18th November 2011
While I was on placement in Manchester in September I was struck by an image. Manchester had, just a few weeks before, witnessed rioting in its streets in response to riots in other parts of the country. In a large percentage of the shops and business windows around the city were posters with a large red heart and the word Manchester underneath. The message being “I Love Manchester”. This seemed in stark contrast to the destructive message of the riots. When I started on placement in North Road I had a sense that this was an “unloved” part of Durham City. The pride is in the other side of the bridge with its fancy shops and nice buildings. North Road, at first glance, is predominantly charity shops, gold and cheque exchange centres and bars with some of the buildings themselves looking a little worse for wear. As Paul and I walked along North Road on Friday we noticed a neon sign which had been put up to coincide with the Lumiere festival which states “CAPITALISM KILLS LOVE”. Paul and I had already decided that “Love North Road” was going to be the tag-line of our placement and this seemed even more important in response to this neon sign. Here we were on a retail-dominated street which ironically was responding to the needs of people struggling in a recession prompted by the greeds of capitalism. Part of our placement is to help the local churches to discern how they might be Christ in this area and engage with what God is already doing. The Bible talks about loving your neighbour, how can churches be agents of Christ's love in that neighbourhood? How can they "Love North Road"?
This week I met with the Pioneer reading group over a latte. We got chatting about corporate worship and new ways of leading people in prayer and worship. We chatted a little about the increase in interest in New Monasticism and groups who have a Rule of Life, just as the Methodist Diaconal Order do of which I am a part. We also talked about rhythms of prayer and daily offices. After an hour I asked the question “How does this relate to Pioneer ministry? What can we learn?” I put into the mix my initial reflections about the bus station on North Road and wondered how might worship look there? We talked about signs and symbols which people readily identify with worship and prayer whether they are churched or not. We particularly mentioned the symbol of the candle for prayer and presence and the sound of bells as a call to worship. So I began to reflect on how these symbols might be used in somewhere like the bus station. Is there a place for daily offices in a place where people often have a daily rhythm of travel? How would it be if a 5 minutes daily office was signalled with a few chimes of a church bell? Would people engage or would they walk away? In a highly transient place, is there room for a rhythm of prayer and worship?
