Phil Jackson
Who am I?
A husband, a father to two teenage boys, a dog owner, a Christian, and a Methodist Minister in Cumbria. Before that I was a conveyancing solicitor, and came in to ministry 13 years ago, with all of my ministry being in the county of Cumbria. I am a Yorkshireman, a Sheffield United fan and a photographer.
Below are some of my personal views on certain aspects of life with God that make Sanctuary and Soul what it is. I write these statements for two reasons. Firstly for those who might see the words “Methodist minister”, and rightly wonder who on earth you might be getting in to community with. Secondly for those in the church who wonder why we do things the way we do at Sanctuary & Soul.
On Jesus’ teaching
This is my real passion. I have long been drawn to Jesus words in Matthew 25, which I believe are primarily about how we live in the world. It is so important to Jesus that he says the same thing four times - give food, water, clothes, a welcome and care to those who need it. Four times! And that is without the number of times he said “love your neighbour”. One of his first words may have been “repent” (quite a loaded word today) but he balances that with, and far spoke more about, the love thing.
I also think that if everyone who “believes” in Jesus - those who think he was a prophet, a rabbi or just a good man who said some wise things (and yes, those who believe he was the Son of God), if they all followed that primary bit of teaching, the world would be a better, more peaceful, more caring place. And this is a central part of what Sanctuary & Soul is all about - to be that loving, caring community. Sanctuary – a place of care and community and soul, a place where love dwells.
On why I am a lukewarm Christian
OK, so that is a loaded sentence to start with, but I know the lack of direct faith sharing with the intention of converting people (evangelism) in the abbey space could open us up to that accusation, so I want to explain why we ask people not to “preach” in the abbey ruins.
I first encountered Believe, Behave, Belong at college as a way of exploring how people journey towards faith. I soon learnt that the order they appear differs depending on the individual - there is no correct order. At Sanctuary & Soul we try to offer a space that goes with
Belong
Behave
Believe
For me it is about belonging to a community and feeling at home in that community no matter where you are with the other two. The transition from Belong to Behave is an easy one - it isn’t hard to be a nice person when you try, and most people come to the community already behaving in a “love your neighbour” kind of way anyway. Personally, the transition from behaving to believing should be optional, and so my personal approach to being part of that journey is to offer the last bit on a plate, rather than force feed people with my own faith, and then expect them to believe what I believe.
The abbey is a place of listening and relationship where we journey together, in community, to a place where we love well.
On the church
As a group of people who chose to follow Jesus? Heck yeah!
As a religious institution? Sorry folks, but here I really, really struggle.
Don’t get me wrong, I am part of a church family in my current setting that is just that - family. They are full of love and the most amazing church that I could ask to be part of, I wish every local church could be a lot more like them (and no, they are not perfect, but they are still family).
On the other hand I feel immense guilt and grief for some of the things the institutional church has said and done over the years, (yes we started the crusades, although no-one expected it, there was the Spanish inquisition, we have historically got it wrong on safeguarding, equality and justice, and see below about our language). These are things that rightly put people off the church and Christianity, and that makes me both sad and full of guilt, especially when the church today seems to perpetuate some of those wrongs. So that is why, even as a minister, I struggle with “church”. But I do believe in Jesus and I do like being part of a community that loves Jesus and wants to act like Jesus, that is what the church is to me.
