Relationship and the Trinity

by Jun 19, 2019

John 16:12-15

The Spirit of Truth

Working with others isn’t always easy. There can be frustration, misunderstandings, and so much more. But when team work really works, a group of people can become more than the sum of its parts. I remember one summer during secondary school being on a programme for potential engineering students and entrepreneurs – we had to design a product, building a prototype and then pitching it the programme leaders. We didn’t work perfectly, but we did have those moments where we really were able to work beyond any of our individual potential. It depended on having a clear shared goal, but it also depended on us really caring for each other. Wanting one another to succeed, at times more than we wanted ourselves to succeed,
in a way that a young person can, which becomes more difficult when ambition and self-consciousness get in the way. In studies of what makes teams effective that care for one another’s mutual success is recognised of a sign that a team could become seriously efficient.

Of course looking at those in the public arena it is hard to think of many role models for such behaviour. Just look at the last week’s campaigning for the leadership of the Tory party. Apart from Rory Stewart (which is becoming a bit of a catch phrase in the media) who is thinking of anybody’s success apart from their own. While the others are all trying to be the ones coming up with the sound bite to swamp the airwaves Rory Stewart has been travelling the country asking people to speak to him. But then his former life, which he has had, was at least in part spent roving about parts of the world most Europeans were too frightened to go listening to people. 

Of course listening properly, like putting other people first, isn’t easy. We are usually so concerned with what we can say. Even when it’s meant to be helpful. I was reading about novice monks being made to listen to one another’s prayer life each week, without being allowed to comment. Each desired to be the one who made the incisive comment, or pointed out what the other could do differently, to be the one with the wisdom of Christ, It was really hard to hold back, but they realised, in time, that the point was that any of those comments would have been for their own benefit, their own ego, what they were being taught to do is truly listen to their fellow novices and simply witness God working in them. By doing this they were able to develop real empathy for one another.

In today’s Gospel there is this familiar formula, here given as the Holy Spirit speaking on behalf of Jesus. The Holy Spirit declaring the truth which Jesus revealed. In the same way that elsewhere in the Gospels we are told that Jesus reveals the Father. That whatever Jesus has the Father gave him, and that if we want to meet the Father we should look to Jesus. Because the Father and the Son are one. And so here the Son and the Spirit are one. And as such the Father and the Son and the Spirit are one – three in one – and so we have the mystery which is named the Trinity.

So central to our faith that it is one of the great feasts of the year, coming immediately after the feast of the Spirit at Whitsun or Pentecost. How the Trinity works, what it looks like, is so beyond our ability to describe or draw it, that any attempt can only give us a glimpse of what it is, but like any analogy, particularly of God, immediately falls down under any scrutiny at all. What we know is that God is one, but has three distinct persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, each co-equal, each co-eternal, That is each fully God, each fully involved in all that God does,  each existing outside of the time which God creates, and yet distinct and in a permanent relationship with each other. 

It means that when we think back to the image in which we are created that we are created to be in relationship. Relationship with one another and relationship with God. But more than that, we are created to be in equal, mutually flourishing relationships with each other. Relationships where we are willing to listen fully to one another and to build one another up. Where, like the Spirit proceeding from the Father at the ascension, in order that the work of the Son can be carried out by you and me, we are willing to give fully of ourselves to enable others to flourish. A relationship where we are willing to listen so deeply to another that not only do we hear them, but that we can have the empathy to repeat their truth to others.

The other thing which I think is worth noting about the Trinity is this number 3. We are so used to the idea of duality, of partnership; in marriage, in friendships, in the way we too often think of ourselves. But this model of a three way, mutually flourishing, loving relationship God reminds us that a truly loving mutually flourishing relationship has the confidence to welcome. In some cases it welcomes other members of a family, in others it welcomes the stranger or acquaintance. In the case of God, through Christ’s death on the cross and drawing us up into God at the ascension, in the sending of the Spirit to pour out God’s love upon us, we are welcomed into that eternal epathic loving relationship of the Trinity. And so we must, in our care and love for one another never be afraid to open up the circle in which we are talking to welcome another into our midst. For they will know that we are Christians, that we are the body of Christ, empowered by the Spirit, by the love we have for one another.

The Reverend Robin Sims-Williams

Weekly Services

Sunday Mornings

8.00am Said Eucharist
10.00am Parish Eucharist with choir and Sunday School

Weekday Services

Morning Prayer Monday through Wednesdays at 9.20am
Said Eucharist on Wednesdays at 11.00am

Please note that Public worship has been suspended, you can therefore participate in these services via Facebook live stream

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Privacy Notice

Privacy Notice – General

Your personal data – what is it?

“Personal data” is any information about a living individual which allows them to be identified from that data (for example a name, photographs, videos, email address, or address). Identification can be by the information alone or in conjunction with any other information. The processing of personal data is governed by the General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 (GDPR) and other legislation relating to personal data and rights such as the Human Rights Act 1998.

Who are we?

This Privacy Notice is provided to you by the Parochial Church Council (PCC) of All Saints’ Child’s Hill which is the data controller for your data.

The Church of England is made up of a number of different organisations and office-holders who work together to deliver the Church’s mission in each community. The PCC works together with:

  • the incumbent of the parish (that is, our priest-in-charge);
  • the bishops of the Diocese of London; and
  • the London Diocesan Fund, which is responsible for the financial and administrative
    arrangements for the Diocese of London.

As the Church is made up of all of these persons and organisations working together, we may need to share personal data we hold with them so that they can carry out their responsibilities to the Church and our community. The organisations referred to above are joint data controllers. This means we are all responsible to you for how we process your data.

Each of the data controllers have their own tasks within the Church and a description of what data is processed and for what purpose is set out in this Privacy Notice. This Privacy Notice is sent to you by the PCC on our own behalf and on behalf of each of these data controllers. In the rest of this Privacy Notice, we use the word “we” to refer to each data controller, as appropriate.

What data do the data controllers listed above process?

They will process some or all of the following where necessary to perform their tasks:

  • Names, titles, and aliases, photographs;
  • Contact details such as telephone numbers, addresses, and email addresses;
  • Where they are relevant to our mission, or where you provide them to us, we may process
    demographic information such as gender, age, date of birth, marital status, nationality, education/work histories, academic/professional qualifications, hobbies, family composition, and dependants;
  • Where you make donations or pay for activities such as use of a church hall, financial identifiers such as bank account numbers, payment card numbers, payment/transaction identifiers, policy numbers, and claim numbers;
  • The data we process is likely to constitute sensitive personal data because, as a church, the fact that we process your data at all may be suggestive of your religious beliefs. Where you provide this information, we may also process other categories of sensitive personal data: racial or ethnic origin, sex life, mental and physical health, details of injuries, medication/treatment received, political beliefs, labour union affiliation, genetic data, biometric data, data concerning sexual orientation and criminal records, fines and other similar judicial records.

How do we process your personal data?

The data controllers will comply with their legal obligations to keep personal data up to date; to store and destroy it securely; to not collect or retain excessive amounts of data; to keep personal data secure, and to protect personal data from loss, misuse, unauthorised access and disclosure and to ensure that appropriate technical measures are in place to protect personal data.

We use your personal data for some or all of the following purposes:

  • To enable us to meet all legal and statutory obligations (which include maintaining and publishing our electoral roll in accordance with the Church Representation Rules);
  • To carry out comprehensive safeguarding procedures (including due diligence and complaints handling) in accordance with best safeguarding practice from time to time with the aim of ensuring that all children and adults-at-risk are provided with safe environments;
  • To minister to you and provide you with pastoral and spiritual care (such as visiting you when you are gravely ill or bereaved) and to organise and perform ecclesiastical services for you, such as baptisms, confirmations, weddings and funerals;
  • To deliver the Church’s mission to our community, and to carry out any other voluntary or charitable activities for the benefit of the public as provided for in the constitution and statutory framework of each data controller;
  • To administer the parish, deanery, archdeaconry and diocesan membership records;
  • To fundraise and promote the interests of the Church and charity;
  • To maintain our own accounts and records;
  • To process a donation that you have made (including Gift Aid information);
  • To seek your views or comments;
  • To notify you of changes to our services, events and role holders;
  • To send you communications which you have requested and that may be of interest to you. These may include information about campaigns, appeals, other fundraising activities;
  • To process a grant or application for a role;
  • To enable us to provide a voluntary service for the benefit of the public in a particular geographical
    area as specified in our constitution;
  • Our processing also includes the use of automated systems when you visit our website including cookies to help improve your experience when browsing our website and personal identifiers from your browsing history to enable us to assess the popularity of the webpages on our website, further information about our use of cookies is available on our website (https://www.allsaintschildshill.com/cookie-policy/)
  • Our processing also includes the use of CCTV systems for the prevention and prosecution of crime.

What is the legal basis for processing your personal data?

Most of our data is processed because it is necessary for our legitimate interests, or the legitimate interests of a third party (such as another organisation in the Church of England). An example of this would be our safeguarding work to protect children and adults at risk. We will always take into account your interests, rights and freedoms.

Some of our processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation. For example, we are required by the Church Representation Rules to administer and publish the electoral roll, and under Canon Law to announce forthcoming weddings by means of the publication of banns.

We may also process data if it is necessary for the performance of a contract with you, or to take steps to enter into a contract. An example of this would be processing your data in connection with the hire of church facilities.

Religious organisations are also permitted to process information about your religious beliefs to administer membership or contact details.

Where your information is used other than in accordance with one of these legal bases, we will first obtain your consent to that use.

Sharing your personal data

Your personal data will be treated as strictly confidential. It will only be shared with third parties where it is necessary for the performance of our tasks or where you first give us your prior consent. It is likely that we will need to share your data with some or all of the following (but only where necessary):

  • The appropriate bodies of the Church of England including the other data controllers;
  • Our agents, servants and contractors. For example, we may ask a commercial provider to send out newsletters on our behalf, or to maintain our database software;
  • Other clergy or lay persons nominated or licensed by the bishops of the Diocese of London to support the mission of the Church in our parish. For example, our clergy are supported by our area dean and archdeacon, who may provide confidential mentoring and pastoral support. Assistant or temporary ministers, including curates, deacons, licensed lay ministers, commissioned lay ministers or persons with Bishop’s Permissions may participate in our mission in support of our regular clergy;
  • Other persons or organisations operating within the Diocese of London including, where relevant, the London Diocesan Board for Schools and Subsidiary Bodies;
  • On occasion, other churches with which we are carrying out joint events or activities.

How long do we keep your personal data?

We will keep some records permanently if we are legally required to do so. We may keep some other records for an extended period of time. For example, it is current best practice to keep financial records for a minimum period of 7 years to support HMRC audits. In general, we will endeavour to keep data only for as long as we need it. This means that we may delete it when it is no longer needed.

Your rights and your personal data

You have the following rights with respect to your personal data:

When exercising any of the rights listed below, in order to process your request, we may need to verify your identity for your security. In such cases we will need you to respond with proof of your identity before you can exercise these rights.

  1. The right to access information we hold on you
    • At any point you can contact us to request the information we hold on you as well as why we have that information, who has access to the information and where we obtained the
      information from. Once we have received your request we will respond within one month.
    • There are no fees or charges for the first request but additional requests for the same data may be subject to an administrative fee .
  1. The right to correct and update the information we hold on you
    • If the data we hold on you is out of date, incomplete or incorrect, you can inform us and your data will be updated.
  1. The right to have your information erased
    • If you feel that we should no longer be using your data or that we are illegally using your data, you can request that we erase the data we hold.
    • When we receive your request we will confirm whether the data has been deleted or the reason why it cannot be deleted (for example because we need it for our legitimate interests or regulatory purpose(s)).
  1. The right to object to processing of your data
    • You have the right to request that we stop processing your data. Upon receiving the request we will contact you and let you know if we are able to comply or if we have legitimate grounds to continue to process your data. Even after you exercise your right to object, we may continue to hold your data to comply with your other rights or to bring or defend legal claims.
  1. The right to data portability
    • You have the right to request that we transfer some of your data to another controller. We will comply with your request, where it is feasible to do so, within one month of receiving your request.
  1. The right to withdraw your consent to the processing at any time for any processing of data to which consent was sought.
    • You can withdraw your consent easily by telephone, email, or by post (see Contact Details below).
  1. The right to object to the processing of personal data where applicable.
  2. The right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Transfer of Data Abroad

Any electronic personal data transferred to countries or territories outside the EU will only be placed on systems complying with measures giving equivalent protection of personal rights either through international agreements or contracts approved by the European Union. Our website is also accessible from overseas so on occasion some personal data (for example in a newsletter) may be accessed from overseas.

Further processing

If we wish to use your personal data for a new purpose, not covered by this Notice, then we will provide you with a new notice explaining this new use prior to commencing the processing and setting out the relevant purposes and processing conditions. Where and whenever necessary, we will seek your prior consent to the new processing.

Contact Details

Please contact us if you have any questions about this Privacy Notice or the information we hold about you or to exercise all relevant rights, queries or complaints at:

The Data Controller,
All Saints’ Church
Church Walk, Child’s Hill
London, NW2 2TJ
Email: [email protected]

You can contact the Information Commissioners Office on 0303 123 1113 or via email https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/email/ or at the Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.

If you have any question regarding our privacy policy, please contact us.