December 2004 There was no room for them in the Inn

In our culture, indeed anywhere in the world where there is one, we tend to pile into the Pub, Inn, local or Tavern or equivalent. It is a meeting place and a feeding place. However, as a result of more operations on my nose than I care to remember, I am not a fan of the average pub because of cigarette smoke. This I now find particularly aggravating. Yet if we visit my father, or the girls down south, it does mean a meal in a pub (no smoking of course!). Yet the pub is a place where life happens, where ideas generate and where, indeed, often interesting and successful schemes for raising charity funds are launched. Putting the fun in funding. English culture allows women to participate as freely as men in a pub. Leaving aside the excesses of ladism and lassism, women are not confined to the M.U. or W.I. or Church for an outing from home or spouse. Often the wackier TV adverts seem to emanate from pub jokes and tales.

It would seem Christianity is another of these stories that comes out of an Inn somewhere to the east of the Mediterranean Sea. The story has stayed with us and its sequel has a pub orientation – as Jesus seemed to do much of his teaching with a drink in his hand. Sometimes the story seems as far fetched as any pub yarn, or as mysterious as any tale from Scherhezerade’s 1001 nights – with Wise Men bearing gifts instead of Sinbad rescuing damsels in distress. The end of the story is as violent as any pub brawl where old scores may be settled. (When I was at school the local was a haunt of the Kray brothers and the quick fingers that nicked my bike were readily available to procure another if requested – politely please!)

The church that has evolved from these human roots has sometimes followed the same route – either by being sleazy and indulgent or the very opposite, straight-laced, a kill-joy really. Church buildings may host markets or beer festivals – Ripon Minster maintains this very tradition. God’s House is a meeting place. The focal point of Christian celebration revolves around food and drink, fellowship at the Lord’s Table with the basic ingredients of bread and wine, the very sacraments of our Lord’s Body and Blood.

How poignant is all this? Bethlehem means “Place of Bread”, and a “manger” is “a piece of farm furniture from which food is eaten”. God seems to play off the Inn against the Church! Jesus founded the Church on a rock called Peter, i.e. on people regardless of where they were. Some of the more effective carol services may be pub-based this season. That is, unless the politically-correct-minded disallow expressions of faith or mutate them into a fusion of Christmas-Divali-Hanukkah ………… For example, the festive lights in Leicester only come down for a few weeks in the year, for maintenance, as there is one religious festival after another to light up for!

 Please note that actually anyone of any faith is usually only too glad to see someone else express something of their own faith and share the celebration. If the Prince of Wales were content to remain Defender of the Faith, rather than Defender of Faiths, he would have a better platform from which to operate. Coming from one place that can be recognised, he can encourage space for others to be – but he cannot be them all. That was the mistake Solomon made.

Often the highlight of a holiday is seeing the spectacle surrounding some festival or celebrations of the local faith. We learn something because instinctively we share it as well as making the mental adjustments as to how it might apply to, or illuminate, our own faith. It also places the culture of where we are in a tangible context. For example, again, recently in Granada Cathedral we enjoyed part of a confirmation service complete with informal choir and guitar music (a different context in Spain), with some familiar Taize music and their own traditional style.

The Nanny State may seek to curb our excesses down at the pub as it agonises over binge drinking and its consequences. But, may your Christmas this year not be a binge but a Celebration. May any Inn you patronise generate room for God and Son - rather than squeeze them out into the cold. May your visit to God's House be a real encounter with Him - not only to feed and sustain you as an Inn might but more so, spiritually and emotionally. As there is a place for everything - just as there is a time for everything - and everything has its place, may celebration in God's House generate debate in the other place - so that "there is room in the Inn" this year.

The switching on and dedication of the floodlighting installed in memory of the late Terry Coverdale took place at a short service on Thursday 4th November. Nancy Coverdale writes: I would like to express my gratitude, and to thank all those who helped to make the dedication of the Floodlights such a lovely occasion. Toddy’s service was perfect – the music, the food, the wine, and the presence of so many good friends at our beautiful church were all a joy. I do thank you all, and hope the floodlighting will be enjoyed for many years to come.

August

Christopher Dennis, Beverley. Robert Dennis, 1752, buried here.

September

I Coggan, Scunthorpe "A prayer for my son Dale who was tragically killed on the A19 in June".

S. Kafarski, Scunthorpe "Please pray for my boyfriend Dale who died but is with me always" 03.08.84 – 13.06.04.

October

Julian Richards. Elder son of Rev. H. J. Kingsley Richards, Vicar of Leake, 1924 – 1935.