Living in Love and Faith
The Course - Soundbites - Preacher
- Music Programme - Response
what is llf?
“LLF draws together the Bible, theology, science, and history with powerful real-life stories, in what is understood to be the most extensive undertaking of any church to hear and articulate as wide a range of voices, lived experiences and theological understandings as possible in this area…
“LLF is a set of resources exploring questions of human identity, sexuality, relationships, and marriage, launched on 9 November 2020… The LLF resources –which include a 450+ page book/PDF, a 5-session course for local groups, 17 videos of Christians’ stories, 16 podcasts, and an online library of 300 articles – are designed to facilitate open, honest, and gracious learning and discussion among churchgoers across the country.”
To access the resources for free, sign up to the LLF Hub here, and read more about the project here.
LLF is a project by the Church of England in an attempt to have a different conversation about sexuality, gender, and marriage than we have had previously, especially in the wake of equal marriage in UK law in 2014. It is also a huge opportunity for parishes to make their voices heard on this topic. Gathering feedback is a major component of the LLF project. The outcome will be a decision by the House of Bishops as to what to bring to General Synod in February 2023.
To know more about the history that has led us to this point, please see our previous piece on the matter on the St John’s blog here.
The Course
The LLF course is envisaged as a structured way of having conversations with each other, sharing our thoughts and experiences. On Wednesdays 7.30-9, the sessions will be run by Reverend Georgina.
22 Sept - called to be learners
- how to have this conversation
29 Sept - identity
- in Christ, related to sex and gender
06 Oct - relationships
- what does God call us to
13 Oct - sex
- being bodies/embodied
20 Oct - life together as a church
- affected by diversity and difference
After each session, those signed up receive copies of some of the articles from the Hub as further reading.
At the end of the course, a response based on what has been said will be collated, and submitted online. There is a survey for individuals to feedback for themselves as well. The course is designed around the Pastoral Principles, which are principles we agree to hold so we can have the fraught and vulnerable conversation we are trying to have across the country in the Church. The church have provided guidance to create ‘braver’ spaces (see more here) acknowledging that this means that some will not feel able to attend.
To sign up, email parishadmin at stjohns-hydepark dot com, or speak to the clergy.
Music Programme
Our Director of Music Robert Greenhill has put together our Autumn Music programme to engage on another level with the LLF project. Each week at the 10am Parish Eucharist during the course, our choral scholars, and sometimes our visiting instrumentalists, will sing an anthem expressing something of that week’s discussion theme.
Sunday 19th September - Learning together - The choir will be singing God is our hope and strength by J S Bach from the last movement of Cantata 24, which talks about listening to God with a clear conscious and an unsullied soul.
Sunday 26th September - Identity - The choir are singing Seasons of Love from the musical Rent by J Larson. Rent discusses the struggles of a group of friends facing drugs, HIV AIDS and gender identity. Seasons of Love deals with love not being measured in time, but in the moments you spend and who you spend it with. It’s the little things in life, coffee and hugs, crying or laughing. Don’t remember a year gone, but as a year spent in the company of good friends that love you.
Sunday 3rd October - Relationships - The choir are singing, Set me as a seal by W Walton. The words are from the Song of Solomon, a sensual meditation on deep desire, passion, and the bonds we make and sustain, with each other, and the divine.
Sunday 10th October - Sex - The choir will be singing a piece of music each week on the theme for that session. This Week: Sex, the choir are singing, Endless pleasure, endless love from the end of Act 1 of Handel’s opera Semele written in 1743. Semele has been abducted by a giant eagle, Jupiter and Semele sings “Endless pleasure, endless love Semele enjoys above; On her bosom Jove reclining, useless now his thunder lies, To her arms his bolts resigning, and his lightning to her eyes.”
Sunday 10th October - Life together - The choir will be singing a piece of music each week on the theme for that session. This Week: Life together, the choir are singing, Ain’t it good from Act 2 of S Schwartz’s musical Children of Eden. Here we listen to Mama Noah rejoicing with her family about the outcome of the flood, and the hope of life ahead.
Soundbites
On Sundays in this season, assistant curate Reverend Georgina will be going round during coffee asking individuals what they think about identity, sexuality, relationships, and marriage, and collecting these soundbites to submit anonymously as part of the extensive feedback process intrinsic to the LLF project. Everyone is invited to have their say.
Preacher
At the 10am Eucharist on the 19th September 2021, we hosted a guest speaker, The Rev’d Dr Canon Andrew Goddard, Assistant Minister at St James the Less, Pimlico, and member of the Living in Love and Faith Co-ordinating Group. He is a Senior Research Fellow of the Kirby Laing Institute for Christian Ethics and teaches for Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena and Westminster Theological Centre. He has written on a number of areas in ethics and on Anglicanism and is currently researching and writing a book about Christian sexual ethics. The sermon is available on our Soundcloud.
Our curate Rev Georgina sat down with him to ask a few questions, which you can see in the video below.
response
For those who cannot or do not want to attend the course sessions, but still want to have their say, there are other options.
a. If they have engaged with the materials, they can take the survey as well
b. they can email llf@churchofengland.org
c. there are two response options on the Hub, either by those who sign up or given to Reverend Georgina to submit on their behalf
i. these are either ‘creative responses’
“Make something that expresses your response to themes and subjects explored in Living in Love & Faith. You could paint, draw, sculpt, sew, knit, bake, grow, write (a song, poem, prayer etc.), compose, sing, and so much more. You could do this individually or collaboratively in your group or family or with friends. All abilities welcomed.”
ii. or ‘snapshots’
“We would love to have a way of representing all the individuals and groups that have taken part in this conversation in a format other than words and numbers. This engaging and accessible ‘snap shot’ of faces, voices and experiences will be thoughtfully and creatively curated and presented in a creative and impactful way. This is in the form of “images, photographs, video recordings, audio recordings and/or written word”
We hope this will mean that those who do not have their say over coffee on Sundays, and will not be part of the course, will still be able to contribute to the project.
