St Cuthbert’s Way: Northern Synod Pilgrimage 2010

On Monday 26^th July nine intrepid pilgrims set out from Melrose led physically by Henry Gowland, spiritually by David Herbert and Rowena and rescued and chauffeured by John Durell on a white steed with a flashing orange light atop; that is a minibus.

The first day from Melrose to Maxton took us around the contours of the Melrose Hills to Bowden. Here we were privileged to be joined by Mary Low who wrote one of the main guides on the Way. Two or three times a day we stopped to share a ‘Mary Low’ moment and hear stories of the places and the people who dwelt where we were walking over the centuries. It was good to hear Mary share with us direct the story of Lady Grisell Baillie. As we later crossed the chain bridge that she had ensured was built to save the people walking miles around to cross the river the significance of the bridge came alive. My fellow pilgrims realising that some of us were unsure of this bridge insisted on swaying it – the big boys that they are!

We walked along the Tweed with beautiful views of sand martins, herons and the sound of the water to pass the Crystal Well. Water from this was pumped up to Benrig House in the 1800’s. It was good to sit and reflect here. We past Mertoun Bridge and then up past Maxton Church, that we never managed to see inside, to where our chauffeur John picked us up and returned us to Melrose youth hostel where most of us stayed for the first two nights.

We feasted sumptuously each night together. This was not an ascetic pilgrimage and it was good to have people join us. Mary Low dropped in with copies of her book. (you can just see her at the far end of this photo)

The second day was from Maxton to Cessford, although as we were a very slow walking group that stopped to look, take breathers, meditate or just came to a stop because we were busy talking, it was gone 7pm before we finished walking. This length of time walking rather than thinking and resting was an issue throughout the week and must have caused headaches for our esteemed physical leader seen waiting for us in the photo.

For much of the morning we followed Dere Street, a Roman Road that predates Cuthbert and that therefore he probably walked along. We stopped at Lilyot’s Cross, there in memory of a maid who kept fighting with gruesome injuries. This has been a gathering place to settle border disputes over the years. We had lunch in Harestones visitor centre. The walk continued through woodland with beautiful views until we crossed the Teviot over a narrow wooden slatted bridge that again pilgrims had to bounce on and sway.

Highlights were the range of flowers all around, buzzards, an aviary with bald eagles and incredible views of the first days of the wheat harvest with combine harvesters and trucks collecting the grain dancing together up and down the field. Tonight’s pub meal was good we had a room to ourselves but it took 30 minutes to work out the bill as we were £30 short until David suggested perhaps it was the bill that was wrong – which it was!

Cessford to Hethpool was scheduled as the longest day but we shortened it slightly due to our slow pace as a group. We climbed, which made us slower but the views were fantastic, onto Wideopen Hill and the highest and half way point of the walk.

It was obvious we were not going to make the pub before it stopped serving lunches so through patchy reception John was texted and met us in a lay-by by the cemetery with sandwiches he had bought . We did not leave anyone behind there. John came to our rescue several times and it was good to have the support of a minibus driver. On most days we turned a corner and found John, having walked a way to meet us, sitting reading – Reformed Theology or the day’s paper. It became a tradition for the boys' dormitory to do the crossword before lights out.

An hour later we had a drink at the Border Hotel that is at the end of the Pennine Way although we didn’t meet anyone finishing it. Yetholm is known as a gypsy village. It was moving to pass through a gate with a signpost marking the boundary between Scotland and England. We dropped down through a wood that was dark and sinister but was incredible as we came down the pine tunnel and saw a doorway of light opening up before us. John drove up the road from Hethpool and picked us up from among a herd of bulls, cows and calves. We would do that part of the walk in the morning. From tonight most of us stayed in Wooler youth hostel, who had us booked in twice which led to a mild panic as it was not realised. A good meal in the Black Bull in Wooler brought the third day of the pilgrimage to an end.

Hethpool to Wooler: Each morning before setting out on the day’s walk we had a time of reflection on the previous day and took to heart a walking text for the day ahead. Today we had 1½ miles to do down the track not done the day before, with John in the minibus leading the way through the herd of cattle including bulls. We walked through the oak trees of Hethpool built for shipping but not matured enough before steel came in. Then we journeyed on through College Valley across the Burn and through a wood that was being actively logged. Some of the equipment was being maintained and it was fascinating to see it close up. We came out on the hillside where there is evidence of old settlements that Cuthbert may well have visited.

The first to spot a wild goat amongst the sheep would win a bar of chocolate. They were spotted by several simultaneously so as a good band of pilgrims the chocolate was shared. We helped a shepherd with his two dogs gather in the sheep. Then we stopped on a high outcrop for lunch with incredible views. All day we kept passing a larger group of Holiday Fellowship ramblers who kept detouring to do a peak and catching up with our tortoise group again. We passed a row of bee hives for heather honey before entering a boggy bit. Our group circumvented it well but one of the Holiday Fellowship group ended up sat in it. We joked about this group being Husband Finders rather than Holiday Fellowship folk. Then we walked along the top able to see for miles around as the weather was kind to us, breezy and fairly clear. Then we went over Wooler Common into the town itself. For the first time we arrived in time to get to a tea shop for an afternoon cuppa.

The evening found us eating in Milan – an Italian restaurant where Val Morrison and her husband Rod joined us as they are visiting in the synod this weekend.

Wooler to Fenwick. Val and Rod walked with us today as we went

down through Wooler and up onto Weetwood Moor. We came down through high bracken to cross the river Till at Weetwood Bridge. We heard the moving story of the battle of Flodden. We walked a part of the Devil’s Causeway, another Roman Road and speculated about its name. Then had lunch by the river.

Then we climbed up to St Cuthbert’s Cave where a real sense of his presence that had been growing over the week was enhanced. Here we stopped and reflected on St Cuthbert and his life.

Then a real highlight of the Way was to take a slight detour up the ‘Mons Gaudium’ and catch the first glimpse of Lindisfarne. The sun light of the hills we had crossed to reach this point in one direction and the sea in the other was inspirational. Very few photos could do justice to the breadth and splendour of the views. Then through tracks and woods we dropped down in to Fenwick. A final evening meal with additional pilgrims who shared in part of the walk at the Tankerville Arms was enjoyed.

Fenwick to Lindisfarne: Everything was packed and the hostel that had been the home of the land girls following the war was left behind. Val and Rod left us but four other pilgrims joined us on the last day. A gentle walk that involved a treacherous crossing of the A1 and the East Coast railway line took us down to the Causeway across to Lindisfarne. Then it was boots and socks off for most and a good hours walk across the sands. The seals were singing and their voices carried to us. The breeze and sun shimmering on the sands, and the sense of variety having come from hills, river, and wood to sea and sand led to this being a special experience. When we arrived on shore there was warm water and towels for feet to be washed in.

Then it was past the market stall, and the birds of prayer rescue display to St Cuthbert’s centre for a final act of worship and lunch before the pilgrim band said its thanks and dispersed homeward to reflect further on walking St Cuthbert’s Way, the history both natural and social encountered and the life of the Saint and what might be learned for life today from the experience of this pilgrimage.

Rowena Francis

Rowena' Sabbatical Walk - 2 Seaham to Monkseaton

Week 2 of walking was much easier as I covered far less distance and walked from home using the metro and train to arrive and depart from the three days walking I did. I thought it was about time I spent some time at home with Alan. Again, the weather was fine; although I did pick and choose around a computer crisis and the need for the Synod IT guys to come and examine the system. By the end of the week, I was well over half way to Berwick with less than 80 miles to go.

The remaining 80 miles will be done after a week’s break to walk St Cuthbert’s Way with the synod pilgrimage. In my reading in preparation for this, I have been reading Mary Low who in her book ‘St Cuthbert’s Way’ cites a sermon by George McLeod on prayer preached in July 1955.

'The only way to achieve a sense of God’s presence is to put yourself in the way of him. In our analogy you achieve a sense of life in the presence of a flower (Pluck it and it dies), by a running stream (Put it in a pail and your have H20 not living water), in a bracing wind (bag it and it becomes stagnant) with sunbeams falling on the stream (move a branch and they are gone). You come here to say you have had a perfectly lovely day. It has been a benediction of a day. You can only achieve a sense of God in a similar way. You can only find God in the now.’

This has been my experience on this Sabbatical, that although we hear the stories and know God has been with us in the past and hope God will be with us in the future, we find God in the now. However, this presence of God in the now is not only in the beauty of nature. It is also in the chance encounter with the group of alcoholics who were keen to fuss the dogs, with the older married couple who are pleased to talk to someone and hear about the walk, and all those who went out of their way to give directions when local knowledge was better than maps and signs.

Day 1: Seaham to St Peter’s Metro

This was an easy day’s walking that I started along the beach, but then went up on to the cliff tops before Pincushion Rocks as high tide was late morning and there was a risk of getting stranded. Erosion had led to the cliff path being suspended but many others had continued to walk it and I followed suit. A couple of gills needed traversing. I then went along Hendon Promenade and picked up a disused railway line that took me around the docks to bring me out in Sunderland by Trinity Church (Grade I and now only used for concerts) where Jack Crawford along with 100,000 others are buried. A journey around the quays along a promenade and new housing development with views overlooking the mouth of the Wear brought me round to St Peter’s metro station.

Day 2 St Peter’s Metro to Percy Main Metro

This was the longest day of the walk so far but very rich in its diversity. From St Peter’s metro, I followed the Wear walk around past the university and glass centre and round to the Marina. I would strongly recommend this as a walk – Sunderland does not do itself justice. The sculptures along this route are fascinating ranging from a tree crane, nuts and bolts, remains of workers cottages and a series of story panels done by school children in years 5 and 6.

The first was powerful. It told of how the people had cut down all the trees including a magic one to make ships. The ship made from this special tree sank. So they made another ship out of steel to go and lift it from the sea bed. They put the wreck on the ground and it grew back into more trees including another magic one. This is a profound story of hope from children in a community that has seen industry and development wax and wane.

Then I walked along Roker’s prom and beach (once it became dog friendly in this summer season). Following coffee and teacake at a cafe on the beach side, it was up to the cliffs with views across to Fulwell Windmill; along round Whitburn Bay and then the fire ranges that fortunately were closed and up to Souter Lighthouse. The views across the sea and along the cliffs were great. We continued along Marsden Bay and up to the road to see the old limestone works.

The Leas is a mining area now reclaimed with wonderful walks across it and many wild flowers and good views to the sea birds nesting on the cliffs. I had my picnic lunch at the top of Trow Quarry while Toby and Molly the dogs exhausted themselves in the pursuit of rabbits with no success. Then along the sands of South Shields and Herd Beach that were very impressive for the quality of the beaches. There were lots of young children on days out from school in their base ball caps. Then it was around the promenade of South Tyne to the ferry. One of the things that have struck me on this walk is how I have encountered male culture – on skate board parks, fishing on the docks and in locals.

I had decided not to use the ferry, having done that route along this part of the coast when walking with Christian Aid on the ‘Cut the Carbon’ march a couple of years ago. So I went further inland to the pedestrian and cycle tunnel. This involved 3-4 miles on a cycle route alongside a main road all around the outside of the docks. It was a test of stamina. It was tricky finding the entrance to the tunnel due to the construction work taking place on the road tunnel. Very few people around seemed able to give directions. Eventually I found it. Like the transporter bridge, it was a disappointment. The longest wooden escalators, at the time of construction, had not been working for months and so we had to walk down them. Perhaps this was better from the dog’s perspective. The tunnel itself was actually much shorter than I expected and was nothing compared to underground link tunnels in London. It was busier than I expected especially with cyclists. We got a lift up and out. At least I can now say I have done it. The next day a six million refurbishment scheme was announced. Then it was up the bank to Percy Main metro and the journey home.


Day 3 Percy Main to Monkseaton metro stations

I followed the cycle route down from the station that actually goes all the way to Berwick but which I will not be following all the way. It took me down through a lush green housing development with apartment blocks where the chronically poor are housed. A shrine to a youngster murdered 17 years ago was maintained with football shirt, flowers and cards on the fence. God is here.

Then it was down through Redburn Dene, beautifully landscaped with sculptures from the old hulks of wooden ships and onto the Fish Quay. This is the fish quay of all those I have walked around that I will return to. Its restaurants and sh ops looked appetising and well worth investigating in the absence of dogs. Then I followed the promenade around to North Pier, then around the Priory and enjoyed watching the folk on the beaches as I walked above them on the Promenade. It was good to see Cullercoats in more detail than one can from driving on the road. At the start of Whitley Sands, I cut up to Monkseaton Metro station having had a light day.

Rowena

An Australian Reflection

Australia is a magical land, flush with natural splendour, acres of grapevines, sublime beaches, beautiful wildlife, majestic giant trees, epic distances. It is a prosperous, diverse and multicultural country.

As I travelled around Western Australia at the start of Pentecost 2010, familiar and traditional images associated with the season were to be seen and felt everywhere throughout the Large State - red fiery leaves on Autumnal trees, a gentle breeze which blew over Freemantle’s harbour, a thunder and lightning storm which raged around Busselton Bay, the silence of early morning dawn on Scarborough beach, Perth. Another image of Pentecost which came into my mind whilst on holiday, and which I have been exploring since my return is the Pentecost image of space for as I discovered Australia is a big country, epic distances with large spaces.

Space! Not the final frontier but the area or arena we occupy in our homes, our places of work and in the community. My professional life has been spent arranging and shaping urban and rural spaces in many of the County’s towns and villages. Space also occupies our churches, both inside and out. Over the years many of the Northern Synods listed church buildings and halls have had their internal space modified and altered to fit new worship patterns and community uses.

But why you might ask is space connected to Pentecost? Space is significant for Christians. Orthodox Christians believe that since God’s feet touched the earth following the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, the earth is considered a sacred and holy space. The Dean of Durham recently writing in “News from Durham Cathedral,” Summer 2010, suggests “that every church is a sacred space, a public sign of God’s presence in the world.”

During the last few weeks, ordination services have been held in churches up and down the land during which ordinands heard the customary and time-honoured lesson from the Old Testament, Isaiah 6. I was reminded at my ordination service that God’s presence is found not just in the sacred places of our churches and cathedrals (verse 1 tells us God’s train filled the temple), but in spaces outside the church where Christ was crucified, in an unfenced and unadorned place, the place where people like myself, self supporting minsters, ply their renewing ministerial craft. For it is in that place, outside the church, in the world, where God’s glory is to be found, as verse 3 from Isaiah 6 reminds us, not in church buildings. The poet Gerald Manley Hopkins affirms in his poem of the same name that “The world is charged with the grandeur of God.” And later he reminds us that “The Holy Spirit over the bent world broods with warm breast and with ah! Bright wings.”

This is where we find God, in the urban spaces around the church, he is around every corner, celebrating in the skill and daring of the kid on the skateboard, encouraged in the neighbourhood’s tenant’s meeting, crying with the abused child of the addict, dancing with the swaying crowds of Pentecostal choirs, saddened by the profligacy of city bankers. I discovered whilst working in Newcastle’s East End you don’t have to look hard to find God in the spaces of our inner city, in our urban areas. There he is in the face of the woman who patiently teaches local children to cook or draw, in a man who talks to hoodies on the bus or street pastors in the midst of the night time economy of the city centre. As Laurie Green stated in the edited book Crossover City – Resources for Urban Mission and Transformation, Continuum Press 2010,” glory is to be found in colour and mixity, vibrant money and music making, oppressive selfishness and dirt, chaotic order and summer tennis courts. As St Paul found out after his conversion, God is not always where you expect to find him. The Bishop of New Hampshire, Gene Robinson writing in his book In the eye of the Storm, Canterbury Press 2008, writes “God refuses to be contained in the little boxes of space we create for God to live in, safely confined to the careful boundaries we set for God’s Spirit. God just won’t stay put!”

So here is a new and different approach to consider this Pentecost. How does the work of the spirit affect the spaces which we occupy in our homes, our places of work, our community, our churches. In the large wilderness spaces of my Australian holiday I discovered that the season of Pentecost might be considered as the celebration of God-given space in which we can grow and flourish, where all of us collectively, can discover and live out our humanity.

The origins of Pentecost lie in one of Israel's agricultural festivals, the Feast of Weeks, when the first ripe grain was offered fifty days after the Passover. The feast in Old Testament times was related to the gift of a land, the gift of land or space which was given to the Jews to inhabit, settle and fertilise, a land that was well-watered, productive, as the familiar phrase goes - a land flowing with milk and honey. This land of safety, plenty and rest is a familiar Bible image of deliverance, recovery and liberation. But what is interesting to note about the language of ‘salvation' in Hebrew is that it is closely related to the idea of space, a space in which as individuals and communities we have room to grow, to flourish and be truly alive. The converse of that space is a restricted space, a space that does not lead to potential growth, but a space to be confined, hemmed in, imprisoned, where possibilities are closed off. In that sort of space we die.

Sadly many of our world conflicts have been driven and are still being driven by the acquisition of space, land-hunger, the competitive struggle for territory to occupy. Even in the Old Testament the occupation of land was often a matter of conquer, divide and rule – one tends to forget that there were already people living in the evocative land flowing with milk and honey. The 1984 Nobel Peace laureate, the irrepressible Archbishop Desmond Tutu, shortly to retire later this year, once said “When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said, “Let us pray.” We closed our eyes. When we opened them, we had the Bible and they had the land.”

In New Testament times the story of Pentecost is closely linked to the mission of the church. At Pentecost the disciples are in Jerusalem where the risen Jesus has told them to wait. But after the rush of wind and fire, they learn that they must take the gospel out of the city's confines. ‘Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria to the uttermost parts of the earth': those are the expanding circles of the gospel's influence that are acted out in the mission of the early church. The Book of Acts begins in Jerusalem and ends in Rome, as if to say: there is a new geography of the Spirit here, a new way of mapping the world. It is space for the gospel to occupy. It is claimed by the risen Jesus in the power of his Spirit. It is God's. So the urban (and rural) space, this contested space, is a good position to learn how to live in God’s bright new world of Spirit filled space, to learn the lesson of the risk of the cross and its promise of resurrection life.

We could say that the Spirit's activity is always the creation of space in which to grow. And we can see that happening in the very first story in the Bible. In the opening verses of Genesis, the spirit or wind of God moves over the face of the waters: the Hebrew word suggests a bird hovering over her nest. It is the beginning of a journey that will see the chaotic flood pushed back into a place from where it can no longer threaten to overwhelm the world. With the waters' boundaries set for ever, space is created for the dry land to appear, and an ordered, coherent universe can begin to teem with life. In Genesis, where the Spirit of God is at work, chaos is driven back, and pattern, order, structure, life and consciousness have room to emerge.

So it is for us this summer, for those who follow the way of Jesus Christ. As Matthew’s beatitudes have it – “Splendid are those who follow the ways of Christ, they too are citizens of a Bright New World” from John Henson, Good as New translation taken from chapter 1 the Reflective Disciple, Roger Walton, Epworth Press 2010. Here is space, Spirit filled space in which the boundless grace of God abounds without end.

This season of Pentecost then opens up a vision of broad, generous spaces we might inhabit as the Spirit makes a home amongst us. The traditional images of the Spirit all imply space: without it fire goes out, water stops flowing, wind ceases to blow. But as the Spirit prompts and propels us into inhabiting our salvation, occupying the space God gives us to grow in, in our homes, our places of work, our communities, are there any limits to what we could become in his service? With this vision the church is poised for new mission filled activities in the world, like the first Christians in the Book of Acts. In Northern Synod the Mission4Life Mission Fund, launched in October 2009 is encouraging and supporting partners in mission initiatives throughout the Synod. Partners already supported include Grindon CRCW, Newcastle City Centre Chaplaincy, North Northumberland Rural Adviser and St. Cuthbert's Centre Holy Island, church communities although small in number now on the cutting edge of mission.

Within our own denomination Vision4Life give us that opportunity to be transformed and renewed from within, galvanised by new reasons for occupying Spirit filled spaces as we live in God’s bright New World. Our society and our world freed from all that holds it in thrall to chaos and death, now begins to embrace the release and hope it longs for. Pentecost is our gateway to vast and generous spaces of an unprecedented experience of God-given life.

Revd Ray Anglesea

July 2010

Ray Anglesea is a self supporting minister in the Northern Synod

Rowena Sabbatical walk - 1 Whitby to Seaham

Week 1 of walking is complete and the dogs are whacked and so home is peaceful as it would take more energy than they have for a day or two to bark at every passer-by.

Over the week I have been reflecting on Proverbs and their exhortation to be disciplined or be a disciple rather than to go of into one’s own folly. Proverbs 16:3 has become an important text as I walk the length of the synod, ‘Commit to the Lord whatever you do and he will establish your plans.’ This is not simply in regard to Sabbatical plans but for future ministry. The plans to walk are to aid reflection for as the saying puts it ‘journeys are the midwives of our thoughts’.

The journey started on Saturday 10th July with the journey to Whitby with dogs on the metro and a car journey from Sunderland after a birthday tea that I was kindly welcomed to. On Sunday I worshipped at Trinity URC led by Revd Helen Drummond who with husband Ian hosted me. This gave opportunity later in the day to go around on the open air bus that Ian acts as tour guide on and to walk a section of the Cleveland Way South. This was a limbering up exercise for the week ahead.


Whitby to Staithes

At 9am on Monday the dogs and I set out along the Cleveland Way coast path to Staithes. It drizzled on and off all day. The tide was out so we went along the beach to Sandsend where after 35 minutes walking I stopped for a cappuccino; who knows when further sustenance would be available. Then up on to the cliffs and along a disused railway to Kettleness, before dropping down once more to the sands. Rabbits were a great attraction for the dogs all week. We traipsed across the sands again to lunch in Runswick Bay near the lifeboat. Then there was a steep climb out of the village to continue along the Cleveland Way to Port Mulgrave, round Old Nab to Staithes. I arrived with plenty of time to wander around the life boat station, the harbour, the co-operative craft fair before arriving with two wet dogs at Brooklyn B&B. Here towels were needed and it was all hands on deck to rub the dogs dry. Later in the evening a meal at ‘The Cod and Lobster’ overlooking the harbour sealed a good day. The pub had been restored in the 50’s following its fourth time of being substantially carried off by the sea. This has happened to whole villages such as Kettleness, on the coast walked today which is one of the stretches that is being eroded at the greatest speed around the UK.

Staithes to Redcar

Stuffed with a generous full English breakfast we were seen off the B&B premises by a flustered herring gull protecting its two young chicks. These were hatched on the roof of the house on the neighbouring street and so found its nest and chicks on a level with the front door steps of the B&B so one was only a metre away at eye level.

The Cleveland Way wound across the cliff tops. This area has been a centre for Alum Quarries. We crossed Rookcliffe the highest point on the North East coast and on this walk. Skinnygrove down in a river access that thrived in the days of the iron and steel works now had the air of a ghost village. This stretch had a rich industrial heritage but was older than what was to come in the next couple of days; symbolised by the Guibal Fan House maintained as an ancient monument now but that was used to ventilate the nearby mine from 1872-1906. Although quiet the villages did not show signs of devastation and destruction of the like of what was to come in later walk days.

This area of geological significance with loads of fossils, one of which I brought home as a treasure, is also marked by a series of sculptures by Richard Farrington, including one called ‘The Charm Bracelet’ that was well worth seeing.

A late lunch in Saltburn was followed by a hike over the sands (that was hard going) to the start of the Southern end of Redcar Promenade and along the front towards Coatham where Colin Offor kindly picked us up and along with wife Patti hosted us over night. It was good to share conversation and to tell dog stories in advance of a new four legged member of their family being adopted the next day.

Redcar to Cowpen Bewley
The next two days walking were the ones that proved most problematic to work out a route for. I am grateful to Henry Gowland for an initial draft route, to Alan my husband for scanning maps, to Ken Harris for inquiries made about the best way round Seal Sands and to Colin Offor for his knowledge of cycle routes north of the Tees. Indeed the route I took proved fascinating and not as difficult as envisaged.

From Coatham I went the long way round the golf course – something I did several times on route rather than face the ire of golfers. I followed the boundary of the steel works and then crossed Coatham Marsh. This led to the most challenging part of the walk for the dogs. A high footbridge across the railway line with gridded metal steps up both sides – not designed for paws either in size or sharpness. With coaxing, lying flat on their bellies I enticed them up; but no way were they going to go down. So they had to be carried in turn.

I now joined the end of the Teesdale way and much of today followed this path. At the Corus roundabout on the A1085 a gaggle of geese had somehow got themselves stranded on the roundabout. Their leader frog-marched them around and then decided they would have to go for it and in single file they strode across the road. A police car gave way and a back log of traffic built up to let them pass unharmed.

Then for five miles it was the’ Black Path’ something I was looking forward to walking as an experience. With pipe lines on one side and railway servicing industry, with freight trains passing up and down on the other; this path is sometimes open and sometimes closed in with fence on either side sometimes being only 2-3 metres wide. Yet in this spitting pipes and hooting, clashing industrial environment, reed beds and wild flowers, brambles and birdsong abound.

I came out at the Navigation Pub for lunch where the locals looked after the dogs with water. Then it was over to the Riverside Stadium where I paid homage on behalf of my brother-in-law and over the dock. The new Temenos sculpture by Anish Kapoor and Cecil Balmond was impressive and a highlight. It was good to see this that only opened in June this year. It is difficult to describe. The best I can do is a big bird net with a twist and aesthetically pleasing.

Then the dogs and I walked up the road to the Transporter bridge for our first experience of crossing it. I was excited but Colin had warned me at breakfast that it was not that special. If truth is told, I was disappointed as there was not a sense of being suspended and the bridge looks more imposing from further afield.
Then it was up the road through Port Clarance and High Clarance revealing the contrast between burnt out and boarded up houses amongst homes and yet green open spaces and trees. These communities tell the story through their presence of the industrial decline on Teesside.

A rest on waste land in Haverton Hill prepared me for a nasty piece of road walking up Cowpen Bewley Road with no verge or pavement and heavy vehicles passing. I should not moan as I thought I might have to do many miles like this rather than only one or two. Then I had a coffee at the pub and wrote up my reflections on the day until Colin was free to pick me up and willingly hosted me for a second night.

Colin and Pattie had collected their new Border Collie adoptee that afternoon so settling her in with my two dogs Toby and Molly as guests in the house led to a wonderful evening of eating and fussing dogs.

Cowpen Bewley to Hartlepool

On Colin’s advice I followed cycle route 14 through Cowpen Country Park and then footpaths into Greatham where there is a Hospital Estate and chapel originally set up for the poor as well as an ancient Parish Church. They were beautiful but not accessible at the time I passed through.

I then used footpaths across fields and alongside the railway, between the oil storage and other works. This brought me down past a chicken battery farm and onto Graythorp Industrial estate. Only a short distance along the main road, that interestingly gave views of the ghost ships in the shipyard, before I turned down the access road to the power station. A short walk across the nature reserve brought me to the North Gare breakwater path that I followed and went out on in spite of the danger signs. As I had not risked going out on South Gare the other side of the Tees, (as it is not encouraged and it would have been a significant detour) I felt it important to see the Tees from this angle. Cruise and container ships were busily entering the docks.

Then we did another extensive beach walk along Seaton Sands to Seaton Carew where I had a very welcome lunch on sheltered decking, as it was a windy day, at the Staincliffe Hotel – a beautiful parsnip and apple soup. Food seems to taste so much more, when walking indeed when on Sabbatical than when working when it so much more functional. Another beach walk to Hartlepool. Here I wandered around the Old Town, Historic Dock and Marina before Val Towler, my host for the next two nights, picked me up. It was good to have time to talk.

Hartlepool to Eastington Colliery

On this day, I spent an interesting hour or more on the Headlands of Hartlepool, the old medieval city having walked out along the main road in the company of an unemployed guy walking his terrier. The fish quays, St Hilda’s church and Andy Capp statue were absorbing but took time out from walking the route.

Durham County Council in the last decade has developed a coastal walk from Crimdon to Seaham Hall Beach. It is beautiful and I would strongly recommend it. While it is well signposted from car parks assuming people will walk to the coast and wander back or at most will do a small circular ramble; it is not well signposted for walkers along the whole route. When crossing a gill it is not clear whether it is best to go down onto the beach and up again or up to the railway and road. I suspect I ended up doing extra miles in and out and so for the first time I did not make my aimed for destination.

This area was a centre of mining. Its villages of Blackhill Colliery, Hordon and Eastington Colliery that at points I walked through showed that history. Val picked me up at Easington Colliery.

Easington Colliery to Seaham

It has been a good week but I and the dogs are tiring. Next week there is space in the walking schedule. So I made the decision to only walk for a half day to Seaham and get the train home.

Much of the route followed the railway or cliffs. At Hawthorn Hive, I went further inland than necessary but the ancient woodland was stunning. Then past Beacon Hill (I did not climb it), and Nose’s Point. If you are into wild flowers then the Magnesian Limestone cliffs in this area are a feast to behold with orchids, ox eye daisies, ferns and gorses. The dogs loved this terrain and its smells. The colours and variety were wonderful.

Then down into Seaham with its harbour and superstore Asda opposite. Then I went up through the main shopping street with its charity shops and cheaper end of the market retailers. There I stopped for lunch at a cafe and watched the world go by before walking to the railway station and catching the 1.15pm back to Newcastle and walking home across the Town Moor.



The first weeks walk has been easier route wise than anticipated and has been very satisfing, enjoyable and fascinating in the variety of landscapes walked through. It is helping me to get a better picture of parts of the synod and is indeed a journey that is a midwife to thoughts. I pray these thoughts will be fruitful and helpful in the months and years to come.




Rowena

Moderator Rowena on Sabbatical or more accurately Dec-atical

Moderator Rowena on Sabbatical or more accurately Dec-atical

It is a privilege and delight to be gifted a three-month Sabbatical or more accurately a Dec-atical, each ten years of service, as a URC minister.

I am reflecting in this grace-filled 3 months of June, July, and August on:-
1) Praying with our bodies. 2) Systems thinking and its impact on our understanding of God and 3) the Synod’s partnership with the Presbyterian Church of Mozambique.

Bodily Prayer
I am exploring praying through my body in this Vision4Life prayer year. Acknowledging that we are all different, I personally find it easiest to pray when my busy chattering butterfly mind is focused on the rhythm of swimming, walking or dancing so that it becomes still. This enables me to focus on God’s grace and bounty where I am; to become aware of the here and now rather than living in a problem of tomorrow that might never happen. To be able to practice the spiritual discipline of mindfulness comes easiest when my mind is occupied with a physical activity. It is good to have time out to engage in this more fully. A workshop of focused circle dance for peace and healing for the earth was a powerful part of this in June.

I am walking the coast of the Synod as part of this, with Toby and Molly, my two dogs,. I hope in doing this to be more mindful of where God is everyday whether that is in the beauty of the coast, in the engineering of the Transporter Bridge, in the industrial and residential areas that I will pass through and also in meetings, worship and encounters with folk following my Sabbatical.

This is my rough itinerary; subject to changes. Please pray for me and if there is a part that you would like to walk with me then do get in touch by text or phone and I will let you know the plans for the day and meeting points. (If reception is possible 07981 323702)

Mon 12th July Whitby to Staithes B&B
Tues 13th July Staithes to Marske by the Sea Host Colin Offor
Wed 14th July Marske – Middlesborough Host Colin Offor
Thurs 15th July Middlesborough-Hartlepool Host Val Towler
Fri 16th July Hartlepool-Seaham Host Val Towler
Sat 17th July Seaham-Marsden Metro home

Mon 19th July Marsden- South Shields Metro home
Tues 20th July South Shields-North Shields Metro home
Wed 21st July North Shields-Monkseaton Metro home

The full week gap is when I will be joining various folk from the Synod and beyond and we will walk St Cuthbert’s Way.

Mon 2nd Aug Monkseaton-Blyth Host Yvonne Tracey
Tues 3rd Aug Blyth-Cresswell Host Hilga Peacock
Wed 4th Aug Creswell – Warkworth Host Hilga Peacock
Thurs 5th Aug Warkworth-Alnmouth Train home

Mon 9th Aug Alnmouth – Seahouses B&B
Tues 10th Aug Seahouses-Fenwick B&B
Wed 11th Aug Fenwick-Berwick home by train

Creation as complex systems, made in God’s Trinitarian image.
The world and humanity are facing great change. The old ways of thinking of linear cause and effect so dominant in Western post-Enlightenment thinking are being called into question across seemingly all disciplines. Systems and complexity theory are showing us that we are not independent beings that can do our own thing but are part of complex systems. Paul talks of the church as the body of Christ. The heart can only function as a heart in its place in the system of the body. It is affected by blood flow, chemicals, oxygen, nutrition provided by other parts of the system and it also affects many other parts of the body system. If the heart’s pacemaker stops working, without intervention from an external medical system, that body will die.

Likewise we as individuals are situated in multiple systems - family, church, work, friendship networks. I am reflecting on what this means for me called to serve as the Synod Moderator in a particular place in the system of the URC, currently influenced by many other external systems such as the changing culture around us. So far key learning for me has been that it is not possible to change other parts of the system; for each part is responsible for itself. However, it is possible to change oneself, as the Holy Spirit transforms us and this then affects the whole system. This is repentance. (Mk 1:15) This is taking the plank out of one’s own eye, rather than trying to take the speck out of someone else’s. (Matt 7:1-5) This is what it means to work out our salvation in fear and trembling before God. (Phil 2:12-13)

Synod partnership with Mozambique
A third strand in my Sabbatical that has squeezed in is to be involved in the developing relationship between Northern Synod and the Presbyterian Church in Mozambique. It was a privilege to welcome Ernesto and Jose to the synod and share with them in the URC General Assembly in Loughborough. It will also be good to share in a visit to Mozambique with Jo, our new Mission and Development Enabler and seven under 30’s from around the synod; before returning to regular life as Synod Moderator.

I hope to keep you posted on progress through John’s good offices on the blog.

Rowena Francis
July 9th 2010

Pat's Palestine Blog 9

This is a late posting of Pat Devlin's final letter from the West Bank. Pat has been sharing her experiences as a member of the World Council of Churches' Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI). Here she reports on a visit to Bethlehem


Walled in

Last week I was able to spend a couple of days with our team in Bethlehem visiting some of the families and projects there.

As you approach Bethlehem , long before you reach Manger Square, the view is dominated by the wall, the separation barrier which Israel started constructing in 2002 in response to the violence of the second intifada. When completed, the barrier will stretch for 703km In 2009 nearly 60% was completed. In many places it is a fence with vehicle barriers and a 60m exclusion zone around it. But round Bethlehem and East Jerusalem it is an 8m high concrete wall. The International Court of Justice ruled that the barrier was illegal in 2004, but Israel kept building.

We visited a Catholic family whose house is surrounded on three sides by the wall, because they have the misfortune to be in the area where the wall makes a loop to include Rachel’s tomb. Before the wall was built, the Anastase family had a thriving shop selling Bethlehem crafts and ran a popular guest house. Now they are struggling to make a small income by selling on the internet and they had their first guests for many years(the brother of one of our Bethlehem team).

One solution for families cut off from their normal livelihood is to seek a permit to work in Israel, but at what cost! I joined the Bethlehem team at 4.30am on Wednesday morning as they made their way to monitor the Bethlehem checkpoint

(checkpoint 300). Men working in the Israeli construction industry start to queue here at 3 am. The gates at the checkpoint are supposed to open at 5am, and the humanitarian gate was supposed to offer unrestricted access for women, the elderly, the sick and internationals. Two of us wormed our way to the front of the umanitarian line, while a third EA made her way down the exit line to observe what happened as people came through the gate. At 5.30am there was still no movement.

We were being jostled by men who had joined the humanitarian line in the hope of getting through to the other side of the gate via a hole in the corrugated roof. I began to feel faint. I was offered the option of fighting my way back through the line to get out, but I knew I wouldn’t make it. Someone gave me their place where there was more air and I was thinking - this is the line for the sick and the elderly ! Finally at 5.50am the turnstiles began to move. Once on the other side of the turnstile IDs are checked, the men in the humanitarian line without the appropriate permit are sent back to join the other line.

The rest begin the run through the warehouse-like structure which leads to the metal detector and airport style procedure. Then, there is the handprint and electronic ID check before finally emerging to catch a bus or works minibus into Israel. We emerge to meet the Israeli women from Machsom Watch who monitor the checkpoint from the Israeli side but the men who are very irrate by this time get to them first to tell them what a bad morning it is. We share a cup of coffee with the Machsom Watch women and then start to make our way back through the checkpoint to meet our fellow EA at the other end. It’s after 7am now and more women are coming through. I’m told many of them are teachers, but they get the same treatment from the young Israeli soldiers. By 8 am the queue has gone and around 2,000 Palestinians have made their way to their daily work in Israel.

On a more hopeful note I would now like to talk about two projects which are trying to find a peaceful, more sustainable way forward. Near the wall we visited the Sumud Story House ‘The sumud (steadfastness) programme supports education in values, culture, and identity. The programme aims to build a cadre of Palestinian youth, women and educators, aware of their Palestinian (inter) religious and cultural sources of inspiration and able to develop a strong value based message summarised in the Arab concept of ‘sumud’ This programme is supported by Pax Christi International. We sat with a very lively group of young Palestinian Christian Women as they engaged in a version of what we would call the pastoral cycle. This took place in a room furnished with traditional drapes and Arab couches, with framed versions of the women’s very moving stories hung on the walls. While the stories were very challenging the dynamic spirit of the women was infectious.

Travelling south from the city of Bethlehem, we arrived at another project with a vision rooted in the Palestinian ‘sumud’ to stay on the land. Daoud Nasser’s grandfather bought a large plot of land in a beautiful location in 1916. He and his two sons farmed this land living in the natural caves there. Daoud grew up there, but it is now surrounded by Israeli settlements and the Israeli’s desperately want this land which has been registered to the Nasser family for over 100 years In 1991, the Israeli government declared the whole area state property. The Nasser family contested this and the case is still under debate in the High Court. The latest development is the serving of a demolition order for various structures on the land eg animal shelters, toilets, tents etc.

Daoud’s response has been to develop what he calls The Tent of Nations at the centre of the land. Here he runs programmes for young Palestinians to help them to reconnect to the land and their heritage. He also welcomes young people from all over the world, some to work as volunteers on the land and in the centre, others to participate in youth conferences and exchange programmes. A tree planting programme brings the local community and internationals together as a sign of hope and solidarity and simple solutions to power and irrigation demonstrate how to sustain agriculture in a dry climate. One of the caves is now used for creative worship and it is obvious that the Tent of Nations both arises from and is sustained by the Christian faith of the Nasser family.

Another more traditional institution offering opportunities to young Muslim and Christian Palestinians alike is Bethlehem University. Started by the De la Salle brothers it remains essentially a catholic institution, but genuinely open to all. It too suffered during the 2nd intifada and one of its new buildings was shelled by the Israeli military before it could be used. Thankfully this building is now in full use, housing the library and a Palestinian heritage centre. I was welcomed by Nasra, a friend of Geoff Miller. She is director of events and facilities and her duties have included welcoming Bishop Martin Wharton with members of Newcastle Diocese and the Holy Land Coordination Committee of European and North American Roman Catholic Bishops. I hope that they, like me, had the opportunity to witness both the suffering and the potential of Bethlehem and its people.

Pat's Palestine Blog 8

Pat Devlin shares more of her experiences as a member of the World Council of Churches' Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI). In this posting she gives a flavour of the many Israeli human rights groups who are working for justice and want a better society for both Israeli's and Palestinians

A view from the other side

During our training week, our midterm week and in the course of our work we have meet a number of Israeli Human Rights groups. In the absence of any statistical analysis, our impression had been that there are broadly 3 groups in Israel: a minority of more or less aggressive Zionists, a majority group for whom it is easier to accept the security narrative and not to know too much about the terms of the occupation of the West Bank and a minority of very committed human rights groups, who think the occupation of the West Bank has very negative effects on both Israeli and Palestinian Society and who are actively involved in challenging human rights abuses on a daily basis. In this news sheet I will take a brief look at the work and our contact with some of these groups.

Machsom Watch

This is a group of Israeli women, many of them grandmothers, who since 2001 have organised themselves to monitor the checkpoints, which control the entry of Palestinians into Israel, but also control the movement of Palestinians around the West Bank and they also monitor the Military Courts which deal with detained Palestinians, many of whom are young boys arrested on suspicion of stone throwing and appearing without legal representation. Machsom Watch estimate that there are currently 40 permanent checkpoints in the West Bank At the big checkpoints like Qualandyia in the north and checkpoint 300 near Bethlehem in the south, where thousands of people start queuing from 4am in the morning to reach their work, university or hospital appointment, women from Machsom Watch monitor the Israeli side and EAPPI team members monitor the Palestinian side. They watch for human rights abuses: humiliating or aggressive behaviour on the part of the soldiers, protracted delays, late opening of gates etc. We call them if we see unusual delays or aggressive searching at the traffic checkpoint near us. They have direct access to the Israeli District Coordinating Officer and are admitted to the Military Courts and other places, where non Israelis cannot gain access

Breaking the Silence is an organization of veteran Israeli soldiers that collects testimonies of soldiers who served in the Occupied Territories during the Second Intifadah and Gaza. Soldiers who serve in the Territories are witness to, and participate in military actions which change them immensely and the way they are ordered to treat Palestinians often conflicts with their Jewish ethical upbringing at home. While this reality which is known to Israeli soldiers and commanders exists in Israel's back yard, Israeli society continues to turn a blind eye, and to deny that which happens in its name. Discharged soldiers who return to civilian life discover the gap between the reality which they encountered in the Territories , and the silence which they encounter at home. Since 2004, Breaking the Silence has collected testimonies from over 650 soldiers who have served in the teritorries since the beginning of the second Intifadah. The collectors of the testimonies are veteran combatants themeselves. Every soldier who gives a testimony to Breaking the Silence knows the aims of the organization and the interview. ‘We demand accountability regarding Israel's military actions in the Occupied territories perpetrated by us and in our name.’ The testimonies are published in booklets and on the web site www.shovrimshtika.org They give talks both within Israel and overseas and they organize alternative tours of Hebron and the South Hebron Hills. We heard from our Hebron team that the Breaking the Silence leader of the last tour was arrested for his pains

New Profile was founded in 1998 by parents whose children did not want to serve in the Israeli military Working from a feminist perspective they not only support young ‘refusniks’, but also work to reduce the militarised nature of Israel’s government, society and culture. Rutti Hiller, a founder member, told us that she had two girls then four boys. Her 2 girls went to the military without question, but when her first boy reached 16yrs, he was very clear that he did not want to go to the military. She and her husband agreed to support him, provided they did everything together and he stayed out of jail. But he appeared before the conscience tribunal 3 times and each time his case failed. Then they had to go to the United States to find a lawyer willing to take his case to the High Court. Eventually he was released after 3 years of hearings. However orthodox Jews are allowed exemption from military service and the number of exemptions has grown from 400 to 30,000

Women in Black started in Jerusalem in 1988 at the time of the first intifada and it is worthy of note that some of the early members were holocaust survivors. The tactic and focus were very simple: to stand in a public place at a regular time, dressed in black, carrying placards saying ‘End the Occupation’(of the Palestinian Territories). The demonstrations quickly spread to other Israeli cities and were later adopted by other countries for other causes eg at the time of the Iraq war. Ann (my friendfrom Ireland) and myself joined the Jerusalem demonstration on the last Friday in April. It now takes place on a busy roundabout in West Jerusalem, apparently chosen for its proximity to the prime minister’s residence. Yes there was a fair amount of abuse shouted from passing vehicles and pedestrians, but there was also significant support. I was joined by a young Druze man who had served in the military, but was now teaching philosophy to both Israeli and Palestinian children in West and East Jerusalem

Rabbis for Human Rights was also formed in 1988 with the aim of embodying the Torah ideal of being keepers of the law of justice and righteousness. It has a membership of 180 rabbis from all denominations of Judaism. They do not take positions in relation to the big political picture, but attempt to apply the Torah to human rights issues. The team for the West Bank and East Jerusalem includes 4 lawyers and a Palestinian fieldworker, who covers about 30 villages. The work in East Jerusalem is focussed on contesting threatened demolitions in the name of Judaisation. In the villages in the north here it is very much about exposing settler violence

Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) is a non-violent, direct-action group originally established to oppose and resist Israeli demolition of Palestinian houses in the Occupied Territories, by physically sitting in front of bulldozers and mobilizing activists to help with rebuilding. Their familiarity with realities "on the ground" gives them frequent contacts with diplomats, fact-finding missions, the public and the media. ICAHD aids Palestinians in filing police claims, in dealing with the Israeli authorities, in arranging and subsidizing legal assistance. ICAHD took us on our tour of Jerusalem when we first arrived and explained the housing crisis to us. Our Jerusalem team work closely with them

Other Voice This is a slightly different organization and the one which perhaps made the strongest impression on us. During our mid term week, we visited Sderot, the Israeli town which just over a year ago was always in the news because of its vulnerability to rockets being fired to Gaza. Sderot, which is just about 3 kilometres from Gaza, is a very multi cultural city with over 10,000 immigrants from the Caucasian region. We travelled there to meet with members of an urban kibbuz , 100 of whom had formed this organization called Other Voice. Nomika, one of the founder members told us what life was like, when 6-10 rockets were being launched into the city every day. Taking the children to school or doing daily shopping was a nerve racking experience. All the bus shelters were turned into emergency bomb/rocket shelters and now almost every house has a strong ‘rocket’ resistant room, where the family can take shelter. But, she said , about a year before, the invasion of Gaza, she began to realize what it was doing to her as a person to have fear and security as her daily diet.

With the help of therapy and with other like minded people she decided to make another voice heard. At first they just wanted to give themselves an identity, not wholly based on security concerns. But, soon they found they wanted to make contact with the people in Gaza. In former times it had been common for the people of Sderot to visit the beach in Gaza and they wanted to re establish neighbourly relations. They started by speaking on the phone to people in Gaza and they managed to maintain this relationship throughout the invasion, enquiring after each others safety – replacing fear with empathy. Nomika wrote a diary called ‘Not in my name – not for my security’. She said she was willing to become the public enemy, but found she had support from all round the world. Now, times are much quieter and despite the siege of Gaza, they have managed to organize day meetings with people from Gaza coming to Sderot. Much of their work has focused on young people and they have been able to receive young people from other parts of the world too. It seemed like a real, if small, sign of hope arising from such a difficult situation.