Category Archives: pioneer ministry

the power of the story

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Last Friday was an interesting time in the pub.
One of the guys who I had been talking with over the last few days made it clear that he did not wish to talk and so, quite downbeat, I made my way to another table in the corner and thought ‘oh well … God must have some other plan for today!’

Within 15 minutes a different group of the regulars gathered in the same corner and we started to share stories of our childhood. Actually, these men in their 70’s and 80’s shared their stories while I listened. Stories of childhood scrumping, school tales accompanied by a fair amount of laughter. As we shared the group grew by one or two so that there were 5 of us by the end.

As they shared they realsied they knew lots of the same people, knew people who have lived in the same roads, knew the ‘rogues’ of the area and it soon became clear that their stories inter-linked in a number of ways that they had not realised before.

It was quite a special 90 minutes or so and I left feeling what a great privilege it had been to be part of that experience. It also reinforces in my mind the real power of stories – not just in how powerful they can be in illustration, but also in breaking down barriers. Today the stories served to do that – they served to bring this small group of men closer together. Something was shared between the group which is hard to describe but will be remembered for a while.

In including me as well, I think it shows the power that the story has to overcome generational divides. People want to tell their stories. If we are honest, we all like to talk about ourselves – what is often lacking is someone willing to listen to the story. Maybe part of loving service in this setting is as easy as being prepared to listen?

3rd gathering: The Vine

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Today we had our third gathering of people who are investigating together a new way of being church. Again, I believe it was a special time as children and adults inter-mixed and discussed and thought about the theme for the gathering, which was Jesus as the Vine from John 15.

We started with some liturgy that I have adapted and added to which I originally found from Mucky Paws years ago. When each verse of liturgy was read some of the children brought stuff forward: a candle which was then lit, bread which was then broken, a bowl of fruit and a cross.

Following a short time of reflection we made bead branches which we hung from the vine in the picture. This was a great activity because it allowed the children and adults to sit together and discuss and chat over what we felt Jesus was getting at in John chapter 15. This was a great way to get deeper with the ideas and i think we ended up with more questions then we had answers – but that is quite exciting.

Sarah than asked a vital question – ‘so what … what difference does this make to us as Christians in our everyday lives?’ which sent the discussion along a different route again.

Following this we prayed and ate together and chatted a lot more.

This was quite a special time. I think we possibly need to think more still on whether we need to structure our time together better and how we end. At the moment we seem to slide from prayer and worship into eating, which might be the right thing to do, but I do wonder whether we should be doing something more tangible to mark the change? But, on the other hand, if our lives are worship then maybe we should slide from pray to eating as we do at the moment.

As I said …. lots of questions develop. At this point in time, though, I am encouraged. I’m encouraged and excited because of the way community is developing just through interest in each other being real. I am excited because the children engage and feel free to come in and out, to contribute or not, as they see fit.

Today felt more like a Sunday afternoon family gathering than anything else – and that in itself is quite exciting!

normality returns … nearly

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Back to normal today in my drinking location. Well … nearly normal. Someone insisted on paying for my early morning coffee as I had bought them a beer the other day. I wasn’t invited to sit with the guys and so I sat at my normal table and returned to observing and praying for the people around me.

I met a retired lady who had been looking to chat with me for a while. I felt a bit down after the excitement of the last few days but it is amazing to see God in control yet again. If I had sat with the blokes, this woman would not have been able to have the chat she wanted to have, and she came to the pub just for that purpose.

My big question now with God as relationships start to move here, is where do I go next? By that I do not mean where to I physically move to, but what do I do now that relationships have started to develop? I guess it has something to do with continuing to show that I am not out to try and convert people. Even today, after 10 month, the guy who bought me a drink made a joke about others teasing him about being ‘born again’ now that he was talking to me. A joke, but with a serious edge and concern to it I think.

I merely wish to connect, chat and see what happens. I am not here to coerce, or to preach – I tend to think that people know where to go if they want to hear sermons (I’m preaching on Sunday by the way at 945am – shameless plug!!) I keep asking myself how can I offer loving service in this place, how can I be good news in a way that means something to the people around me? How can I help to build the Kingdom of God here?

10 months in and I’m still incredibly conscious of how I am still at such an early stage in this massive journey of discovery. to be honest, I only have question after question fter question …. it would be good to get some answers just now and again.

surprise!!!

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well I am amazed – the same thing happened in Wetherspoons yesterday morning. I sat with the same group of guys and we just generally chatted about stuff.

I am conscious on how important two guys, or men of peace, have been in all of this. They have had short conversations with me over the months and it is them that have invited me to join the group.

On Sunday, I have to preach on a passage from Mark’s gospel where Jesus talks about the Kingdom of God being like a seed and a mustard seed in particular. I’m still getting my head around what that might mean, but I think there is something about little beginnings, something we do not fully understand happening underground in secret which is followed by a sudden burst of life and the plant grows.

I wonder if that is what is happening here? Stuff has been secretly going on ‘underground’ while I have been in Wetherspoons. I have become part of something that I do not understand. Others have planted seeds, maybe I have as well, and somehow in some amazing way God has been doing what God does. Suddenly I am seeing the reality of some growth. It is a massive surprise.

I wonder if massive surprise is what Jesus was trying to get across when he spoke in mark about the Kingdom of God?

I am intrigued to see what will happen next when I arrive at Wetherspoons. After this surprise will things calm to normality or will stuff continue to happen?

a journey to acceptance?

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I had an amazing experience yesterday. This pioneering stuff, being in the community and waiting does strangely take a lot of effort. I certainly have not prayed so much in my whole life. Before you think that’s super spiritual of me …. it’s not; I mean … what else can you do when you are sit alone for most of the time in a pub in the morning! As I gaze out the window, or look around the pub I pray and ask God to show me what he wants me to see.

Yesterday I bought my coffee as normal and was invited to sit with a group of the guys that are regulars in the pub. I sat and as others turned up who normally sit there they joined us and we had a great time just talking about ‘stuff’. I am not sure what I was expecting but I was very conscious of the fact that some of the regulars may be put off by me sitting with them and although surprised to see me there seemed more comfortable than I felt.

We chatted for about an hour and a bit before it seemed right for me to move on.

After 10 months is this a small step towards acceptance? It’s interesting as I have been praying for weeks to be invited in and had almost started to think it might never happen, and so I was pretty surprised yesterday by the simply way the invite came.

Does this mean people are starting to feel more confident, will the invite come again or was this a simple one off to see what would happen? I can’t answer any of those questions and I am not entirely sure what to do later today (when in about an hour to be exact) when I return. I guess I will have to play things by ear and see what seems and feels to be the right thing to do. In fact it strikes me that the questions are unimportant; this happened and God was working through it in some way. If God is in control he sorted this in some way and God will do the same again at the right time.

In my mind this is a significant step towards building relationships but it is interesting to note how long this has taken. I started at the beginning of September visiting this place nearly every day and we are now at the beginning of June. Ten months is a long time; building genuine authentic relationships cannot be rushed, it takes time to just start to be accepted by the community.

I say ‘start to be accepted’ because I am under no illusions that yesterday equates with acceptance. There were uncomfortable silences. Whether I like it or not I am seen as different because I am ordained and for this group of people that is so far removed from their reality (as it is for most people in our society). Most people in our society do not come into contact with clergy people – and this group have to see me nearly every day! It’s entirely possible, in fact probable, that today will be very different and I will go back to normal to sitting alone and waiting for the next invite.

A big question I have here is how do I seek to serve as Christ would serve in this environment. I don’t feel I’m here to build church, or to convert people or anything like that. That is all God’s work as it is only God that can achieve those things. What does loving service look like in this setting? How can I be good news in this environment? How can I help people to encounter the amazing generosity of God. In short, how do we focus on the Kingdom of God here and create the space for that Kingdom to be noticed?

OPM at Rochester on Fresh Expressions website

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There has been a long blog absence!

There have been two main reasons for this – a good few days away with the family and a requirement to do a few things the week or so leading up to the holiday.

Two of the things I needed to do were write an article and record a podcast for the Fresh Expressions website. You can access my article and interview here.

God’s answer?

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I have been reflecting quite a lot recently which has probably been brought on by essay writing and preparing to be interviewed.

I have been particularly struck by how God has ‘changed my heart’ as I notice I have a real love for Rochester and the people of Rochester. This has developed over the last few months. It seems to me that God has given me a call, I have responded and then as I have sought to develop within that calling he has changed my heart towards the people I find myself with. I used to have a real passion for Gillingham, and still believe my ultimate calling to be there, but for this moment in time that passion is now for Rochester.

I have been struggling with a decision over the last few days over whether I should continue going to one location which has not been as easy as others. I thought my time in this location was coming to an end and I had kind of thought this would be my last week visiting there, but in the last few days I have had significant conversations with people (after months of wondering if I was invisible) and now I am not so sure.

I wonder if God has brought me across these people in such a way as to show me that this is still a place that I should be visiting. Certainly to stop now and not give these people a chance to chat more would not seem a wise thing to do.

Wish God could just be straight and obvious sometimes!

shiny armour

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An interesting lent time of more personal reflection and less blogging has meant that getting back into blogging has taken me a while. No doubt, like all habits it will not take me long before I start to think again how I had trouble writing and whether I should spend more time reflecting. For me, reflection involved thinking aloud. So this is my thinking aloud space.

today has been an interesting day. I have not been to Wetherpoons and other places for 9 days. The thought of going today totally and thoroughly terrified me. I woke this morning and was very quiet. I did not really want to engage with people before Matins and I knew why. I was totally riddles with fear and I can think of no logical reason why I should be scared of returning to a place where I am quite regularly welcomed in a variety of ways.

The lectionary Bible readings for this morning cut right to the core of my fear and how I was thinking today. The first reading was from the first chapter of Joshua and I heard these words from God to Joshua: ‘I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.’ I must admit that made me smile a bit sarcastically inside with a ‘yeh I know; that’s ok for you to say but how do I go boldly when I feel like this?!’

God answered in the second reading from Ephesians 6: ‘Therefore take up the whole armour of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication.’

That may sound obvious to most people, and it does to me – but doing this all the time and having to constantly walk into places where I have no real right or purpose to be can be flipping scarey.

After Matins today Wendy was kind enough to meet me and we prayer walked together. later in the day I had a very welcome call from darren and we met up for a drink and lunch in ‘Spoons. On this particular day this helped me put on, and keep on, the armour. Keeping the armour on enabled me ‘to be courageous knowing God was with me’!

I also just had a funny thought – I guess in some way the guy I saw dressed as St George in his shiny armour could well have been another clue from God – well I missed that till now!

Over these next few weeks – if you have a mo, please hold me in your prayers as I seek to link again, and again and again with people who need to see something of the love and acceptance of their God.

seeing differently

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The few days off have been excellent and it has been fun being with the family and just doing ‘stuff’.

This week is going to be a pretty normal week for me – a lot of waiting and hanging around, and (I hope) a lot of chatting with people.

As the week has progressed I have had even more time to think and it’s strange how coming away from the coalface, even for a few days, allows you to think afresh about stuff. The week has enabled me to return and look at things differently. I have new thoughts on where I am at with all of this ‘stuff’ and new ideas for how I should spend my time.

There are a few people interested in exploring ‘new Christian community’/’fresh expression’/’emerging church’ or whatever this thing happens to be. I believe God is saying now is the time to start to gather these people and see what happens. At the moment there are some dates ‘out there’ and we shall see what happens. I am quite excited although scared about this. The talk and the theory have been going on for some time – over 3 years of training in fact! Now that this is a reality I am realising how nervous about all this stuff I really am. I don’t know where to go, I am having to rely on the leading of God and I have not really done that in a very long time … if ever!

The waiting in places will continue. I think this is quite central to what I am called to be and do. This is where I connect with people and with God. These are the places that I start, although limitedly, to understand the wider community of central Rochester that I am called to be a presence in. This is also where I see God; God in the lives of others in the streets that I walk along, in the places that I ‘hang out’.
Not just God working in peoples lives, but also God sitting silently and waiting for people to notice their creator. To stop the waiting and be-ing and move to programs would be a wrong thing to do, although a very easy thing to do.

In the last 24 hours I have had 3 requests from people to do things of a ‘churchy’ nature. Thankfully I have a great line manager in Adrian who will work with me and support me- but it’s interesting to see that after a few months in the place that people, seeing I have time, are now wondering how they can make use of my time. I’d quite happily do the three things that have been suggested – that is not the problem. The challenge for me will be to ensure that I do not allow these things to dilute my being present in the places I am called to be present in. In short, I need to develop the skill of saying ‘no’.

So there you have it … as we approach lent, a tie to give up and concentrate on God and prepare for Easter, I am taking up something and challenging God to lead and direct me with it.

musings from a pioneer

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As I move into a new week, which will be a shorter one as I m taking some days off for half term, I have done a little reflecting on the last couple of weeks. I have been staring at the sky a lot and mulling things over.

It seems things are happening quite quickly and I am learning that through a mixture of waiting, observing and praying that God can do some pretty amazing things.

Some tales from the last two weeks:

A guy that has not even been able to give me eye contact for the months that I have been around, even when I sat near him at a council meeting, has suddenly starting talking to me. I asked him a question the other day based on something I knew he was interested in and now the flood gates have opened and when I see him he talks loads – it is amazing and I am quite excited.

I have come into contact with two young men in their 20’s that I worked with when I was a YFC worker. One has just got out of prison and they are attending the gym I go to daily. They were amazed that I could remember who they were after 10 years and I wonder if God has caused our paths to cross again.

Just on Friday two blokes came into ‘Spoons and were having a loud conversation with loads of ‘f-ing’ this and that. People sat near them and moved away. As I started to leave they smiled and called me over. I expected a hard time but after an initial bit if banter asked some very deep searching conversations and a little mickey take became the most spiritual conversation I have ever had with anyone in a pub.

When I arrived one morning a lot of the locals were gathered around a couple of tables and I made some comment about them being a great club. One person piped up ‘well you are a member now!’ That was an amazing thing to hear. I got my coffee and chatted a bit with them, hoping to be asked to join them, but that did not happen. Maybe this will happen one day.

This week I will cautiously enter a new phase of the ministry. It seems God has gathered together 6 people that want to explore a new way of being church. A few things have happened (like meeting all of the people ‘by chance’ in a 24 hour period) that cause me to think God is saying gather, eat and pray. This week I need to find and suggest some dates for us to do just that and explore what could be. While I am excited, I’m a bit terrified too! Talking about moving on is one thing, actually starting is another.

I shall continue with my mission of presence and waiting, and it seems that God is suggesting that both can happen side by side. So … watch this space!