way out west

Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam...

(Monty Python reference)... just who are spammers?  does anyone really get sucked in?  does anyone really send their bank account details to the son of a deceased Nigerian/Arab government official in order to get 10% of 150 billion dollars? does anyone really think that some unknown Missionary wants to invest several million in their ministry?  does anyone think that the best way to approach cosmetic surgery is to answer an unsolicited E-mail from someone with a devilishly complicated E-mail address?  Does anyone really buy Viagra or any other sexually related drug by E-mail?  I just don't get it, how much time and money must be spent generating spam?  does it really work... I guess it must or they wouldn't do it???  anyway, the relevance of this is that today I have been deluged with spam... all masquerading as returned E-mails!  Ok a Spammer may not be a murderer or a rapist... but, it doesn't half get on my nerves!

Technorati Tags: Computing

Mars Hill Article

Darren over at planettelex had an excerpt and a link to an article about Mars Hill, Seattle... it's quite a read, I didn't post anything immediately but reading the article to Lou just now... it somehow seemed very familiar (well, segments did - attitude to women, a single powerful, charismatic, dominant and radical leader, addicted to 'coolness' and culture) I suddenly realised why...

From the article...

Abolafya no longer reads secular books or speaks to her old friends, She is now a deacon at Mars Hill... Between her marriage ministry, the women’s Bible study she runs, her two small children, and taking care of her husband and her home, Abolafya says she doesn’t have time for many relationships anyway, and when she starts to home-school her kids soon, her time will be even tighter. “It’s not what I ever imagined,” she tells me, “or even what I ever wanted, but it’s my duty now, and I have to learn to live with that.”

From Roland Howard's "Rise and Fall of the Nine O'Clock Service"

The old life had to be dropped in it's entirety and the new one embraced and explored.  This involved leaving old pass-times behind and throwing oneself into the new lifestyle... Fiona felt somehow false having reinvented herself in a weekend"

Now... I'm not equating the two per se, there are of course theological differences and I'm not accusing Driscoll of the kind of abuse that Brain and team were guilty of... but reading the stories did flag up some issues to me, ones that all 'leaders' need to be cautious of in our own ministries... eg.

• The cult of personality/leadership
• Addiction to the superficial aesthetic... coolness, style etc.
• Becoming focussed on one isolated theological hang-up not the holistic Gospel
• Lack of humility and (shunning) accountability
• Arrogant assertion of Orthodoxy and Orthopraxy (what we believe is right and what we do is right... everything/one else is wrong)
• Lack of participation and community governance
• Lack of honesty and self-critical reflection

Technorati Tags: Church

BBC vox-pops

Spent today doing the final filming with the BBC... we were asking Teens/20/30's in Telford Shopping Centre : "Do you believe in God?" ... "If so do you go to Church... why/why not?".. "if not do you think you are spiritual?" :

Fascinating stuff, only one out of around 30 did not believe in anything, all others talked about either believing in God or that they didn't think they believed in "God" but did believe in something 'other', a 'supreme' being, quite a few felt that the term/name God was a problem, it was too tied to Religion... a human name for a divine/supernatural being/presence... and that Church humanised and limited God!  A good percentage (the majority) said something along the lines that Church was OK for the festivals (Weddings, Christmas etc.), but that it had turned God into rituals, rules and observance and that in doing so it has lost sight of the the bigger picture of God, made God theirs instead of the other way around (plus the usual stuff about wars and suffering)... There was an incredible sense of hope... for the future, both in life and after life.  Even a young couple who said they did not believe in God, or think they were spiritual said that they both believed in something or someone beyond humanity and that there had to be something more now and beyond death.  A number said that though they believed in God, Church just did not fit in with the rhythm and pattern of their lives, though a few said that they may go when they have children.  The BBC producer seemed quite surprised that what we heard actually backed up what we had been talking about.

Incidentally though they were all aware that it was the BBC filming, none of them knew who I was/what I do until afterwards, they all assumed I was simply a reporter.

Technorati Tags: Culture: Spirituality

Emerging or Fresh?

Love this reflection from Richard Passmore last week... Like Richard I have a discomfort with the term 'Fresh Expression' and TBH the visible outworking of the term... personally I wonder whether it may not only be a loss of momentum but a reluctance to go as far as a report which IMHO itself didn't go far enough!  I agree that the umbrella 'Fresh Expressions' seems to have lost the reality of a missional DNA in favour of a 'mixed economy' of church... more 'stylistic consumerism' less 'missional community'?

You see the wording of Emerging Church is a great VERB, and it is one that has grown through the process of dialogue and practice and has come to express an approach to church that is traveling, on a pilgrimage, developing, growing, struggling. As a phrase it has begun to take root in people’s consciousness, and as a concept that has verb as part of it’s definition, it cannot be easily fixed or described and it continues to grow as is moves. There is something very right in the theological DNA of this type approach to being church.

However since the Mission shaped Church report was published and the link to Fresh Expressions made, I cant help feeling a slight loss of momentum. It seems that Fresh Expressions are more noun, more static, more shaped, more copyable. Please note I am not criticising individual fresh expressions of church, but wondering if the institutional link of emerging church through mission shaped church to fresh expressions is really a divergence from the missiological imperative of church to be more fluid, and to continually to contextualise particularly in the post modern west. The noun like wording makes it easier for institutional church to define, and then roll out examples to copy (and some would say control). BUT those that copy will miss all the hard work that these fresh expressions had to do as they emerged all the traveling, the pilgrimage, developing, growing, the struggling.

Technorati Tags: Blogging: Church: Emerging Church

DNA and ReSource Reflections

A while ago I posted the core values we have been working on... then I posted some thoughts on monastic-missional community based on thoughts from George Lings on the Northumbria community  and some reflections on the journeying of Abram... well, processing some of these thoughts has led us to identify what we have called our DNA...

our : dna : that which is central to who we are as a community consists of three elements in relationship : community : pilgrimage : mission/al : we believe that all three are intrinsic : we need to be true community : warts and all : honest with and accountable to each other : we believe that as a community we need to be pilgrims : on a journey with god : in god's world : marking the thin places : the places of encounter (as Abram did) : and moving onward : it is in walking with god that we are missional : joining god in gods mission : mission as an attribute of god not an activity of the church : mission as shalom : reconciliation with god : restoration of community : reversal of oppression and injustice : sacrificial hospitality : so we hold in tension the three aspects of our dna on our individual journeys and together as a community within the wider community :

The image represents this three-fold DNA, with the Cross of Brendan in the centre... reminding us of Brendan's inspiration, his setting sail with God, in Christ, into God's wild, chaotic, dangerous and beautiful world.  A bit more of our foundational values etc can be found here.

It was really interesting to share these values etc. with others this weekend at ReSource... especially with Roger Ellis (Revelation Church, Chichester) and Mike Pillavachi (Soul Survivor)... Mike made the incredible statement that Soul Survivor was at its most creative, dynamic and missional in its first two years and that as it grew (partly by his own admission by Christians gravitating to it) it lost some of that sense of real community and has become too orientated for on 'super heroes'... on the leadership.  He said when asked to reflect on the question of size and community, that they (Soul Survivor) had got the community thing wrong, but by the time they realised it was too late!  TBH part of me really wanted to say to him; give it up!  Let go of the big if it does not allow you to be the things you want to be; community, committed, missional, participatory etc.  perhaps the accommodations made for the increasing size of a community; style of leadership, administration etc. are actually too great... perhaps it is 'better' to stay small ("Tiny" as Mr Jones suggests! BTW be prepared for some very interesting developments to the online presence of the tall skinny one!) and keep to the principles/values rather than adapting the values as the community becomes unmanageable in the way it began.

Technorati Tags: Emerging Church

Meditation rooms

More and more I find people contacting me because they have come across what we are doing, because of the meditations, etc. to share their resources and ideas.  This is so stimulating, TBH I find it especially encouraging when they are not Christian!  That says to me that what we are doing has resonance with spiritual seekers from outside the 'religous' culture... these Meditation rooms are not Christian, they are a simple and visual starting place... they are effectively slide presentations (Forest, Floral, Water and Zen) with sound... they are beautiful and are begging to be used either as they are or with prayer/meditation/scripture. They come from Jimmy Hilburn from lime.com who describe themselves as "Healthy living with a twist!"

(PS... expecting the usual flak from our more 'conservative' brethren!)

Technorati Tags: Photographs: Prayer: Spirituality: Worship

Celtic monastic heritage... notes from Belfast

Adrian McCartney... from Boring Wells in Belfast, who we met on our pilgrimage a few months back quotes Andrew Murray on his Blog it seemed worth posting here as Adrian may well not be on your newsreader, no doubt when I ahve a few more moents later I'll post some thoughts...

the Celtic missionary movement that emerged from Ireland and Scotland, a very different kind of monasticism, consisting of teams of church planting evangelizing monks, who travelled all over England and on into Western Europe and beyond. The mission work seems to have involved a self-replicating model, whereby teams of men and women established new churches and new monasteries, missionary communities and training centres from which further teams were sent out to continue the work. Team members became team leaders. All over England, the demise of the Roman (Empire) churches gave way to replacement planting achieved by this vibrant missionary movement. Although there were setbacks, many of their churches took root, survived and flourished in these difficult times.

Why did they flourish? Certainly a primary factor was the spiritual vitality of the Celtic missionaries and the churches they planted. Evangelism and social action were rooted in a deep spirituality, and often accompanied by signs and wonders. This was a holistic church panting movement. But a significant further factor was the extent to which these churches were contextualised. By comparison with the Roman (Empire) churches that had been established in previous generations, these re-plants seemed quite unimpressive, characterised by simplicity and flexibility, and dependent on local leadership, without much external support. They seemed vulnerable, but proved to be more enduring because of their rootedness in the culture

Technorati Tags: Blogging: Emerging Church: Mission: Spirituality

Scott and Organic Jesus

Scott Andreas, a seasoned blogger and creative thinker has joined forces with Brandon Rhodes to launch 'Organic Jesus' a blog  and I guess a conversation place/hub, they describe it thus...

OrganicJesus.org is about exploring the richness and depth of the historic, orthodox Christian faith in light of present and approaching realities.

We're here to educate, encourage, and frustrate 21st century Christ-followers to understand the depth and beauty of the Gospel. But we absolutely need you.

OrganicJesus is a safe space for ideas and conversation. We're not the first voice, and we're certainly not the last. Please comment on the articles, and if you're feeling particularly inspired, e-mail us if you'd like to write your own.

As we grow (pesticide-free!), we'll be adding reference sections, a Podcast, and perhaps an Art Gallery. No animals will be harmed in the process, but you can bet that many a coffee bean shall be ground.

Scott obviously blogs as well at the excellent Paradoxia and has put together Sacred Space with the Imagio Dei Community, Portland Oregon. Evidence suggests that the new blog/space should be well worth reading/getting linked up with/contributing to.

Technorati Tags: Blogging: Emerging Church

God's Politics Blog

Jim Wallis and Sojourners have a new Blog over at Beliefnet

Technorati Tags: Blogging: Emerging Church

More 9Marks 'dribble'...

The Blind Beggar critiques another one of the 9Marks 'pastors' using Barna's research :D

Technorati Tags: Blogging: Church: Emerging Church