As far as I'm concerned, national identity is nothing to do with where you are born; the patch of land you happened to find yourself on as you entered the world is nothing more than a geographical accident. For me, national identity is more of a heart thing, it's a place and a people that you feel a connection to. In this light, to quote Will Shakespeare's King Harry V, "I am Welsh, good my kinsman!"
I love my adopted homeland. I love the people, I love the history, I love the mountains, I love the passion of this ancient country. However, there is a flip side to every coin, and one of the character traits I really do struggle with in my beloved Cymric culture is a deep and inherited suspicion of anything new, and more often than not a stubborn refusal to change. This character trait has always been alive and well in the church (as any valleys vicar could tell you); it's even been said that the great 18th century Evangelical Revival in Wales was the Reformation arriving two hundred years late! Now, even this 'flaw' comes from a noble place of sorts, for in the annals of history Welsh stubbornness has been the only thing that has prevented the country and (especially) language from being lost, but it does make things rather tricky for anyone wanting to push any boundaries. Pioneers, for example.
It could be argued that Wales is the ultimate place for a pioneer minister to be called, because you really are pushing boundaries in every conceivable sense, but it is really freaking draining. I mean REALLY draining. When so much mental and emotional energy is used in explaining to other churchy types what you are doing, and even once you have being given a lukewarm, "this guy's mental, best nod and agree just in case he pulls out a banana and tries to stab me with it" sort of pat on the back, there isn't much left for doing what you're being called to do - show people that God loves them in a meaningful way.
Because that is ALL we are trying to do folks! I promise you! No hidden agendas for world domination. No secret plans to turf you all out of your churches and turn them into crack dens for Jesus. We want to try doing things differently because it really is needed, but most pioneer ministers have a deep and profound respect for our ecclesiastical history. In fact, for many of us it is pioneers of the past that inspired us in the first place. We NEEEEEEED help though. We need encouragement. Sometimes we need the benefit of the doubt.
I know it's a tall order, but think you can do it? Please?
Cymru am byth!
The name Llan is quite neat. It resonates with the poor english pronunciation, which sounds like Clan. Many interpretators of gospel history talk of Jesus' disciples as his 'fictive kinship' - a gathering of true Israel, breaking new ground as receiver of abrahamic promise, calling the people of God back and onwards to their true calling through his kingdom. In some ways, pioneer, albeit a stylish analogue sound system, has developed overtones of secularist marching in laurel-leaved progress through its appropriation by the premature elation and presumed arrival in charismatic triumphalism. Perhaps, we will redefine the word 'pioneer', with an historical 'Jesus twist', towards the radical sense of Christian pilgrimage that was mistranslated by humanist utopianisms. It is this dimension of eschatological hope that is ready to prove itself anew and save the brave new pagan world and it's malignant Christian modernity alike. Come on Llan!
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