sustain:if:able kiwi

Dear Jack Johnson

Email just sent to Jack Johnson

Dear Jack,

We are writing to you to thank you for your song Banana Pancakes, from your 2005 album Between Dreams.

It has been a constant soundtrack to our lives as a Taylor family. Today, after being away touring in the UK for 10 days, and then storytelling at a weekend camp, I awoke to the song. Our ten year old was up, setting the table, shaking the pancake mix and playing your song.

I’ll make you banana pancakes
Pretend like it’s the weekend now

It was a lovely moment.

We suddenly realised that you have no idea of the way your music enhances our lives, so wanted to write and thankyou. If you are ever in Adelaide, we would love to make you banana pancakes for breakfast,

The Taylor family

storytelling: including some quotes from Coupland’s Generation A

I’m off to the annual Network of Biblical Storytellers Conference. This is one area where Australia is way ahead of New Zealand, in having a network and a gathering around the sheer imaginative and relational possibilities created by story. It’s the 10th anniversary, and the first time in Adelaide, thanks in large part to the energy and creativity of Uniting College student Sarah Agnew.

I’ve got my storytellers hat.

Found in an opportunity shop back in the 1990s. At the time, I was doing theological training and planting a community of faith. And my peers in training, well, sorted gave me lip for wearing it! “Who do you think you are Taylor.” I’ve kept it, and kept it and kept it. Always knowing it’s moment might arrive.

And then there are the stories. I’m telling about ten in total. Some are Kiwi historical stories. Others are Kiwi ministry stories. Three are different angles on gospel stories. Two are brand new, one written in Durham, another in Tasmania. All are original to me, bar one. It’s been such fun preparing for this conference, digging around my hard drive, placing stories side by side, seeing how they move and talk to each other.

By a coincidence (?), on the way back in the plane, I read Douglas Coupland’s latest, Generation A: A Novel. Which unknown by me until after I brought it, is all about stories.

In some ways, Generation A returns us to Coupland’s first work, Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, in which he wrote; “We know this is why the three of us left our lives behind us and came to the desert – to tell stories and to make our own lives worthwhile tales in the process.” (8) In Generation A, once again Coupland narrates a story in which (sort of), a younger generation are leaving their lives behind and in isolation, being invited to tell stories. A fascinating theme to return to nearly 20 years later, and in a book with the same title “Generations.”

Here are some quotes from Generation A: A Novel:

“a story – something that makes some sense of events you know have meaning.” (2)

“I do not want anecdotes from your life, Zack. I want stories. Stories you invent. Stories that have no other goal in life than to be stories.” (187)

“The brain uses stories to organize its perceptions of the world.” (195)

“Stories come from a part of you that only gets visited rarely – sometimes never at all. I think most people spend so much time trying to convince themselves that their lives are stories that they actual story-creating part of their brains hardens and dies.” (201)

“Instead of inventing and telling stories, I’m going to make my life a more interesting story.” (211)

If I wasn’t telling stories, I’d be looping these behind me on powerpoint over the weekend.

home is

Peppers from seed now sprouted, squash from seeds with lots of new leaves. The lettuce from seed is also up, while the wysteria is in flower. All enjoyed with a cup of tea on the deck.

It was good to go. (At some point if any are interested, I might post my report). It is even better to be back.

It was wierd flying out of Adelaide and realising that overseas now meant a whole new lot of routines. Leaving from New Zealand it was generally through Auckland and I knew where the postbox was and where the stamps were, in order to drop the first postcard to family in the mail before I flew. And then knowing the location of the chapel, for the moment of prayer, which gave just enough time for the coffee.

But leaving from a new country, means a new set of routines. As does returning and it’s no longer a ‘welcome home sir’ through the priority “New Zealand” queue.

Because in Australia I am still “migrant.” And that was somehow OK, because home is defined by peppers from seed sprouting, squash from seeds newly leaved, all enjoyed with a cup of tea on the deck …

a year ago: reflections on trans tasman crossings

It was during these September days a year ago that the Taylor family made public what was an enormously difficult decision, that of a transition to Australia: Baptist-on-loan; Kiwi-in-exile! It was a decision we’d been processing in a range of ways since May of 2009, with wise friends, with family, with Church Board, with spiritual directors.

It lead to a year of goodbyes and hellos, of last things and first things. A year shaped forever by the welcome to Australia teaching load that greeted me. To use gardening metaphors, of cutting roots and transplanting trees, of watering, watering, watering, watering in dry Aussie soils, of seeing first signs of new shoots. Of accents across denominations and countries.

We’re still taking root and as part of that it seems important to note the anniversary. To look back over the guidance and the dreams and the needs. All of the Taylors are looking forward – to a year when energy can go into simply dwelling, and not simply surviving through the summer heat of transplanting.

loving eric: a contemporary theology of hospitality

An unexpected bonus of visiting the Tate Modern was re-finding the work of Shaun Tan. Si Smith, of 40 fame, first put me onto Shaun, by sending me The Red Tree. It was beautiful, hand illustrated with a lovely, unfolding short story.

While at Tate, I noticed another Shaun Tate, Eric. Delightful size. Once again beautifully illustrated. And the story, again lovely and unfolding. I am not going to summarise it in any way, because it would ruin it. Simply to say that it offers a fascinating theology of hospitality; what it means to give as a tourist and receive as a host.

It worked for me at so many levels – tourist in England, alien in Australia, missiologist talking often about hospitality your place and mine!

stories stories everywhere. mission and discipleship in Mark’s gospel

Today (UK Monday) has been a fun workday, preparing for the Network of Biblical Storytellers Conference annual conference, in Adelaide, this weekend coming. I’m down to do 3 keynote sessions, plus a workshop on storytelling in general. I’ve been looking back through the range of stories that sit on my laptop and framing them around three questions

• What makes a good story?
• Where do stories come from?
• Where do stories take us?

My goal is to tackle these questions entirely by telling stories. It’s been so much fun. Stories allow one to be less linear and less structured. It’s been fascinating to lay different stories alongside each other and start to see how they talk to each other.

My thinking was that I would probably be in a more creative place before flying back on to Australia tomorrow.  So today was spent testing this theory. The big challenge today was writing a whole new story. The guts of my keynote sessions are stories emerging from the gospel of Mark. I had two already, which I wrote last year. At the time I had the creative germ of an idea for a third in the trilogy. So this conference was a chance to capture that creative germ.

I am fascinated by the fact that the world of Jesus was pretty small and his discipleship outside the 12 disciples seemed so haphazard.  So what might happen if a healed leper (Mark 2) had a chance meeting with the woman with the issue of blood (Mark 5). Would the recognise the same Jesus in each other’s stories? Would they respect the potentially diverse discipleship path of each other?

breathing slow in a world heritage centre

Today (Sunday UK) was a day off after a pretty hectic week. On Monday I was lecturing two classes in Adelaide, by Saturday I had spoken five different times between London and Durham. All the talks went well, with some really interesting interaction, which I personally found stimulating and thought provoking. Big thanks to all those who came.

I’ve enjoyed meeting some new folk, and re-meeting some old folk (including Jonny Baker, Pete Ward, Graham Cray, Olive and John Drane (here’s their forgotten blog). I’m still trying to gather my thoughts on the Evaluating Fresh Expressions conference, which I might post at a later date. Certainly some thought provoking papers, and to be honest, I came away with a few unsettling questions.

In the meantime, I’m wandering Durham, trying to pinch myself that I get to play tourist for just one day in what, I discovered when I arrived, is a World Heritage Centre! A highlight was joining Elvet North Road Methodist for gathered worship and to experience some alt.worship type stations, expertly linked to the rest of the service, offering movement and a variety of tactile ways to pray. Amazing to see the influences of alt.worship being played out in such Sunday by Sunday worship contexts.

ode to fresh expressions below durham cathedral

Long ago (1,100 years)
little Cuthbert wandered
shepherd share and prayer
left this legacy?

Durham Dominator
Cathedral (in capitals)
largely impassive
dwarfing
below
little moat crossers pale shadows
Solid Church (in capitals)
reign

Fresh Expressions legacy
white people in white room
definitional impurity meets
mission seachange, tick
patient love buffs, buffeted in urban deprivation
hurt butts youthful can-do
as Durham bells ring
Solid Church
(in capitals)
decline

Mission stories today
curate, VJ and coffee
little Cuthberts wander
wonder
left this legacy?

God forbid

UK road trip Thursday

so much seen, so little time to blog …

my 3 lectures at Spurgeons seem to go very well. Lots of interaction, good questions, good engagement. When you’re a Kiwi kid growing up Baptist, Spurgeons is a bit like Mecca. So it was a pretty big thrill to be able to be part of their learning community for a few days and to sense the global mission heartbeat in their post-graduate offerings.

today was a day off, which I spent at the Tate Modern and National Art Gallery, before meeting up with Jonny Baker at the UK launch of Sweet Innovations. Great to finally meet Shannon Hopkins and be part of her social entrepreneurship. Great Kingdom vision.

train to Durham tomorrow, but for now I need to sleep (still a bit jet-lagged)

so much seen, so little time to blog …

made it

heathrow express has free wifi, so while I roll to Paddington a brief post to say I made it; with good flights, including two 5 hour blocks of sleep. 24 hours is a long way and it’s nice to be back in England.

now to find my way to Spurgeons College …

UK September 2010 trip

Here’s my UK itinerary – it’s a nice mix of my interests – theology in contemporary culture, fresh expressions and missional leadership at a congregational level. (Graphic courtesy of a fiddle with this DIY “ancient comic” site 🙂 and with a nod to Brendan the Navigator)

WEDNESDAY: Spurgeons College, D.Min and M. Theol students, presenting some of my work around theology in contemporary culture.

Session 1: “A Pneumatology for an Everyday Theology?” An exploration of what it might mean to name the Spirit as active in the world, with specific reference to popular culture.

Session 2: “Reading “pop-wise”: An example of ‘reading’ popular culture, using animated TV cartoons.

Session 3: Preaching in a changing culture – lessons from U2?

FRIDAY: head to Durham to present on Evaluating Birth narratives:a missiological conversation with fresh expressions

Abstract: This paper will explore the “birthing narratives” of a number of United Kingdom fresh expressions, specifically five alternative worship communities. It will bring this into conversation with the notion of “fresh expressions of church” to explore whether the very term “fresh expressions of church” is in fact missiologically problematic. Resources for this exploration will include the “resurrection” ecclesiology suggested by Archbishop Rowan Williams in Mission-shaped Church, interpreted in light of the pictures of Christian witness embedded in the New Testament narratives.

SATURDAY: “Dry bones live! Mission and leadership in times of change”?’ a conversation at St Johns, Durham on mission and change

TUESDAY: catching the big plane back. At least it goes faster than the boat!

Are we dinosaurs? church and mission today

A few weeks ago I was asked to speak to the South Australian Heads of Churches. My topic: Are we dinosaurs? A brave question for a group to ask itself.

A bit of research and I discovered that the first dinosaur bone “appeared” in 1787, an enormous thigh bone poking out of a New Jersey Creek. It was sent to leading American scientist, Dr Caspar Wistar, who paid it little attention. It was stored and eventually, got lost. (For more on the “finding of dinosaurs”, see Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

It’s weird thinking about dinosaur bones always being there, yet only somewhat recently, to have been “discovered”! Which then got me thinking about what “bones” might church’s, and church leaders, we leaving? And what might people make of our “bones” if they stumbled across our remains in the future?

Like the communion table. Hey, how weird, a table with no chairs. Hmmm. Looks like a separate type of species called eucharistosaurus.

Or the baptismal font. How wierd is that, some people used to keep a bird bath inside! Did that have “bird” doors? Or was it some wealthy playpen, in which the entire building is simply a birdcage, walls and roof in which the doves (Biblical reference intended) are encased!

On a more serious note, as part of my talk I offered a survey of some of the responses to being labelled “dinosaurs. (more…)

free iPad’s the future of theological education?

TRADITIONAL textbooks will be put on the endangered list next year as the University of Adelaide’s Faculty of Science becomes the first tertiary institution to embrace a new approach to online learning.

The pilot initiative involves all first-year undergraduate science students next year receiving a free Apple iPad to use with online curriculum, eliminating up to $1000 in annual textbook costs within three years.

The Faculty of Sciences’ executive dean, Professor Bob Hill, said “We will be the first university in Australia to teach in this innovative way. Our teaching material will be more accessible, more relevant and more frequently updated, providing the flexible learning environment that students are looking for.”

“But it’s a difficult process to make this transition. This is because our lectures have in the past been written around textbooks. Our future process will provide the latest information online and our staff will be integral in writing this content. However, face-to-face learning will remain an important part of teaching.”

Professor Hill says providing each new first-year student with an iPad as part of their core learning tools will transform their educational experience on campus.

(more here)

icons as theological treats

Some theologies use words, a hard, exact and careful reflection regarding the best words to use to articulate limited human perceptions of God. In contrast, icons use pictures, not words. This is not a creatively free-flowing task, but a careful task, aiming to faithfully pass on Christian thought.

I’ve found myself tremendously enriched in recent days by two of Rowan Williams books: Ponder These Things: Praying With Icons of the Virgin is a theology of the Incarnation, while The Dwelling of the Light: Praying with Icons of Christ, offers a theology of Resurrection. Both utilise Orthodox icons as their starting points. I love this explanation of icons:

the art of making icons is often termed “writing” rather than “painting”; an icon presents the figures and events of the Bible and church history in paint rather than ink.

Icons for me do three things extraordinarily well. They help me think theologically. They help me think visually and in colour. They remind me that theology is about relationship with God.

It’s been a joy to sit with these two books on that explore icon’s theologically by Rowan and realise just how deep these three wells can go. With Rowan’s gifts, the theological depth is extraordinary. The invitation to prayer and contemplation is artful. They have been such a helpful gift for me in the last month or so, reading until a sentence or two captures me, and then using that for prayer and God-focus during the day.