What follows are the words that I used during various parts of the service, so that those who were not there are able to be there can read these. There are also some photographs: the first two showing our three testimonial speakers (Cllr Christine Strain-Clark, Buckingham Town Council; Phil Doran, Chairman of Moretonville Junior Football Club; Queen Great, Student at the University of Buckingham) and the Buckingham Children's Choir. They were all amazing!
My Civic Address
This civic service rounds off what has been an intensely enthralling, inspiring and delightful year for me & Julie, my wonderfully grounded Mayoress.
We have been enthralled by the shear brilliance of so many Buckingham people who are working so hard to make the lives of others more fruitful. We have been inspired by the passion and commitment of so many who just keep on keeping on making a positive contribution to our town. And we have been delighted to have been part of so many occasions when people of all ages have just been having so much fun.
Buckingham is trail blazing, beautiful and bountiful town that provides the scope and opportunities for people to shape and realise their ambitions in so many ways. But I was asked the other day why I chose ‘ambition’ as the theme to my Mayoralty this last year. So I thought I would reflect on that a little.
A few days ago, I was chatting to a young relative called Lucy at a family event about her coming to the end of her training as an Occupational Therapist. I was so impressed by the sparkle in her eyes when she talked about her plans for the future and how she has delighted in helping people reclaim their lives and their well-being through her interventions as an OT.
She really seemed to me to have found her niche and I imagined her career stretching out in front her like long sunny spring avenue. She had bright purpose and she had oodles of ambition.
And when I meet someone like that, I am intoxicated, charmed and blissful. Because when I meet someone like that, I feel that they have channelled their spirit and are fully engaged with all that life can bring us. And I find that quite simply, awesome.
And I am lucky that throughout my life, I have often met such people: wrapped up in and in rapture with their sense of purpose, their aspirations and ambitions. They know where they are going, they know what they are here to do and they are making their destiny rather than having it made for them. They are the authors of their own stories and not merely walk on characters in someone else’s play.
And many of these people are religious in a profound way or working somehow in public service or working as a volunteer for some club or neighbour, or indeed, all of course. Or they could be a plumber or a poet or a farmer or a pharmacist...
And basically, my ambition is (and has always been) that I want everyone to have this sense of purpose, this glow of ambition. I think it’s a simple aim but it’s complex making it happen. It has taken me a lifetime so far.
And so I thought I would use this year as Mayor to ask people to think about their own ambitions and also how they can help other people more to achieve their ambitions too. It has been my intention to support, rejoice and celebrate all the ambition I have happened across over this last year. And there has been much to see!
I have seen how ambition has built new sports facilities and encouraged even more sporting achievement. I have seen the intensity of relief and pride on the faces of students as gained their graduation. I have seen the joy of town council colleagues as they help the community make the town more accessible to all or finally get the new toilets built! I have seen new partnerships, plans and places become established and people grow in confidence and strength. I have discovered about the so many ways in which teachers inspire their students and pupils to learn and develop new dreams. I have been in awe of the determination and professionalism in lots of places to make a difference to people’s lives. I have been charmed by the way in which some fragile, vulnerable or cautious people are helped so carefully to shape their ambitions and enjoy the ride along the way.
I could go on and on… (And if you really want to know more, please browse my blog!) This has been my purpose this year - this has always been my purpose.
And as we are in the middle of this Civic Service, in a place of worship and faith, I would like to make the link between ambition and the spiritual dimension of our town and all those living, studying or working here.
It seems to me that at the core of almost all faiths and religions is the idea of hope: hope for a better world in which all of creation works well together in peace, health and prosperity. There is of course an important place for quiet contemplation, prayer and meditation where hope, faith and love can be experienced in a pure and absolute form.
But there is also an important place in my view for people who use their hope, faith and love to take action and shape a better world.
It is at this point I think that the civic side and the spiritual sides of town fuse together: we are all in the business of shaping ambitions and helping others to do so.
And this is what today is all about: reflecting on the spiritual in the civic and the civic in the spiritual. Let us all celebrate and rejoice in the myriad of ways in which Buckingham people are shaping and realising their dreams, hopes and ambitions.
In this way, our Town will continue to be the very special place that it is: a place for imagination and ambition.
Welcoming words
My lords, ladies, distinguished guests and honoured members of the Buckingham community, welcome to this Civic Service. The purpose of today’s service is recognise, consolidate and celebrate the links between the spiritual dimensions, the religious institutions and civic agencies in our town. It is a moment to recognise the civic in the spiritual and the spiritual in the civic.
Today we will be celebrating the quiet light of ambition and aspiration in Buckingham. I am delighted to see you all here this afternoon. Thank you so much for coming.
This is a day for celebrating ambition. I have asked three amazing Buckingham people to tell us about their ambitions and aspirations. I am sure their stories will inspire you to consider your own ambitions and where your ambitions might take you next…
Introducing the Choir
I chose three children’s charities this year to support as I think young people especially need every bit of support and help to achieve their ambitions. So later on, when we have a collection, please dig deep for our local Youth Centre, the NSPCC and UNICEF.
But meanwhile it is my greatest pleasure to invite the Buckingham Children’s Choir onto the stage to sing us a well known and beloved song. If music be the food of love, then music and songs sung by children are the food of ambition, dreams and hope...
Any dream will do...
When the Vicar and I sat down to plan this service, I asked Will if he would share a story of ambition from the Bible. The Good Book is, of course, full of wise and inspirational stories. I know the one that Will is about to tell you speaks to him of how his faith helps him to be ambitious for all the people he cares about (and that’s a lot of people). Will…
Introducing the multi-faith and inclusive part of the service
Here we are in an Anglican church in the middle of middle England. In planning today, Will and I both felt it to be very important in this Civic Service to provide a space, a moment for all beliefs, faiths, philosophies and religions to be acknowledged, celebrated and honoured.
Before Will says a few words, here on the altar are some flowers. You will note that there are more on the left than on right. I have already placed some flowers in the right hand vase to symbolise some of the faiths and beliefs I have. I would like to invite anyone now to come forward who would like us to acknowledge a faith that they have or someone dear to them has. You don’t need to say anything, just come forward and take a flower from the left hand vase and place in the right hand one. And I fully appreciate that maybe one, six, more or less people will come forward. But I invite you now…
Final thanks and closing words from me
Thank you again to all of you for coming.
I am especially grateful to the team of people who have all helped make this happen: Katharine, Nina, Barbara, Mike & Margie, Ruth & Robert, Margaret, Paul and Valerie, and my wife Julie and Valerie, her mother.
And of course, my huge thanks to the Revd Will Pearson-Gee - it has been a delight to work with you on making today happen. Your time and advice are most appreciated. Thank you.
And now we drink tea and eat cake in time honoured fashion. But over to Will for a final blessing. After which we and mace will recess.
No comments:
Post a Comment