sustain:if:able kiwi

msm adelaide update 1

The start of the first ever mission-shaped ministry course in Adelaide is only a week away (starting Wednesday 27 July) and the working team met for a final planning meeting yesterday.

There are some real encouragements.

• Enrolments currently stand at 45 29.
• We will have a group from Kangaroo Island part of through the use of (touch wood) Skype technology
• We have a teaching team that includes at least 15 people, ensuring a genuine team feel
• We  have four hardworking hosts, from four denominations, that will also ensure a genuinely ecumenical feel.

It is amazing that only 8 months ago, November 2010, was the first meeting of a group from around Australia to simply canvas the possibility of working together. And now, it’s about to start. (If you want more of this history, go here)

I left reflecting on what it means to be a pioneer. I was thanked for being willing to be the first speaker on the first night. But for me, it’s a privilege. I’m energised by that sense of uncertainty and unknown.

I (as a pioneer) am needed.

Yet I know that once a thing starts, I find it much more difficult to pay attention and keep focused. While others are energised by having a pattern and a template, which they can refine and improve.

They too are needed.

As it says in the Basis of Union, “The Uniting Church … acknowledges with thanksgiving that the one Spirit has endowed the members of Christ’s Church with a diversity of gifts, and that there is no gift without its corresponding service.”

would folk in ministry value this?

Our Master/Doctor of Ministry includes Guided Reading units, in which folk explore an individual learning project. For example, in Semester one, folk were exploring hospitality practices in Lent, images of God for folk who are differently abled, resources for people in depression, being church today and how to train people in Christian education.

Yet this exploration remains read only by them, their supervisor and perhaps an examiner. It is essentially unavailable to the wider public.

So what about a “Research Output Strategy”? This would involve anyone who has done a Guided Reading writing their research up as a 800-1,000 word newspaper article. This would be critiqued at our post-graduate colloquim (Program Seminar) and would serve as that person’s regular contribution to the group.

Over a year, these could be collected and perhaps published as a “Ministry Practice Journal”. It could be augmented by summaries (or interviews) of examined theses from the year. The aim would not be to write journal articles per se, as students can pursue this anyhow. Rather the aim would be to make research accessible and to resource ministers and leaders in their practice of ministry, to expose them to what we are reading and thinking. Available as an e-publication.

In essence, not as heavy as an academic journal nor as light as a blog, but short articles that consider ministry practice in light of current reading. Would this be a useful resource for those in ministry?

Harry Potter as a Christ figure

I went to watch the final Harry Potter film last week. I’ve not read any of the books, but my kids had suggested I watch all the films in preparation for this grand cinematic finale. (For my review of Deathly Hallows part 1, with a focus on character, go here).

The theological part of my brain came away thinking about Harry Potter as a Christ figure. Lloyd Baugh, Imaging the Divine: Jesus and Christ-Figures in Film , divides Jesus films into two categories.

First is films which tell the gospel story of the historical person of Jesus of Nazareth (eg King of Kings, Godspell, The Last Temptation of Christ, The Gospel according to Saint Matthew). Obviously that does not apply to Harry Potter.

Second are movies which on the surface are simply telling a story, but offer deeper links and parallels to Christ. Baugh calls this the arena of analogy; “They are not unlike the parables of Jesus which, when “read” on a literal level, remain brief narratives of human experience, but when interpreted metaphorically, fairly explode with theological and christological significance.”

Baugh suggests 11 elements by which to assess whether or not the characters in these movies function as Christ figures:

• mysterious origins
• conflict with authority
• performing of wonders
• attracting a group of followers
• becoming a scapegoat
• withdrawing to a deserted place
• acting as a suffering servant
• showing a commitment to justice
• entering passion
• reaching out to the repentant thief and
• a metaphorical resurrection.

Baugh asserts that, since “the filmic Christ-figure does not always reflect the totality of the Christ-event”, the eleven elements are descriptive and generative rather than exhaustive.

So let’s place the 11 alongside Harry Potter (after the fold line cos of spoilers) (more…)

potential

winery entry,
earth rich,
sun low, view to afar,
hope, promise, now potential

(This is part 3 in the Wine Door series. Others are here and here)

promise

winery door,
a promise,
taste to see,
(rotate your computer screen 90 degrees clockwise)

(This is part 2 in the Wine Door series. Others are here and here)

hope

winery entry,
new door on old barn,
(rotate your computer screen 90 degrees clockwise)

(This is part 1 in the Wine Door series. Others are here and here)

God touched me downunder

In my last blog post, I reflected on smell and spirituality. It turned out to be quite a profound learning experience for the class. So, encouraged, this morning I introduced touch and spirituality.

I began with a mediation. I invited the class to think about returning home at the end of the day. To get out of the car. To enter their home. To imagine their lounge, then bathroom, then bedroom. And in each place to look around and consider what kind of things you find pleasure in touch?

I then noted the importance of touch in Christianity – in baptism, during Ash Wednesday, as we say the peace, as we participate in Communion. I noted how Jesus was touched – wrapped in swaddling clothes, circumcised, taken in Simeon’s arms, in baptism, in the passion. And how Jesus touches others – little children, the leper, in bread broken and cup offered.

And then invited reflection on what kind of touch experiences have been important to us in our spiritual journey.

Together we said a prayer

Lord, You knew the touch of love
You knew the touch of friendship
You endured the kiss of betrayal
You endured the crown of thorns
Help us to touch others with your love
Help us to touch others with your friendship
Help us to heal the wounded hearts
Help us to heal the scars and hurts. Prayer from Sense Making Faith.

I then gave out fabric, raided from the home sewing stock. Each person got 4 pieces. (They were allowed to swap if they got stuck.) And the invitation, to express our text for the week (Luke 1:39-45), using their four pieces of fabric. People worked away, some with silk and string, others with weave and fabric.

And then the question for group discussion: What had we learnt, freshly, about the Biblical text? And about ourselves?

Oh my goodness.

We were still going some 90 minutes later, sharing, learning, reflecting. It was a rich, rich conversation on a learning exercise that in some ways was so simple. Yet had become profound.

One conclusion (among many): that as Christians we are “out of touch”, simply because we have ignored the senses in our faith.

A note: The shape of this exercise owes much to some material (pun intended) from Sense Making Faith which is a wonderful resource. For more on how it can be used, not just in a class, but in church and in mission, go here.

What does the Spirit smell like?

Yesterday in class we began by smelling the Bible. I realise this is not a standard approach to Christianity, the Bible or to tertiary study. So before we began, as a group we needed to take quite some time to make sure we were connecting with our noses.

So I began with a quick quiz. People were asked to rank favourite smells – sunday roast, coffee, bbq, gingerbread, popcorn, cut grass. The buzz of conversation confirmed that people were starting to think through their noses.

Second, we read an excerpt from Sense Making Faith, reminding us of how important smell is – our unique smell, smell in creation, the changing smells of life.

Third, we took some quiet time to reflect on the familiar scent of a person we love, followed by the smell of our church. How would we recognise people and place by smell alone?

Fourthly, we prayed

Lord God,
You walk in all our memories
You know where we have been
What we have said, known and felt
Come to us in the scent we remember
The time when we walked with you
And know that we walk with you still
Amen. Prayer from Sense Making Faith.

Fifthly, we considered not just good smells, but also bad spells. We asked ourselves where are the bad smells in our community? And we prayed, together again. We started and ended the prayer together, with space in the middle for us to name individually the smells we have been reflecting upon.

Lord God,
In the stink of rubbish tips where people make a living
In the stench of grave where people search for their dead
In the foul odour of disease where people are suffering
You are there. (space for individuals to name the smells). You are the fresh air.
Help us to make lives for the scavengers of rubbish
Help us to bring justice for the unknown dead
Help us to nurse and heal the diseased.
Help us to bring your fresh new life to the world. Amen (Prayer from Sense Making Faith).

We were now ready to smell the Bible. We were aware of the importance of smell and the fact that smell can work both positively and negatively. And so we smelt our Biblical text for the week (Luke 1:39-45). I read it slowly, pausing often.

And we were moved, by the fresh insights that emerged, by the growing awareness of the humanity of the text. And we were stumped by verse 41 “filled with the Holy Spirit.” What does the Spirit smell like? Are we “smelling” too much into the text? Or is that the Spirit does have an aroma, and we’ve simply never yet been aware of it, never paid attention?

A note: Much of this material comes from Sense Making Faith which is a wonderful resource. For more on how it can be used, not just in a class, but in church and in mission, go here.

confessions: the place of ikea in worship and teaching

Dear Ikea,

I love your shop. I love the creativity of good design. I love the way that the confines of space become a springboard to creativity. I love it so much that today I taught my class in your shop. We arrived at 1 pm and and we left at 3 pm.

First, because we had talked in the morning about the importance of environments. So moving from a class to lunch at your place provided an experience of a different environment. This led to a profitable discussion as we compared your space with church spaces.

Second, I gave out to the students one of your shopping lists and cute little pencils. The students are all working on a project for Friday. And since the confines of space can become (as you know so well) a springboard to creativity, in order for students to experience this, they were invited to choose (not buy) one thing from your shop for use in their project.

Third, we were due to talk about spirituality2go, about providing ways to resource spirituality beyond the gathered congregation. I placed a whole lot of my previous ministry ideas in a box in the middle of the table at which we were sitting. The class took turns to pull out an idea, at which point I shared the creative processes that led to that idea. (A lot more ideas are on my website – either under the heading worship treats, or preaching today or Creationary (a space to be creative with the lectionary).)

However, all of this is not what I need to confess. What I need to confess is this …

that I am the one who (absent-mindedly) took the help yourself little black tongs from your bread roll container.

I apologise for my neglect, for interpreting help yourself to apply to the tongs and not the bread rolls.

I trust that your dishwashing staff recognised these little black tongs and have now returned them to their rightful place,

Signed,
Steve Taylor

a kick in our guts? Luke 1:39-45

Day 2 of the Living the text intensive began by Dwelling in the Word, in Luke 1:39-45.

Dwelling the word is a process which encourages a deep listening to Scripture and to each other. A passage is read, folk share in 2’s what strikes them or what question is raised. What people hear (not say), is then shared with the whole group.

As this group listened to each other, themes began to emerge. In the words of one “Is knowing only cognitive?” It began with the observation that it was in response to the the movement of a baby (“leapt for joy”) that the Spirit was shared. In other words, to know the Spirit required a woman (Elizabeth) being sensitive to her body and an unborn baby to be responsive to the work of the Spirit. God’s revelation, through the body of a woman and a child.

This was laid alongside the fact that Mary also is carrying a child and comes to Elizabeth perhaps in an act of affirmation and confirmation. She has a belief, that she carries a child, but probably senses that this belief runs counter to her Jewish faith. Thus her knowing is in process, is being reshaped by her experiences of God.

In other words, moments of experiential knowing, of paying attention to God in our bodies, need to be affirming and confirmed in community, with other humans.

Of course, what is even more intriguing is that this theme would be a subtext running throughout the lecture input during the rest of the day. As we explored the place of imagination and the role of community, time and again we returned to Luke 1:39-35 and our work written on the white board, to the lovely interplay around revelation as a process, of being embodied, of requiring community.

living the (digital) text: use of social media in theological formation

Day one of the Living the text intensive kicked off today. A really engaged group and it looks like being a rich week.

One of the things I want to encourage during the intensive is a variety of learning experiences, a whole range of different and new ways by which folk can engage with each other. For instance, one of the assessment tasks is based on each person creating their own blogsite onto which they are expected to place a 1,000 word reflection on the intensive experience.

It’s a pretty simple process. I give out a one page “how to get started blogging.” Each student sets up their blog and sends me their URL. (I arrange an optional tutorial on the second day for any folk who get lost.) I create a central “class blog” (a living the text blog) and each student’s blogsite is listed on the sidebar. (If you click on it, you’ll see previous “cohorts”, the classes of 2008, 2007, 2006.

Having a central blog then allows a second piece of assessment. This involves students being expected to comment on each others blogs. So for example 10 comments of 100 words each becomes a 1,000 word addition to the original 1,000 word self-reflection.

Educationally, this has a number of advantages. Students get to revise not only through their own 1000 word reflection, but they also hear the reflections of others in the class. It reminds them of the diversity of experience. It also allows them to take the class interaction into another, online, context. The intensive experience, which can become quite rich relationally, can continue. And they get to explore the world of social media, which IMHO is an essential part of being in ministry today.

Because all books need pictures: Seeing the Word with the St John’s Bible

I’m preparing for the Living the text intensive, which starts Monday. Part of our time will look at imagination (along with community, space and spirituality2go). I love the St Johns Bible, the first handwritten, illuminated Bible of the modern era. For me, reading such a text, a coloured and creative text, changes the way I engage, live and communicate.

“linking the human imagination and the human hand with the Word of God”

“not looking to create a 12th century Bible in the 21st century but rather we are looking to create a 21st century Bible in the 21st century.”

The process, artistic and communal is interesting. For the artist “The illuminations are not illustrations. They are spiritual meditations on a text. It is a very Benedictine approach to Scriptures.” And in the communal:

At Saint John’s University, a committee of artists, medievalists, theologians, biblical scholars and art historians called the Committee on Illumination and Text reflect on each of the volumes before they are written. This team provides the background material and plan that guide the illuminations and text treatments in The Saint John’s Bible.

And the motivation? … “so that when people open it they are not impressed by the cleverness of it, or the detail or even the shining gold” but so they can enter the Scriptures more deeply, more humanly, more spiritually. As in here …

pioneer training: well Dave Male said …

We had a great day as a Uniting College staff team yesterday sharing notes on Pioneer training with Dave Male. I suggested a number of questions to get the conversation rolling

• What should be dropped from training to avoid priest+plus?
• Should our candidate formation panels (meet 3 x a year with candidate to review training) be separate for pioneers, or mixed?
• What to do with folk who see pioneer training as “exciting” and want what they see as the juicy bits – church starting, ministry – but show less interest in the core topics like Bible, theology etc?
• Can we train both lay pioneers and ordinand pioneers in same processes, or are they unique?

Here are some note that I wrote as the conversation proceeded. Some are what Dave said, others emerged in the to and fro of conversation.

“Pioneers need Greek.”

“You can’t create pioneers. But you can domesticate them.”

“Folk should leave college even more excited by their charism than when they arrive.”

“There is no such thing as a generalist in ministry. People are on a spectrum. The task of the church is to help people discern this. The task of training places is to then provide a tailored learning.”

“The goal is not to create a pioneer college but a mixed economy training in which all training is through a mission lens, and within which pioneers find space to explore their questions.”

I left feeling that we at Uniting College are further ahead in some areas (particularly the commitment to do all training through a mission lens and our thinking on how to train both lay and ordained pioneers, not just ordained). But a bit further behind in others (particularly clear discernment/selection processes and the need to establish a cohort experience). (Although, 6 months into intentional, 3 year, training of pioneers, as our second semester starts, we now have 5 folk in the pioneer stream, so almost enough to have a viable cohort.)

We also talked briefly at the end about establishing a formal network between places that are actually training pioneers.

pioneer night for a pioneer course in a pioneer country: launch of mission shaped ministry Adelaide

Last night was a good night. The wind was wild and the rain heavy. But the room felt warm and alive.

A pilot of the mission shaped ministry (msm) course kicks off in Adelaide July 27. A partnership between Anglican, Lutheran and Uniting churches, it will run over 14 weeks and one weekend.

Last night Dave Male, Director of the Centre for Pioneer Ministry, at Ridley College, Cambridge was in town. It seemed an opportunity to good to miss, a chance both to hear from him and to offer some information about mission shaped ministry.

About 40 folk showed up, which was pretty exciting for a wet and wild winter’s night. A representative from each of the 3 partner churches offered prayer and input. This included a ringing endorsement from Archbishop Jeffrey Driver, who hoped that when Anglican history is written, the most important thing about the year 2011 will be the successful launch of the mission shaped ministry course. Dave Male shared about the impact of msm in the UK and it’s importance in cultivating a missional climate. I shared some of the story of how the course came to be in Australia and spoke about the shape of the programme. (For those interested, my notes are below the fold).

Some time for questions. And then we prayed together. Across denominations. A  living ecumenism, gathered around the task of mission.

Please join us. Please do pause at this point

… and pray with us … and for God’s ongoing purposes in Adelaide and Australia.

(more…)