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Pre-Bethanie-Move
SERMON - 10.15am, Emmanuel Church, Pokfulam, Hong Kong
Sunday 15th October 2006
Revd. Matthew Vernon
Some of us were able to visit Béthanie yesterday.
The Chapel looks wonderful: 19 stained glass windows with beautiful coloured patterns.
When the sun shines through the windows, the yellow and blue and red make dabble effects on the opposite walls.
The newly painted arches are inspiring and the high ceiling gives a lovely sense of space.
The acoustic is excellent too.
We saw rooms for Sunday School and possible spaces for refreshments after the Service.
I favour a space just outside the entrance to the chapel so we catch people as they leave.
• Like here.
I'm very excited about our move to Béthanie.
Not just because we've been waiting for so many years!
It's a very good thing for Emmanuel:
• a beautiful worship space for us;
• an attractive chapel for newcomers.
There's a feeling that our numbers will swell in such a lovely chapel.
Let's wait and see what happens,
• numbers aren't everything,
But it's an exciting new chapter in our life as a church.
You'll be able to tell the grandchildren: "I was there"!
However, I want to tell about some issues I've had about Béthanie.
For quite a long time I had a nagging feeling about our move.
We've been working towards the move and it is the right thing for us,
• but at the back of my mind something wasn't right.
What was it?
I realized that it's a very personal reaction to the chapel.
Different places have different feels;
• buildings give off their own signals.
The chapel is obviously a traditional space.
That suits our style of church and is a good thing.
But crucially for me it represents a strong, dogmatic faith.
It reflects its Roman Catholic heritage.
I'm not worried about the chapel being a Roman Catholic church in the past.
In fact, I'm excited about that ecumenical dimension to our move.
It's the shape and symbols in the chapel that represent that style of faith.
What are these?
Not one particular thing, but a combination of
• the images in the stained glass,
• the solid furniture,
• the imposing architecture.
Let me repeat that this was a very personal reaction.
For some people, the style of the chapel fits their faith very closely.
Other people will not have any particular reaction.
But it's been rewarding to explore my own response.
Let me try to explain some more with reference to this room.
This room fits my faith very well.
It's open and plain.
A wide space without any specific faith references.
It includes creation, with the windows and the green view.
The focus is on us as a faith community.
My spiritual journey in recent years has led me away from dogma and more towards spiritual experience.
Dogma being official church belief.
The spiritual being more about faith experience.
A good example is the Creed.
The Creed is a piece of dogma, spelling out what we believe as Christians.
I'm not particularly fond of the Creed!
I prefer a period of silence in awareness of God's presence.
I'll say again this is a very personal reaction.
Our moving there is right for us
• and positive for me for many reasons.
And it's a good thing for my own spiritual journey.
Why?
Because it helps me explore this dogma/spiritual issue.
Both are valuable parts of our Christian tradition.
Traditional buildings are appealing for many people because they represent something firm;
• faith that continues through the ages
• and remains whatever happens.
I'm very fond of traditional churches,
• visiting them whenever I can,
• as my patient family will tell you!
Although my spiritual journey has gone one way in recent years,
• it's enriching to remember other parts of our tradition
• and to reflect on what I can learn from them.
More deeply, it's important to appreciate again the aspects of faith I feel I've moved away from.
That's true for all of us.
Our sense of identity in terms of faith includes positive and negative parts:
• positive faith elements we associate with
• and negative aspects io faith we define ourselves against.
Its like the many stories of a person growing up in one place and moving away, rejecting their place of origin.
They live elsewhere and see the world.
Their mind is broadened.
Only to return home with a new appreciation of their roots and upbringing.
Moving to Béthanie is a very exciting for opportunity for Emmanuel.
I'm delighted to be the Priest-in-Charge at this time.
But worshipping in Béthanie will be different to worshipping in this room.
I've grown fond of this canteen,
• but it still a school canteen for most of the week!
It will take some adjustment,
• practical and emotional.
You may have a reaction like mine.
Or you may not.
You may have a different reaction.
There's not right or wrong in this.
It depends on our personal spiritual journey and our faith background.
But moving together we can support each other.
We can help each other as we explore other parts of our Christian heritage
• and as we learn more about God
• and God's presence with us.
We will all be safe there.
The move will be similar to moving to Hong Kong if you're not from here, or moving to any place that is different to our home country.
Remember the feeling?
You uproot and leave behind all that is familiar and comfortable.
In the new place you have to relearn things you took for granted:
• from what cereal is available in the supermarket,
• to how the buses work.;
• from opening a bank account,
• to the local language.
Adjusting to lots of environmental factors:
• many are only subtly, but still significantly different to what you're used to.
Which is why we'll keep many things the same at Béthanie:
• a 10.15am start (or thereabouts!);
• the same style of Services;
• a relaxed, friendly mood;
• Sunday School;
• refreshments after the Service;
• rugby shirts still welcome!
One reason its so exciting to be moving to Béthanie is that we will continue the Christian story of the building.
Béthanie has not had a Christian use for some years, but for most of its history it was all about Christianity.
The Mission Etrangeres and their priests in Asia.
At one time they had nearly 60 churches in Guangdong Province alone.
In (1942), they had a 10,000 volume library in Béthanie's sister building across the road.
The building was a printing press and they had 350,000 volumes waiting to be shipped around Asia, in more than 50 different languages.
We'll be using Béthanie for different activities, but in our own way, with our own missionary activity in Pokfulam, we'll be continuing Béthanie's story.
It's a great privilege.
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