ordained, they do not have the resources. That’s why the Li Tim-Oi Foundation exists – to make it possible for women to train for ordained ministry, as well as for other Christian ministry. To date, the Foundation has enabled hundreds of women in the developing world to be trained for a wide variety of ministries, but there are so many more who long for the opportunity to be trained. We have seen what a tremendous difference just one educated Christian woman can make, and how she can become a catalyst for empowering others in her church and community, working to end prejudice and discrimination against women and harmful practices like female genital mutilations.

 The Revd Rose Mithamo from Kenya wrote to say, ‘I thank God for the way he has helped you to think about women, who are despised, less educated because of culture and who are seen as inferior and thus less fortunate in society. Through your help many women have been uplifted and trained, now having better chances of serving God in society.’

 Susan Ameso from Uganda, writes ‘Thank you for blessing me to bless others, for empowering me to empower others, and for giving me a sense of worthiness and respect as a woman.’

 It Takes One Woman

 We are asking you to remember Florence Li Tim-Oi and the many thousands of women who have showed such dedication, courage and faithfulness in the past, by holding a thanksgiving service or taking a special collection sometime this year. We owe so much to those who made it possible for us to be ordained. Will you do what you can to help? We are asking you to raise money and give what you can for those who are not able to test their calling. Even a small amount will go a long way to empower another woman’s life.

 It took one brave committed woman, Florence Li Tim-Oi, to say yes to being a pioneer in the Anglican Church. Thanks to her, you and I have been able to be ordained. Just think if we had been denied the opportunity or if we had not had the resources? The best way of showing our gratitude is to help transform the life of another woman. Please will you join me in helping to do that?

 If you would like materials for use in worship, booklets, publicity leaflets, GiftAid envelopes, bookmarks or other materials, please email mail to secretary@litim-oi.org

All Change to Secure your Seat of Learning!

Changes are coming thick and fast due to new government policies and legislation. Reading the reports coming out of the General Synod of the Church of England (meeting in York, last weekend) you realise how difficult it's becoming to keep up. I guess we all tend to keep moderately abreast of the things that most interest us (health care in my case). But while we are watching out for changes in our own particular areas of interest and expertise, changes in other areas others creep up and take us unawares.

The changes in how education will be provided are difficult to assimilate. More free schools and academies, less control by Local Authorities, a great deal more responsibility for governors (who will need to manage pensions and employment conditions as well as standards and resources), new processes for admitting pupils to church and faith schools (called for by some of our leading bishops and I agree with them!) - all this means that it is very difficult to predict where the churches should be putting their efforts and their money. Diocesan Boards of Education and their systems for finding and training governors are going to need to be more robust than they are. That is no criticism of current Boards and governors, but they will, quite simply, need to be able to do a lot more than they have done under the present system. They are therefore going to need increased levels of expertise and personnel and they will have to offer more training and support. This is where the Big Society really begins to bite; being a governor is going to demand amounts of time, knowledge and commitment that exceed what is presently required. 

Opening church schools up to a wider section of the community and basing admissions criteria less on evidence of church attendance is double edged. I believe that church schools should be available to the widest possible cross section of children and I would welcome a new openness; this ties in with my thinking about the ways in which Christians need to be far more ready to welcome all who want to work in partnership with them. However, it does raise big questions about how the Christian ethos of schools can be maintained. Christian faith communities, ie. the local churches, will have to put more resources into working more intensively with schools (and that means finding people with skills in communicating with young people) to present lived examples of what having a faith means. It is questionable whether it is possible to inspire genuine curiosity about faith, never mind faith itself, by teaching it in an abstract way or third hand. (Teaching about faith while not particiapting in a faith from the inside is rather like teaching the theory and histry of music without every playing or listening to music! It often does quite a lot to put people right off faith!)  Already many schools present 'faith' as 'ethics' and 'grace' as 'obligation' and this will only increase where fewer people of faith are involved. So we are going to need readers, clergy and ordinary members of congregations who will dedicate time and effort to working with staff and young people through the schools in quite new ways.

Higher education is also changing so fast it's hard to keep up! A very able young member of my family has recently decided not to go to university because she doesn't want to take on the amount of debt it would involve. I admire her sense of responsibilty. The church is talking about offering its own (presumbly cheaper to deliver) degrees, therefore ceasing to support clergy-in-training in accessing the theology and ministry degrees awarded by university faculties. This seems like a very significant withdrawal from the univeristy forum. If this happens, Christian ministry will no longer be in the mainstream of education and academic life and my guess is it will become less fully a part of public life in general. 

I am not an expert in systems for delivering education or the changes that such systems have recently undergone but I can see that Christians, and perhaps especially Anglicans,are going to have to do some very quick, sure footed and careful re-acting to stay abreast of the game, at all levels of education. Urgent cross-diocese and cross-denominational thinking are needed to ensure that the insights of the Christian tradition (on which much of Western education has been based) remain an integral part of our places of learning. This calls for joined up thinking at national and regional level. Such thinking is beginning to happen but there is a sense that we are somewhat on the back foot. The Big Society, while throwing up new opportunities, is not going to be an easy ride. It is not simply about doing a few more community focused projects. We are in for the long haul and people of faith are going to have to be sacrificially committed and work harder than ever to ensure that we resource and fund the things we are committed to because of our Christian faith .          

More on Education

To read our Diocesan Director of Education's measured and helpful response to the Bishop of Oxford's recent remarks on church schools, see
http://www.riponleeds.anglican.org/news_341.html

To understand the Bishop's advice, it is necessary to grasp that while a small number (less than a third) of all church schools are voluntary aided and therefore eligible to set their own admissions policy, many of these are secondary schools and their policies have a very influential effect on educational opportunity in the areas they serve. (See my post  22nd April Education; the Bishop of Oxford's Advice on Church Schools) for earlier comment and for a link to the Bishop of Oxford's own words on the matter.)

Education; Bishop of Oxford's Advice on Church Schools

I very much agree with the Bishop of Oxford, the chair of the Church of England's Board of Education, who is reported, today, as having said that all church schools should be open to a wider cross section of society, perhaps retaining as little as 10% of their places for children of practising Anglicans, in some contexts. It has long troubled me that voluntary aided church schools, in particular, allow the church to focus educational and clerical resources on a relatively narrow section of the population in some places when I believe that we should be there for everyone.

I also favour parishes being involved, by the invitation of headteachers and governing bodies, in all the schools on their patch, going in to take assemblies or help with lessons in relevant areas of the curriculum by invitation, and being willing to provide governors and other expertise. This is particularly important in places where there is deprivation and a low level of educational opportunity and choice.

A change in admissions policies in voluntary aided church schools (perhaps not quite as drastic as the Bishop suggests) would make an enormous difference to the educational choices available to families in some of the of the most deprived areas of the country, where real child poverty (material and in terms of opportunities) exists in a way that is shocking in the UK of the 21st century. In effect, what we often do under the present system is 'cream off' valuable resources which are then focused on the few. In some areas, at secondary level, the creation of academies has helped to offer children better educational chances but even this has its problems; as more and more academies and free schools spring up, the resources available to other schools diminish and, inevitably, there are fewer academies in areas of low educational achievement while it reamians to be seen how free schools will be distributed. 

John Pritchard, the Bishop of Oxford is, I believe, urging us towards a change which will no doubt be resisted in many places, but his reasoning is based on gospel imperatives. The church, the body of Christ, does not exist to hug resources to itself. We are commanded by our Lord to share and to bring opportunity and hope to all. As William Temple, former Archbishop of Canterbury, famously said, 'The church is the only body that exists for the sake of those who are not members.' An authentic church education policy would seek a high standard of education with a Christian ethos for everyone who wishes to participate.

However, there are clearly difficulties in reducing the number of families who are practising Christians and are involved with the life of a school while maintaining a Christian ethos. John Prichard's statement is, in this sense, rather brave. I think he has probably set the percentage a little low. Church schools vary a great deal but I have, over my 22 years as a minister, detected difficulty in some schools in preserving more than simply an ethical approach which is based on what might pass for Christian values. It becomes very difficult to maintain a sense of lived faith with its heart in worship, prayer and a counter-cultural emphasis on self-forgetfulness and service, if most of the pupils and many of the staff are not believers. We need many more vocations among Christians to teach; we need a willingness among Christians (and not just those who are or have been parents) to serve as governors and volunteers in schools, with the encouragement and interest of their parishes (and maybe at the expense of PCC membership); we need to actively train clergy, readers and lay ministers for their role in ministry to schools. And, by this, I don't mean a few theoretical sessions during their initial training and a couple of IME (in-service curate's training) days. The skill required to communicate effectively with large groups of pupils and students of varying ages is considerable. The exploration of spiritual insight and theological concepts with children is something which has to be learned over time and requires proper supervision and feedback.  Experienced teachers would say that it is one of the most challenging things they do. Clergy and ministers need in-depth help to learn to do it well, with good quality feedback from experienced teachers (not just other clergy.) 

All sounds a bit too much of a challenge? It will certainly demand some different thinking on the churches' part. It is all bound up with our ability to be in real communication with younger people in our communities and, as followers of the blog will know, I believe that this is one of the most pressing areas for reform in the life of our churches today.   

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-13167443  (BBC report and video.)

For further discussion of the issues at stake, see also
http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/14618

Clervaux Trust at Croft on Tees

I first met Bill Chaytor about thee and a half years ago when he invited me to visit him at Clow Beck, Croft on Tees. He talked about his plans for the site and I was struck by his vision for the spiritual connection between the land and education. He has long been passionate about holistic approaches to working the land, producing food and learning life enhancing crafts.  Last week, our Diocesan Surveyor, the Chair of the Diocesan Estates Committee and I returned to visit Clow Beck. On a gorgeous spring morning, we arrived to be greeted by Bill and Janine Christley of the Ruskin  Mill Educational Trust, now working in  partnership with the Cleraux Trust. The Clow Beck site is home to a 110 acre, fast expanding and thriving eco farm while there is an Artisan Bakery and cafe in Darlington and residential houses for the workers, closeby.

The Trust provides education and training through a therapeutic, practical life skills curriculum. It provides 24 hour care for young and more mature adults with learning difficulties, mental health problems, autistic spectrum disorders and complex social needs. Working out of the inspiration of the radical educationalist, Rudolf Steiner, the Trust believes in the power of a holistic approach to life and work. Teaching people skills and crafts that improve the land, produce food and allow them to have a pride in what they have created gives self confidence and value. A thriving, healthy social environment helps people to develop meaningful relationships and to begin to make positive life style choices. Celebration is an important part of the community's life. One of the community's strap lines is 'A sustainable life, an engaged life, a community life and a shared life.'

We met some wonderful young people; one was making sausages while another showed us how to plane wood for a chair he was making. Many of the buildings themselves have been contstructed by those who come to live and work with the Trust - and in them we saw some of the results of weaving, textiles, blacksmithing and animal husbandry. There are also workshops and courses in food production, green woodwork, biodynamic agriculture, animal management, mechanics, catering, and computer skills. The bakery in Darlington allows people to learn to bake bread (a group of young people had got up at 4am, for the first time, that day, to bake the bread we ate, which was delicious!), but more than that, it is an outlet for the organic produce from the farm and a social enterprise in which people can gain the skills and confidence they need to work in a small business setting. 

Re-connecting people with the land is a major aim of the Trust. In today's society there is often a major dislocation between people and the natural cylces and proceses of production. The project aims to help people reconnect with the skills and knowledge that allow us to sustain life through its natural rhythms and it does it in a visionary and exciting way.

There is an open day when anyone can visit and I would say that it is well worth a visit - there may well be activities and events which you, your family or your church would be interested in getting involved with! There are also opportunities to become a volunteer. 

The open day is 21st May 2011 10am - 4pm 

For more information visit http://www.clervaux.org.uk/

And a very big thank you Bill, Janine and all the people we met for an inspiring day out which I shall remember for a long time!    

Claire Rayner; Compassion in Nursing

I was interested to read that the late Claire Rayner OBE was concerned, as I have been, about the place of compassion in nursing care (see my post 'Do We Support Nurses to Care?' 22nd February.) During her life, Claire, a labour supporter (though latterly she joined the Lib Dems as a protest over Labour's plans for the NHS) was President of the Patients' Association, a member of the Prime Minister's Commission on Nursing and a patron of the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture http://www.torturecare.org.uk/

It has been recently announced that her family and the University of Huddersfield's Centre for Health and Social Care are co-operating to establish a new scholarship for doctoral research which makes a significant contribution to understanding how more compassionate care can be delivered by nurses and midwives. Although I expressed some misgivings about the effect the over-academicisation of nursing has had in discouraging those who are motivated primarily by practical compassion from going into the profession, I do welcome this development as one way to get compassion back onto the agenda. Perhaps the research will be able to point us in directions which will allow nurses to nurse in ways that heighten both their sense of vocation to show compassion and their patients' sense that care is given with compassion. Can research 'prove' that compassionate care is more healing than dispassionate, objectivised care, I wonder?  Claire, like Jo Brand, always seemed to blend great intelligence and humour with tough compassion. 

The inaugural scholarship has been awarded to Barbara Schofield, consultant nurse for older people in the Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust. She will study dignity and compassion in care. For further information, go to
http://www2.hud.ac.uk/hhs/chscr/Claire_Rayner_Scholarship.php