Look past the impossibly hip language, and plethora of piercings friends, as this stuff could spell the future of church- particularly this side of the Atlantic.
Check out what is all about here.
Vodpod videos no longer available.
Thought I would give a couple of things a plug- information being viral and all…
The Scottish Network Churches asked us to spread information about a speaking tour in Scotland by Bishop Graham Cray, who (amongst other things) heads up the team responsible for the Church of England’s Fresh Expressions initiative. Might try to get to some of this…
The CofE has done so much to promote innovative and experimental forms of church- which has given leadership to many other denominations too- the Methodists, URC, Salvationists etc. It is encouraging indeed to see some of this coming north.
Here is the blurb-
How will we encounter God in all of life? And especially in those places where Christians most often cross paths with non-believers and have opportunity to influence society? Can we encourage Christians and church leaders to develop a personal vision for their own growth and effectiveness as disciples who are missionaries and as missionaries who are disciples? Should we provoke Christians and church leaders to possibly re-imagine life in the “gathered community” so that it effectively resources life on the front line of every day life?
LICC and Bishop Cray are “thought leaders” and have enormous practical wisdom to share and so to help us understand the theology, build principles, develop the practices, create the resources, to become Jesus’ disciples in the 21st Century. Mission Scotland hopes that exposure to this work will create an imagination for whole-life discipleship and a deep desire to engage with the questions and challenges we face as God’s people to make disciples, and to live as disciples.
The launch conference, which is the start of a series, is planned for November 28th, 2009 at St. Paul’s and St. George’s, Edinburgh. It is designed equally for church people and for church leaders. Both Mission Scotland and LICC see these events, not as stand-alone events, but as a linear discussion leading to changes in church life, and backed up with ideas and resources, changes in practice, leading to fresh confident expressions of Christians being the church, being disciples, being missionaries, wherever they are placed in Scottish culture and context.
Therefore for those who come this could become more of a journey than simply listening to one of God’s leading thinkers on His Church in Britain today.
FURTHER INFORMATION from Sarah-Jane Biggart; sarahjane.biggart@missionscotland.org.uk. 07734-101358
Also- for those of us that are interested in training and equipping leaders and visionaries for this kind of stuff, check out this training being offered by CMS.
It is English based, rather than Scottish, but at least the units are bite sized, and based in Northern England rather than the deep south. It is not something that I feel I can commit to, but I mention it as I know of nothing else in Scotland that appears to offer the same level of practitioner-practical-network based learning (with apologies to ICC in Glasgow!)
Here is the blurb from Jonny Baker-
well we’re getting closer to resource starting for this year. the web site has had a makeover and looks pretty funky. resource is a course over a year of four weekends exploring themes of mission, culture, leadership, transformation, discipleship and church. each weekend is in a different location/context where we encounter a local community or two and hear their story and what they are up to, as well as some teaching, discussion and reflecting on how it all connects with our own context.
who’s it for? – this explanation is pretty good
how much is it? – each weekend is less than £100 though you have to sort accomodation. there is a bursary so if you’re strapped for cash still apply.
the weekends this year are in sheffield, london, leeds and southampton – and yes the london one is being hosted by grace and moot with a focus on alt worship and mission. you can either sign up for the whole thing or just come to individual weekeds. the whole thing is best because a big part of the learning is hanging with other people and sharing the journey together.
the first weekend is the last weekend in october in sheffield so book now! if you can’t pay now you can book and pay later.
(NOW FOR THE LITTLE RANT!
I am quite happy to be corrected if I am missing something, but it seems to me that north of the border we have a lot to learn from the old enemy in terms of renewing and refreshing expressions of church. It also seems to me that we have a particular need to build supportive partnerships in an age when Scottish Nationalism appears to be leading to a certain snobbish separatism in some parts- which I feel has no place at all amongst Christians. The tendency to build confidence and identity by denigrating the other is a dangerous and unpleasant human characteristic- and when we see this in the very heart of power, I start to feel very uncomfortable. So when we have anti English jokes made by leading politicians, allied to distorted and simplistic versions of history, and school ground popularist prejudice and abuse, then I think it is time for the people of God to stand aside and gently model a different way of being.
And if you think I have no right to say this because I have an English accent, then I ask you to consider our shared history in these islands- our mixed blood lines, and the inevitability of the misuse of power and wealth acquisition by the worst of what we are as humans. In this context, we Christians have a different responsibility- to shine light and to savour good things with salt, not to stand on narrow prejudices and perpetuate poison. There is a real chance that it will fester.
So perhaps one way we can be challenged is in the way we approach faith- how we collectivise our gatherings in a generous and graceful way- and how we can both learn from English brothers and sisters, and teach them from our experience.
Rant over.
So I thought I would post a few photographs that Simon Mcgaughey took of our worship event @ Greenbelt festival.
We were one of the groups contributing to the worship in the New Forms Cafe, which is the venue for alternative worship events- the place where people can experience more experimental ways of communal worship- and perhaps pinch ideas and recycle them back into their own community. In truth, there is nothing new under the sun, and most of the events use ideas borrowed from other groups, or from more ancient practices, updated with the odd power point projection and a bit of ambient music.
Our event was something like this;
Our contribution was an installation called ‘The Eternal Now’, which was a kind of walk through time. We had stations representing the universal time, geological time, historical time, life time, NOW and the future.
People walked on white paper, and carried a pen on a stick that they dragged behind them in order to leave their own time line. The route was marked by ‘luminaires’- fire proof bags with sand in the bottom and a candle.
On projectors all around the room, we used a time lapse video that we were able to use by kind permission of John Martineau- check out his stuff here.
STATION ONE, STARS- Gazebo with muslin walls, fairy lights, stats hanging from ceiling, images from hubble telescope on laptop.
STATION TWO, ROCKS- Pile of stones, people asked to take one.
STATION THREE, TREE- Large slice of tree with tree rings showing. People asked to place pin around the tree ring corresponding to the year of their birth. Also asked to take a small slice of branch.
STATION FOUR, COLLAGE- Table with lots of art and paper- asked to leave a mark that relates to their own lifetime- what they are grateful for, who has brought them to where they are now.
HOLY SPACE, NOW- Another gazebo, with musiln sides, cushions and eternal flame. Poetry projected on an internal wall.
FUTURE- (Corresponding responses to earlier stations- in reverse order.)
COLLAGE/LIFETIME- postcard to remind yourself- we used words that had been offered as cues in a ‘Wordle’ image made into a postcard. People were invited to write on it, and we will post it on to them as a later reminder…
TREE/HISTORICAL TIME- people were asked to write a promise on their small slice of tree and either leave it behind, or take it with them. They were also asked to take a pine cone- as a reminder of being a carrier of seeds of the Kingdom of God.
ROCKS/GEOLOGICAL TIME- people built a cairn with the rocks they carried.
STARS/UNIVERSAL TIME- people were offered a shortbread star to eat as they left.
It worked really well!
You have one hour to set up the room, it runs for an hour, then you get out as soon as you can to leave room for the next group. When the doors opened we had a massive queue of people waiting to use the installation, and we all felt overwhelmed. There was a bit of ‘bunching’ around some of the stations, before people decided to sit out a little and wait their time.
Feedback was good, and the whole thing looked lovely.
Our intention is to use the installation in Dunoon too…
In the next few weeks we will meet up to chew on whether the effort and expense of the road trip was worth it, and what we can learn and reapply to our own context. But on a basic level, it feels that we achieved what we set out to do.
If you were there, feedback very much appreciated!
I attended a network event in Gloucester Cathedral organised by Feig. It was great- so a huge thanks to those who organised it.
I have never been to a lock-in in a Cathedral before- but highly recommend it!
The event was a chance to meet up and network with some other ‘practitioners’ who do alt worship/emerging church/arty stuff, organised around the ‘Tautoko’ network. We shared a meal in a glorious side chapel, then had the freedom to explore then Cathedral- including the marvelous Icons that are being exhibited there at present. We had the chance to climb to the top of the tower, overlooking the night time city, and to use a labyrinth, and to listen to the mad high energy worship of the ‘Agents of the future’ whilst taking a glass or two of wine.
I was amazed at the feel of freedom about the whole gathering- the sense that the 600 year old building was relaxing and enjoying things with us. The pomposity and dusty stiffness that can easily be associated with Cathedrals was no where to be seen.
I am still a little amazed that the trustees and dean of the Cathedral was happy to allow us to use it in this way- hats off to them!
Some more photos-
We got back from Greenbelt Festival last night, after the long drive up north- which was mercifully free of bank holiday traffic problems.
We had a great time- and I am still processing some of the things that happened, so as ever, I will write some of my thoughts down here, which always kinds of help to congeal my fluid thought processes. I have some cool photos too that I will sprinkle around over the next few days…
Initial thoughts-
It was so good to be there with my friends- to share an experience, and to create something together. There was a wonderful moment when we were all together after our various journeys and I felt heart-full. It would have been even better if a few others could have made it- Janet, Lindsay, Sharon, Pauline, Dot, Aileen- you were missed!
I feel like I went to so little of the seminars/gigs/events this year. This was because we were busy, and because it was just so great to hang with my friends, and to have conversations with other people- some I met for the first time, others from the Tautoko network. This year, as ‘contributors’ we had a pass into the hospitality area for artists and speakers, with constantly available tea, and chances to sit and talk. I was able to spend time with Jonny Baker, Cheryl Lawrie (check out her lovely book on Proost!) , the Guys from Sanctus 1, Ambient Wonder, and Lisa and Julian from the network. The feeling of being part of a larger family is growing…
I also had a great chat in the ‘Jesus Arms’ with Alistair Duncan from The Garden in Brighton– they do some really interesting stuff down there!
Our worship event was packed, and lovely, and well received (more later!) My poetry reading did not seem to go so well- but then I would always feel this anyway!
I did get to some things- highlights were listening to Bishop Gene Robinson, Duke Special on mainstage, and of course, Rob Bell– who managed to exceed his reputation! I suppose the comic lowlight would be trying to sing hymns along with the Agents of the Future as part of the Sunday service- with different lengths of inteval between each line and verse as if to deliberately confuse! The ‘sharing of the peace’ by banking elbows so as not to give swine flu was very difficult to take seriously also.
Bishop Gene Robinson
We had three kids with us- Emily, Cara and Caleb. They had a great time- there is something safe about Greenbelt that allowed them all to expand and take some strides towards adulthood (adulthood laced with a lot of giddyness that is!) They all worked hard to help with the worship event.
On the way back up north, we met several times at service stations, and finally on the ferry. We seemed to go from a general discussion about whether we could justify the time and expense and distraction of going again next year, to a very specific chat about WHAT we would do next year…
I think it was a time of blessing for all of us.
Here is a bit of the Duke-
Our preparations for Greenbelt festival are skipping over into the inevitable last minute panics.
We have to spray some fabric and Gazebos with fire retardant solution- which would be fine if we could get hold of some! We ordered it, but it did not arrive. We now wait to see if it will come tomorrow, and then hope we can get it sprayed and dried in time.
I am driving down with my friend Nick on Thursday, so we can pitch our tent in a good place and get started in setting up some poetry banners around the site. We set up a little competition- The first 10 people who collect the titles of all 10 poems and brings them to our worship event will get a free book.
We hope to get along to the Tautoko network pre-Greenbelt gathering in the Gloucester Cathedral on Thursday evening- along with a lot of other Greenbelt contributors, and the weird and wonderful worship of Agents of the Future.
Michaela, and 5 others will be joining us on Friday. It will be great to meet up with old friends who will be there- Simon McGoo and Mark and Dee from Wales…
Aoradh are responsible for a worship slot in the New Forms Cafe at 1.00 PM on Saturday- please come along!
We are also putting up 10 banners with poetry based on the Ecclesiastes 3 passage on seasons/time. Some of them are from my last book.
I am also doing some reading from this book, and an interview at the Proost Unususal Suspects event, also in New forms, 10PM, Friday. Proost have produced some really cool publicity cards for the book, so if anyone fancies spreading a few around, let me know!
I was also asked to be part of a panel on the use of new liturgy, something which I declined as I felt very under qualified, and we will miss most of Monday, as we will need to be on the road back up to Scotland.
So- looking forward to it- hope to see you there.
Following on from my rather negative piece, reflecting on my reaction to Rollins’ book, I have been doing some more thinking about the process of change…
Deconstructing the institution of Church (particularly evangelical church) has been perhaps the primary preoccupation of the debate that has been described as ’emerging church’. For me, this was absolutely necessary- and part of the inevitable process of change. However, it may be necessary, but it can never be sufficient for the formation of a movement- let along a movement of the living, recreating God…
What has been nagging at me (and many others) is this simple question- what next?
McLaren describes institutions (see clip below) as ‘preservers of the advances made by previous generations.’ in seeking to CHALLENGE and deconstruct, we have to accept that we are also PART of this institution- to a lesser or greater degree. There is still so much to celebrate, so much to preserve. For many, the issue is not the need to destroy (although I confess that I have longed for a few well lit fires in my time!) but rather then need to find new EMPHASIS.
Just in case this sounds too tame, too conformist for you- I should make clear that my small ‘church’ community is right outside any formal institution of church- and could be (perhaps is) regarded as dangerous and heretical by some of my more reformed colleagues. However, when we reflect on what we are, and what we do- our preoccupations, our core values, our practices- they are not new.
So what will our (perhaps pivotal) generation pass on to our successors? What values will they need to either protect, or deconstruct and reform?
What is the mission of God for this our time- the personal one, the local one, and the global one? These are the voices I look for now- the Apostolic ones…
I think this was what was behind my disapointment with Rollins’ book. It was clever, well written, well developed, full of lovely little parables, but despite this, did not connect me with a hope for the future- what might be being built, not just broken down.
I watched the following clip this morning- not because McLaren is always right, but I genuinely think that this man has an Apostolic voice. Listen friends, and let hope rise to action!
I have been reading another of Pete Rollins’ books on and off through this past year- this one- ‘The fidelity of betrayal’.
It has some great stuff in it, but to honest, I have struggled a bit more than I thought I would to get through it. This surprised me, as I devoured his last book- ‘How (not) to speak of God’.
Perhaps I did not give it a fair crack of the whip, as I read it in something of a piecemeal fashion.
But I think too I may have seen a bit too much of his gig. It goes something like this-
The life of faith is a life of contradiction. Therefore all things we think we know about God, when we really stop and think- we do not really know after all.
All the tenets of faith we were given as absolutes are (not) true.
Faith is formed as we learn to become faithful betrayers of our inherited traditions.
Faith is formed as we learn our status as (A)theists.
Now I kind of see where he is going with this, and I think the commentary on faith is important and thought provoking. But I can not help feeling just a little weary with the ‘let’s turn this upside down and then see how it looks from the other side’ kind of style. I find myself kind of seeing it coming, then chuckling to myself when it surely arrives.
But then again, I do think this man is an important contributor to the theological and philosophical debate in our time. Let me quote a passage for you to kind of illustrate my dilemma with this book…
In a chapter called ‘forging faith communities with/out God’ (there he goes again- get it?) he has this to say-
…once this is understood, and people are invited to begin to deconstruct their religious systems, individuals will either be brought to a deeper understanding and appreciation of their faith, or they may find they never really had faith in the first place. In the former case the deconstruction will enable the individual to delve deeper into an appreciation of his or her faith, while in the latter the individual will leave such things behind. Both of these are preferable to either mistaking the true miracle of faith for a system of thought or of using that system as a way of hiding from oneself a lack of faith.
Well I guess… I certainly have found myself to be in the former case most of the time, although I have to acknowledge that some of the time I perhaps slipped towards the latter.
Rollins goes on to give some consideration to the creation of spaces that allow people to explore and deconstruct.
Following on from this there is a need to continue the long Christian tradition of forming spaces in which we collectively invite, affirm and celebrate the miracle that lies behind the miraculous, beyond magic, beyond the sacred, and beyond the secular. We need to continue forming places that can render these ideas accessible at an immediate level- a level that does not depend on the contingencies of one’s education or the ability to think in abstract ways (this from Rollins?!)
The question here is not “how do we make these ideas intelligible”, for the miracle itself can be rendered intelligible only as unintelligible. What this means is that the miracle of faith is a happening, an event, that defines reduction to the realm of rational dissection…
…In contrast to forming space that will make sense only to people who are highly educated, we must endeavour to form spaces that make sense to NOBODY, regardless of the level of education- spaces that rupture everyone and cause us all to rethink
Right.
Again- I get it. Faith discovered/encountered/inspired/agitated through performance art. Or as Rollins calls it- Transformance art.
And then I think of my own community, and our experiments with worship curation. The process that Rollins describes seems so far beyond us. It is too hip, too serious, too absorbed in it’s own rhythm somehow… and I find myself slightly and surprisingly alienated.
And I find myself longing for something much simpler- where deconstruction is not the only language we use, but we also construct things that are small, but beautiful.
But I still think we need Rollins- and I am looking forward to what Ikon have to offer at Greenbelt festival this year…
Greenbelt festival beckons!
Our family have very mixed feelings. Michaela does not particularly enjoy crowds, or festival camping. Emily is just dying to get there, and me, I feel both a tingle of anticipation and a pang of dread. (William is not going this year- he was too young last year, and decided that he would rather spend the weekend with his best friend, up here in Dunoon.)
My own slight ambivalence is related to a few things…
There are so many things/people that I am looking forward to seeing/hearing. But I know that I will miss many because I will be busy, and there will also be the dreaded anticlimax in the light of the day…
Aoradh are putting together a worship installation, around the theme of TIME- geological time, historical time, lifetime, NOW then future. A few of my best friends are traveling down to the festival together to put together the installation, and this makes me very happy. (If you are at GB- this will be in the New Forms Cafe, Saturday @ 1.00. Come and say hello!)
We tried out some of the ideas a couple of weeks ago- it was lovely…
I know from experience that doing things like this is a mixture of great fun, along with quite a lot of tension and stress. The POINT of doing it is to make a creative worship offering, in which people can engage in a journey of their own with God.
But there is also another driver- and to be honest, I think this might be a more important one as far as I am concerned. The creation of such spaces involves lots of planning and discussion and sharing within our small community. It is at this point that the life of the Spirit is visible within us. The event itself- with it’s pressure and it moments of triumph- these are a celebration of community, but not the point of it. The point of it is that we should learn to live lives of live and service, and that we should be open and real with one another.
And that is not always an easy thing to do.
Creativity can put more pressure on this too, as ego’s are involved even more fully- ‘my own little slice of expansion’ becomes very precious!
Going to Greenbelt is no small undertaking and there is a real question as to whether it is worth the time, expense and energy- as it is so far from the town and context within which we live and work here in Dunoon. However, I hope that it will offer adventure- a road trip- to those of us that go, and a chance to connect with others doing similar things- exchanging ideas and building supportive contacts.
But it will not be plain sailing- these things never are. Grace and peace be with us, Lord knows we always need it…
Check out this really interesting radio 4 programme- this episode digs into the relationship between faith and the internet… including the bloke from Ship of fools, and St Pixels.
The discussion ranges from internet addiction, through to whether church can ever be ‘virtual’. Someone quotes ‘The word became FLESH and dwelt amongst us…’
You can download it as a podcast here.
this fragile tent 