Runnymede Afghan Appeal | Justice Worriers short message

Jörg asks Leah and Andy for help preparing his sermon on Mark 6:45-56, where Jesus walks across the surface of a lake, and his disciples are terrified that he is a ghost. What are we supposed to make of this story? Is it about how Jesus is powerful, or how silent prayer can somehow make us powerful? If so, how come Jesus didn't prevent them being blown completely off course? Did Jesus retire to the mountain to pray because he was exhausted? How does any of this teach us anything about silence and solitude? Also, why on earth was he about to walk straight past the boat?

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Andy, Jörg and Leah talk to Steve and Claire talk about the kindness they have felt in church communities. We talk through the different phases of both their lives, including the remarkable influence of an "all-in" Christian community where members shared all their possessions and lived together, with all the joy and heartache involved. Their experiences lead us to discuss the importance of actually sharing our lives and being truthful about what is going on inside us.

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Andy, Jörg and Leah talk to Rima about her extreme adventures, from the North Pole to the Community Fridge, with a lot of dragging tires in between. Rima is an adventurer and a challenge-maker. She tells stories of cancer treatment and running marathons with the same vigour and passion, encountering God viscerally in those experiences. She has given her life to her passion for preventing waste and preserving the creation of which we are a part. She describes God's close presence and protection through her suffering, her adventures, and her joy.

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Andy, Leah and Jörg talk to Sue about her story with the church, including the death of her son Jake, and her work helping people escape from debt. Sue received incredible support from friends and leaders at her church in her grief and anger, and she somehow still sees God working. She describes the support she received when people sat with her, and she follows that example in her work helping people with debt problems, and in her relationships. She includes all the people who come into contact with our building and our people in her vision of "our church". Sue's husband is Andy, who we interviewed in episode 28.

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Andy, Leah and Jörg meet Anu, whose experiences of being part of communities across the world lead her to call for productive rage about ecological destruction, instead of mourning or despair. She sees the climate crisis as a continuation of the centuries-long process of unfettered grown and extraction, and the trail of destruction left by the colonisers following that process. How then has she found a new connection with the same God in whose name many of these things were done?

If you want to take action, have a look at the scheme we mentioned on the podcast: The Prophetic Activist Scheme from Christian Aid. It includes training, mentorship and tools for activism, and connects you to a supportive community.

Anu's book is A Liberation for the Earth - Climate, Race and Cross on SCM Press,  ISBN: 9780334061267.

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Many of us sometimes find it a struggle to go to church. Andy, Jörg and Leah work through some of the reasons, and try to figure out why we meet, why it's difficult, and maybe even what we can bring.

Andy's poem at the end is Deaf Song.

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Andy, Leah and Jörg talk a bit about their experiences of gender, and what they read in the Bible about it. There are lots of binaries set up, and scripts that constrain us - can we find any helpful messages or hopeful ways to live?

The book that Leah reads from at the end is Queer Virtue by The Reverend Elizabeth M. Edman

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Tim, Rachael, Lesley, Jörg, Leah and Andy gather around a microphone for the first ever in-person Justice Worriers! The question we asked was "what are your worries?" and we spent most of the time discussing "why don't I care?" and "how can we be a real community?".

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Sending you love this Christmas: here is a little prayer.

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In many of our churches, God is addressed with male pronouns.  Andy, Leah and Jörg discuss some of the effects of this choice, and whether we can do better.  Maybe we can playfully explore different ideas of God's gender, accepting that with every step we gain some things and lose others?

You are invited to a special episode of Justice Worriers: "What are your worries?"

Come along to listen and share your worries about justice and life as a Christian. (No obligation to say anything!)

Or, if you can't get to Egham in the UK, send us your worries, questions and comments and we will discuss some of them on the podcast.

Don't miss your chance for this - you never know what good things might happen.

If you'd like to come, contact Andy on justiceworriers@artificialworlds.net.

To share worries, email the same address, or hit us up on Mastodon, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or YouTube.

Looking forward to it!

Contact us on justiceworriers@artificialworlds.net or look for JusticeWorriers on Mastodon, Facebook, LinkedIn, or YouTube.

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