Author Archives: dawnriser

Minster Carols – honoured to have been there

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I’m still glowing after last night’s Minster Carols – what a great team – so many people working together to create an event so moving and relevant. I can honestly say it ignited the spirit of Christmas in me for the first time this year. The sheer enormity of it all – God being born on earth to be our Saviour – is truly overwhelming. The impact of the Riding Lights theatre, the simplicity of Alyson’s preaching, the music from the choir and the slick work of the technical team all played out in that magnificent building – stunning. Not to mention all the stewards, welcomers, fetchers and carriers, pray-ers and all the rest of the people behind the scenes. Thanks St Mike’s for being a great church. Honoured to be part of it all.

It Rained

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A refreshing break from the bad weather

It rained – suddenly roads were turned into streams and my inadequate clothing leaked. I was soaked to the skin in seconds. We were travelling downhill into Askrigg when water gushed up through the drain tops. The gentle rolling countryside of the Dales was transformed in moments into a threatening place where rains lashed, water courses overflowed and lightening crashed around us. All we had were two frames of metal and wheels of steel against all those forces of the natural world.
As we sheltered in the village pub we dripped and waited for the storm to pass. The damp stayed with us for the rest of the day. The short ride to Hawes felt like a long trek into town.
But when a taxi finally delivered us to our cottage, warm dry clothes never felt so comforting. The stream outside the window had turned into a torrent to live up to it’s purpose as the source of the mighty River Wharfe – feeding the waters collected from the hills above Oughtershaw into the channel that finds it’s way to the sea through the beauty of Wharfedale to Ilkley and Otley and on to join the Ouse at Drax south of York.
That was just one day of our holiday. Some days we walked, others cycled, but the rain was constant.

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Warwick – North and South

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Warwick on York Station

Leaving a chilly York Station for Aberdeen

North to Aberdeen by train. A five hour journey to the Granite City to spend a weekend with Matthew and Laura. The idea of these trips was to allow Warwick independent time with his brothers. Until now, despite his 39 years, he has only ever spent time with them in the presence of his parents. So, with some careful planning, Warwick set off with a huge suitcase and several bags, assisted by two support workers to his hotel. Matthew is never short of ideas and they had a full weekend of places to go, things to see and food to eat. When he came home to York he had clearly enjoyed his time away – and so had Matthew. That was in May.
Warwick visits WesleyCome September and he’s on his travels again, this time to London and ultimately on to Chelmsford to see Wesley, Deborah, Alex and Emily. In London he took in the sights and a visit to the West End to see Mama Mia – you should know that he absolutely loves Abba. Wes and the family came across to London for an after show meal.
The trip to Chelmsford – as short as it was – was a bit of a drama. Engineering works challenged the train company – Greater Anglia – who took a week to find a taxi company that could take Warwick on the final leg of his journey. We were confident, with the plans in place, he would be met at Shenfield station by a taxi for the short trip to Wesley’s. After all this was the company that transported thousands of competitors travelling to the Paralympic Games less than a month earlier. What could go wrong?
No taxi. No one knew about a taxi. No one could find a taxi. So Warwick was put on a later train to another Essex town and then onto an accessible bus to Chelmsford.
Two hours late he arrived to a joyous welcome from Alex and Emily. Meanwhile an incandescent Wes started to take Greater Anglia to task. They ultimately provided Warwick and his support workers a wheelchair taxi door to door from Chelmsford to his hotel in London. Later they refunded the train fares and apologised ‘for any inconvenience caused.’
Warwick again returned home full of himself. Both Wesley and Matthew felt they’d had a valuable time with their brother who in the future could need more of their love and support.

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Restore Grows

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It’s still hard to believe that Restore is only two years old. We now have four houses and sixteen men will be housed this Christmas. Without us many of them would still be in hostels or sleeping rough.
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The growth has tested and strained our resources. Challenging situations are often presented and the demand on time can be difficult – especially for our support worker, Ed, who now works full time for the charity.
We have been engaged in a series of strategy workshop this autumn to help us plan the next steps in our expansion. We are clear that the charity needs to expand so that the service is provided by professional staff supported by committed volunteers.
I am grateful for an effective board of directors who share the vision to help end homelessness in York. You can keep up to date with the work of Restore by watching the website restoreyork.co.uk, following us on Twitter @RestoreYork or liking our Facebook page.

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No more bishops?

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I’ve had time to think about this one – since the vote on intorducing women bishops is now a couple of weeks behind us. I’ve read a load of articles, opinions and summaries of the events that led up to and followed the vote that by a very slim (some woud say undemocratic) margin threw out the measure that would have allowed the church to consecrate women as bishops.

The decision that it was alright in principle to have women bishops was made some time ago. This vote was about how to do it.

So here we are looking down a dark five year tunnel that may lead to the next vote. Five more years of women in the clergy ducking under the ‘stained glass ceiling’ as one newspaper columnist put it. Five years of the church appearing to be struck in a bygone age. Five years of negative headlines where those outside the church appear to know more about what we’re doing than we do.

These voices will distract and deter some people looking for their place in Christ’s kingdom. But if it hadn’t been this issue those voices would have found another one to put off the seekers from looking for the truth in Christianity. 

Thankfully, the Church of England is not the only Christian denomination. Others have women in senior positions of leadership as do other parts of the Anglican communion. So it’s possible that another tradition would help those seekers to sign up to a local christian community.

For some though the long wait for the next round of debates and voting will be too long. They will never, in the duration of their working life, fully answer the calling they feel they have received. In the cold light of day there must be many callings that are never completely fulfilled, but in this case, to miss out because such a small number of people witheld their approval seems unjust. Rightly there were tears of disappointment at synod and probably some words of anger in private too. 

So perhaps this would be a good time to call a moratorium on the appointment of any more bishops until this issue is resolved. The church has agonised for years over the number of diocese and bishops with their palaces, staff and retinue. Here is an opportunity to cut the numbers. Impose the same stained glass ceiling on all clergy until men and women can be treated equally. It may just focus a few minds in all three houses of Synod and who knows – speed things up a touch.