Greenbelt 2011 - Communion - Harry Bird and the Rubber Wellies - Michael Mitton

On Sunday morning the programme is cleared to allow everyone to go to a massive 'Communion' at the mainstage.  The Communion, in my experience divides Greenbelter into two groups - those who feel obliged to go and those who don't.  For those of us in the second group this is time better spent catching up on sleep, allowing all the experiences of the weekend so far to settle in the brain, time to wonder aimlessly and get a coffee.  I struggle to recall anyone every talking about the Communion as their highlight of the weekend.  The major problem is that it is an "Ecumenical" celebration of the worse kind - not a celebration rooted in one tradition but open to all, but a celebration denuded of any thing that might offend, it is traditionless, soulless.
As I wondered contentedly this year I overheard one sentence of the service - the leader explained "and now we break the bread - and one of the things that we remember is that Jesus died for us.." - this set me off on a rant 'one of the things' - ONE OF THE THINGS - the moment of fraction is the moment of Jesus' death, of the earthquake, of the ripping of the temple curtain, for me a moment of singular meaning.  I will happily to admit this might be a particular theology of the Eucharist, but the problem with the Greenbelt Communion is that it is based on the belief that we can ignore the differences but leaves it bringing ten thousand people together either to do their own thing or to do nothing at all.  

With the Communion over the programme restarted and I managed to get myself in the right place at the right time for Harry Bird and the Rubber Wellies . I was at Van Mildert in Durham with Harry and from the first night on the corridor as he played Brown Eye Girl there was always an anarchic joyfulness about him but there was always a slight worry that graduation would bring a pin-striped suit and a job in the city.  While it did that to many of the great rebels I knew in Durham, Harry is just the same as he always was.  It was great to be in the packed venue, packed with people and packed with joy - Harry and his Wellies are one of my favourite bands - they are full of life, characterful without affectation.

Now on a roll of right places and right times I heard Michael Mitton . The talk was called "The homing instinct" and while I enjoyed listening to him, he has the voice of  Nicholas Parsons, I will be honest as say that I can't really remember the content of the talk - maybe I will have to download it from the Greenbelt website and listen again!