This is an interesting article from Australia worth reading with a critical evaluation of the emerging missional church.
It has set off some thoughts on the balance between attractional and missional church as I think ~Mark is correct in hs view that we have come to a place where attractional church in our minds is not missional church.
Have a read and see what you think.
Today I think I have started to hit a wall. I’m an active person, I’m a person who likes to be doing stuff and I think I have a mind that lovers to struggle with problems and find a way ahead.
Currently my days are consisting of wandering around the High Street, sitting in places so I am making myself present to people. I am starting to ask myself, however, how long can I sit, wait, just be there (whether ‘there’ is High Street, bench, pub, coffee shop) before I just look plain odd. It is becoming harder to pull myself on to the street and, to be honest, I am quite relieved that today I have a study day it will give a chance to do some reading and mull over these questions I have.
I am aware that I may sound a little daft and impatient – after all I have only been ordained for 11 days and I never ever expected anything to start to ‘happen’ for a good 4-6 months. I am also aware that just by being present in places that I am a visible presence or reminder of God in a similar way that the Cathedral indicates the presence of God to the city. But … I guess now that I am in the position of being available and searching for evidence of God’s missional working a number of doubts are bombarding my mind from all directions. I guess it’s a case of a very active mind playing games when it has nothing of substance yet to really to occupy it.
So, I stand at the wall. I’ve been here before but there have always been places to hide before such as team issues to sort, essays to write, people to visit. I’ll be here again. It’s not a great place to be. Currently I feel like it’s just me and God ‘out there’ and that is something I need to get used to for the time being.
I am praying for 6 people to join me. I believe I need to continue to pray until I somehow bump into these 6 people or they bump into me; people who want to discover more of God but believe that church is not what they are looking for. Actually – just writing this stuff is quite therapeutic (it may be boring for you!) as I’ve just realised all I am asking God for is 6 people … that’s a pretty simple request isn’t it? At the moment my task needs to be allowing God to lead me … sounds simple but in reality it’s a challenge.
I’m at the wall … but I’m searching for a window.
Yesterday as part of my induction, Colin, our excellent Head verger, took me on a roof tour of the cathedral. This was an amazing and privileged time as I got to see parts of the cathedral that few others manage to see.
The views from on top of the cathedral are amazing and as I took this photo which looks across the roof of the nave I was struck by the care, thought, effort and risk taken to build this part of the cathedral that few would see. The builders had focused in on an amazing fact of worship here that sometimes we miss; that worship is for God and nothing else.
The delicate stonework on the bell tower would not be seen by human eye and yet the stone masons still took great care and build and joined this at great personal risk to themselves.
I feel God saying again as an encouragement – that just because people don’t see it or are aware does not mean it has been wasted … God sees all and enjoys our worship efforts whether that be stone craft, poetry, song or some other thing we choose to do for God.
First – I want to thank a few of you who have asked if I’m ok as I have not blogged for a couple of days. To be honest this has been due to a couple of reasons; I have been getting used to a new way of working. I don’t think I expected to become so drained (the best word I can think of) from simply talking to people and ‘hanging around’. It seems that the adjustment from racing around to ‘dwelling’ has affected be in surprising ways.
I love being busy and am very used to fitting masses of work into small amounts of time and so the second reason is having to negotiate with my feelings of guilt from just walking around the high street and sitting in areas where I can ‘connect’ with people. At the end of each day I do not have anything concrete to show for a days work. That is quite an odd feeling and a feeling that has caused guilt when I know others are very busy and in turn added to the drain sensation.
To get home from just being and having nothing to speak of has, I guess, left me with nothing to blog here about.
Although its quite tough I do believe this is what God is calling me to do. I can’t quite see at this point in time how things are going to move forward, but I do feel I am responding to God on a daily basis as to where I should be going, sitting, drinking coffee or sometimes beer, eating lunch and just being available. I hope I will meet people who are searching for a way to relate to God. I pray this will be the case.
It is very early days and I do know that I am being noticed in certain places. I have met faces from the past which has been great, and I am getting used to life slowing down and I guess I need to think through how I can be more reactionary to what is happening around me – something that, again, is a challenge to someone who is used to having weeks of his timetable planned in advance. I now need to get used to life on a day by day basis – I guess this is what I got excited about all those years ago when I first heard of the the Missio Dei concept. I am searching for where God is working so that I can attempt to join in.
Still seems like only yesterday.
Although I had to explain the news to Joe.
7 years ago I remember exactly where I was when I heard.
Strange to think our younger children know nothing about this.
In a way I’m quite glad they were spared the horror of humanity’s brutality.
This picture warns against hate … something that is important to take to heart even now, 7 years later.
I read an article in Big Issue yesterday. There was an interesting article about Christians doing work with people on streets. The writer, who lives on the street, was complaining about Christians who are out to convert people and makes the point that, in his observations, he has noticed the Christians he sees ‘targeting the vulnerable’ on the streets. He claims that these Christians deliberately target vulnerable people for ‘conversion’ rather than just being helpful.
It’s a challenging article and ends by saying ‘If you see me, be a good Samaritan and walk by on the other side as I am just not interested.’
I don’t like the language of ‘targeting’ the vulnerable but we can all see what the writer is meaning. Mny of us can agree in part as we have observed the practices of some. This is a difficult area, as I firmly believe Jesus came to reveal his Kingdom to all, but I would argue he took a particular interest in the ‘vulnerable’ of his time … prostitutes, lepors, the hungry, the outcast and so on.
But … should we take this article, and it will not be a solitary view, to heart. Should we analyse how we reach people on the streets in ‘mission’? (I think we should!) If nothing else, this article should cause us to check out our motives. What is at the heart of what we do? Yes, I want people to know that God loves them, but should we take into account the vulnerability of so many?
How do we achieve that fine line of ‘being Jesus’ as all Christians are called to be and not taking advantage of peoples vulnerabilities? I would hate churches to stop working with the vulnerable out of a fear of being misunderstood; but this writers views have caused me to pause!
I ventured out into the High Street today to introduce myself to some people. I was surprised that it took me nearly 3 hours to do one side of the street.
Some people were intrigued, some were suspicious, some were uninterested, some were welcoming, some were uncomfortable. The brief conversations were varied, but I was pleased to be able to meet and chat with people.
I was challenged and felt uncomfortable at one stage when I met an enthusiastic Christian whom, he claimed, God had told to move from London to Rochester and set up a church. I felt like I was being preached at, as I think the guy was uncomfortable with my dog collar, and I had to think through why I felt challenged and uncomfortable. I watched as these people approached couples sat on benches and chatted with them enthusiastically. Sometimes observing boy language was quite revealing.
Although I was uncomfortable with this ‘in your face’ approach there is a place for this with certain people. To be inclusive means I have to accept those that adopt methods that I am uncomfortable with.
Tomorrow CME starts which means I can’t do the other side of the High Street until Thursday.
I had my first nearly full day at the cathedral today starting with daily prayer at 8, followed by Eucharist at 830 quickly followed by chapter meeting from 915 until 3.00pm and then meeting with the Archdeacon until around 5.00pm. To be a total full day I would attend evensong at 5.30 which I’ll do sometimes.
Today was a good day, and a great chance to learn about what has been happening at the cathedral and learn about plans for the future. There are some exciting times ahead.
There are still quite a lot of induction tasks to get through, but for some of tomorrow tomorrow I hope to wander the length of Rochester High Street and do a bit of a prayer walk and attempt to introduce myself to local shop and business owners and maybe others that could be around. I’m pretty scared, but the longer I leave this the harder it will be to start.
Pioneering requires me to step out into the unknown and take some essentials with me. Tomorrow I step out. If you have a spare bit of time tomorrow, please pray (I’m not sure what you should pray for, but pray anyway!)
My first Sunday at the cathedral was amazing today. I do not have a lot of knowledge (even that is an over-statement) of how cathedral worship happens and so, today, I started on a very steep learning curve, but the people here are incredibly friendly, helpful and patient.
Today I was involved in the Eucharist service this morning and choral evensong this afternoon.
Some things surprised me. I was powerfully moved by some of the music today and felt God was revealing himself to me in new ways that I had not noticed before. Sitting and being so close and surrounded by the organ music that I could feel the vibrations through the building gave me a new perspective on being surrounded and immersed within the presence of God.
I have met loads of people today at the services and at a cathedral community tea which was held in the Deanery after Evensong. The joining of a new community has not been as difficult as I feared it might be. I have been warmly welcomed and am looking forward to learning more and getting to know more people. I hope I can remember some names.
After a full 2 days I find myself pretty drained and tired, both physically and emotionally. It’s been a great time and I’m looking forward to discovering what lies ahead.
The last 36 hours has zipped by in a bit of a whirlwind and I have hardly been able to catch my breath.
The retreat ended and we made our way to Bishopscourt for lunch before then moving to the cathedral. By this time the nerves were at a height as we gathered and robed in the crypt. We then prayed and processed outside and entered the cathedral through the west door.
It was an amazing sight standing at the top of the stairs and seeing the encouraging faces of my family and friends. As I looked around the cathedral I was truly amazed by how many people had given up their Saturday to support me. It was incredibly moving and quite difficult to hold back the tears.
The ordinations service was around 2 hours long although raced by from where we were standing/sitting/kneeling. For each of us it was a very special moment when Bishop Michael laid his hands on our heads and ordained us. Our retreat conductor suggested at this time we thought of Jesus ordaining us as well, which made the event very powerful.
We had a party after at Terry and Jo’s and again I was struck by the number of people who turned out – I was truly humbled and felt very privileged. So many people said so many kind things and I have so many thank you letters to write!
I just need and want to say thank you here for all those wonderful people. You were and will continue to be an amazing encouragement. You are great friends and it was amazing that you shared this with me.
As I look back over the last day and a bit, I must admit I have asked a few times ‘what on earth have I done!’ I can’t pretend to understand fully what has happened, or what I have taken on, but I guess that will become more understandable as I start this new journey.
No doubt there will be some photos flying around soon – Dennis wins the prize for posting the first which you can spot via his facebook page! … errrr cheers mate!
The Shiny Headed Prophet 