Dynamic

We always think that Sanctus 1 is dynamic. Well, it certainly felt like it recently.

When we were asked whether a few students from Switzerland could pop in to visit us, we naturally said yes.welcoming is definitely one of our values. However, a few people for us would be four or five... to our delight,we found the cafe full of Swiss theologians. They swelled our numbers by 300% which kind of fitted into our theme of relationship in a bizarre way!

They certainly added a multi-national dimension to our discussion.

We continued with our current theme of relationship and looked at at the dynamics of relationship and what keeps us connected (the string helped, pictured). We used the idea of transactional analysis to dissect the nature of interactions between people in terms of child, parent and adult, and considered how we might apply this to God.

Seeing God as sometime parent and adult implies we use these concepts to understand God in a particular way and can help and hinder. We finished up in prayer, which is always useful! We prayed about conflicts in our lives.

This Sunday and Wednesday, we are looking at the impact of adoption on relationships and how we're adopted into God's family.

Come dine with me

To dine on your own can have its pleasures, but to dine together is sharing in relationship.

We dinned on delicious lasagne last week at Sanctus1, as we opened a new series of services on the topic of connectedness.

The conversation was as filling as the food, with an opportunity to catch up with people we've not seen for a while (well, at least a week). Some new folk were with us, so as well as cementing old, we developed the new.

This intro session just allowed us to focus on the nature and importance of relationship and how complicated they are! We looked at who we are in relationship with and what are the drivers in that relationship. If relationships are so integral to being human, then it is no wonder we look at the nature of God through the concepts of relationship. When we hear words such as 'love the Lord you God...and your neighbour', these are concepts of relationship. The idea of a jealous God is one that supposes a relationship - but a big challenge for some was the idea that God's name is jealous!

We used a bullseye target as a way of expressing who we are close to in relationship and also relating different aspects of the Trinity to ourselves.

This week, we look some dynamics within relationship using transactional analysis and what insights do we get of God from this understanding.

Obsession service: from tin openers to devotion

If you've spent the last two days checking your social networks without eating or sleeping or even going to the loo then your would have probably benefited from our services on Obsession.

They were based on the current Nexus art exhibition which considers the obsessive nature of prison life, counting everything all the time (prisoners, scissors, pencils, tin openers) and the lack of control leads to controlling behaviour in other ways.

At the service we considered the nature of obsession and whether if was good or bad. Good in the sense that it can be a release of stress and can be used to focus creatively to achieve some tasks but negative when it starts to interfere with everyday life and relationship.

People can be obsessive about faith and religion too, which is sometimes called 'devotion'. The big decider for us was whether obsession brings us closer or more distant from God and is where is the focus. If it is self interested and neglects our responsibilities to family and friends then perhaps it is not God focused.

For more on relationships, this week we start a four week series on connectedness.

It's for charidee: your views

Recent Sanctus 1 service attendees voted on which charitable causes they would like to support.

Each person was given Monopoly money (pictured): one £500 note, four £100 notes and two £50 notes, giving a total of £1,000 to each to place on squares each representing a type of good cause.

The results were sometimes surprising (animal welfare) and sometimes not surprising (amateur sport), but all an invaluable peek into our hearts.

It will also help Sanctus 1 decide on how to give to charity from now on.

How would you divvy up your dosh? If you missed these services and would like to be included, email us.

24% - The prevention or relief of: poverty

14% - The advancement of: religion

14% - The advancement of: environmental protection or improvement

13% - The advancement of: human rights, conflict resolution or reconciliation or the promotion of religious or racial harmony or equality and diversity

10% - The advancement of: animal welfare

6% - The advancement of: the arts, culture, heritage or science

6% - The relief of: those in need, by reason of youth, age, ill-health, disability, financial hardship or other disadvantage

5% - The advancement of: education

5% - The advancement of: health or the saving of lives

2% - The promotion of: the efficiency of the armed forces of the Crown or of the police, fire and rescue services or ambulance services

1% - The advancement of: citizenship or community development

0% - The advancement of: amateur sport

It's for charidee, mate!

On June 12 & June 15, Sanctus 1 ran a service designed to get us thinking about our charitable giving, driven by the Sanctus 1 value of being Missional.

We looked at several bible passages (Luke 11:42, 1 Corinthians 13:3, Matthew 6:1 and 2 Corinthians 9:7), which reminded us that:

• while we may tithe, this is not the end of our giving - we should not ignore the need for justice,

• there's no point going overboard and giving away everything we own if we don't have love,

• we shouldn't turn our charitable exploits into theatre (like Smashy and Nicey), and

• there's no point giving reluctantly or coercing someone into giving - we should contribute cheerfully

Humans are motivated by self-interest (generally speaking) and this doesn't stop with our faith. We go to church to be spiritually fed, but do we give as well? Are we giving, but doing so predominantly as a way of working our way to heaven (to secure a reward when we get there)?

Sheep and goats

Matthew 25:31-46 sorts the sheep from the goats. That said, working with your hands and contributing your skills to charity (not just giving your money) can bring you closer to God, bring you greater spiritual maturity and give you fresh insights that you wouldn't otherwise be aware of. Self-improvement and development isn't bad, just make sure you have balance between what you do for yourself and what you do for others.

In Amos, God reminded the Israelites not to be so corrupt and neglectful of those in need - don't walk past the widow on your way to the temple and do nothing (they didn't have social services in the Old Testament). The Fruit Basket analogy in Amos 8 gave the prophet Amos a clear message to relay and is a lesson we should still be mindful of today.

James Fowler in his Stages of Faith suggested that for the ultimate in faith progression, closeness to God comes when realising a huge injustice in the world and having the passion and drive to actually do something about it, regardless of impact to self. People like Ghandi, Martin Luther King, etc.

Mancunian widow

So, the challenge to Sanctus 1 is - do we use our faith to support ourselves or to challenge what we do? Are we too self-focused or can we bear to shift some of that focus outwards? Who is the Mancunian equivalent of the Old Testament widow? Can we impact the world?

The service concluded with a discussion about what Sanctus 1 does and what it can do more of. How we should be more practical in our charitable support, although recognising that being geographically spread around Manchester makes a regular activity difficult. Instead we need a volunteer to become a Charity Facilitator and inspire us to single acts we can take part in e.g. painting school rooms, making up gift boxes for the homeless at Christmas, etc. These are local, practical activities we can all contribute to.

Sanctus 1 already supports a charity with international focus, but could do more. It would be good to hear more from those we support to see what impact we have. There was a recognition of the recent hit on UK arts (something close to our hearts, residing in an arts cafe) and so there was a proposal to set up an arts award that would not only support local/national Christian artists, but also help stimulate and provide an outlet for creative expression in our faith.

Finally, we voted using monopoly money for which types of charities we would like to support (more about that soon).

If you would like to recommend a charity that Sanctus 1 should support, please email us. Also, send us your views on the arts award idea. And email us to volunteer as a Charity Facilitator.