Minster Musings
In the beginning God said….
In the beginning, before the world was formed, there was God and the language of God. Genesis tells us that the words of God spoke the world into being. The words of God, the language of God, brought forth something from nothing. Light from the dark, land from the sea, the moon and the stars and every living thing, including us; and God said it was good.
The words of God matter, and so do ours. Words aren’t just a mirror of our world reflecting reality back to us; helping us talk about our lives. Rather, words are like lenses; like glasses they help us see the world. As they help us see, they colour how we understand reality. Words teach us what is safe and what is not. Words help us communicate with those we love and those we are unsure of. The words of our caregivers, our leaders and our society, massively shape how we understand the world around us and our understanding affects what we do. Words and language have a huge part to play in how the world is understood by us, and also how it is shaped by us.
Language isn’t fixed. It flows and grows; it develops and evolves. Just as the world around us is modified by wind and water, by temperature and time; the language we use and the language we learn changes over time, and it changes us. Sometime language changes just in terms of fashion; ‘groovy’ gets replaced by ‘cool’; or ‘trendy’ changes to ‘on trend’. At other times, language and words change things in much more significant ways; for example, the pronouns ‘they/them’, no longer only refer to groups, but also to individuals who identify as nonbinary, people who identify as neither male of female. This change of use creates the possibility of understanding gender beyond the binary.
But why does all this talk of language matter? It matters because it reminds us that words matter. If we talk in violent language about people who are different from us, violence is more likely to happen. If, in the online space, we say that someone deserves to die for their difference, it’s more likely that someone will take violent action against them. That is how propaganda has justified wars throughout the ages. It’s how Hitler convinced the German people that taking the land property of Jews and that violence against Jews was justified and so the Holocaust happened.
If we talk in respectful terms, we are more likely to be respectful. If we talk in positive ways, positive outcomes are more likely. Modern popular psychology and self-help books are full of encouragement for people to ‘speaking things into being’. If we speak to ourselves as if we are miserable worms, we will believe that. If we change our language, we can and do change our perception, and in turn our reality. Positive self-talk improves outcomes and the achievement of personal goals. The power of positive thinking is built on the power of language to transform.
Our words have the power to hurt or heal, to build up or to tear down. Our words are the bridges for peace, or the bricks in the walls.
With our words we can make the world around us a better place, we can create new possibilities and bring forth new action.
Together we can build a better world, one word at a time.
Revd Sam Crook
Curate
April in Pictures
The Easter weekend started the month of April.
Easter Monday saw the Minster on the route of the first Halifax Urban Trail. 500 runners ran through the Minster and other buildings in the town on the 10km run starting and finishing at Shibden Hall.
Two very successful concerts were held during the month. The photo below was taken at the Whitney by Candlelight evening.
The Minster again hosted celebrations for the International Day of Dance on April 26th, with performances by Curious Motion, Rock Choir of West Yorkshire, Lucigen Tribal Dance, Annapurna Indian Dance and Cindy’s Stompers Line Dancing.
The Eco Slot
No, please don’t skip this bit! Some of you will already know that the Minster is working towards its ‘Eco-Church’, Silver Award, meaning that all decisions on how we run and manage our buildings are made with environmental and ethical implications in mind. However, as church is also the people, we’re called to encourage our congregation and supporters to consider how we ourselves can make small changes to our lifestyles to become more eco-friendly too.
This Eco Slot will give you a monthly idea to think about and put into action where you can.
So this month, we encourage you to take part in ‘no-mow May’. May is the time when lots of insects emerge from hibernation and become more active. Bees especially need our help as suitable flowers for food are in short supply – so, as much as you dislike them – leave those dandelions alone!! Just for one month! Leaving your garden (or at least a part of it) untouched might seem to make it look unsightly, but go out and take a closer look at all the bugs and insects, many of them beneficial to soil health (some of them even for control of other bugs which might want to eat your plants later on!), and the bees and other pollinators – all essential parts of God’s wonderful creation.
It might turn out that you leave a corner of your garden permanently untouched – brilliant!
What if you don’t have a garden though? You could look for a local neglected area of grass, clear it of any litter and then ‘seed bomb’ it – buy some packets of wildflower seeds or specially made ‘seed bombs’ and simply scatter them across the area. Then see what happens!
Choir news
Congratulations to two of the Minster choir, Pip Sheldon and Edwin Field, who sang at the services at St Paul’s Cathedral in the week after Easter with the Royal School of Church Music Youth Choir.
MU@the Minster news
One of the aims of the Mothers’ Union is to help families in adversity. To this aim, The Halifax Minster members supported Mothershare–an organisation supporting young Mums & Families by providing essentials. Our Lent Appeal was to give something for others, rather than giving something up throughout Lent. The result was over 20 bags of baby goods and toiletries, some of which are shown in the photograph below. Mothershare were extremely grateful for everone’s generosity.
Our next Tea & Talk event is on May 13th at 2pm. Jennie Morgan will be speaking about her work with Knitted Knockers! All are welcome,
Minster Office move
April saw the Minster Office move into new rooms as the Minster finally took on the lease of Unit 2, Causey Hall. Unit 2 includes 2 offices and the Herschel Room, designed for use for meetings, conferences and as a rehearsal space.
Thanks to our Welcomers and Volunteers
April 29th was our annual Welcomers Training Morning and this year we were joined by some of our stewards and event volunteers. Training took place in the Herschel Room and included a presentation by Neil Davidson MBE DL on the safe use of the Minster’s debrillator. The Minster is indebted to the over 160 volunteers who regularly give of their time to enable the Minster to open for worship, events and visitors virtually every day of the year.
