Pentecost Evensong - 8 June 2025 - The Revd Canon Bob White

There are times when you think you have fallen into a trap. When Canon Jo invited me to preach, she mentioned that the Honorary Canons were being invited to preach on the theme of ‘I believe’ as we mark the 1700th anniversary of the Nicene Creed. That sound a good think to reflect on and not too challenging for me ….until I sat down and began to think about it this week,

As today is the feast of Pentecost and the readings this evening point us towards the Holy Spirit it seemed right that I should focus on I believe in the Holy Spirit. As I read the words of the Nicene Creed as we use it, I suddenly realised the trap I was in danger of falling into.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son …..but wait a moment those rather simple words have been the cause of much division and theological debate over the centuries. The words ‘and the Son’ were a later addition – in Latin the addition was ‘Filioque’- and this became the cause of division mainly between Western catholic Christendom and Eastern Orthodoxy. Do we believe the Spirit originates solely from the Father as an equal to the son, or (for some) in a lesser way proceeds from Father and Son. In Graham Greene’s Monsignor Quixote – it is this dilemma that leads the Monsignor to believe he has committed a sin  against the Holy Spirt as attempts to explain the Trinity to his travelling communist Mayor companion but using empty wine bottles. It is only after he has explained that he realises he has used 2 regular bottles and a half bottle and so has somehow demoted the Holy Spirit as inferior to the other two.

So as I sat preparing the sermon I wondered what I should do – should I labour for the next 20 minutes with an attempt to expound the full nature and relationship of the Holy Spirit to the Father and Son – or should I look elsewhere …As always, the answer as a  good Anglican was of course both! (But don’t worry not a further 20 mins!). I have always believed that the relationship of the 3 persons of the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, lies at the heart of our faith. The complex interrelationship and interdependence in which all are valued and yet have their own identify is for me a reflection of the church, the way we are called to love as God’s people, The body of Christ is a living out of that communion of 3 in 1 and reflects that unity in diversity.

Within that I believe that the Holy Spirit is at the heart of being the church, the community of faith. The Spirit is given to individuals – indeed we reflect that in our Confirmation and Ordination services – but the gifts it brings are not for the benefit of the individual but is for others. In Paul’s writings he stresses that it is the variety of the gifts of the Spirit that are given which then compliment and are dependent on other gifts – to one the gift of tongues to another the gift of interpretation of them for example. It is only when each person uses and offers their gifts as part of the wider body and in relationship with others that those gifts flourish and enable the body to grow. If there was no Spirit, or if we all had the same gifts of the Spirit then there would be no body of Christ, there would be no variety, there would be no growth.

Throughout my ministry ( just a few years!) my belief in the Holy Spirit as the foundation of our common life has shaped and moulded me and the things I do. In the community I recognise that it is only when we each use our gifts, but use them together in the common good, that we are able to build and develop communities which can achieve amazing things.

The simple principle that we can always do together far more than we can do along has lain at the heart of my work in Parishes and the Deanery and in the wider community.

But I think it goes further than that – for the model of the Trinity and the 3 persons is one of relationship. It is not a simple sharing, but it is a mutual building and holding of trust, respect and love. The Church needs to be marked by a mirroring of that mutual trust, respect and love across our differences. The challenge we face repeatedly is how we grow that mutual respect, how do we discern that which unites us despite those things which can often divide. If our lives and our communities are not marked by good relationships, by recognising the other (rather than excluding them or stereotyping them) then we cannot be the body of Christ reflecting the nature of the Trinity.

When we reflect on the Nicene Creed and the Holy Spirit, we need to be careful that we do not focus on the question of the filioque, but perhaps need to consider more the first statement – I believe in the Holy spirit, The Lord and Giver of Life’ – for it is that giving of life to us a communities of faith. The creation of community life in all its forms, that we need to rejoice in and seek to live out in our own lives and communities.

So what are the gifts that the Holy spirit has given to you ? How can you use then to serve God, and to serve others? Do you recognise the gifts that others have been given? How can you use your gifts in partnership with theirs to build communities which are a reflection of the love of God seen in the Trinity.