Panel

This should have posted yesterday, but something went wrong . . . probably my fault, technology and I don't really mix, and in my heart I mourn the loss of the inkwell and the nib pen, on my old wooden desk with its tip-up seat in class 4b at school. Ball points were banned for a while at my school, I recall, though I think that was mostly because of a craze we had for converting the plastic tubes into blowpipes to fire little darts constructed from pins.

Anyway, the other day I was part of a four person panel assembled at a local Presbyterian church for an 'any questions' evening. It was a good experience, I enjoyed being put on the spot and having to think things through. I knew the other three members of the panel, and, if there was a fault with the whole process it was perhaps that we all seemed to agree most of the time, so there was none of the combative stuff you see on the telly.

But I think we had between us some useful things to say, on subjects ranging from the situation in the Middle East, through what sort of music to choose for Sunday worship, to who we might choose to invite for a meal, and what we might cook for them (me: Mel and Sue from 'Bake-Off', and cakes, of course, and plenty of them). The evening was well attended, and the chapel (New Street in Welshpool) is lovely, well appointed, nicely cared for, and deserves a bigger congregation than it gets.

Of course, this was an evening for insiders, that is, for members of the churches of the local presbytery. It would be good for the churches together in our town to do something similar as an outreach event, to present in open forum what Christians believe about issues of note, even if we don't all always believe the same things - and to take the risk of criticism and attack from outside our fellowships, for that in itself is a test of our faith and resolve, and an opportunity for witness.