Last night was fun. Throughout this week, St Matthews, Triangle and All Saints churches in Ipswich have been hosting a series of prayer events in an effort to deepen their prayer lives, and I drove up last night to join in with these new friends, and to do a tag-team-talk with Bishop Simon Barrington-Ward. The Bishop spoke about the Jesus Prayer, and I told some stories about 24-7 prayer, and we did a bit of Q&A as well.
I confess, in spite of my close-to-40-years, I did feel like the new kid on the block. Tag-team-talking with a man who was friends with C. S. Lewis is everso slightly awe-inspiring (and the stories he told over dinner, of conversations with Lewis, were fascinating). He was absolutely lovely though. Warm, encouraging, humble, and without question, full of the Holy Spirit.
There were some amusing moments. Matthew, the assistant curate's valiant attempt to introduce us well, for example. Clearly, Google-searching for 'Phil Togwell' doesn't yield a great deal of treasure... and so, just before I got up to speak, after "leads 24-7 prayer in the UK", his introduction also included things like "likes curries", "reads books", "dislikes cats".
Bishop Simon's, on the other hand, read like a saint's CV! Educated at Eton, taught in theological colleges, served as the Bishop of Coventry, currently serves as chaplain to Cambridge University and to the staff at Ridley training College. He's written books, and was even named in 2001's New Year's Honours list, as Knight Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George (?!)... and I could carry on.
Equally amusing were his first words after listening to this extraordinary introduction. "He sounds interesting?" he grinned, as he stepped up to the front, "I'd like to meet him." "I don't really feel like those are things I've done," he added, after a pause, "they're just things that have happened to me along the way." This is a man who understands what is treasure in the kingdom of Heaven, and what isn't
Bishop Simon spoke about his life... He told stories about being in Berlin shortly after the war, "a city devastated as far as the eye could see", along with a group of believers - some ex-Nazis and some ex-resistance fighters, who were learning to follow Jesus together. And he told stories of learning to pray among monks and nuns in England. The room was silent and rapt, fully absorbed in every word. It really was a privilege to be there and to hear him.
At the end, it was also a joy to celebrate with the church community the fact that their football team - recently battered 7-0 by Chelsea - had beaten Arsenal. Cup semi-final... Ipswich 1, Arsenal 0! (Sorry Andy, I couldn't resist. Ha ha) Needless to say, getting out of Ipswich was a little tricky.
Thank you so much for coming to Ipswich last week. It was a real joy and privilege to hear you both. May you continue to know God's blessing.
Posted by: Mark Cornish | Wednesday, 19 January 2011 at 07:23 PM
Ah Phil, I miss Wild Goose when I read this. I can't believe you don't like cats though. xx
Posted by: Catie Eliza | Sunday, 30 January 2011 at 12:23 PM
also... check this out http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jim-Casper-Church-Conversation-Well-Meaning/dp/1414313314/ref=sr_1_31/203-9009159-9873526?ie=UTF8&s=booksqid=1175513431&sr=1-31
Posted by: Catie Eliza | Sunday, 30 January 2011 at 12:48 PM