The first half of the term is going to explore the theme of stories – stories we know well, stories that have shaped us and continue to make us, stories that we recall and those that we are living now.

On entering the Chapel there were 4 small boxes on the floor. Kneeling on the floor and opening the boxes each contained a short prayer/reflection about stories and their importance in our lives. Further into the chapel were another 3 boxes each with a candle infront of it. On each of the box lids was a few verses of the story of the Magi visiting Jesus. Inside each box was a picture (on the underside of the lid – not many people found these) and a folded pice of paper. Each had a different poem about the Magi – T. S Elliot’s Journey of the Magi, W.B  Yeats The Magi, and Malcolm Guite’s Epiphany Sonnet. Each of these pieces offered the opportunity to enter into the story in different ways – with satisfied, or unsatisfied Magi who are like us or nothing to do with us.

Back round the tables with more coffee and cake we discussed what we’d read and reflected more on what stories the Magi might have told to their families and friends. there was also space to reflect on how God reveals himself to each of us and to consider whether we are deliberately searching, on a journey, on someone else’s journey by choice (or otherwise) or whether we have simply stumbled into an experience of God.

Verity and Vicky continued our series ‘Shaped by….’ helping us look at how we are shaped by Christ (appropriate on the Feast of Christ the King).

We started with an invite to go and chose an image of Christ from the altar (some taken from ‘The christ we share‘)- there were a selection of varied images from around the world, some quite familiar in style others not so. Having chosen an image we returned to our tables and then discussed a number of questions….’What does the image mean to you?’ ‘Does it reflect how you see Christ?’ ‘Do you think it is a ‘true’ reflection of Christ?’

We were later invited to go and have our photo taken. The images were with our chosen picture of Christ projected onto us. There were more questions for us to ponder once we’d had photos taken. ‘What does it mean to shaped by Christ?’, ‘Is this the image you want to be shaped into?’ ‘How do others see this image of Christ in you?’ ‘Who helps to shape you into this image of Christ?’

After all of us had had our photos taken the images were projected up for us all to see. The results were amazing – beautiful, moving thought provoking.

An ordination is a BIG deal and as we planned we quickly became aware that there were those who wanted to be at the service who couldn’t get there physically, so alongside everything that was happening in the chapel we also had a live webstream and an online chat happening at the same time.

So what happened?

On entering the space it was set up as for cafe church (only with more tables than normal). People were invited to get a coffee, eat the cakes and to get to meet the people on their table. On the tables were sheets with instructions to create some prayers for use in the service – these were to be on autumn leaves.

Unusually for cafe church we started with some singing (who knew we had our very own, very good choir!) and then back to tables for more cafe church type worship – we were exploring Jesus as the bread of life. There was a reading and then a series of prompts for discussion ‘if jesus is the ‘bread of life’ what sort of bread is it?’, ‘What does ‘bread’ mean to us?  ’ Bread is a staple food – sustaining us, helping give us the energy we need for life – who sustains you? who do you help to sustain? How can you help sustain Michelle in her work and ministry’. To end each table was invited to collect a plate of bread from the altar. When broken each bread roll had a text on paper inside it. There was more discussion and more coffee.

On the table I was sat at someone told a story about his daughter who was making bread at school, she had to take things to put in the bread and when they looked in the fridge that morning there wasn’t much to choose from . She was given a lump of cheese and a packet of frozen ham. Dad was ridiculed by his daughter and her teacher. That evening the family sat down for tea and the bread was put on the table. It was fantastic. Full of flavour, great texture. It was a bread everyone wanted more of…..

All the tables concluded saying the collect. Everyone was then invited to join in the creed (those who were joining us via chat typed along!) Things then became a bit more formal as Michelle was formally presented to the Bishop and made her declarations. The Bishop read out the statement that says what a priest is – a very demanding list. and then invited all to pray for the Holy Spirit (essential to even begin to follow what had just been read!) The Choir sang ‘Come Holy Ghost’ and the prayers written earlier were placed on the altar. The Bishop then laid hands on Michelle and prayed the ordination prayer.

After Michelle had her stole turned round and was presented with a Bible, Communion was led by the Bishop.

It was a fantastic evening, a real celebration of ministry.

If you really want to you can see the ‘corporate’  write up at http://www.riponleeds.anglican.org/news-418-2.html

Prayer is …..

Communication with a Father who loves us, standing alongside our brother Jesus who prays with us

Discovering our place in God’s family, giving us a sense of homecoming and belonging, a place of safety and acceptance

A relief to bring burdens and concerns to God, a release of those things that weigh us down

A privilege to be involved in God’s work to transform this world and us believing God can change us and change the world

A risky place where God will push us out of our comfort zone

A lonely dry place where our deepest cries are heard

A creative adventure where success or failure are not measured what counts is being present, turning up.

AFter we’d had time to read them we were asked which definition most resonates with you? We’d been asked to bring objectw with us that characterised our prayer life over the past week. We talked about our objectw with each other and then tried to explain how the statements that resonated and our objects we’d brought linked together. On the table there was an envelope – inside it was a list of types of pra yer – intercession, thanksgiving, confession etc. We were asked which of the different types of prayer feature in your prayers?

Eventually we were invited into the chapel where a large  cross was on the floor with some prayers already written on it and candles lit (family and friends of a student in hosptial had come and joined us for prayers at the start of the evening). Michelle led a reflection for usthat explored the Lord prayer. She also offered us the thought that prayer is standing in the gap between God and his people.

We finished saying the Lord’s prayer together….

We started by remembering communities that we had or currently are part of and then shared them with each other, thinking about the ways that they had shaped us, what was good and not so good about those places, what were the things that we carried from them. We wrote them on cards and then began to share what we’d written with each other. The range of communities we connected with was vast – families, friends, villages, halls of residence, housemates, colleges, churches, union societies, sports teams and more. Some were communities that we had deliberately chosen to be part of, some we had become part of by chance,  others we had no choice about we just had to be part of them. Theyhad all shaped us in someways. Sometimes very gently, other times quite forcefully.

 After sharing for a while we wandered into the chapel space and looked at the different stations that had been  set up. Making models seems to be a theme this term but today it was with play dough rather than clay.We  were invited to make a shape as we reflected upon the different communities that had shaped us, recognising  that this wasn’t always an easy experience.

Often we use labels to try to help us identify what different communities (and especially churches) are like. The labels sometimes start to get in the way and we get hung up on what our communities are known as rather than on what happens within them . At times we even use labels so we know that we’re not like others. The words become boundaries that keep us safe from other influences. A table spread with labels encouraged us to reflect on what happens at the points where the labels we might use to describe ourselves collide with others.

For some of us the collection of photos from Cafe Church over previous years was really powerful. This has been such an important community for people over the last 6 years and seeing photos reminded us of time spent with each other, and also led to thoughts of those who have moved on to other places (especially Joe who left last week for a new job).

We were invited to place the cards we had been carrying into the mugs on the table as the thought about how we were shaping and being shaped by this community of faith.

The evening started (as always) with coffee and cake and the chance to catch up with old frineds and meet some new ones. After a while we opened envelopes on the tables that gave us a series of questions to talk about as a group – “how have you ended up in Leeds?”, “Who has inspired you on the way?”, “Why are you studying what you are at University?”, “How have you ended up at Cafe Church?”

We were then invited to go into the chapel and look at the various stations that had been set up around the space. Each had soemthing to interact with and a short bible reading to reflect upon. In some way each asked us to think about how we are shaped by the world around us, how we have been formed into who we are and how God is continuing to form us.

On the altar, as a final station, was a pile of rough cut wood, some pens and sheets of sandpaper. We were invited to write on the wood things in our lives that we want God to be shaping. As we offered these prayerfully we were asked to sand the wood smooth.

Although it was an evening of beginings it was also an ending – Joe is moving on to a new job near Gloucester and so leaves cafe church after being with us from pretty much the start. We’re really going to miss him.

For some of us this was really challenging. To simply spend time in silence while in the company of others isn’t easy. To help Alex gave us some suggestions of what to do with the silence – of how to begin to see it as a gift. He’d created a still place in the Chapel with candles, icons, crosses and a bible or two.

Some simply sat and enjoyed the silence, others carefully read and immersed themselves in passages of scripture, some used the window offered by the icons – one or two may even have enjoyed some sleep!

The evenign finished with a short liturgy to draw us together.

After time discussing the readings round our tables we all came together as a large group and shared what we had discovered.

Ikechukwe then told us a story: On arriving at theological college he had been told of the importance of keeping his passion for God’s word and setting aside time for prayer. He found a time that the chapel was quiet to go and spend time reading and praying. No sooner had he found the quiet space than others from the college decided that that was the time they wanted to use the chapel too. He tried again. This time he decided to leave the college and head up into the mountains. He found a quiet place, away from it all. It all seemed perfect until the local government declared the mountains a no go area for fear that some extremiset groups were trying to poison the water supply that came off the mountain.

Back home, I.K decided that his study would be the best place to pray. He found the time and within a day or two of starting his new routine discovered that his wife had suddenyl become attracted to the same chair, in the same room at the same time! So turning to his own room he settled in, only to find that his daughter came calling “daddy”…..

Through all this, Ikechukwe realsied afresh how important the word of God was for him. It was the place where he was (and is) closest to God. It is the way that God communicated with Moses, with Elijah and with us. God needs to get our attention (maybe through the burning bush, the quiet after chaos, or simply by our setting aside still space) and then, having our attention speaks clearly to us.

As we head into Lent it seems like a good time to be open and attentive to hear God speaking to us. To discover another Thin Space.

We were asked the question “What does Lent mean to you?” and set the challenge of writing a short reflection about it. Some of us managed to produce something we were happy and recorded them as short pieces of audio.

If you want to hear them you’ll have to look at the University Chaplaincy website over Lent where they’ll be used as part of a series of podcast reflections.

Cafe Church this Sunday continued an exploration of ‘thin spaces’- those places where heaven and earth meet. This week Joe brought his thin space for us to think about and it continued the theme that is emerging in our exploration of not actually being a physical place but more a place in time and space. We have explored how Eucharist, music,
writing are all thin places and this week we looked at the thin place that emerges in the act of serving others.

Joe told us a story from his week of guided prayer a couple of years ago: “I was too busy to sit down for a half hour one evening so my prayer guide suggested I say a quick prayer: “Ask Jesus to be with you tonight.” Simple. I went out, fairly forgetful of the prayer.

The next day, I went to see the prayer guide and confessed I hadn’t really found Jesus out and about in Leeds that night. Nonetheless, I told the story of the night. I’d had a new friend out with me that night and really

made an effort to help him get along with everyoneelse. “Wait”, said the prayer guide “I think we’ve found Jesus”. He turned to Matthew 25 and got me to read it. It was the passage about being a stranger, being hungry, thirsty etc: “And when you do it to the least of these my brothers and sisters, you do it to me also.” I was blown away by this and it has been with me ever since. A thin place is where I meet Jesus or sense God. Where could be thinner than in the place he said he would be?”

Joe showed a short photo montage which simply illustratedthese powerful words and then we shared experiences of times we had helped people and whether we had felt that to be a thin place. It is a challenging yet hopeful thought to be encountering Christ in others,
especially others who need our help… especially when we may be unable to offer what they need. But we found ourselves led onto another question: “Who is our Samaritan?” Because Joe pointed out that it is not enough to see Christ in the context of Matthew 25, in the needy. But we must also see Christ in the helper, in those who offer us help and support. We discussed how hard it can be to accept kindness, to accept that we are people in need sometimes too.