sustain:if:able kiwi

you sticking your head above the parapet again boy?

The Tall Poppy Syndrome is a pernicious, cowardly trait. Laidlaw College seeks an end to its hold over the imaginations and wills of New Zealanders. The fact that we have named a big vision makes us a target. We welcome the support of those with the faith, heart and guts to back something that just might make a difference.

— concluding paragraph from Mark Strom, Principal where I lecture (Laidlaw College) here (and listen to some of the vision for Laidlaw here).  I think he’s right. Stick your head above the parapet in New Zealand, do something a bit different, have an opinion, have some passion – and watch the backchat and backchatter.

So what might be the spiritual practices by which Kiwi leaders might maintain their desire to lead? How about these as a starter …

1. Listen within, to your own sense of calling and passion, rather than listen to the voices without.

2. Develop a good circle of friends who will be honest with you.

3. If passion is a well, for every bucket of negativity withdrawn, add a bucket and a half of passion.

4. Respond to criticism with humour and grace ….

What have you found helpful? How do we develop Kiwi leaders of courage and imagination?

needing a caption

samuels gorge

sabbatical update 7

Monday afternoon update

the weekend that was: rich weekend – Saturday started with a walk along Brighton Beach, then an afternoon tour of McLarenvale with friends, before a fun dinner party with some relaxed Adeladians. Sunday included ecochurch (it is so nice to be in a church which uses the body in worship) and a walk with an Aboriginal guide around the botanical gardens. Marked a Masters thesis, then did some preparation for speaking at Coromandel Valley Uniting in the evening – a two hour seminar on mission and worship. I’ve refused all preaching, but these people are in a really good process, so I was happy to play a part. I found it a very helpful experience, both in preparation and speaking, and it clarified some ideas around my book.

where i am at the moment: Parkin-Wesley. I have just finished my last Missional Church Leadership class, so am enjoying the post-class sense of relief.

on my to-do list this week: I am off on personal retreat later in the week, planning to walk for a few days, reflecting on God, life, gifts and my vocation/s.

reading: Christopher Wright’s, The Mission of God.

music that’s caught my attention: 1 Giant Leap, The way you dream, as I have been reading Mary’s Magnificant. How on earth did a dream like that get attributed to a peasant teenager girl in a patriarchal society? How do we cultivate such dreamers today? What are my dreams for church and society in my day?

how i’m feeling about this week: excited. Very. Looking forward to the retreat and then a weekend with Melbourne with friends.

wisdom on mission and worship

mission + worship
both/and not either/or

but …. in our globalised world, worship artifacts – the songs, the creative ideas, the liturgical words – rocket around our globe. in doing so, we often strip worship of it’s contextual, missional, context. we sing the song without the narrative of conversion, we pray the prayer without naming the birth pains of creativity, we read the Biblical text without engaging the gospel/culture dynamics at play.

Hat tip

Wanted: Advent movies for family faith formation

An email a few weeks ago, got me thinking:
> > I am working on some Advent practices for our Community. I would like each family to watch a movie with Advent themes however I don’t have a clue as far as to any good movies with Advent theme’s. I am wondering if you have any suggestions.

Wanting to involve generations, here are four for starters. Any other ideas for my friend?

Narnia is obvious one. Since Advent is about waiting, it would be interesting to contrast Mr Tumnus with the Beavers in terms of how to live life under dominating narratives.

The nativity – I really like how it brings out the reality of living under Empire and the precariousness of peasant existence.

The motorcyle diaries – bit vulgar in places, but the scene where “che” swims the river to be with the lepers (on his birthday!) is a fantastic image of Incarnation

Over the hedge might be interesting, as it offers a critique of Western eating habits and consumer lifestyles, which does have echoes with consumption at Christmas – see my film review here

sabbatical update 6

Monday morning update (on a Tuesday)

the weekend that was: The Taylor “girls” are heading back to Christchurch this week, so it was “girls choice” weekend. Kayli wanted to attend eco-church and Shannon wanted to return to the Museum to show me some artifacts from Papua New Guinea, including from the tribe of my childhood. We threw in a cruise up the Adelaide River and a lunch at their favourite cafe, Cibo.

where i am at the moment: Parkin-Wesley. Back into a writing groove, and have churned out about 5,000 words on the “opawa story”; charting some of the changes we have made at Opawa. It’s a mix of why we did it and what we did and it’s been fun. We’ve done a lot in 5 years.

on my to-do list this week: I am doing the Bible studies at the Uniting Church synod in a few weeks – about 350 people coming and I have to be Biblical, interesting, interactive, connective, challenging …. yep, got some work to do. I am playing with some “Adventish” Bible passages, which no doubt will reappear at Opawa in December!

reading: just finished a fictional account of life in Iraq before their revolution. Fascinating glimpse into another culture.

music that’s caught my attention: with my family leaving me, it’s lots of Radiohead, In Rainbows, that depressive, ethereal, moody rock.

how i’m feeling about this week: sad. It’s been fabulous having Lynne and the girls with me and we have had such a grand time. I’m so grateful to my hosts for making this possible. But returning to an empty house of memories is going to be very hard.

of doubt

doubt
is the hollow voice
stalking the ego

creeping
fearfully

past book review
striding over peer esteem

the opiate that drugs creativity
binds the mediocre

or the angst that earths the soil

God of Thomas,
show me the bloody hands
that sharpen vision
and clarify my centre

needing an economic saint. but who?

This post, by friend Andrew Menzies got me leafing through my deck of economic “saints”. I offered these economic “saints” at Opawa last year, as part of a series on money. At the door, everyone was given a 5 cm by 7 cm cardboard card. There were 7 different cards in total; four Biblical characters – Micah, Joseph of Arimathea, Zaccheus, the sower of seed in Matthew 13; and three historical figures – William Wilberforce, Mother Teresa and our church treasurer. On each card was a bit of information about the person. (So, here for example is Zacchues (click to enlarge): ).

For that service, we explored a contemporisation of the Parable of the Talents – 3 people who used their talents differently; one who used their talents to trade sweat shopped goods, one who used their talents but lost them when the share market collapsed, and one who invested their talents in retirement (full story here).

And together, as part of the sermon, we wondered what Jesus, and what these economic “saints” would say to these contemporary usages of talents.

(Updated): That was a year ago, but the scenarios all seem quite deja vu today. And got me wondering, which “saint” do we most need to guide us now:
– Denounce injustice with Micah who denounced injustice, and probably would do so again on Wall Street
– Restore confidence by investing now, like Joseph of Arimathea who carefully kept assets (a tomb) and used them to care for another in crisis,
– Refuse to seek profit from other’s demise, like Zaccheus who repaid ill-gotten gain,
– Take risks, like the sower of seed in Matthew 13 who cast seeds (credit?) wholesale and willynilly
– Pray for politicians, like William Wilberforce, salt and light, in corridors of power in difficult times
– Live more simply with less clutter, like Mother Teresa, living simply and in piety
– Encourage church treasurer’s, seeking to balance budgets as investments returns fall?
What wisdom might any of these ancient characters offer us in these troubled times?

out of bounds church book review (2)

OK, while I am busy congratulating myself, here is another positive review from Tom Sine’s new book, The New Conspirators.  Under the heading; “A few writings about all things emerging” he notes that “one of the characteristics of the emerging stream is strength of imagination with a very high level of risk-taking and initiative …  I think Steve Taylor’s book The Out of Bounds Church?: Learning to Create a Community of Faith in a Culture of Change best captures the spirit, imagination and playfulness of this (emerging church) stream.”  So cheers Tom.

out of bounds church book review

Just noted a new (4 star) review of my Out of Bounds church? book up at amazon.

REFLECTION: I read this book three times, and each time gleaned a little more encouragement and discovered new potential areas of personal ministry ….The nine “postcards” present snapshots … in aggregate they create an image of the emerging church as highly varied, rapidly changing, iconoclastic, community oriented and passionate about embodying the Gospel in culturally relevant ways … The wide variety also suggests that there are many more as yet undiscovered ways to “do” emerging churches.

Thanks R. Briggs!

sabbatical update 5

Monday morning update (on a Wednesday)

the weekend that was: It was a long weekend, so a 3 day trip to Kangaroo Island with sister-in-law and family beckoned. Fascinating part of Australia.

where i am at the moment: Just exiting Najjars cafe, North Adelaide. I have been speaking to about 35 people at a leaders breakfast. I was introduced just as all the breakfasts arrived, making connections and momentum difficult. Grand timing!

on my to-do list this week: Tidy office – there’s been a lot of speaking in the last few weeks, and that means notes everywhere.

reading: Rublevs Icon by Benge. Beautiful book, fascinating exploration of relationship between art and theology over time.

how i’m feeling about this week: relieved. These last 2 weeks have been my “speaking phase”, moving between a wide range of settings and groups. I have enjoyed it and had good feedback ..

“participants appreciated the significant biblical/theological underpinning of mission which you conveyed, with emphasis on the relevance of the Luke 10 sending stories in our own context, and the way in which you told stories of your own faith community’s application of these missional principles in very practical and “do-able” ways. Thanks again Steve.”

But have also realised that I do feel very awkward creating connections in new groups, with a varied audience, when I do not have time to build a conversational rapport. I suspect at the moment that in term of my skill set I am a better teacher than one-off speaker.

highly commended

I write regular monthly film reviews for Touchstone, the Methodist denominational magazine. My February 2007 review of the New Zealand film, ‘Out of the Blue’ – was recently Highly Commended in the ARPA (Australasian Religious Press Association) awards. Here is the judge’s comments:

I thought this piece brought out all the lovely elements of New Zealand – it was quite beautiful! I would have liked to have seen less questions and more answers though. And also more Christian input throughout the piece, instead of only at the end.

Read my review, which is included below, then let me know what you think. Do you agree? Should I have provided more answers? And should (and how) could the Christian input be woven in through out?

(more…)

calling aussies regarding family faith formation

I met someone today who wants to grow in the area of ordinary congregations exploring spiritual formation across generations. They don’t have many kids, but they don’t want to send those they have got out of the building. They want to experiment with providing ways for families – young and youth – to grow together.

And he wanted to know if he was alone. Are there any Aussie churches exploring this, trying experiments, having a go?

sabbatical update 5

Monday morning update

the weekend that was: food and friends – trips to Willunga market and to a local winery. Social catching up with two of the lecturers at Parkin-Wesley. Refreshing.

where i am at the moment:

Tabor College – teaching a class on Living the Bible in a contemporary context with about 22 students. I normally teach this class as a 1 week block course somewhere overseas once a year. The last few years it has been Fuller. This year it is Tabor. Their campus is beautiful – in an old orphanage in a lovely established part of town. The local cafes are great, the technical support has been excellent and I am anticipating an excellent week.

on my to-do list this week: teaching this course well.

procrastinating about: (still) some emails in my inbox. I’m on sabbatical, but they keep rolling in …

next trip: still trying to con friends into houseboating on the Murray River with us. Just about given up.

how i’m feeling about this week: energised and refreshed. I am halfway through my time here and as I jogged this morning, I gave thanks to God for the way that simple things, like no evening meetings, and 2 day weekends, and time with my kids, have started to recharge my soul.