sustain:if:able kiwi

mission shaped church australia?

A sign, small and white, stuck on a door. An invitation to enter, to begin a conversation. The future, uncertain, the companions inside, unknown …

And so yesterday I at Uniting College hosted 11 folk, from 4 States and 1 territory, representing 4 denominations. The invitation, as the sign indicated, was to a conversation about mission-shaped church training in Australia.

The conversation was wide ranging and frank. The outcomes were for the next 12 months. To seek permission from UK to a pilot, in two places, from mid-2011 of an Australianised version of the UK Missionshaped course. One in Canberra using a more intense format over a number of weekends. Another in Adelaide weekday evenings during Semester 2.

An initial (cash) intention to partnership from five groups, with three other likely partners and an open invitation for any and all to join at any time later. A (time and skills) commitment from different folk to be part of a national team of trainers by workshopping segments, both individually and in partnership, with the intent of developing an ecumenical team of learners-together-in-teaching.

And the hope that, based on learnings from the two pilots, based on feedback from the UK, that we might look to run more courses into 2012, not only in Adelaide and Canberra, but perhaps in Tasmania, Victoria and New South Wales.

We finished thanking God for those who have pioneered before us, both here in Australia and in the UK, on who’se work we are building.

And with excitement, of being part of a broadly ecumenical partnership wanting to follow the Spirit in providing concrete mission-shaped training.

And of affirmation, that the sign on the door remains, to anyone, to enter, to join the conversation – one that us uncertain, unknown, but it does now have some companions on the journey.

I’ll keep blogging more details as they shape up; for an earlier post/invitation, see here.

Youth, spirituality and the arts with John Safran: morning after update

We were talking in class this week about how to stay culturally connected in ministry and I cited the Blake exhibition. I’ve written before on the value of the Blake prize as a window into contemporary culture.

Anyhow, it’s the opening of the 59th Blake exhibition in Adelaide this evening. A bonus is a session with John Safran, from 7:30 pm onward. Titled Talk your arts off, with a theme of youth spirituality and the arts. John is a comedian who has won four AFI (Australian Film Institute), including for his John Safran vs God.

It should be an interesting evening! And I’ll be sure to blog any highlights (or lowlights!)

The morning after:
1. The place was packed, with queues and a waiting list. Lot of interest in either youth, spirituality, arts, John Safran or the combo.
2. Audience is mainly young adult. Not youth, but young. A lot of young adult interest in either youth, spirituality, arts, John Safran or the combo. Would have loved to have known why people came?
3. Panel were mixed in what they contributed. Standouts for me were Rod Pattenden – human and wise – and Humma Mustafa – warm and passionate.
4. The tension between free expression and social responsibility was a recurring theme. Art and religion live at times in uneasy dialogue with tolerance.
5. The loss of context in a global world will require a greater degree of maturity and discernment.
6. Australians feel they are more and more spiritual. The loss of denominations is seen as an opportunity for a genuine spiritual search for meaning. (For more on this, see here)
7. Australians feel they have a distinct take on spirituality. This includes relation to the land. (For more on this, see here). They also like people who are secure enough in their identity that they can laugh at themselves. (For an example, see here).

Coming away, if I was serious about mission today amongst spiritually seeking young people, I’d start by ripping up my Sunday service liturgies and instead creating spaces for experience and for storytelling.

great local mission story and a spontaneous liturgy

Simon Carey Holt’s God next door is a great little book. Small, easily read, theological, yet practical, it’s a treasure I’ve been using a lot this year, in reflecting on fresh expressions and mission.

It includes a superbly challenging story of local mission, which I have told a number of times in recent weeks. The first time I cried. The second time I had this wonderfully spontaneous liturgical moment, preaching in relation to Zacchaues in Luke 19. Read the local mission story and then I’ll tell you what happened. (more…)

mission really matters

One of the big shifts here at Uniting College in the last few years has been in the area of teaching disciplines. In order to respond to the renewed emphasis in missio Dei and to formation as whole-bodied, not merely intellectual, we’ve moved from three areas to four; from

• Biblical
• Theology – systematic and historical
• Pastoral – (ie everything that doesn’t fit in the other two)

to

• Biblical
• Education and Discipleship
• Leadership
• Missiology

I’m involved with the missiology stream. Which is new and hence I often get asked what is “missiology”? So in order to help explain missiology, and to promote the change and in the hope of drawing interested people together in the hope of gentle Kingdom revolution of the world that God loves (!), I have created a newsletter. I’m hoping to provide 3 or 4 a year, with the aim of introducing missiology, offering some helpful resources, and communicating comings and goings. Here’s the front page of the first …

Here as downloadable PDF

(Faithful blog readers will recognise some of the resources, but might still appreciate the colour and the clarity. I am unsure whether to keep it tight at 2 pages, or to provide more resources but in doing so go larger. This time around the viscious red editing pencil won the 2 pages vs 4 pages duel!)

rural fresh expressions: resourcing Yorke Peninsula

Today has been a rich day, preparing to lead a camp, helping 10 rural congregations who are coming together to think about their mission. Here ‘ss how it is shaping up.

1. What is church

What is church? Why it exists? What is its purpose?

Use video clip from Yes Minister What does the hospital exist?

2. Four images of church (taken from some material by George Lings)

• institution
• managerial
• horticultural
• relational/familial

For each one – group discussion – Why does church exist? Divide the group in two and invite them to answer from perspective of lay and clergy?

3. Rural fresh expressions of church

video – What is a fresh expression?

It is not a new expression.
It is not a townie thing
It is not saying what existing church is wrong
It is not a bridging project to real church.

I will then give them 14 rural types of fresh expressions I have hunted down. Each has an example, to give flesh. I’m hoping this encourage with it’s diversity.

• Alternative worship
• Base ecclesial communities
• Cafe church
• Church from community initiatives
• Midweek congregations
• Multiple congregations
• Network focused churches
• School-based churches
• Seeker services
• Traditional church plants
• Youth congregations
• Traditional forms of church inspiring new interest
• New monasticism – Northumbria community
• Festivals

4. Rural Challenges

We will then kick the tires around 10 rural challenges, from this resource, by David Muir, a pioneer minister in Devon.

1. Do some serious homework on the social realities in your area. The countryside is hugely varied, so beware of generalisations about what ‘country people’ are like.
2. Do assume that countryside people are well disposed to the Christian faith. Most are. So think hard before using language like ‘becoming a Christian’.
3. If you are new to the countryside, get involved. Traditional countryside people will always see you as an in-comer, but it will only take a couple of years to be accepted as an ‘OK in-comer’.
4. Beware of the idolatry of nice village life. This is a temptation for the traditional inhabitants of the countryside and for in-comers seeking their rural idyll.
5. A community centred on its own well-being is a form of selfishness. The church must challenge this rather than collude with it to gain acceptance.
6. Support the church building. It is a social symbol that continues to have some Christian opportunities. Attending funerals will open some doors.
7. Accept that we have lost the battle for weekly public worship. ‘Public’ worship was a Christendom idea and we need to let go of it. Think about how else to give expression to a living faith community.
8. Support the vicar. People still want clergy for baptisms, weddings and (most of all) funerals. So support ministers in their traditional roles, and find ways to link their ministries to whatever fresh expression of church you feel called to develop.
9. Refuse to be trapped by geography. Countryside people travel, often quite long distances, to things they really want to go to. So think wide. Doing something ‘just for our little community’ is killing the countryside socially.
10. Think ‘sustainability’ rather than ‘funding’. Evangelism by largesse is another Christendom idea that needs to die. It fosters dependency rather than initiative. Grants run out. So keep it simple. Start what the group can sustain.

Why church? some thoughts via the humour of Yes Minister

What is church? Why does it exist? What do you use to assess it’s purpose? I’m doing some work this weekend with Uniting folk in the Yorke Peninsula. In preparation I’ve been mulling over this video from Yes Minister. (Hat tip Andrew Hamilton). A bit dated, but still quite thought-provoking.

What is the purpose of a “hospital? How do you assess it?

• For the Prime Minister, a hospital is to heal the sick (although it starts with “how does does it cost?”)
• For the Union rep, a hospital is to employ staff.
• For the Florence Nightingale award judges, it is hygenie.

Any links to church – how much does it cost? what about the needs of those who serve? how important is keeping people and things pure?

mission shaped ministry training Aussie style

There is a development in the whole area of ecumenical co-operation in mission that might be of interest to some of my (Aussie) blog readers.

The development is some discussion regarding offering ecumenical Fresh Expressions type training starting here in Australia. The discussion currently involves folk from the Diocese of Adelaide, Uniting College, Diocese of Canberra, Church army, Uniting synod of NSW, Vic/Tas and South Australia.

To this end an initial discussion is planned here in Adelaide on November 9, from 1-5 pm, at Uniting College. The aim is simply to gather folk interested in exploring ways to stimulate training and interest in fresh expressions. The initial idea is to look at offering a Australian variant of a one year, lay focused course called Mission shaped ministry, coming from the UK.

Mission shaped ministry is a one year part-time course equipping in planting and sustaining fresh expressions of church, currently running ecumenically in over 30 centres across the UK. It has been hugely important in developing a mission mindset in the UK context. The course is for leaders and members, clergy and lay people, learning side by side, who want to focus on either preparing to start a fresh expression of church or because they want their existing church to be more mission-shaped. There is more on the website here.

The temptation will be to cut and paste from another context and so the more Aussie, local and diverse denominational voices that can be part of a local planning, the more likely we are to workshop something that might genuinely serve the breadth of the church in this country.

I am also aware that Forge historically has been doing a variant of this for a while here in Australia. However, there is a lot of energy coming out of Fresh Expressions in the UK and this has caught the interest of some mainline folk here in Australia, who want to explore ways to train. This might provide a window of opportunity, yet another fresh breath of the Spirit.

Ecumenically, from my perspective, the more the merrier, so I have decided to blog this. I am also really keen that from the beginning, this not be a solely Anglo-Australian table. So I am asking that you, my blog readers, might pass this information on to appropriate folk in your denomination ….

church in the city: inspiration beyond our walls

After two excellent days of input at the City Church conference – first from Tim Costello (on leadership and the city), second from a group of city planners (City as Contested space) – it was my turn today! (A little mutter at this point about lack of blog response when I asked for help!)

I divided my time around 3 church:city questions and 10 possibilities.

For those interested here’s my visuals (video’s edited out, you’ll need to see the notes below for URL’s)

and here is my – Inspiration outside our walls: Being church in the city – handout (more…)

cities as contested spaces and some church possibilities

Outstanding presentation by Jason Ting, from Planning SA, this morning at the Church in the City 2010 conference. Under the theme “Cities as contested spaces” he made the following points.

1 – Our cities are growing – A world milestone a few years ago, with more than 50% of world’s population in urban settlement

2 – Our cities are aging – 75% of elderly live in cities and this needs to be placed alongside a rising age dependency ratio (the number of people retired compared to the number of people working)

3 – Our cities are diversifying – (even) Adelaide is diversifying. In Australia, 85% of immigrants choose to live in cities.

4 – Our cities are becoming more expensive

5 – Our cities are sprawling – Australian cities are 3 to 4 times the size of comparable population sized cities in Holland

6- We fragment our space – He apologised for 20th century urban planning frameworks, which had separated residential from industrial from economic. This was driven by the human love affair with the car.

7 – We sanitize our space – The irony that especially the middle-class like to keep spaces clean. However graffiti and grunge for some, including youth, means edgy and exciting

8 – We commodify our space – Public spaces are often paid spaces. For example shopping centres which do not encourage seating in order to move on “non-paying” customers.

He then argued for three innovations:

• Spatial innovation – What spatial entrepreneurship could church contribute to? Possibilities include places to sit, to cycle, to walk, spaces that are not commodified.

• Social innovation – Possibilites mentioned included urban community farm, deck chairs in parks, pedestrian friendly footpaths (outdoor table tennis tables that I saw near Liverpool Station, London)

• Spiritual innovation – how can churches encourage diversity in this area?

what do you need to be a pioneeer leader?

Tim Costello, currently CEO of World Vision, Australia, kicked off the Church in the City 2010 conference today. He spoke about his experience at Collins Street Baptist in Melbourne and the formation of Urban Seed. It was a mixture of challenge and inspiration.

During discussion was when Tim really (for me) excelled, a great mix of practical wisdom, reflection and astute cultural observation. He talked a number of times about the place of leaders as both prophet and leader, as taking risks and challenging the status quo. He ended with a fascinating quote (from my notes):

Our leadership issues are not to do with our structures. They are more to do with our spiritual intelligence. And our emotional intelligence.

I couldn’t agree more. Starting things is about seeing both what is and what might be. That takes honesty and vision. And faith, to believe in what is not yet. And the ability to align that with the stories of Jesus. In other words, spiritual intelligence!

And between what is and what is not, is the status quo. And inertia. And people who like the status quo. So to see change means challenging people. And leading through change. And dealing with conflict. That takes emotional intelligence!

So many times I feel when speaking to leaders the desire for easy answers and quick fixes. It’s hard to say, “There aren’t any. It’s just hard work.” The quote by Tim today gives me another frame and an affirmation, that of the need to deepen one’s spiritual and emotional intelligence, to let the slow processes of composting – emotional and spiritual – happen.

It made me glad of the Missional Church Leadership course I run, which seeks to offer spiritual practices, and to focus on Biblical narratives, especially Luke 10:1-12 and Luke 1:39-45. No easy answers, just invitations to listen, to discern i.e. spiritual and emotional intelligence.

Here at Uniting College, we’re working on three further ways (alongside the Missional Church Leadership) to access pioneer training

• a one year Mission-shaped ministry course, hopefully taught ecumenically, introducing mission, church, leadership
• the new Bachelor of Ministry which will include an “innovation” focus, allowing have-a-go learning
• a Masters in Missional Church Leadership, which offers in-service training, with a mix of coaching, peer group support, reading and a praxis/theory thesis in which people work, over 4 years, on missional leadership in their own context

Tim’s input was a great reminder that in the midst of all of these changes, the greatest gift that can be offered is fostering spiritual and emotional intelligence.

All in all, a great start to the Church and the city 2010 conference.

needing help: church in the city 2010

I have a tough gig on Thursday. I need help. I have been asked to speak on the theme of mission as it relates to being church in the city in 2010. The conference is a first-ever and it’s a GREAT idea – to resource city churches in mission.

I’ve applauded the idea from day one, such a practical way to gather a unique mission group. City churches have unique mission challenges. Their location is both crisis and opportunity. Their history is both crisis and opportunity. It’s a delight to be involved. But I still need help.

The other keynote speaker is Tim Costello. Following Tim is a tough enough gig! And yes, I have taught before around celebrating the city and urban mission. But I feel like I need something fresh, some stories of hope, something that might inspire a bunch of hard-working, inner-city ministers.

So, perhaps my blog readers can help: what stories do you know of city churches doing contemporary mission well?

And ideas: if you were a city church minister, with all that heritage and all that opportunity, what would you do, to be part of city transformation?

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!

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…)

Are we dinosaurs? churches in Western culture

On Friday I’ve been asked to speak with the South Australian Heads of Churches.  The topic I’ve been given, for 90 minutes, is the question: Are we dinosaurs? with particular focus on the future of the church. It’s a pretty significant opportunity and my colleagues have been teasing me about the need to dig out my tie and suit!

I thought it might be helpful for the leaders if as part of the presentation (one of three parts), I sought to summarise the range of approaches being advocated. So here’s a first crack at this, in which I am playing with the dinosaur theme. What do you think? Is it a helpful framework? What approaches might I be missing?

a) Theologies of extinction

These in many ways assume that the dinosaur will die.  That is accepted and is legitimised through theological reflection.  An example might be Atheist Delusions: The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable Enemies. Or it might be various theologies of exile, which are suggesting that the church is moving to the margins, and so link that with various Old Testament motifs. The danger of these is (IMHO) that these are in fact assuming that the “now” is in fact not actually home.

b) Go back: good old days theologies
These encourage a looking back in time.  It might be the good old days of the 1950’s. Or it might be the early church, say pre-Constantine or in the book of Acts. It might be a moment of liturgy, for example the Radical Orthodoxy movement and the Tridentine mass. They often trade on a fairly romantic notion.

c) Climate changers and Culture-makers
These include words like “Fresh expressions” and “Missional Church.”  They point to a changing climate and encourage the church to adapt.  Often they have a missionary view of history.  One way to categorise them is in terms of theology and missiology. So much of the Emergent church conversation in the US is a call for a new theology, while much of the fresh expressions conversation is a call for a new missiology.