sustain:if:able kiwi

what are the theological models that guide chaplaincy? Steve Taylor will lead a workshopping seminar to identify one’s theology of chaplaincy, reflect on one’s theological bottom lines and how to walk with others of different faiths and persuasions.

beyond religious trappings – Chaplaincy course. Wednesday, 6th April, 4 hours, Community of sacred name, Christchurch.

Centres and margins

Last year I began in ministry at Opawa Baptist Church. Called as change agent, it was in many ways a surprising move, both for me and for the church. It was a very stretching, but a hugely exciting year.

Looking back, it felt like some sort of move from margin to centre. (Not totally, but that is for another post). My first 9 years of ministry were planting an emerging church. It was lonely. There were very few models. I was often treated with suspicion by other church leaders. I felt on the margins. It was hard. But it was fantastic. I learnt so much. So much of what God has blessed in my new context has been ministry patterns, ministry ideas, forged on the margins.

Ironically, I wonder if my move from margin to some sort of centre is a moving in the opposite direction to the church in wider society. While I move from margin to centre, the church generally is moving from centre to margin. Church in the West is in decline.

And now, suddenly, I find myself at some sort of the centre. After 25 years of decline, the place where I minister has found new life. New faces, new gifts, new worship. And at this centre I get love. Lots of love. There is something hypnotic about speaking to lots of people. To seeing a place grow, to be part of energy and momentum, is a wonderful thing.

It would be very easy to settle for the drug of the centre. To imbibe the love. Yet all my instincts tell me the margin is the place of creativity. A theology of exile finds God in the wasteland. And my call to this place was as a change agent. It was to lead this group from attraction to mission. It was to clear space for the margins, to tend new life among the dispossessed in the wasteland.

I wonder if accepting a changing culture, accepting the marginality of the church, is hardest for pastors of growing, attractional churches. How to hear the margins when one stands at what seems a centre?

At the centre is where I am called to be for this season. So are their disciplines of marginality that need to be practised by those at the centre?

free downloads of out of bounds book

The internet rumours are true. Due to an administrative error, the entire text of my book was available as a free download on the internet over last weekend. Frantic emailing state-side and the error was corrected.

Which, when I paused for breath, left me pondering the question – if a person was to download it, would they still buy a hard copy?

OK, let me make that personal. If you downloaded a book, would you still want to read/own/possess the hard copy?

Is free downloads good marketing, or bad selling?

out of bounds bach

We have spent the last week sanding and painting our new bach. My sister-in-law arrived to describe it as “the ends of the earth.” An out of bounds bach, a place of peace and retreat.

We also brought it as a place for me to write. And these views are sort of inspirational aren’t they?

To see first the view from the bedroom window and second, the view out of the lounge window (both over 25K).

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Booked to San Diego

My tickets for USA arrived today. Zondervan and emergent/Youth Specialties are flying me to the US as part of the launch of my book – out of bounds church? learning to create communities of faith in a culture of change.

I am due into LA on Monday 31 January. (Any bloggers in Pasadena keen to keep me awake Monday?)

I am spending Tuesday at Fuller Theological Seminary, with Doug McConnell, Dean of School of Intercultural Studies. We are brainstorming around globalisation and emergent church and training. I am also doing a seminar for staff and students at Fuller – where I will try and present some sort of overview of the emergent tribes and suggest a range of metaphors that might stimulate mission in a postmodern world.

Wednesday, 2 February I fly to San Diego for the emergent convention. I am doing 2 seminars;

Out of Bounds: Mission in the Emerging Church
and
Text in a TXT World: Postmodern Communication

As a result, people are meant to buy copies of my books and spread the word that it’s hot! I’m looking forward to getting a close up view of emergentUSA and meeting some people that have until now only been blog names; and three cheers for zondervan and emergent.

life to the full

Christmas in the Northern Hemisphere comes wrapped in winter and (hopefully) covered with snow. It’s short days and long nights.

It’s the opposite in the Southern Hemisphere, where Christmas comes wrapped with summer and (hopefully) covered with sunblock. It’s long days and short nights.

I am now away on holiday. I have been wondering this week what happens to the Christ of Christmas as I leave for the beach and bach.

Then I reflected on the image of Christ in Hebrews 4 as the giver of Sabbath Rest. This makes the Christ of Christmas, the Emmanuel God-with-us, as the giver of rest and relaxation. This suggests that my summer relaxation and refreshment is a continued celebration of Christ as the Christmas gift. It’s a participation in the life of Christ, who comes that we might have life, and have it to the full (John 10:10).

That’s my summer prayer for me and all my blog readers;
Enjoy the Christmas gift,
rest with Christ,
Giver of life to the full.

emerging church vacancy

Dear Steve

Anwers to Phil Le Quesne – email Philleq at aol dot com.

hillsong, emerging church and denominations

Back in October I made a brief post on the topic of “emerging church=hillsong“, with some quotes from from a denominational leader here in New Zealand, who was praising Hillsong London and attacking unnamed emerging church leaders who weren’t successful. (I am still trying to figure out if I was being attacked or not). Following the quotes, I then asked for feedback on Hillsong London.

The blog entry has come alive, with two provocative new comments posted in the last 2 days; one from a Hillsong London punter who notes “I have brought many friends to Hillsong church, mostly non-christian and i have seen many of my friends give their life to Christ.”

The other is from the demoninational leader who made the original quotes. In a fairly lengthy comment he writes “Here’s a challenge to think about. From all that I’m reading and observing there is a gnawing observation I have of a small sub-culture of emergent church thinkers out there who only ever discuss their theories about church with each other, read each other’s books and lavish their own with quotes from friends who think just like them, are into art and not at all “moved” by sports, and who prefer to throw rocks at the historical church from outside of it rather than engage in dialogue from the inside.” (Yep, still trying to figure out if I am being attacked or not).

So feel free to head on over and feel some heat. Please, if you are going to leave comments, leave them there, not here.

If I’m honest

If I’m honest, I find it really hard to engage with current criticisms and questioning of the emerging church. I see them on good friends – say, Maggi Dawn or Paul Fromont or Phil and Dan – and my eyes just glaze over.

So many words. I’m not sure why I glaze over – whether my context is so different, or perhaps I’m just so immersed I have little time to think.

Or perhaps I’m not emerging. Maybe I should change my blog name. That will be a good holiday project – to come up with a new blog name!

John made jams and loved his family. The cell phone rang this morning at 6 am and I learnt that John had lost the 4th and final round of his battle with leukemia.

Sitting by a death bed this Christmas has added many layers to my Christmas reflection – Emmanuel, God with us, in both pain and party – God, taking the degenerative frailty of human flesh.

If you have time, please say a prayer for John’s family.

rinsing off the star of christmas

I was rinsing my hair in the shower. Opening my eyes, I noticed 4 stars on the shower floor. They were remains from the christmas services.

As a benediction, I had scattered tiny stars of everyone, with the words
may the true star of Christmas
be found in your space tonight.

A day later, rinsed out on the shower floor, they brought back memories.

That’s the value of tactile, take home rituals.

a blokes christmas! yeah right

Christmas can be hard for men.

I mean, the pressure to buy the right gifts.
The pressure to talk to the relations
The pressure not to play with your kids toys.

To make things easier for us blokes
we have the “yeah right” billboards

Those distinctive black and orange advertisements,
dotted along the nation’s roads.

Tongue in cheek statements, followed by an ironic “Yeah right”.

5 billion chimneys in 1 night. Yeah right.
Designed, according to the advertising company. For blokes. Blokes who find Christmas hard.

So here’s Christmas, through the eyes of a bloke, Joseph, with a nod to “Yeah, right”

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280

280 people came through the Christmas journey last night.

christmas journey update

We had over 170 people through the Christmas journey – the interactive Christmas experience – last nite. So we’re well on track to exceed 1000 people for the week. We’ve had media coverage on national print, local TV and local newspapers.

I worked late last night and through the windows of my office listened to the chatter of kids and the murmer of adults. It’s like a party atmosphere, local community kids dragging in their friends, church people connecting, Pete the bereted designer cruising around, fixing, fiddling, enjoying the uptake.