way out west

Emergent evangelism?

Some interesting thoughts/discussions on Nerotribe this week around the area of faith sharing...

(issues from emerging churches...)

• Effective Mission/Faithsharing
• Sustainability (in terms of employment, paying the bills etc)
• Sustainability in terms of spirituality.
• Discipleship in a po-mo consumer based context (including a consumer based Christian context).
• Community building and development.
• Theologising.
• Thinking/Imagination
• Relating to the traditional/conventional church

One reflection is the sharing bit - this implies a two way conversation and I wonder therefore where in this list is there any reference to listening, affirming and learning from the spiritual stories, the unknown god moments of those we are seeking to "reach"?  How do we hear, really hear what people are saying about themselves/God/spirituality...

From my comment on "what is evangelism?"...

I tend to think of evangelism in the context of the great parable of salvation - the prodigal son...

All of us are somewhere between the pig pen, the embrace and the party... Often evangelism is seen as a process of convincing the people they need to get out of the pen - leading them along the road - teaching them to knock on the door in the correct way (prayer the prayer at the end of the tract/meeting) and leading them in through the door. I just don't think this "model"either truly reflects the story nor is it that sustainable... I prefer to see my role as meeting with people in the pig pen and giving them a chance to reflect on and tell their stories - to encourgae them to stand and take another step on the journey - onto the road ... then walking with them in expectation that I do not need to lead them to the door becuse the Father will have run out and met them way before then! Personally I am somewhere between the embrace and the party - still don't know what to expect... still a bit overawed by the embrace and willing to take whatever God gives me. In this way as an evangelist I am also an Anam Chara (Soul friend), who is also journeying and also able to hear and learn from others (even those newer to the journey than me).

Urban Youth Culture

Doing some consultancy with the Chaplaincy team (multi-faith) of the Huntercombe YOI on Youth Culture - specifically urban/social exlusion etc.... and me ministering in Rural Bucks ;-)  So... doing a bit of net-research and came across this site...  Online Journal of Urban Youth Culture  some very interesting articles particularly -

Urban Youth Culture and Social Transformation - "From Knucklehead to Revolutionary:"

Young people and spirituality?

What do we mean when we talk about spirituality?  Young People Now have asked 4 people "Do young people today care about faith and spirituality?"  this is in the light of the news that The Multi-Faith Centre (Univ. of Derby) have just been granted funding by the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund to undertake a 6 month research project to examine how much faith and spirituality matters to urban young people.

The four people they ask are... The faith advisor for Girlguiding UK, Exec Director of the Humanist Assoc, The Vice-president of the Secular Soc and a member of the UK Youth Parliament.  I suppose most if their comments are predictable ...

The faith advisor for Girlguiding UK;

[Yes]  We aim to help girls develop their spiritual side.  This can encompass anything that touvches them and makes them think beyond themselves.  It's a good way to view the World and their place in it.  I don't believe you can seperate faith and spirituality

Exec Director of the Humanist Assoc;

[No]  Some young people care deeply about theire faith, but most do not believe in God or have any religous belief.  Spirituality is notoriously difficult to define.  If it means a sense of wonder about the world, morality, or a belief in humanity's potential, then most young people probably care about it.

The Vice-president of the Secular Soc;

[Yes]  Young People care about spirituality. but not necessarily in the way churches would like.  Young people do search for some kind of spiritual meaning in their lives...  It's good for young people to exlore and look at options, but if they are drawn into a particular religion the exploration ends... it is sad.

Member of the UK Youth Parliament;

[Yes]  Although i was christened I am not a practising Christian - I just live life.  A lot of my friends are into Tarot Cards and Horoscopes.  I got into reading my horoscope because my friends were into it and sometimes they consult the Magic 8-ball fro decisions.

The results of the research will no doubt be interesting - the interviews leave me with one abiding thought - we all bring  personal interpretation and a whole heap of baggage to the term Spirituality and as Bob and Sylvie Mayo said at the conference last week we need to be EXTREMELY careful how we understand what people are saying to us about spirituality i.e. not to hear our understanding and even hopes in their words.  What does seem clear though is that Spirituality is a subject high on the agenda of both politics and sociology - and we (the church) have to do a huge amount of listening to do - perhaps that means we need to be quiet for a while and just listen?

Kiwi unbound...

Just ordered Steve Taylor's book "The out of bounds church"  as recommended by that other blogging Kiwi met them both a couple of years ago... Andrew in Paris then sat on a panel with him at Greenbelt and Steve at Kings at a seminar hosted by Pete Ward.  Both are worth going out of your way to hear/speak with.

Take it or leave it...

I was having a convesation on a platform at Leighton Buzzard Station with a friend who is in his early 30's... He was telling me about a visit to Midnight Mass with his mother last Christmas... The Vicar, from his seclusion zone (pulpit) thanked them all for coming then told then that if they weren't going to come every week then not to bother coming again!  Guess what... they didn't!  This reminded me of what one 15year old lad said to me last year...

The church has denied me the right to seek God

When I asked what he meant he said that he felt that the church was saying "take it or leave it"... Church is the only place to find the true God and if you don't come to church then you cannot find God... at least it is wrong to look for God outside of church.  The poor guy was between a rock and a hard place ... he couldn't bear church, he didn't fit in anywhere he tried (trad, trendy, happy, clappy, smelly, whatever!) so what was he supposed to do???  He did what most people would he gave up, saying if that is what God is all about, then no thanks.

... two more lost coins?

God without Religion

I've been reading about Sankara Saranam's book God Without Religion on the net this morning - I'm undecided whether it is just another utopian universalist manifesto or whether it has some real insights into the nature of spiritual quest (if not God)  He undoubtably proposes a kinda of buddhist ego abandonment and a "technique" or path (pranayama - Prana refers to nervous energy and yama means control - nothing new or revolutionary there then) and calls himself a Yogi (but no mention of "pic'a'nic" baskets) so in that way he is what he critiques...  but... I do find some of what he says about the book deeply challenging and he seems to hit fairly squarely many of the problems with organised religion/s and perhaps this kind of thinking, though I don't think it provides any real answers as ultimately it panders to the consumer created god idea, may ask some serious questions for us to reflect on.  I guess I ought to buy and read it... mind you it is neary 20 quid! 

God Without Religion offers a way for individuals to discover and define God on their own rather than accepting the interpretation of a particular religious doctrine. Instead of providing answers about God as organized religions do, the book encourages readers to explore their ideas of God by asking a series of questions that ultimately expand their sense of identity. I call this "worshiping by wondering." Wonder is the gateway to spiritual knowledge. The more questions we ask about the nature of God, the more profound the answers will be, leading to deeper questions which broaden our perceptions and expand our sense of self. Constantly challenging our conclusions and refining our knowledge of God promotes the deep spiritual growth needed to transcend the violence so prevalent in the world today.

Some thoughts from Arun Ghandi's foreword...

The admission that no one really knows the true God behind all these images leads to an understanding that human beings can only pursue the truth and not "possess" it, as many religious zealots claim to do. Pursuit implies humility, acceptance, openness, and appreciation, while possession suggests arrogance, close mindedness, and lack of appreciation. Herein lies the rub: if we persist in competing to possess the truth instead of working in unity to pursue it, we are going to face untold grief-and worse, violence.

When asked what he thought of the meaning of God, Grandfather said: "There is an indefinable mysterious power that pervades everything. I feel it, though I do not see it. It is this unseen power which makes itself felt and yet defies all proof, because it is so unlike all that I perceive through my senses. It transcends the senses. But it is possible to reason out the existence of God to a limited extent.

"I do dimly perceive that whilst everything around me is ever-changing, ever-dying, there is underlying all that change a living power that is changeless, that holds all together, that creates, dissolves, and re-creates. That informing power or spirit is God. . . . For I can see that in the midst of death, life persists; in the midst of untruth, truth persists; in the midst of darkness, light persists. Hence I gather that God is life, truth, light."

Booker T

Went to see Booker T and the MG's last night at the Barbican - Sheer Genius - with Eddie Floyd, Mable John and William Bell.  REAL R&B! 

Typepad

... well as an old Blogger user - it has taken me all morning to suss out typepad - think I'm a little balder now!

New Blog

I am back to Blog!  The GROWproject blog ceased to exist due to changes in my life and the project - Even more changes are afoot - they will see me move to pioneer a misional community in Shropshire/the West Midlands this summer - this Blog will record my thoughts and reflections, stories and inspirations.