sustain:if:able kiwi

a time of angels: book review

A Time of Angels is a fabulous holiday read. It works on so many levels:
– fictional mystery, as clairvoyant Primo Verona, narrates his life story, the love and loss of his wife, the beautiful Beatrice,
– teaser of tastebuds, as Primo’s best friend is cafe owner Pasquale Benvenuto, creator of fruit breads and salami,
– migrant narratives, as survivors of the Holocaust seek healing in the new soils of Southern Africa,
– philosophical thoughtpiece, as the complex relationship between evil and good is explored.

Patricia Schonstein was born in Zimbabwe and her fiction has garnered her a range of literary awards. She writes beautifully, opening up the richness of her continent, skillfully developing characters, all against a backdrop that is artistically and intellectually stimulating. (It is rare for a book of fiction to conclude with a bibliography referencing both history and art). I am now on the look out for more from this developing talent, including A Quilt of Dreams and The Apothecary’s Daughter.

holiday poetry 4

Summer sounds @ Sounday
Slip slop slap
Bass hot
DJ Spanky got no skank
Beats Fat freddy
Sway with my family in hope for my generation

Had a great day at Sounday yesterday, returning especially from holiday to groove with the kids to Fat Freddys Drop. It’s such a great concept, gates opening at 11 am, finished by 7 pm, invitation to take seats, sun umbrellas, even paddling pools!! Our kids packed their books and art gear: in other words, its great for the family.

Fat Freddys Drop were simply grand. Some new songs, mixed well with old songs. A more diversified sound, making the promise of an album on the horizon worth waiting for.

holiday poetry 3

High country Molesworth
Cob cottage settles to history
Neath cloudless blue and Hyracium burn
Warm wind caress
River chilled restore

Back country is high country,
is hard country
Beech my carpet and my roof
St James a Walkway
Pilgrim in n out
At 8 year old pace we stride

holiday poetry 2

Malborough
sounds
quiet
Paddle dip n water trail drips into clear blue
Gull cry over wave slap
Kaimoana
Wine n saffron infused clam paella

holiday poetry

I’ve been tweeting these holiday geographical poetic reflections in by cell phone (left-hand side of blog), but they do lose their formatting:

Kaikoura
Rock jagged ocean cast
Gulls fight o’er salt fingered excess.
Mine. Mine.
Holiday dreams
Drifting out to sea

Blenheim
No sheep dot
Now wine twisted terraces
Etch gaunt faced hills
Taste dry white
Mussell paella infused

2009 summer road trip music

We’re off on holiday. Yah! Which includes the pre-holiday ritual of choosing the music for the road trip. Each person in the Taylor family chooses their 2 favourite CD’s, on the understanding they show some sensitivity to the ears and tastes of other family members (No Radiohead for Dad :), no Hi 5 for kids). Always provokes good anticipation and interaction, saves some car-fights and is a good snapshot of the musicality of our family and the year gone. Anyhow, here’s the 2009 selection.

Flock, The best of the Muttonbirds
Fat Freddies Drop, Based on a true story
Moby, 18
Opshop, One day
Dave Dobbyn, Anotherland
Van Morrison, No guru, no method, no teacher
Karekare, Paddy Free
Salmonella Dub and NZSO, Feel the seasons change

Now, can anyone guess who chose what? Options are Mum; Kayli Anne = 8 year years old; Shannon = 11 years old; Dad ….

it works

It was a simple message: Am i a txtng twit?

Which led to a whoop of incredulous joy; “It works.”

From a cell phone in New Zealand I can text a phone number in the UK, which updates both on the twitter website, and on the left hand side of my website, under the TWEET TWEET heading. Isn’t technology amazing. Isn’t our world getting smaller and smaller.

bible days

Been working on this little project for a while, a way to increase Bible engagement both off-line and on-line. it’s going public to Opawa over this weekend, so here goes ….

Increase Bible knowledge by providing a helicopter overview of selected Bible books.

Link the Bible with life and mission in New Zealand today

Discuss in community with others

7 Saturday afternoons (3:30-5:30 pm)
John (Feb 21)
1 Peter (April 25)
1 Corinthians (May 30)
Acts (July 25)
2 Samuel (Aug 15)
Ecclesiastes (Sept 19)
Mark (Oct 3)

Cost: $5/Bible day (free for participants of Opawa Baptist Church)

FAQs
Why these books? They link with the Daily Bible reading plan used at Opawa Baptist. The aim is to create interest and a greater depth of Bible reading by mixing this teaching overview with daily reading. Different books will be offered in different years.

Who will be teaching? Some of New Zealand’s leading Bible teachers and theologians have been asked to speak on books they are passionate about. These include Paul Windsor from Carey College, Steve Graham and Bob Robinson from Laidlaw College, Paul Trebilco from University of Otago and others. Each has been asked to provide an overview, allow room for discussion and point to highlights that might shape mission life.

What happens after each Bible day? Daily reading of the book is a natural next step. The Opawa 24/7 prayer room will have books for further study. Ongoing discussion, on-line and off-line, will be encouraged through a “post-it” note concept.

Can I come to just one Bible day? Yes.

What if I am busy that day? The plan is to make all Bible days podcastable and available online after the event.

So I could become part of this, even though I don’t live in Christchurch? Yes. Simply ask (includes an annual administration fee).

girl in gaza as contemporary epiphany icon?

Random swirl of connections today:

Lectionary reading = Genesis 12. Abram sent by God to a new land, in which Canaanites are already present. Read the text – verse 6. Nation of Israel and God’s people, are expected to live among cultures and people already present, already unlike them. In other words, Gaza needs to exist alongside Israel. This does not legitimate rockets or bombings or human shields, but nor does it permit a theology in which blessedness comes at the expense of anOther. This has huge implications for the way we preach and live the gospel of Jesus – that we have to have a theology which includes the option of people having different primary narratives. (Another piece of sustainable spirituality for me, a faith that lives within plurality)

Contemporary advent icon = made out of Christmas advertising, 1/4 created each week. “An artist in the community traced the image onto poster board indicating what color should go in each shape. People ages 6-65 cut out the right color from the ads and glued it in the space.”

here. I love the way it mixes initial creative skill with community participation, and the subversiveness of using Christmas advertising.

Gaza today = the icon is in an ancient style. So what, would happen if the icon was in fact titled “Girl from Gaza” (which Mary sort of, almost was) and sketched from a contemporary picture, say this …

or “Gaza refugee escaping to Egypt”, like here, which is the Epiphany narrative?

Random linkage? Or is that by keeping our faith ancient, we are in fact closing our eyes to the horror of what it would have been like for Mary to run in fear from the steel blades of soldiers sent from Jerusalem? Why, oh why, do we construct faith systems that can in fact be used to legitimate the suffering of the innocent?

u2 academic fan bio note

So as an invited presenter – Sampling and reframing: the evolving live concert performances of “Bullet the blue sky” – at the May 13-15 U2 Academic conference, I need to provide a 75 word bio. At the risk of seeming a groupie, I decided it was time to nurture my “inner fan” 🙂

Hence: Steve Taylor was a Boy in Papua New Guinea, matured under Under the Blood Red Skies of New Zealand, fell in love beside a Joshua Tree and became a cheering Passenger at the births of his two daughters. He is a writer, lecturer and creator of spirituality resources. His PhD (University of Otago) analysed new forms of church in contemporary culture. He is Senior Lecturer, Laidlaw College, Senior Pastor, Opawa Baptist Church and blogs at www.emergentkiwi.org.nz.

Today I need to go to do some work on the paper. I need to FORCE myself to go and watch Popmart and read about installation art and reframing in new media. Some days really are better than others.

sustainable spirituality: beyond missional

“You have a hard act to sell” he said. I looked puzzled, so he explained. Your essential message is “You don’t need to be here. That’s the opposite of most churches, which involves getting more involved with their vision.”

I could interpret this conversation, held in a sunny spot a few days ago, in missional terms. I could take it as a compliment, an acute and accurate summary of my preaching and my commitment to Kingdom trumping church, to sending over coming, to life in the world over life indoors.

But what might this thinking look like in sustainable spirituality terms? You see, a person might not need to be here at church. They could be missional in their workplace or home.

But.

But, in order for that to happen, they will need sustaining, when their energy leaks, when the season is winter, not summer.

What’s more, they will need connecting. What are the already networks, existing and present that they could plug into, serve with and among.

What’s more, they will need community, like minded people to share stories among, theologise with. Such community could be in the missional network. It could equally be a smaller grouping of likeminded people, a collective committed to the shared missional context. It could equally be the multi-form already existing gathered community, the “here”, the ordinary Sunday service, in which liturgy and preaching are formed and pre-formed, by questions of God’s mission.

At times, they will need resourcing. This could be as simple as a shared library. Or by dipping into a specific course, weekend or block.

And along the way, there are people who have no idea, yet, of what it means to partner with God in God’s world, to live missionally “there.” They’re broken – by debt, by marriage, by mental health. They are scarred – by unforgiveness and sickness and addiction. They need a gathering point, and a wide range of relationships to provide nurture and healing.

In other words …
Sustainable spirituality says “you don’t need to be here”, but some of us will be here, to connect and resources and sustain. Sustainable spirituality will celebrate church as ordinary, singing as everyday and faith as regular. It knows that these situations are findable, and can be hospitable, and become agents of healing. Sustainable spirituality will work hard at creating constant and multiple pathways by which the “out there” is connected and resourced.

sustainable spirituality

While in Australia, we enjoyed a trip up the Coorong. It’s a vast mix of saltwater, lagoon and freshwater, a beautiful and peaceful place where the Murray River meets the ocean. It’s also a scar on Australia, as the entire place is basically dying. Irrigation demands upstream combined with human manipulation and drought mean that Australia’s largest river lacks the fresh water strength to flow out to sea. Mile after mile of the mouth is basically salinising. Birds are leaving and fish are dying and dredges are working non-stop to stop the river mouth silting up.

As part of the day long tour, we walked over some sand dunes. Suddenly our guide bent down and started digging. In a few minutes, he offered us fresh water. In the middle of these desolate sand dunes, there was water. A bit further on, he showed us the piles of cockles, and the eating place of the Ngarrindjeri people, who have been the traditional custodians of these sand dunes for over 6,000 years.

I stood there astounded. Put me in that place, amid those barren sand dunes and I would die. Yet other humans have learnt to live within this environment.

I pondered the implications for spirituality. If the church is declining in the West, then could at some point, the way we do church actually be killing the fresh waters of faith? If Australians can live out of sync with their environment and in so doing, begin to kill the Murray, then are there ways that Christians and churches are living that are actually killing faith?

I thought of middle-class families, rushing kids from one learning opportunity to the next, too busy rushing to spend time enjoying.

I thought of churches who live in older buildings, when so much energy simply has to go into window repair and the manse roof, rather than into nourishing faith and vision.

I thought of denominations I have consulted with, and the way that their understandings of full-time ministry warp and shift their vision of what it means to be missional.

I thought of smaller missional communities, often younger people, keen, radical. They don’t need a building nor a full-time minister. Yet without these structures, and in times of flux and change, they can lack wise, older heads to lead and guide. How are such communities networked and resourced?

Sustainable agriculture integrates three main goals: environmental stewardship, farm profitability, and prosperous farming communities. What might be the shape of sustainable spirituality? Here’s a list of starters.

1. It would honour the faith of ancestors, glad that historical resources have proven lifegiving in the past.

2. It would be sensitive to contemporary culture, acknowledging that this is our environment and needs to be read respectfully and lived in sustainably.

3. It would make formation and discipleship of the next generation a priority.

4. It would network widely and broadly, aware that only in collective knowledge can one small part make sense of a wider whole.

What else? Does the analogy work? What might a sustainable spirituality collective look like?

I’m actually wondering about making this a major blog theme over the next while. I’m even wondering about blog rename – sustainable Kiwi, in order to capture some of the nuances of the above, which “alternative” and “emergent” and “missional” seem to have failed to mobilise around.

Updated: some challenging links – Earth abbey; sustainable spirituality wiki.

cartoon theology over a stimulating lunch

Had a most stimulating lunch with Paul Windsor, who flew down from Auckland for the day to discuss his potential D. Min dissertation. He’s making some fascinating linkages between the Engels scale, contemporary communication, the parables, church billboards and cartoons.

“fill the billboard space outside the church with self-deprecating, subversive imagery that constitutes a public confessional for our ‘unChristian’ behaviour and creates discussion in church and community”

And he’s looking for cartoonist’s to interview about how their creativity works, how they read culture and frame their responses. So, blog readers, who are the cartoonists you admire for their ability to read contemporary culture subversively, humorously, tongue well placed in cheek?

summer worship: sustainable rather than attractional or missional

Often Kiwi churches die after Christmas. I was reflecting on the inherent lack of logic in this: we make a big effort for Christmas, then all head off on holiday. If Christmas visitors were genuinely seeking God, then we provide precious few resources once our Christmas benediction concludes. This could run the danger of being attractionable, yet could also be a shout-out for sustainable and the need to offer ongoing spiritual resourcing. Equally, people are tired and need holidays. So again this becomes a shout-out for sustainable, for finding patterns that map seasonal life with authenticity.

Sometimes I wonder if both attractional and missional are simply middle-class. They suit people with some get up and go, some energy, some ability to resource themselves, whether coming or going. Yet ministry occurs among people with real and present needs. Like the person who asked us to meet her parents after the Christmas service, and calmly announced. “Oh, you’ll be the first Christians they’ve ever met.” There are levels of support required here that are above and beyond a “see you after we’ve all holidayed.”

So this year we’re trying the “Summer Delight” series. Visually, the church is decorated with jandals/thongs (“Soulmates” from our local service station) and people are encouraged to come in sun hats, shorts and jandals. We start the service with a cup of tea/coffee, and end the service with a bring-your-own picnic. All low-key, but lots of chances to relax and catchup. Input wise, we are opening up themes like pilgrimage, faith outdoors, spiritual friendship. All this is part of deeper challenge, for Kiwis to throw of the imperialism that is the Church year, shaped by Northern Hemisphere seasonal patterns, in which advent candles work best in winter dark, Easter lilies really do bloom in spring and Pentecost can be outdoors. I mean, what would a Church year look like if Jesus had been born in Southern summer heat?