SOUL SURMISE

TOMORROW IN FITZROY 20.10.19 - BEING WITH CREATION

Tomorrow morning (11am) in Fitzroy we will be celebrating Harvest by asking about how we are doing about the environment. Continuing our very popular BEING WITH series we welcome Jonny Hanson to preaching on BEING WITH CREATION. Jonny is a sharp mind and radical practitioner. He is Managing Director of Jubilee Farm. Jubilee see themselves as a Christian Creation Care organisation. I believe in these days of Extinction Rebellion and Greta that Jubilee have a prophetic voice for the Church. Our worship is on the classical week rotation with the brilliant viola of Ulster Orchestra's Richard Guthrie and the free flowingpaino of David Livingstone. I believe there might be an original worship song too!

In the evening (7pm) we continue our excellent Evening Programme for 2019-20 with Chris Fry. Chris is a Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist and will speak on The Problem of Peace. Chris will be looking at conflict and aggression and reality in the life of groups that seek to offer healing and hope. Expect imaginative theology, insight and practical suggestions for implementation. 

LISTEN TO STOCKMAN SERMON PODCASTS

I have been encouraged in this last few weeks to find out that people are listening to my Sermon podcasts. My current preaching series on BEING WITH seems to have resonated. I started the series back on September 8th. The BEING WITH series is as follows:

Sept 8th 2019 - RIPPING EMMANUEL OUT OF CHRISTMAS

Sept 15th - ALL BECAUSE OF YOU, I AM - BEING WITH EACH OTHER

Sept 29th - JUST TURN UP - BEING WITH ONIALEKU (MISSION)

Oct 6th - BEING WITH THE OTHER

Oct 13th - BEING WITH JESUS

Apologies that BEING WITH THE CITY was not recorded. 

You can listen to these as iTunes Podcasts. You can subscribe and have the weekly Podcasts downloaded automatically. Go to the Podcast section of the iTunes Store and the search In the iTunes store, go to the Podcast section and then search for 'Fitzroy Presbyterian Church'.

Alternatively, you can listen on the Fitzroy website - LISTEN HERE

 

 

 

 

 

If you missed the sermons(s) or media and want to listen to them again click on the file you want below (or you can subscribe for free to our sermon podcast in iTunes and have the sermons downloaded automatically.  In the iTunes store, go to the Podcast section and then search for 'Fitzroy Presbyterian Church')

TOMORROW IN FITZROY 13.10.19 - JESUS AND JEREMIAH

Tomorrow morning (11am) in Fitzroy we will be gathering around Jesus' table to reenact the sacrament that he left us to remember him by. We will have a baptism too. Sacrament Day in Fitzroy! We will then be asking do we know about Jesus? Are we for Jesus? Or... do we send time in the grace and rhythms of Jesus, picking up his radical approach to living. BEING WITH JESUS should change every single thing about what we do every single minute of our day. Do we spend enough time BEING WITH?

In the evening (7pm) we have the next in our fabulous series How to Read the Bible (HtRtB). We are excited to have Peter McDowell telling us about the book of Jeremiah. Who was Jeremiah? What was going on in his day?Why did he write a book? What can we learn from it today? We read the Bible a lot in our wee country But do we have any clue what it is about in its context? This series has been an excellent resource to understanding the Scriptures. Even if you missed all the rest, come along.

MARY GAUTHIER & MARTYN JOSEPH in FITZROY in NOVEMBER

MARY GAUTHIER

Real Music Club

FITZROY

NOVEMBER 2, 2019 @8pm

£25 tickets available HERE 

Gauthier has been making quality albums since she dealt with her addictions 25 years ago. Ten albums of very personal songs was added to by her 2018 album Rifles and Rosary Beads, an album about war, co written with veterans of the Iraq war. Call her the Wilfred Owen of her generation. With its juxtaposition of war and Church, there might be no better place to hear these songs. Powerful songwriting and I am sure when you she sings Mercy Now you’ll remember having heard it somewhere without ever knowing that Mary Gauthier sang it.

MARTYN JOSEPH

Real Music Club

FITZROY

NOVEMBER 7, 2019 @ 8pm

£17 TICKETS HERE

Martyn has been a friend for decades and his songwriting has journeyed with me like a companion for the road, as he himself describes it. Whether the personal or the global, Martin is always expressing the joys of love, the pain of brokenness, the scandal of injustice and the hope of personal and global healing. A masterful live performance expect to laugh to cry, to be enraged and to commit to a more grace filled world. You’ll be gripped!

ONE SUNDAY IN FITZROY EXPLAINS EVERYTHING ABOUT US

Some Sundays are better than others. Every Sunday in Fitzroy is different. Five or six worship bands assures us of that. Most Sundays are vibrant, challenging and inspirational. Last Sunday though was one of the very best Sundays in Fitzroy. In one day there was a flavour of exactly who we are.

The morning service took a turn. It was a well structured service, planned in advance. However, a couple of Ugandans staying in the Manse gave the opportunity for an added energy. So, just after our opening worship song and before the Children’s section of the service Levixone took Fitzroy to Africa. There were beats and grooves and lots of movement. Seeing the congregation almost bounce in unison was an original unique beginning. Fitzroy likes throwing in the options available. “Blessings everywhere” Levixone had us singing. Indeed!

Watching the oldest to the youngest follow Levixone’s moves was something… and then there were the puppets. The puppets all set up to do The Prodigal Son for Ally Mefferd’s thoughtful talk to the children got into the groove too. 

Today was the day, that occurs maybe 4 times a year, when the Clonard Unity Pilgrims visited with us. From Clonard Monastery on Belfast’s Falls Road the Unity Pilgrims go out and worship in Protestant Churches every Sunday. On their day with us we asked Roseann Doherty to read the Scriptures and then Irene Jovaras from Focolare did our prayers for the world.

There was of course a reason to have two Catholic sisters involved this particular Sunday. In our current preaching series, BEING WITH, this was the Sunday where we looked at how Jesus was with his enemies - “the other”. As in Fitzroy we unpacked Jesus life. I preached on Luke 6: 27-36 where Jesus tells us to love, bless, do good and pray for the other. It is Jesus incarnational model. It is Jesus call for us to follow and it is the character of God - “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful”.

All of this was of course dressed in worship. We had traditional, taize and contemporary all mixed in, a little latin and finishing with Bluetree’s God Of The City. 

Then in the evening we had one of our art specials. Mixed with performances of Joni Mitchell songs, Andrew Cunning gave us the theology of the ordinary, seeing what Mitchell’s songs had to say to theology. These evenings are a subtle mix of entertainment and education. As Marshall McLuhan said, “Anyone who think there is a difference between entertainment and education doesn’t know the first thing about either.” 

This is Fitzroy in one day. Biblical, thoughtful, imaginative, unpredictable and making sure that the word and the world caress and clash, in practice, in the here and now.

Read a Review of the Joni Mitchell evening event HERE

Info on our Sunday Night Programme HERE

you can download Fitzroy Sermons HERE

 

WHY FITZROY DO THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO... SERIES

(Sunday October 6th 2019 sees Fitzroy present The Gospel According To Joni Mitchell at 7pm. Here is why we do such evenings)

 

The Gospel According To... Series came about, as many good ideas, by accident. During my days as a University Chaplain we raised thousands of pounds to take students to South Africa to volunteer with Habitat For Humanity. At the launch of my book Walk On we had gotten local artists to cover U2 songs and so we went for it again as a fund raiser. 

Then we did Johnny Cash. Then Van Morrison. As part of these tribute nights I started to “Preach Jockey” them; that is to link the songs with commentary of a spiritual nature. I had been creating sermons through songs and chat on my BBC Radio Ulster show Rhythm and Soul for ten years. 

When I arrived in Fitzroy in 2008 it was a natural thing to repeat the idea and then develop it. The great advantage at Fitzroy was having an amazing array of talent, not only able to perform the songs but absolutely passionate about doing so. 

The creativity and ability of my congregation has widened the scope of The Gospel According To... Series. We now have not only done the rock music of Leonard Cohen, Van Morrison, The Waterboys, Bob Dylan, Christy Moore and Bruce Springsteen but we have now stretched the canvas to include Harry Potter, The Lion King, Narnia, Les Miserables, West End Shows and Van Gogh. When Jonathan Abernathy-Barkley was our assistant we had other colours in our palette. Dave and Lorraine Thompson have brought the Disney and Pixar movies into play too.

With my penchant for all things U2 we have done a variety of events around their work. As well as The Gospel According To… U2 we have had an evenings on Songs Of Innocence and Joshua Tree. Songs of Experience is being prepared for the autumn, around time the SOE Tour arrives in Ireland.

Not everyone understands the concept. Some say that it is baptising secular music. For me it is not anymore baptising the artist in performing a song than it is to quote a novelist or poet in a sermon. Some seem to struggle with the idea of the Gospel of Bruce Springsteen. Of course it is not called that. It is The Gospel According To… It is seeking out what Springsteen or whoever says about Jesus and faith.

There are six important things that I am attempting to do through these evenings: -

 

USE OF CONTEMPORARY CULTURE IN SHARING FAITH

Since I started trying to share my Christian faith in the early eighties I have constantly attempted to cross the gap from Scriptures into the culture by using the arts as a bridge. The use of quotations from all kind of sources has been rife in preaching for centuries. I just felt I could reach a younger, perhaps more secular audience by using quotations they would relate to and maybe be surprised I would use. This has all a Biblical model that from Acts chapter 17 where Paul does what I am doing; he takes the art and poets of the city, quotes them and then uses them to draw people to the truth of Jesus. This is an effective way to communicate in a cultural context.

 

ENGAGING FAITH AND CULTURE

It was Marshall McLuhan who said, anyone who thinks there is a difference between entertainment and education doesn’t know the first thing about either. The ability for people to engage and listen to the entertainment that surrounds and near saturates them is for me a vital part of discipleship. If we think entertainment is just noise I believe we are wrong! The discernment of Christians to understand what they are listening to, reading or watching is a vital part of the job of a pastor. I believe that if Jesus is Lord he should be Lord of our aesthetics. I believe in iPodic obedience! There is art that can give us a healthy soul in a positive way. I wrote my MTh dissertation on this idea. 

My hope is that The Gospel According To... Series awakens people to think about their art. I also hope that it will exercise the muscles of our imaginations as we connect art and faith. The most positive outcome of this series for me is that my very own children will often say to me that they have heard a song, read a story or watched a movie that we could do a Gospel According To... on. They have learned to look for the spiritual in their entertainment. Success!

 

DOUBLE LISTENING

In his book The Contemporary Christian, John Stott speaks of not being so caught up in the Word of God that we miss the contest of the world that it needs to apply into. He suggests it is necessary to listen and have a grasp of both. One of the ways to get a handle on the issues of the day is by engaging with the art of the day. It is a window into the soul of the society. The Gospel According To... Series gives us an opportunity to listen.

 

TRIPLE LISTENING

In the introduction to my book The Rock Cries Out I suggested something more than Stott's Double Listening. I was aware in my own spiritual formation that rock music had played a major part in God'sspeaking to me, leading me back to the Bible to wrestle with social and personal issues. God was speaking in unexpected places. Of course this wasn't an original idea. From Clement of Alexandria in the Second Century to John Stott again, this time in his book The Incomparable Christ, "there seems to be truth among all men." Again we might here God if we were able to listen and this Series is aimed at helping guide us in this listening.     

 

A GENTLE WAY FOR PEOPLE TO COME INTO CHURCH

What the Series has done is draw many people into or back to Church. For whatever reason many people have problems in coming to Church. They have stereotypes or have been damaged by Church experiences. What we have found is that The Gospel According To... Series has done is to encourage such folk into the Church again and reassess their relationship with it.I often describe it as a Burning Bush, an intrigue that catches people's attention draws them closer to sacred ground.

 

THE USE OF PEOPLE’S GIFTS

This was a bi-product that I hadn’t gone looking for. After we had done a few events in the series I realised how fulfilling it was for those who sang or played. Church is often not a place where arts are encouraged and many musicians, singers and performers feel that they cannot easily bring the life of art and faith together. To be allowed to use their gifts for God in these musical ways has not only been a an opportunity to develop and hone their gifts but also to grow in spiritual confidence as they find a role within the Body of Christ.

 

As well as the Joni Mitchell evening, watch out for The Gospel According To Female Pop Singers in November  2019 and in 2020 a potential new series called Theological Jukebox with the same raison d'etre as this blog.

 

(Sunday October 6th 2019 sees Fitzroy present The Gospel According To Joni Mitchell at 7pm. Here is why we do such evenings)

 

The Gospel According To... Series came about, as many good ideas, by accident. During my days as a University Chaplain we raised thousands of pounds to take students to South Africa to volunteer with Habitat For Humanity. At the launch of my book Walk On we had gotten local artists to cover U2 songs and so we went for it again as a fund raiser. 

Then we did Johnny Cash. Then Van Morrison. As part of these tribute nights I started to “Preach Jockey” them; that is to link the songs with commentary of a spiritual nature. I had been creating sermons through songs and chat on my BBC Radio Ulster show Rhythm and Soul for ten years. 

When I arrived in Fitzroy in 2008 it was a natural thing to repeat the idea and then develop it. The great advantage at Fitzroy was having an amazing array of talent, not only able to perform the songs but absolutely passionate about doing so. 

The creativity and ability of my congregation has widened the scope of The Gospel According To... Series. We now have not only done the rock music of Leonard Cohen, Van Morrison, The Waterboys, Bob Dylan, Christy Moore and Bruce Springsteen but we have now stretched the canvas to include Harry Potter, The Lion King, Narnia, Les Miserables, West End Shows and Van Gogh. When Jonathan Abernathy-Barkley was our assistant we had other colours in our palette. Dave and Lorraine Thompson have brought the Disney and Pixar movies into play too.

With my penchant for all things U2 we have done a variety of events around their work. As well as The Gospel According To… U2 we have had an evenings on Songs Of Innocence and Joshua Tree. Songs of Experience is being prepared for the autumn, around time the SOE Tour arrives in Ireland.

Not everyone understands the concept. Some say that it is baptising secular music. For me it is not anymore baptising the artist in performing a song than it is to quote a novelist or poet in a sermon. Some seem to struggle with the idea of the Gospel of Bruce Springsteen. Of course it is not called that. It is The Gospel According To… It is seeking out what Springsteen or whoever says about Jesus and faith.

There are six important things that I am attempting to do through these evenings: -

 

USE OF CONTEMPORARY CULTURE IN SHARING FAITH

Since I started trying to share my Christian faith in the early eighties I have constantly attempted to cross the gap from Scriptures into the culture by using the arts as a bridge. The use of quotations from all kind of sources has been rife in preaching for centuries. I just felt I could reach a younger, perhaps more secular audience by using quotations they would relate to and maybe be surprised I would use. This has all a Biblical model that from Acts chapter 17 where Paul does what I am doing; he takes the art and poets of the city, quotes them and then uses them to draw people to the truth of Jesus. This is an effective way to communicate in a cultural context.

 

ENGAGING FAITH AND CULTURE

It was Marshall McLuhan who said, anyone who thinks there is a difference between entertainment and education doesn’t know the first thing about either. The ability for people to engage and listen to the entertainment that surrounds and near saturates them is for me a vital part of discipleship. If we think entertainment is just noise I believe we are wrong! The discernment of Christians to understand what they are listening to, reading or watching is a vital part of the job of a pastor. I believe that if Jesus is Lord he should be Lord of our aesthetics. I believe in iPodic obedience! There is art that can give us a healthy soul in a positive way. I wrote my MTh dissertation on this idea. 

My hope is that The Gospel According To... Series awakens people to think about their art. I also hope that it will exercise the muscles of our imaginations as we connect art and faith. The most positive outcome of this series for me is that my very own children will often say to me that they have heard a song, read a story or watched a movie that we could do a Gospel According To... on. They have learned to look for the spiritual in their entertainment. Success!

 

DOUBLE LISTENING

In his book The Contemporary Christian, John Stott speaks of not being so caught up in the Word of God that we miss the contest of the world that it needs to apply into. He suggests it is necessary to listen and have a grasp of both. One of the ways to get a handle on the issues of the day is by engaging with the art of the day. It is a window into the soul of the society. The Gospel According To... Series gives us an opportunity to listen.

 

TRIPLE LISTENING

In the introduction to my book The Rock Cries Out I suggested something more than Stott's Double Listening. I was aware in my own spiritual formation that rock music had played a major part in God'sspeaking to me, leading me back to the Bible to wrestle with social and personal issues. God was speaking in unexpected places. Of course this wasn't an original idea. From Clement of Alexandria in the Second Century to John Stott again, this time in his book The Incomparable Christ, "there seems to be truth among all men." Again we might here God if we were able to listen and this Series is aimed at helping guide us in this listening.     

 

A GENTLE WAY FOR PEOPLE TO COME INTO CHURCH

What the Series has done is draw many people into or back to Church. For whatever reason many people have problems in coming to Church. They have stereotypes or have been damaged by Church experiences. What we have found is that The Gospel According To... Series has done is to encourage such folk into the Church again and reassess their relationship with it.I often describe it as a Burning Bush, an intrigue that catches people's attention draws them closer to sacred ground.

 

THE USE OF PEOPLE’S GIFTS

This was a bi-product that I hadn’t gone looking for. After we had done a few events in the series I realised how fulfilling it was for those who sang or played. Church is often not a place where arts are encouraged and many musicians, singers and performers feel that they cannot easily bring the life of art and faith together. To be allowed to use their gifts for God in these musical ways has not only been a an opportunity to develop and hone their gifts but also to grow in spiritual confidence as they find a role within the Body of Christ.

 

As well as the Joni Mitchell evening, watch out for The Gospel According To Female Pop Singers in November  2019 and in 2020 a potential new series called Theological Jukebox with the same raison d'etre as this blog.

 

TOMORROW IN FITZROY - 6.10.19

Tomorrow morning (11am) we continue our series on the incarnation call of Jesus to BEING WITH. This week we will be thinking of being with "the other". By "the other" we mean anyone that seems to be different than you. Anyone across the borderlines of tension whether colour or race or religion or class. In Northern Ireland that has been traditionally in our relationships with the Nationalist/Republican/Catholic community. 

Fitzroy has been a community that has trailblazer this over the past 40 years. We will be looking at our peacemaking DNA, asking how we can up our contribution and the importance of BEING WITH. The costly and challenging text is from Luke 6: 27-36.

In the evening (7pm) we have a tasty Fitzroy evening when we will be performing the songs of Joni Mitchell and reflecting upon them with a theological slant. We have had ten years of such evenings and yet this I the first time we have examined the work of a female artist. As well as the usual Fitzroy singers we are very excited to welcome Ken Haddock who will sing Both Sides Now and A Case Of You. Author Andrew Cunning will feature in the commentary.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO... JONI MITCHELL - Fitzroy on Sunday October 6th

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO... JONI MITCHELL

SUNDAY OCTOBER 6th 2019

FITZROY - 77 University Road (use Rugby Road entrance)

ALL WELCOME

 

An evening of reflection on the music of Joni Mitchell, bringing out the spiritual journeying that is evident in her work, particularly the iconic Blue record.

Author Andrew Cunning and Theo-musicolgist (supercilious - moi!!!) Steve Stockman will do the commentary and Fitzroy's singers will be added to by the brilliant Ken Haddock who is covering Both Sides Now as he did on his One Night In Willowfield record. He is also going to do A Case Of You. Wow!

Expect to be entertained and inspired and to go away with a deeper appreciation of the music of Joni.

TOMORROW IN FITZROY - 29.9.19

Tomorrow morning (11am) in Fitzroy we will be thinking mainly of Uganda. We will be hearing from our Summer Mission teams and their experiences. The majority went to Onialkeu in Uganda. What were their highlights and what did we learn? I will be asking how we should BE WITH Onialeku in our on going BEING WITH series. Expect some African vibrancy. Speaking of which... if you have any African clothing wear it. Whether you were on this year's team or not. 

There is a stew lunch afterwards to raise money for our youth bursary for summer trips.

In the evening (7pm) our youth will led us in a night of vibrant worship. The Passion services have been excellent and this one has the them Jesus Is For Losers - with a couple big ideas Jesus loves those who've lost their sense of worth. Jesus even loves those who have lost their passion!!

FITZROY BEING WITH THE CITY DURING THE BELFAST HALF MARATHON

The Belfast Half Marathon. It might be the highlight of my ten years at Fitzroy. There was our Van Morrison Service the day before his 70th Birthday Concert on Cyprus Avenue that attracted one hundred visitors from all over the world! There was our first Live Nativity that made UTV News. We’ve had some amazing U2 nights. We’ve welcomed Bruce Cockburn, Ricky Ross, Jim Wallis, Nicholas Wolterstorff and Barbara Brown Taylor.

Yet, yesterday’s Sunday morning was as satisfying a day at the office as I have ever had. First there was the sense of Church community as we gathered at the front of Church in the rain. The worship band started rehearsing on the Church doorway. The kids started setting out jelly babies and oranges.

The first runner was not long in arriving, just after 10 o’clock. A Kenyan floating over the surface and hardly breaking sweat. He waved as we cheered him down University Street. Not long after that our own Fitzer Gladys Ganiel turned the corner. The noise level went up a notch as we cheered one of our own, only second (!!!!) in the Women’s Race but only because we hadn’t tripped up the leading woman a minute our two before.

And something happened. Who knew but there is something addictive about cheering half marathon runners. Not long after Gladys we were past the elite runners and, as we were situated just before the 12th mile mark, the runners seemed to benefit from the music, the clapping, the cheering. The smiles on their faces, their waves. You could tell that we were contributing.

It was one of those moments when I realised that a hunch, that might not work, had worked beyond my wildest dreams. My plan had been to cheer the half marathon and then do a short worship service half an hour later than our usual time.

My sermon series just now is entitled BEING WITH and so I had scheduled this week’s to be BEING WITH THE CITY. The sermon was based on Jeremiah’s advice to the Jewish exiles in Babylon -  “Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” (Jer 29:7)

As Jesus was called Emmanuel which means God With Us so he sends the Church to be with. In Fitzroy’s engagement with the city on University Street, during this half marathon, I have never sensed such a BEING WITH. I was so pleased that we were not inside the building sending praise up to God like worship was some Sunday Cul-de-sac. This was the Church out of the walls loving the city.

Oh you might say that cheering a few runners is not world changing but the metaphor was inspirational and for the runners it was way more than metaphorical. The changes in runners’ faces was immediate but the social media response afterwards was incredible. So many spoke of the lift that they got as they turned the corner on Botanic Avenue and heard our music and cheering.

In my sermon I reminded the congregation that I had eyeballed politicians about the Half Marathon interrupting Worship in the city and how they needed to respect us more. I then asked a question. What is the best way to BE WITH the city? What is the best way to love the city? To shout and demand our rights or to be on the street clapping, cheering, loving?

What I never expected was how much our congregation loved the experience. What it did for us as a community. It was service of the lightest touch BUT it was joyous. At 11.30 almost all of the runners were past us BUT it was not easy to get Fitzers to stop cheering and come into the service. Sometimes serving is more worshipful than a worship service! 

Thank you to all the runners for running for so many good causes. Thank you runners for smiling, waving back and then for your emails and social media postings. To be called the highlight of the route or the best entertainment of the day was as much of a lift to us as any of our cheering was to you. See you next year!