Deans Blog September-October, 2015
Lunch with some of our Kenyan community: Friday 11th September 2015
One of the joys of St Christopher’s at present is to see the growth in both numbers and confidence of our Kenyan community, so it was a pleasure to have lunch with Catherine, who is a flight attendant with Emirates, and Rob and several of our Keny
an friends. This growth is particularly apparent in our Sunday morning service, a very small group. Two weeks ago two new Kenyan friends came and the following week each brought three friends which more than doubled the congregation! It makes me think that we should explore the possibility of hosting a theological student from Thika for a month as it is clear that the Kenyan community is growing.
Wedding Blessing: Saturday 12th September 2015 
A particularly happy occasion was the Wedding Blessing of Pascal and Anna. They had been married in a civil ceremony in France, but wanted to have a blessing in the cathedral, where their engagement had been blessed and a very imaginative service and reception at Upstairs, Downstairs was created for friends from Bahrain where Anna has lived for many years, including in the service their weaving together a three cord rope, symbolic of God enfolding their love and commitment in His love and commitment to them.
HE Abdullah Gul, former President of Turkey: Tuesday 15th September
Jon and I were both invited to attend a speech by HE Abdullah Gul, the former President of Turkey, at the International Peace Institute on the subject of Peace in the Middle 
East. Unfortunately it was very difficult to hear his speech due to the acoustics of the room or the inadequacy of the PA system. Bahrain’s Foreign Minister, Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa was much clearer and spoke particularly of the challenges posed by Iran in the region: “The nuclear deal is only dealing with one aspect of the problems coming from Iran.”
In the evening, as it was my birthday, I met up with Ricardo, who took me out for an amazing meal high up in the new Four Seasons Hotel overlooking Manama – Peking Duck, cooked in an exquisite way. We met Hatun Demirer the Turkish Ambassador going out, a former Living Room Dialogue speaker, who had been busy looking after her former President.
Finnish Bible Society in Bahrain: Wednesday 16th September
You never know who is going to come to Bahrain from overseas and an interesting delegation from the Finnish Bible Society came with Dr Hrayr Jebejian, Regional Secretary of the Bible Society of the Middle East, to understand more fully the nature of religious freedom here, the acceptance of the Christian and other faith communities in the Kingdom and the respect for the Scriptures.
Welcome World Supper and Barn Dance: Saturday 19th September 2015
Normally we have a
World Supper and Barn dance at Harvest time, but this year we held it earlier as a welcome back after the long summer away and a welcome to St Christopher’s and Awali. It proved a popular event: the variety of food was amazing and, if I go on calling each year, I am going to have to learn a few more dances!
This is Bahrain visit to Washington and New York 22nd– 30th September 2015
I was given fo
rty–eight hours warning for an inter-faith visit to Washington and New York in a This is Bahrain religious, political, 
trade delegation. By rearranging some events in my diary, and negotiating with my colleagues, I left on the overflow flight on Tuesday 22nd evening – just three of us; the rest (70+) had flown out on Tuesday morning. There were two exhibitions- one in each city – visits to places of worship, meetings with religious leaders, meetings with members of NGO think tanks that had an interest in the Middle East and visits to significant places in each city: the hugely impressive Holocaust museum in Washington and Ground Zero in New York. The Pope was also in Washington for the few days that we were there and our paths crossed twice.
There were many good things about the visit: meeting a variety of interesting people, both on the delegation and in both cities; engagement with interesting organizations, particularly the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) seeking to bridge the language and cultural gap between the Middle East and the West and doing critical 
monitoring and analysis of social media; and visiting some very interesting places. I saw the Pope twice, driving past in his Fiat 500 surrounded by big black security cars and police outriders. We visited the National Basilica where the Pope had celebrated mass the day before and I was impressed by the chapels associated with different countries and the variety of cultural expressions of faith. I loved the statue of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. As a group, we
attended mass at a Polish Roman Catholic in New York, a very welcoming community on Poland’s National Day – they’d had a visit from the President of Poland earlier in the day – and I was able to speak of the wider religious community’s gratitude and admiration for the Pope, who was having a huge impact on US television, and we sang together the Prayer of St Francis. I managed to get to the National Episcopal Cathedral in Washington on the day we left for New York for part of the Sunday morning Eucharist. In New York, on the recommendation of my daughter Hannah, I was glad to be able to walk the length of the High Line – a freight route on the west side of Manhattan that has been converted into a park.
But there were also major frustrations in the visit too, mostly to do with transport: the average leaving time was an hour and a half after the scheduled time and when leaving on the bus to New York from Washington, we left over two hours after the scheduled time. Ten minutes before the Pope was due to arrive, we were told that we had to return to a non-existent bus, so only two of the party (the rebellious ones – I was one- who said we’d catch a taxi) saw the Pope and we were the first onto the bus! There were several Roman Catholics in the party for whom this would have been an event of a lifetime and there was nothing more programmed after this event for that day. There were occasions too when it seemed the most important part was a photo shoot for the press in Bahrain and occasionally, particularly at Ground Zero and the Holocaust Museum in Washington, this seemed very superficial and insensitive.
On our return- with Lufthansa- the plane was very late leaving New York – and there was a very tight connection to catch the plane to Bahrain via Riyadh; they very efficiently bussed us across to make the plane, but inevitably the luggage didn’t make it and took a further 48 hours to arrive in Bahrain.
Farewell to Rachel and Bob Kirsopp: Monday 28th September 2015
In going t
o the States, I sadly missed the BACC Farewell for Rachel and Bob Kirsopp, though we’d had a staff farewell previously in our home. Rachel has served very faithfully and effectively as our bookkeeper and done a fine job in training up Renitha over these past months to take on the role, for which we are very grateful. Before I left, I’d managed to organize a three fish plate made by a Bahraini artist and to get it to their packers to be wrapped up carefully for New Zealand. We wish them well as they establish themselves in their new home in what looks like a beautiful part of the country
TGIT at the British Embassy: Thursday 1st October 2015
Flying in from New York on Wednesday night through Frankfurt and Riyadh, a busy weekend beckoned with our Harvest Festival, but first the end of the month Thursday gathering at the British Embassy, where I am Chaplain, my first opportunity to meet the new British Ambassador, Simon Martin and his wife Sophie. Having just received his “credentials”, authorizing him for his role here, life was beginning to get very busy.
Harvest Festival weekend 2-4th October 2015
With more than 90% of food arriving though our ports by ship, it seemed appropriate to focus on the work of Mission to Seafarers and this was done especially at the Charity Entertainment evening at the British Club in support of MtS, which for us is embodied in the ministry of Stephen in the ports of Bahrain and those who 
support him as volunteers. Neil Anderson worked very hard to give the evening a new look and it was clearly enjoyed by all who attended.
Stephen and I attende
d the St Christopher’s Harvest Assembly on Sunday morning and I told Jesus’ story of The Rich Farmer, retold by Nick Butterworth and Mick Inkpen, who kept pulling down his barns to build bigger ones after all his successful harvests. I also interviewed Stephen about his ministry with the seafarers and how some of the abundant food that the children had given would be used to respond to emergency needs and to provide a welcome snack meal when ashore in the Seafarers’ Centre.
Four funerals and a wedding
As well as the harvest festival events as a staff we had to conduct four funerals and a wedding. Affecting the Cathedral community most deeply was that of Rod
Taylor, who in recent years was a regular with Avril at both Awali on a Saturday morning and the Cathedral on Sunday morning. Rod was unfailingly gracious and always at something positive to say following a service, but his record of service both as a pilot – highly regared by colleagues in Gulf Air – and in Christian and community service was remarkable: he had been a leading member of the National Evangelical Church involved very much in the music, had served on the councils of both Al Rajah and St Christopher’s schools, had been instrumental in both the Bible Society and the ministry of the Ecumenical Conference of Charity, and in the wider community was known for his administration of music exams in Bahrain, which kept him in touch with music teachers, parents and children.
On Sunday I was out at the Christian Cemetery in Salmabad for a very contrasting graveside service of an Indian housemaid. Her Bahraini employer had taken care of arrangements meticulously, and the service was attended by her daughter, also working as a housemaid, her pastor and one other, a simple dignified service.
The final funeral service on Monday 5th October was also a big community event of William Abu Hamad. Never have I seen so many flowers in the cathedral. He was an Anglican, but the family had worshipped in Arabic in the Orthodox church, but clearly felt that their return to the Cathedral was a very significant homecoming.
Freedom Dolls Initiative: from Cyprus to Bahrain: 8-15th October 2015
Helping and assisting Victims of Human Trafficking and Sexual Abuse
Over this past week we have been hosting Nicola Smith and Marie Kypri, who are visiting us as part of the Freedom Dolls Initiative and it has been a very significant week. As a Church community we were made aware of Freedom Dolls through St Paul’s Cathedral, Nicosia and over the years we have brought back dolls to sell to support the work of FDI: 203 dolls have been sold in three years in Bahrain.
This week they have spoken at our main Friday morning service, were the speakers at our Living Room Dialogue on Sunday night and have
had the opportunity to meet representatives of a variety of different groups in Bahrain who are involved in ministering to the needs of vulnerable people. These have included the Migrant Workers Protection Society, the Ecumenical Conference of Charity, and the Political Officer at the U.S Embassy responsible for their report on Human Trafficking in Bahrain. They have been interviewed and photographed by the Gulf Weekly, the English language weekly newspaper in Bahrain, and I am hopeful that will be a front-page spread on Wednesday, and they have met with The Palm Association, a Charity who hopefully will market their dolls. Also, following the Living Room Dialogue, the proprietor of one of the main bookshops in Bahrain, a Cathedral member, has offered to market the dolls on a sale or return basis for free.
What Nicola and Marie have realized is the significance of the church in networking in the wider community and that we can offer very important partnerships in this vital work. We hope their experience this week will encourage reinvigorating partnerships with church communities in Cyprus.
Visit of Archdeacon John: 14-18th October 2015
With the Freedom Dolls ladies leaving for Larnaca on Wednesday morning, Archdeacon John Holdsworth arrived from Larnaca in the afternoon: for a Selection Conference, which I chaired on Thursday, preaching at the Friday morning service, followed by a meeting in our home to introduce the Exploring Faith course attended by both friends from the Canterbury group and our own community; and a Diocesan Gulf Communications group on Saturday. It was good to have Charlie Lloyd-Evans with us from Jebel Ali sharing her experience of the Exploring Faith course and several people signed up the
list indicating their interest in being part of such a group. In the evening I took John and David Hammond-Williams (here from Wales for the Communications meeting) to the British Club, both ardent Welsh supporters for a pint and fish and chips to see the Wales-South Africa Rugby World Cup quarter finals, which, for Welsh supporters, was in the end a disappointment.
We have used this weekend to reflect on our vocation and how we can use our gifts in the service of God and the church.