sustain:if:able kiwi

Lonely planet offers free Christchurch download

Lonely Planet, the traveller’s Bible, is offering a free download of the Christchurch and Canterbury chapter (here). Obviously a lot has changed in Christchurch in recent months – including a container mall, new cafes and pubs springing up in the suburbs and editor, Errol Hunt said it would still provide visitors to New Zealand’s “fastest-changing city” with quality post-quake information.

Lonely Planet consider that Christchurch is re-emerging as one of New Zealand’s most exciting cities and given their commitment to providing “up-to-date, quality information for travellers”.

“We believe this new chapter will be able to help visitors to Christchurch in ways that the pre-quake content cannot.”

The chapter will remain available for free until the Lonely Planet’s newest New Zealand guide is released in September.

walking the art: Brick Bay Sculpture Trail

Over the weekend I loved walking the Brick Bay Sculpture Trail – 43 sculptures from some of New Zealand’s most well known sculpturers, located outdoors, among native bush and meandering lakes. The walk takes about an hour, and involves 2 km of walking. Trees and landscape is carefully used to ensure that the environment is the canvas and it allowed a wonderful mix of walking, contemplation and discovery, all in the outdoors, allowing the visits of native wood pigeons and tui. The trail is run by a Trust, with profit being made available to assist artists with costs (because large scale sculpture is expensive).

In 2009, I was part of an academic theology conference on land. Sitting on the grass, contemplating sculpture 31 – Graham Bennett’s Position fixing – I wondered what would have happened if the academic conference had occurred not an hour down the road in a sterile lecture room, but here, with regular walks through the trail.

In 2011, the conference became a book, The Gospel and the Land of Promise: Christian Approaches to the Land of the Bible. I have a chapter which I attempt a post-colonial reading of the Jacob narrative. I’m really pleased with it. But sitting beside sculpture 25 – Jim Wheeler’s Regeneration series – I wondered how much richer my chapter, and the entire book would have been if it had been theologians in dialogue with artists like Jim Wheeler and Graham Bennett.

Theology needs art. (But does art need theology?)

family faith: at Halloween/All Saints part 2

One of the members of team Taylor went “peace-treating” this Halloween. They were keen to join the fun. And be with friends. Others in the family were uneasy with the very concept of trick-or-treating – that sense of expecting a handout.

So a healthy discussion ended in “peace-treating.” They would knock on doors and speak peace to every home. (Yep echoes of Luke 10:1-10!) To practically embody peace, they took along a collection of peace quotes on paper, which they handed out. They are into peace in a big way, so this was a perfect fit with their personality. It meant that rather than get, they would give – verbal peace, the presence of peace, a peace quote.

So off they went and had a great time. It seemed a creative way of practising faith in our world today. It brought to mind some quotes by Miroslav Volf, which I used in the chapter on gospel/culture in my The Out of Bounds Church?: Learning to Create a Community of Faith in a Culture of Change.

“’Gospel’ always involves a way of living in a social environment….”

“[T]here is no single proper way for Christians to relate to a given culture as a whole. Instead, there are numerous ways of accepting, rejecting, subverting or transforming various aspects of a culture….” Miroslav Volf, “Soft Difference. Theological Reflections on the Relation between Church and Culture in 1 Peter.” Ex Auditu 10 (1994), 15-30.

(This is another entry (P=peace-treating) in dictionary of everyday spirituality. For the complete index of all entries, go here).

family faith: at Halloween/All Saints Day part 1

Tuesday was All Saints Day and Team Taylor were gathering for family dinner. The youngest had set up a lovely environment, with a central Christ candle and unlit tea lights.

After eating, we considered Halloween, followed by All Saints Day, a time to remember those who had shaped us. Five categories were suggested (written on the paper in the front of the pic) – life teachers, risk-takers, brave one, joke and joy tellers, nurturers.

Names were mentioned and candles were lit.

There was a growing sense that we were not alone, but surrounded by a cloud of witnesses. Many at distance both in time and geography. But still a warm and glowing presence among us.

There was also a time to be thankful for those around the table, to remind ourselves that Team Taylor has been, and can be, saints to each other, a practical expression of Christ’s love.

Very simple, but quite quietly memorable.

(This is another entry (S=saints) in dictionary of everyday spirituality. For the complete index of all entries, go here).

discipleship resources

A minister friend was asking about discipleship resources. Here are some that I’ve either been recently intrigued by, or explored myself.

D:sign. The way into this resource is via 12 art images, contemporary and created especially. Supporting each image is something to do, share, watch/listen, talkback and small group. What I like about this is first that everyone can access and image. So there is a level of accessibility cf “I am the discipling expert.” Second, it uses the senses – eyes and ears and touch. Thirdly it is activist and communal, it assumes things to do and a group to do it amongst.

Lindisfarne Scriptorium/Mary Fleeson. These are high quality creative resources. They include books with art, words and prayer and wallet sized cards as reminders. There are also multi-coloured mediations, in which black and white original images are provided and you are invited to add colour and life. “As you add colour and life to the pages and ponder over the words don’t worry about going over the lines! Allow the child within to emerge fro a while and have fun!” In doing, so there is space being created for discipleship reflection. All are focused around themes of life journey and life in Christ and provide access through colour.

Labyrinth Journey via Proost. This is a bit older, but still a goodie. It comes as a CD Rom, which holds a virtual labyrinth plus a 7 week discipleship resource. Themes include journey of discovery, relationships with ourselves, each other, God the Trinity and creation, all linked to creativity and contemporary culture. Placing the labyrinth, whether real or virtual at the centre offers a very different concept of movement cf linear models.

Missional practices – Here’s a resource that we designed at Opawa. It is based on Jesus journey toward Jerusalem in Luke. It is based on 7 wallet sized cards, ie a practice as you live type resource. On the cards is an image, a Scripture, a question and a practice ie something to do. These are supported by small groups (resource questions supplied if needed), that encourage folk to work together on reflection.

Growth coaches – which offers one on one; whole of life coaching. A person meets with a coach, together they set a programme, and the coach holds them accountable. This was what started the idea , and the realisation that most discipling programmes are content based, not people based. They impart information and have set starting and ending points. How to be more flexible? It was also important to see growth as whole of life and at all life stage, not just for “new” Christians. So this is some research I did as part of a sermon series. This is our finished publicity product, which is given out to interested people. And this is an article from a New Zealand Christian newspaper about the concept.

Life shapes. This is a discipleship based on shapes – triangles, squares, pentagons etc. Each shape is connected to a different moment in discipleship – change, balance, growth, prayer, witness etc. Some folks dig this, some don’t.

Sense making faith. This uses the 5 senses to engage God. Each sense is explored for ways it brings life, and death, to being human. Each sense is explored in terms of the Christian tradition. It opens up some highly multi-sensory, experiential learning, which I love. But other’s won’t.

a visual theology for mission 1

Sometimes theology comes with words. But why not visuals. How about this?

And further, what words would you offer? What are the needs in your local community? What are people wanting to “rip” off? More overtly theologically, what is the gospel, good news, in your community?

a T-Mobile theology of hospitality

Arriving passengers being given a welcome home to remember at Heathrow Terminal 5 (Just want to say this was NOT my experience recently in UK. While it was just lovely to see Ben Edson at Manchester Airport, he didn’t sing like this!)

So a theology of hospitality

• welcome the alien in your midst.  Not because you are the host. No, rather because you yourself were once yourself alien – in Egypt.
• practice hospitality. But not in your space. No, instead look for public space, the third place (in this case an airport). It’s so easy for hospitality to default to us being nice in our homes
• and these third spaces will then call for creativity, in the welcome, in how we engage

The result is public space being transformed into a participative, joyful occasion – a theology of hospitality.

pilgrimage. a lindisfarne photo essay

Holy Island, Lindisfarne, where I spent a few days as part of my recent 2 weeks Study Leave, is tidal. Twice a day, it is cut off from the mainland by tides. During low tide, one can cross by road. Or walk via the Pilgrims Crossing, a set of poles struck across the mudflats, rumoured to be the route by which pilgrims for hundreds of years crossed.

Which I walked in one evening, reflecting on my life’s journey. The light was helpful, so I shot some pictures as I walked, prayed, danced and thought ….

Pilgrims begin,
off the beaten track

Skin bared, for immersion

poles to guide, front and afar

till tide turns
then shelter box
for times of troubled

im-prints, for life

Pilgrims come. Must go
past journey ends
so real life,
resume.

A creationary: a space to be creative with the lectionary (in this case, visual images on themes of pilgrimage). For more resources go here.

faith box: a challenge to church?

I heard about Faith box – Kiwi resource yesterday. A box with 20 minute once a week for busy families – reading, activity, questions. It comes with enough material for activities for 3 months. Followup material is also available.

In some ways this is similar to the Easter Weekend resources I offered a few years ago, some resources for a family to make their own spiritual event (here).

Could you plant churches using this? ie give out Faith box, and then gather monthly with other families to share what you learnt ie perform the activities to each other. (Sort of like the notion of festival spirituality that I talk about it my The Out of Bounds Church? book), in which I note that in the Old Testament, gathering was not weekly, but occasionally for large community festivals, alongside village life. In other words, families going to Jerusalem for large events. Translated to today, churches not offering weekly worship, but weekend long festivals, say 5-7 per year, heaps of hospitality and multiple learning events, with the encouragement for families to continue to work this into the home lives weekly.

Could you add in local “colour” eg have followup material that links with national holidays and local festivals?

the outsider: creationary storytelling Matthew 13 parable of treasure

A creationary: a space to be creative with the lectionary. For more resources go here.

The man arrived by shiny 4 wheel drive. An outsider, branded by his clean lines and secretive ways. Disappearing at dawn. Returning at dusk. Avoiding campfire conversation.

A month later he gives in. Finds the local country pub and sadly shares his story.

“I’m from NASA. Your land, these outback ranges, is reputed to be the site of a unique mineral deposit, with rocks essential to our space programme. Which means I’ve had a top secret mission.”

Slowly he pulls a rock out of his pocket. “I’m looking for these. From dawn to dusk. Searching your outback.”

Wearily his head leans onto the bar counter. “Have you ever seen anything like this?”

The bar owner peers hard. Bends down. Pulls a bucket out from under the counter and empties the contents over the bar. Identical stones run everywhere.

“Sometimes you simply need to ask, rather than look,” he grins.

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field.” (Matthew 13:44). (Based on a true story heard over coffee today.)

creationary: Mattthew 13 parable of mustard seed

A creationary: a space to be creative with the lectionary. For more resources go here.

For those working on the parable of the mustard seed for Sunday, there are some great pictures – “smallness of the tree” here; birds in a mustard tree here. Regarding permissions, the website does say (generously) that the “photos and text are in the public domain. No other author may copyright them”

For me, I’ll be using Matthew 13:52 – new and old – as the integrative theme.

I will be giving
– some of the people, as they come in, a google map of their local community
– the rest of the people, as they come in, a picture of the church

I’ll also as people come in, give them an envelope in which there is a mustard seed, some yeast, a pearl, and some treasure. I’ll also have a net hanging up the front of the church.

So I will offer some “Jewish context info” for each parable and then pause and ask folk, using verse 52 – what smells old, what smells new. So interaction together about the way the parable is actually working.

And then I’ll finish by asking those with a map of the community what the parables mean to the community, and those with a church picture, what the parables mean to folk in the church. This will allow some communal discussion of the application, plus is also consistent with the Matthew 13 text, in that two of the parables (mustard seed and yeast) are delivered to the wide crowd, while two (treasure and pearl) are given to the disciples.

I will probably conclude with the Paul Kelly song, from Big things little things grow.

potential

winery entry,
earth rich,
sun low, view to afar,
hope, promise, now potential

(This is part 3 in the Wine Door series. Others are here and here)

promise

winery door,
a promise,
taste to see,
(rotate your computer screen 90 degrees clockwise)

(This is part 2 in the Wine Door series. Others are here and here)

hope

winery entry,
new door on old barn,
(rotate your computer screen 90 degrees clockwise)

(This is part 1 in the Wine Door series. Others are here and here)