Category Archives: mission

The meeting of the waters

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Wednesday is a study for me as a curate and I spent today reading Fritz Kling’s ‘The Meeting of the Waters’. The book takes its title from the meeting of 2 different coloured rivers, the Rio Negro and the Rio Solimoes, at Manaus in Brazil (as shown in the picture). The subtitle, 7 Global Currents That Will Propel the Future Church, particularly attracted my eye!

Kling went on what he has termed ‘a listening tour’ of the global church, asking the same questions to different groups of people over the period of a year. He has noticed 7 trends that have emerged from their conversations around the world.

mercy – Christians into social justice
mutuality – all people demanding to be respected
migration – global relocation to cities
monoculture – cultures becoming increasingly similar
machines – technology are transforming lifestyles everywhere
mediation – incresing need for the church to be mediator
memory – all regions have a history that shapes them for good or bad

Kling does not argue that these currents are new, but he does argue that for the first time we are seeing that these currents are pretty uniform on a  global basis. He also goes on to suggest that while these currents cross boundaries they are invisible, and as such they are making advances without being noticed.

The book is written in a lively engaging style through the lives and eyes of others and encourages us to take note of what is happening in order to ask ourselves, as church, ‘what do we do to engage authentically?’ The last sentence of his opening chapter drew me in which I guess is why I have read it from cover to cover today …

… the currents provide a starter kit for a new generation of globally minded Christians who want to see God’s kingdom come – in brothels and barrios, in statehouses and criminal courts, in movie theatres and boardrooms, and in rain forests and greenbelts.

For me,  as a person who’s good socialist roots have instilled within me a strong preferential for the poor, reminds me that the kingdom is not just for marginalised and the oppressed.

the 2 sided coin of worship and mission

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Yesterday was also quite an exciting day as I had the privilege of joining with many others to welcome Peter and Michelle Guinness to St Mark’s, and to support Peter as he was inducted as priest in charge.

There were lots of people there and lots of people pretty excited by the new era that Peter and Michelle will inevitably bring with St Mark’s.

Bishop Brian preached excellently on mission and worship being two sides of the same coin. He used as his text Leviticus 23:22:

“When you harvest the crops of your land, do not harvest the grain along the edges of your fields, and do not pick up what the harvesters drop. Leave it for the poor and the foreigners living among you. I am the LORD your God.”

Bishop Brian made the point that in this book (not the first we would choose to read!!) which is all to do with ritual in worship that there is this reference to mission.  Bishop Brian challenged us to remember that worship and mission go together. They are two sides of the same coin. Our worship informs our mission and our mission informs our worship.

On a personal note I guess this is why we feel uncomfortable when we see churches with what they call wonderful worship who seem to neglect the poor and destitute on their doorstep. Worship and mission must go together as one just seems false and empty with out the other.
last night it was good to be present at the start of a new era and I look forward to seeing what happens at St mark’s over the next few years.

what to do? … answers on a postcard

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Mondays are always quiet days and so it has been good to have the opportunity to be able to do a bit of reflecting on where I am at the moment.

I think relationships on my journeys are going well. I think people are starting to believe me when I say that I am not out to convert people. I think people are seeing that I am genuinely interested in them and their stories. The group I chat to mostly have noticed that, because I am there regularly, others approach me with questions and I think they think this is generally a good thing. One such question was about the possibility of lighting candles after a funeral. A guy I did not recognise asked if this was possible and I was able to help out. One of the regular people noted that if I ahd not been there regularly that person would have wanted to light a candle and spend some quiet time in the cathedral but would probably not do it as the cathedral seems quite intimidating. Me being ‘out there’ and able to tell the person what to do and where to go and so on, has been a help to this particular person.

I am also finding a downside of my everyday presence.

There are times when I do not know what to do. There are some incidents when jokes are made, especially about women coming in, or walking past, which are not the sort of comments I would make or encourage myself. I won’t go into them here but I am sure you can guess what I am on about. If it was people I knew well I would probably challenge them, but i do not feel I have a right to challenge these people because, afetr all, what right do I have to expect others to have the same values as me.

I don’t feel I should get up and move away, but I don’t wish to give the impression that I agree with some of the views. Sometimes it is possible to challenge with a witty remark, but sometimes this is not possible. Some have said to me ‘what would Jesus do?’ My answer to that is ‘I don’t flipping know!’

This is closely linked to the inclusivity discussion that the gatehring is having at the moment. If we have a value of being inclusive can we then put boundaries on the level of inclusivity. If we expect certain behaviours to be evident, or certain ‘standards’ to be reached are we really being inclusive?

In both the gathering and out in the world, how can we as Christians be both welcoming and inclusive and maintain integrity? Or does Christianity prevent the kind of all out inclusivity that I see Jesus promoting in the gospels?

Answers on a postcard would be really helpful as I reflect on this.

Did the cathedral just breathe in?

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The Dickens weekend went really well and was an exciting event to be with.

The cut out nativity scene painted by our fantastic Head verger, Colin, and used amazingly by Den and Sharron (thanks guys – amazing as ever!) seemed to be a real hit with loads of people, although over the 2 days I did have 2 complaints suggesting it was insulting to the Holy Family – I guess it was always going to upset somebody. I think, however, on the whole people appreciated the chance to be in the picture and we are able to suggest to the dissenters that it illustrated quite well how God could have chosen any ordinary to be the mum and step father of Jesus and so, instantly, become extraordinary! (if you had your picture taken and have lost the card you will be able to find them here when they are uploaded)

I think over the weekend we had thousands of people pass through the cathedral. many had questions, many more lit candles (over 2000 on the first day!) and took time to pause, pray or think. I know many of the team has some quite deep conversations,

My observations over this Dickens leave me with many questions, and I guess as well with some confusions. Questions / confusions / observations like:

How is it that people not connected with the cathedral have such strong views about when they think we are doing something wrong? Do they feel some ownership?
What do people think they are doing when they light candles?
Why do people queue outside the cathedral waiting for a service to finish?
What causes young people to be moved to tears as they listen to the choir rehearsing?

I made a joke over the weekend along the lines of the cathedral having times when it breathes people in by their thousands. It’s like a vacuum is created and the people flood in to fill it. It was strange; there were low times but then there were times when people just came, and came, and kept coming! It was as if the cathedral itself was taking a big breathe and people were being breathed in!

Well … maybe not the cathedral breathing in …. but the spirit that resides here!

st patricks preperation

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Following from my post here on vulnerability in ministry I have had help from my purple Diana friend who I have come to massively admire over the last couple of years.

Diana is a great person who took the time to message me saying that she uses the St patrick breastplate prayer rather than the armour of God prayer that In was starting to have difficulties with. I thought I knew this prayer, but realised I only knew part of it:

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left.

These words I know well from my time of using Northumbria Celtic Prayer. The whole prayer, however, is amazing and I am finding it a fantastic way to prepare before venturing out from the cathedral as I seek to meet people. It reminds of how I am just a small part of the process (great for reminding myself that I am not the centre of all that is happening!!) and that I am connected in a very real way to the rest of God’s creation. It reminds me that I go out with God and as part of God’s mission rather than my own. It reminds me that all strength is God’s rather than through anything I dress or attempt to protect myself in.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through the belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness
Of the Creator of Creation.

I arise today
Through the strength of Christ’s birth with his baptism,
Through the strength of his crucifixion with his burial,
Through the strength of his resurrection with his ascension,
Through the strength of his descent for the judgment of Doom.

I arise today
Through the strength of the love of Cherubim,
In obedience of angels,
In the service of archangels,
In hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In prayers of patriarchs,
In predictions of prophets,
In preaching of apostles,
In faith of confessors,
In innocence of holy virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.

I arise today
Through the strength of heaven:
Light of sun,
Radiance of moon,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of wind,
Depth of sea,
Stability of earth,
Firmness of rock.

I arise today
Through God’s strength to pilot me:
God’s might to uphold me,
God’s wisdom to guide me,
God’s eye to look before me,
God’s ear to hear me,
God’s word to speak for me,
God’s hand to guard me,
God’s way to lie before me,

God’s shield to protect me,
God’s host to save me
From snares of devils,
From temptations of vices,
From everyone who shall wish me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone and in multitude.

I summon today all these powers between me and those evils,
Against every cruel merciless power that may oppose my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man’s body and soul.

Christ to shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that there may come to me abundance of reward.
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness,
Of the Creator of Creation

Dickens Christmas looming

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The Christmas Dickens Festival is soon to be upon us and as part of that Rochester cathedral is joining in with the Get in the Picture campaign which looks like it will be fun.

In additiion we are looking to encourage people to pause and consider what Christmas is all about.  Throughout the day various characters (some you will of heard of, some maybe not!) from the nativity scene will give a short monologue of their memories and we believe these will cause people to wonder what the season is all about.

Put the dates in your diary (5 and 5 Dec) and pay us a visit. It will be a really great day.

those the church don’t want!

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“Don’t go to start a church . . . go to serve a city. Serve them with love, and if you go after the people nobody wants, you’ll end up with the people everbody wants”.
Steve Sjogren, VCC Cincinnati, from the book The Externally Focused Church

caught this over on Andrew’s blog … don’t need to add anymore!

Early Fresh Expressions?

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TEDDY BOYS HELP CHURCH

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I love this video too (click on the pic to go to the page to start the video) – thanks for the heads up Ian

try not to let the moment pass

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It’s been a little while since I have shared much of what is happening on my travels. This is mainly because things move quite slowly. There are things happening which are encouraging to me, but will probably seem quite mundane to others and so the ‘story’ does not appear here. For example; I was very encouraged the other day when a someone I walked past said good morning to me! That seems pretty mundane and nothing to write home about.

If I put that in context that I have seen this guy every day for the last 15 months and have been given the totally clear message to stay away and take my religion elsewhere which has been backed up with piss taking comments and low level threatening behaviour. A smile and a ‘good morning vic’ is, for me, a massive step forward in the realms of starting to become accepted as a person.

As far as what I do, I spend a lot of time being present in places. As I am present I continue to be available to listen or chat – depending on who I meet and where I meet them.

I am seeing more and more in my wanderings and in my ‘just being around’ that God speaks through people massively and seems to work incredibly through the mundane. By mundane I do not mean boring, but I do mean ordinary. The stuff that we do each day on automatic and not really notice as we do it. From my experience and in my particular setting it’s through normal everyday stuff that God seems to work and its through normal everyday situations that I seem to be finding evidence of God moving in peoples lives. I reckon that we miss a lot of what God is doing because we are looking for God only in the spectacular. It’s true that it is really easy to see God in an amazing sunset … but it is also possible to see God in a corner of a coffee shop or bar, if only you remember to look. The sunset and the cafe are both within the creation of God.

Currently I am reading Draper’s Spiritual Intelligence and I am being struck again and encouraged by his words of encouragement to find space to simply be and rediscover who you are by listening and noticing yourself. One way that he says we can do this is to try to notice what is happening around us. Draper has the view that most of the time we allow things to pass us by and we don’t notice God because we walk around with our eyes closed to what is happening. He encourages ‘try to notice what is happening; try not to let the moment pass’.

When we are particularly touched by what people say, or a lyric in a song, or a scene in a film in a way that makes us think Draper reckons we need to dwell on that moment and experience it, asking ourselves why that particular incident has moved us or pulled us in some emotional way. Too often, he suggests, we like the feeling but then get distracted by whatever comes along next ad the moment is totally missed. As we take time to consider and really notice stuff I think we start to see more of how God is working in the real world with real people in real ways.

I think this connects with words from Taylor’s Primal Vision who talks of people not being fully in the present. By this he means that people are always concerned about what next and rushing on to the next thing and do not live in the present. Rather than being present, they are elsewhere in thought and sometimes even action given away by body language. When people are concerned about future time and stuff then they are not ‘fully there’ in the conversation they seem to be having. I loved this quote of Taylor’s:

‘The Christian, who stands in that world in the name of Christ, has nothing to offer unless they offer to be present, really and totally present, really and totally in the present. The failure of so many ‘professional’ Christians has been that they are ‘not all there!’

I think there has been a change in my ministry. I used to talk about sitting and observing, which in some ways sounds very passive and nosey. I still sit but I think now I sit and search. Observation is more general it indicates a looking for anything and noticing any and everything of what is going on. Search, on the other hand, speaks more of looking for something in particular, and I am not just looking generally, I am looking with that focus to see what God is doing and where he is doing it! When I notice something, I now work on trying to be really present with it, rather than try to plan or think what next. I’m not sure if that makes sense, but little of what I do makes entire sense!!

It is clear to me though that as I attempt to be present I find it amazing that as I slow down, search and reflect I notice more and more of what is going on around and seeing more and more of how God is working within different aspects of his creation.

If you are looking for a personally challenging and interesting red then Spiritual Intelligence is worth looking at and I’ve just noticed that Amazon have it at priced 30% off at the moment.

seite and dickens

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I caught up with some students from SEITE today as I have agreed to be a mission placement for first years who are going to work with us and our ‘mission’ over the Dickens Christmas Festival in December. I think this will be a good experience for these ordinands and will also be an opportunity for us to learn from their approach to mission as well.

This year we are looking at a theme of pause. As part of our mission we hope to encourage people to pause and consider what Christmas is all about. I am looking for a few people to be characters from the Christmas story who will share their experience of the first Christmas in 5 minute slots throughout the day. Some of these will make the statement ‘this was the son of God!’ while others will ask the question ‘this was the son of God?’ I think this could be a good way of engaging with our visitors throughout the weekend.

We are also going to take the Benedictine tradition of asking ‘what is it that you have come for?’ and seeing how we can respond to that. Many come to light candles and so we are thinking of a book of remembrance, or a pause book, for people to write or draw their thoughts. People also seem to come to be listened to or to ask for prayer. This year we will be able to offer both in the lady chapel and by the High Altar, along with prayer for healing and anointing should people wish to have it.

We are also registered with the Get In the Picture campaign, which I think will be another great way to engage with the thousands of people who visit the cathedral over the weekend.

I’m quite looking forward to the experience again – just need to get on and write those character scripts! oh … and if you’d like to offer to get involved in any way, why not look me up for a chat.