days 7,8,9 …. rooted in the community

I guess I am getting into the swing of things at St. Stephens and learning names and understanding how they do things. Yesterday I presided at a mid week Eucharist which surprised me with an attendance of 10 people, which is quite a lot more than I see when I preside at the mid week eucharists in the cathedral. I compare only because I find it interesting to observe and learn what draws people to such a service at 10am on a Wednesday morning.

Most of the people there yesterday were retired in some capacity and the service is clearly important to them. Some were moving next to visiting some homes in the parish with the magazine so our closing words of ‘go in peace to love and serve the Lord’ were said with immediate practical application.

Yesterday ended with atending the Lent course. The Chatham churches are getting together every Wednesday evening over Lent and have managed to get a different bishop each night to talk on a topic. Last night Bishop James spoke to the title, ‘Empowering Mission relevant to our society and culture’. I was encouraged by what I heard.

Bishop James spoke widely around the term ‘empowering mission‘. What empowers mission was an early question and ‘the Holy Spirit’ was an early answer. He then turned the term around and asked how does mission empower people because he believed mission, if it is mission, is about transforming lives and not just saving souls as Jesus makes pretty clear in John 10:10. I wanted to shout a loud front row Pentecostal yes to that … but you will be glad to know I kept my Anglican calm dignity in the back row by nodding slowly but surely!

Bishop James ended his talk by referring to Jeremiah chapter 29 and these word which were written to exiles that, I presume, wanted to escape their exile:
build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit. Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters – that you may be increased there and not diminished. And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it; for in it’s peace, you will have peace. (vv5-8)

Sometimes we can feel as exiles where we are; but our role and calling is not to moan but to settle and to be a blessing. As Bishop James said, we need to be rooted in the places we are, listening to the heartbeat of our communities and responding appropriately.

I love that statement and I agree with it wholeheartedly. That is what I am attempting to do in the St Stephen’s parish but it takes a lot longer than 6 weeks to tune in. To be rooted in a place takes time and sometimes it does not happen at all …. but when it does relationships flourish and people of a place become very special. After 20 years of living and working in a variety of ways in the community of Medway I feel like roots are developing and growing well. I can sense and hear the heartbeat and, in my case, pioneering is about the responding appropriately. It takes that long to establish roots in a place which is why I am fighting to stay locally in my next role.

People ask am I moving, can I move and will I move … I could, there are opportunities both in this diocese and others …. but I don’t think I can as I, well we as a family,  passionately feel called to serve the people of Medway, to seek the welfare of the people of Medway, to pray for peace for the people of Medway. When I first came here from Weymouth in 1987 I hated Medway with a passion and could not wait to return to the West Country …. we worked for Holy Trinity Nailsea for 4 years but we came back, believing God called us back here. I can say I have built my house here, I am planting my garden (remember my allotment!) … and I’ve even ‘taken’ (not my word!) a wife and beget sons and a daughter here. As I consider this passage what other response can I make?

I will seek the peace of this city … and in that peace I hope that I will fine mine.

a transforming relationship

I little while ago regular visitors here will remember I got excited and had an excellent time on the CMS Pioneer ‘Missional Entrepreneur’ week. While there I made new friends and caught up with others that I had not seen for a while …. people like Andrea who is doing an amazing job in Kingston with people that the church have written off as ‘lost and dodgy’.

I have often blogged about my limited and occasional mbs stuff at Rochester Cathedral and with dekhomai. Andrea does this on a more permanent basis and is really engaging with spiritual seekers of the area. Andrea has, and still does, sit in that gap where other Christians either question what she does or fail to see the incredible value of her mission. I suspect there are even some that believe she is not a ‘real’ Christian due to the work she is involved in … but Jesus was not recognised either!

Andrea has given a great interview on the CMS Pioneer website where she admits she has no formula in this interview …. but that her mission (and all mission) needs to be about relying on God. It’s a good read so go check it out here.

 

1000 fresh expressions …

The latest survey on attendance has, for the first time, researched Fresh Expressions and the news is both exciting and encouraging. This paragraph from the report quoted on the Fresh Expressions website show that the bold step a few years to try something different os starting to make a difference:

The first ever statistical analysis of fresh expressions of church has concluded that there are at least 1,000 CofE fresh expressions or new congregations across the country. Around 30,000 people attend fresh expressions each month who don’t attend traditional regular services, equating to an average of around 40 people per participating parish exploring new forms of church – the statistical equivalent of an additional diocese. Almost all dioceses have reported fresh expressions or new congregations with over half of these initiatives aimed at families with young children.

While that is exciting I read this with just a tad of frustration. I still come across senior church people that tell me ‘fresh expressions is not working‘  or that ‘fresh expressions will not exist in 3 years time‘ alongside Beth Keith’s research which quotes, ‘Many pioneers, while affirming the principle of the mixed economy, did not have positive experiences of working within it. Whilst they were aware of the pressures felt by the wider Church through declining attendance and resources, they were frustrated that the maintenance of existing churches reduced the opportunities and resources for mission and evangelism. For example: pioneers repeatedly reported issues with mixed posts where pioneering aspects were not clearly defined. Maintaining existing churches, fulfilling traditional curacy requirements, or working in church structures remained an ongoing pressure greatly reducing the opportunities for mission‘

I sense across the nation a certain ‘attitude’ within church (not everywhere but in lots of places) that was there towards people involved in full time Christian youth ministry. It was an attitude or belief that these youth ministers were just doing this work for a little while before moving in to real ministry. By real ministry was meant work in church with adults.

Sadly from discussions with others I think that attitude with pioneers up and down the country still exists …. the attitude that says ‘pioneers are doing this for a period and soon they will ‘grow up’ and want to do real ministry.‘ This time the real ministry refers to traditional church ministry.

Personally …. i don’t see my ministry that way … and my hope is that this piece of research will allow us all to acknowledge the real contribution that Fresh Expressions is making.

something forgotten … something not yet learned

I am currently reading Doug Gay’s ‘Remixing the Church’. I’m reading this out of interest due to a number of recommendations, but also as part of my ongoing training as I will discuss and pull apart the content with Trevor, the guy in the Diocese who is responsible for the reflective and theological part of my ongoing training.

I particularly like a quote at the start of chapter 4: ‘There is always something forgotten that can be remembered and something not yet learned that can be discovered‘. As far as worship and ‘being church’ goes that kind of sums up what I am trying to achieve and, essentially, what I am about.

Somehow, and in some way, if church is going to be relevant to spiritual seekers of today then she needs to be able to sit in that space where she is able to reclaim practices from our tradition as well as dream and create as she learns new things. I have written of the need for a ‘rolling reformation‘ before but I think Doug Gay’s language of remembrance is far more helpful here as we try to rediscover practices that we used to do but, for some reason or another, have forgotten about.

From my point of view, as someone that is trying to birth new ways of being church with people that don’t connect with inherited church as it is, the sitting in between space is not a particularly comfortable place to sit. It is often a space of confusion and tussle for myself and a space full of misunderstanding for others. As things are remembered and things are learned it become a space that is constantly moving and regularly changing …. a rolling reformation of thoughts, beliefs and practices. A space where I regularly re-think, change and have to admit I was wrong. A space of change … It’s certainly not a boring space …

So … the unending question remains … what has been forgotten, what has yet to be learned ….

 

 

take shape

I have had the week off.
I have had time to think, to reflect, to read, to watch movies.
I have also done a lot of walking as I ‘tweeked’ the old back after preaching last week.

As the week unexpectedly opened up for me I decided on one day that my walking should be around the Tate Modern. I love the Tate and, apart from various coffee shops, I really miss just popping in and out of this creative space like I used to be able to when I was a member and working in London twice a week when with YFC.

Personally, for me, I find I hear from God through film and art just as much as I do through Bible study.  I find wandering through the galleries of the Tate, and just wandering around the Borough Market area of London to be quite an inspiring space for me, especially when I am feeling dry as I have for the last few weeks.

I found a number of exhibits to be amazing to study. I found myself mentally climbing the stairway. I’m not sure where it is leading, and I’m not sure where I was going as I climbed … but the piece itself was stunning, captivating and drew you into its space.

I was particularly struck however by an un-named piece by Robert Morris. Morris’ piece captivated me and got me thinking as he has exerted minimal control over it’s appearance, effectively giving up control of how the art appears. The piece consists of a number of strips of felt which are suspended and allowed to form their own shape under their own weight. Effectively this means that the shape changes each time this work is displayed. The material determines it’s own shape.

I was challenged by this as I wondered whether God had a message for me in this for the gathering. Sometimes I wonder whether we try to control things, events, maybe even God, just too much. In our fear to not offend, or in our obsession with accountability, or our ideas on what should and needs to be included, there is a tendency to try to force things into particular moulds.

We have been trying to create something new with the gathering. Some of what we do is very creative and different. Certainly some visitors, who are very very comfortable in the Christendom mould, have not coped with our openness, our inclusivity, our vulnerability and our desire to move forward together, learning from each other and encouraging each other.

What we do, however, still looks like a church service … a very relaxed and fdcreative one, but still one nevertheless.

I guess when you try to create something new it’s hard to break out of the mould that you have grown up with. When you have been so used to doing something one way, and so used to hearing that a b and c need to be included or done in a particular way, it then becomes very different to see any other way to do things.

So I wonder … whether in some way, and I don’t know how, that we need to let the weight of our ideas, our dreams and our passions find their own shape. In order for this to happen we need to find out how we can give them the freedom to relax into their own shape.

I’m not sure we know how to do that … … yet!

Missional Entrepreneurship

I’m really looking forward to attending this in November.
My diocese have agreed that I can use my CMD grant to attend this course, which is great as it means they can see the value of this as well.
The title of this module intrigues me and as it is part of the CMS pioneer training course I am looking forward to being able to chat and share with others.
The location looks pretty cool as well!
According to Jonny there are still some spaces … so if it grabs you too why not sign up for the week?

… a pioneer?

Over the summer I have had time to do a lot of reflecting and thinking. I carry with me this grand title of ‘pioneer curate’; I’m not too sure I like that title and I’m not sure what people who hear it or see it think. I guess, as a positive, lots of people do ask me (both in and out of the church) what the ‘title’ or ‘description’ means. It also worries me, I guess, that so many people within the church ask what it means …. if we don’t understand our own language then maybe we need to use language we do understand? (there may be a sermon there somewhere)

Anyway … what is a pioneer …. funny you should ask as Andrea is writing a great series answering that very question here. Go have a read – well worth it.

the search goes on …

Each Sunday night or Monday morning, I put together a weekly email that some very wonderful people receive as they pray for me and what I am doing throughout the week. In my email I outline what I will be doing and when.

I have just admitted in that email that I do not know what I am doing! Now many of you have probably been aware of this for a while, in fact a lot of you will be saying something along the lines of ‘well … no change there then!’

While this used to worry me, I have surprised myself by how relaxed I now feel about this statement.

I might not know what I am doing, but I do know what it is that I am trying to achieve. I don’t quite know how to achieve it, but I do have a direction to go in. I don’t quite know where that direction is taking me, but there are landmarks to follow.

I started thinking about this last week. A number of people have visited over the last 10 days or so and one asked me an interesting question last week. They asked ‘as you do your ‘stuff’ which character from the bible do you relate to, or think of, the most?’

Without too much thought I responded with Issac, the son of Abraham. It seemed Issac travelled around a lot in the desert. If we read his story in Genesis it is easy to think that he just aimlessly wanders around the desert with no real plan. It was because of this image I had of him that I was drawn to him. But, as I looked more closely I discovered that although Issac does wander looking for pastures for his sheep, he does not wander aimlessly. Instead, he wanders between the wells that his dad, Abraham, had already dug when he wandered the desert. This wells had since beens sealed, so Issac had to re-open them and re-dig them until he found fresh water that he could use for himself. (you can read all about this in Genesis 26)

As I considered more the story of Issac I came to see similarities with my journey. Often my journey seems pretty desert like. But, instead of looking for water, I am looking for something from within christian tradition that needs to be re-dug, rediscovered and reinterpreted for today so that is is as refreshing as good clean water in a thirsty desert. As a pioneer (a term I am increasingly coming to dislike) I am not always looking for something new …. I am looking for something that has been there for centuries, but has merely been buried under layers of christendom, consumerism, modernity, post modernism …. (I could go on…) and needs rediscovering for today.

So … I am not quite sure what I am doing, but I do know that I am searching … and I am also looking for others that are searching

the search goes on …

travelling together

(great photo from Ed Hall)

Yesterday I traveled to London with Meghan (a great person from COTA spending 3 weeks with us) to meet up with Ian who is my mentor.

We chatted about a lot of stuff and it was a really beneficial time to me as I shared stuff with Ian and listened to his wisdom and take on things. Yesterday we spoke about where the gathering is at, the possible future and what we may need to think about to enable that future to happen. We chatted a fair bit about our identity as the gathering and how this could be aided in its formation with our rhythm of life. It was a great 90 minutes and I felt energised at the end of the time.

Time with Ian in this way causes me to reflect on what is happening and helps me to notice stuff that I would not normally have noticed if I did not reflect. It is also a good time to ‘think aloud’ stuff I am thinking for the future.

As Meghan was shadowing me with good questions it caused me to think through why I value this relationship so much.

At times through my work Ian has been a lifeline that has kept me sane. At those times when I have felt no one else really ‘gets’ what I am doing or what I am tying to achieve – it has been a real support to meet with Ian and not have to explain what I am about or try to justify my existence.

At times when I have been so up myself, believing I am the only one who has it right, that I know more than I know, or that I want things to happen, but only on my terms – it has been the realistic, honest and sometimes blunt words of Ian that have helped me regain a realistic and accurate outlook.

At times when I have thought of selling out/giving up and doing something a lot easier it has been the godly words of Ian that have reminded me of what I am called to and of my awareness that it was never going to be easy.

The value of a good mentor is priceless. I can really say that I am still here and still sane because of the time others, notably Ian, have invested in me as a person and friend.

Having a good mentor who is not afraid to be honest is a privilege and is one that I really value …. if you don’t have I would really recommend you search one out!

mission shaped cathedrals

Mission Shaped Cathedrals Project Introduction Movie from Episcopal Village on Vimeo.

A little while ago Karen Ward asked if I would be interviewed and talk about what I do to be used as part of an introduction to a mission shaped cathedrals project in America. This is the video that was put together skillfully by Tim and used at the conference.

The video features people at 3 cathedrals: Steve Clarke at Gloucester, Sue Wallace at York and myself. I think it’s a good video which gives a good account of what we are trying to do.