Having enjoyed a good break over Christmas, this week has been a case of slipping back into the routine. Thankfully we didn’t have any crises over Christmas so the emergency phone wasn’t overworked. We still have memories of the Boxing Day 2004 Tsunami and all that involved. An 8am phone call suggested I just turn on the TV – and two hours later we had staff in the office trying to make contact with partners in the region. For days we did what we could, not least to keep our churches in touch with news we were getting from mission workers and partners on the ground. In the days that followed over £1.6m came in – and the work of reconstructing broken communities began. Our final direct involvement in post-tsunami work was more than three years later. Its hard to imagine that was all six years ago though the scars are undoubtedly still fresh in the lives of thousands who survived.
Today I attended my first meeting as a trustee of the British Tantur Trust. The meeting was held in central London, just off Haymarket, and I was reminded again how much I love visits to London. In fact the journey in was quicker than I’d thought and with a bit of planning I could have sneaked in a visit to the National Gallery. But I didn’t, so I feel righteous! Doubly so because I read several articles in the Oct 2009 Evangelical Missions Quarterly on the train going in, a journal that isn’t always as Euro-centric as we’d like it to be, but this edition is superb.
Tantur means “little hilltop” in Arabic, and describes the setting for the Tantur Institute for Ecumenical Studies. It is located between Jerusalem and Bethlehem and serves a variety of purposes, welcoming scholars in a variety of disciplines, students too, and ‘spiritual sojourners of all Christian faiths’. Baptists have not been too involved over the years, hence their desire to get someone on the Board from the Baptist family. It was an enjoyable meeting with some time given over to plans for the 2010 Ordinands visit. Yes, you correctly sense the predominant Anglican / Catholic flavour of the group, though a number of Baptist ministerial students have also participated in the 3-week visit that happens each summer.
An interesting group, comprising amongst others the new Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham, Bernard Longley, the Anglican Bishop of Tewksbury John Went, and a gentleman who sat next to me and introduced himself simply as Jimmy. Nice man that Prof James D G Dunn.
But all of this reminds me that in 2010 I hope to make my first visit to the Holy Land. We have mission partnerships in Bethlehem and Nazareth and with this connection, the Tantur Institute will be on the schedule too.
Oh, and the photo! I am a lifelong Leeds United fan and last Sunday’s win over Man Utd was just a wonderful reminder of how good a game can be. I'm sure you'll all agree.
David Kerrigan
Comments