sustain:if:able kiwi

it’s all a blur really: the Taylor’s 4 weeks on

The Taylor family have been in Adelaide, Australia four weeks as of yesterday. I have been using twitter and facebook to post a variety of personal news of the short, sharp variety. But in honour of the blur that has been the last four weeks, here’s a overview.

One – It’s amazing how when you migrate, things interlock – You can’t transfer money until you have a local bank account. You can’t buy a car without local money. You can’t look for a house (easily) without a car to get you around open homes. You can’t rent without a rental record, which is difficult to have when you own your own home in New Zealand … and so the interlocking bits roll on.

Two – Adelaide as a city is caught between beach on one side, hills on the other. It means the city is squished long and skinny. A downside is transport. An upside is that there are lots of suburbs by the sea, which increases supply and reduces price. It’s probably the only city in the world we’ll be able to afford to live close to the sea ….

The upshot (blurred) is that, thankfully we have a car (Ford Fiesta). And we’ve found a place to rent in Seacliff, about three minutes walk from the beach. Ironically the street name is Kauri, which is, yes, a New Zealand native.

Our belongings were freed from customs the day we took possession, and we have so loved re-finding our stuff and starting to unpack. The girls seem to be settling well at school, each in their uniquely personal way. My new office is almost fully functional (not enough room for all my books and course notes though!) and my courses are slowly starting to take shape.

I found to my surprise when I arrived that not only was I Director of Missiology, but was also the Postgraduate Co-ordinator, and so I’ve been enjoying getting my head around the Masters of Ministry programme, which is highly focused on practical theological ministry reflection and has huge creative possibilities. I’ve also scratched out two conference paper proposals, one titled “The art of gentle space-making: responding to a de/colonizing God” and another “When non-priests pray: A conversation between Sarah Coakley and Bono Vox.” All fun.

My vegetable garden is proving very profitable – basil, rocket, spinach, parsley on demand. Lettuce, peas and broccoli coming on well.

We’re still looking for a church home, but have given ourselves till Easter to simply enjoy looking and exploring, sampling the diversity that is the Uniting church of South Australia.

one work week in

“What will you do today,” was the question asked at the Monday morning breakfast table. New job, empty desk, new possibilities …

So what did I do?

Firstly, teaching preparation. I’m teaching four courses in 2010.

• spirit of wonder – in March there is this wonderful block-course mix of art, worship and input, shaped around topics of creativity, leadership, spirituality and mission. People can come from around Australia and take it as Masters of Ministry unit.

• sociology of ministry – a weekly class that explores the impact of contemporary culture and context for ministry today

• church, ministry, sacraments – another weekly class, applying mission to the task of being church and ministry today.

• missional church leadership – encourages innovation (both inside and outside church walls) among leaders, providing Biblical frameworks, skills and capacities. Lots of support and time to focus on one’s own context.

So, especially with sociology of ministry and church/ministry/sacraments, there is a lot of work to do getting my head around new material, particularly the Australian context and Uniting church values.

Second, leadership stuff – this is a new role, that is keyed into a College that is on a journey of change. I read the following dream statement this week:

Our Uniting Churches are hubs for mission, safe places for spiritual reflection, homes for fresh expressions of faith, learning centres for discipleship and catalysts for growth.

Sounds like Opawa and I’m keen to see this become more and more a reality for all Uniting churches, esp the first (hubs for mission) and third (fresh expressions of faith). I have lots of ideas, but a priority in these days is listening. So the first weeks are about networking, setting up ways to be out and about, listening to people around their mission challenges.

Third, speaking – there have been lots of invitations to speak, including inter-state. If it’s preaching, I have a simple reply: “Love to, but not until we’ve found a church home.” There have been lots of other invites and I’m taking them on a case by case basis.

Fourth, research and writing – this is an important part/carrot of the role. So I’ve been squirrelling myself away in the library, reading and writing. This week it was producing an abstract for the Sarah Coakley symposium, Sydney, July.

So that’s “What I’m doing with my day/week”: In some ways a similar mix to a week in New Zealand – teaching, leading, speaking – but with fewer meetings, leaving more time to research and write. And the change focus is not a church, but a denominational system of churches.

first day at work welcome accessories

So here’s a snapshot of the various “welcome to Uniting” accessories provided by way of welcome. They might even say something about core values and priorities!

• a genuine aussie lunchbox
• worship (not only in book, but CD as well)
• research on leadership development
• academic handbook
• “Theology for pilgrims. Selected theological documents of Uniting Church”

PS The genuine “Taylors Promised land”, local South Australian wine, is missing – CIA – consumed in action

Australia Day 12 months on

Today is Australia day. A year ago, I participated in the Australia day synchroblog, an (excellent) initiative of Matt Stone. My personal contribution was a review of a book on Australian missiology: Credible Witness by Australian Darren Cronshaw (published by Urban Neighbours of Hope in 2006). Here’s what I wrote:

It’s an excellent missional resource. It takes Australian context seriously. It asks what the Spirit might have already been doing in that place. In the case of Credible Witness, it trawls Australian history and the place of chaplaincy, of shepherds, of advocates for the marginalised, of servants and of generous hosts. What I love is how it refuses to stay with history, but suggests contemporary expressions of these images.

At the time, I had NO idea, that in 12 months time, I’d be living in the great red land. But I did quote a prayer, by Michael Leunig, for myself and for Australia on Australia Day 2009, that in hindsight, looks quite remarkably prophetic:

God help us to change. To change ourselves and to change the world. To know the need of it. To deal with the pain of it. To feel the joy of it. To undertake the journey without understanding the destination. The art of gentle revolution. Amen.

To read the entire Australia Day 2009 post, go here.

grief

is unexpected. it creeps up on you when you’re not watching. it found all the four Taylors at the same time, in the same place, on Sunday morning.

we’d gone looking for a church home and five minutes into the service, we were all crying. nothing to do with the church. at ALL.

just this sudden realisation – that the songs were not Opawa songs and the people were not Opawa people. and so the tears flowed, for loss.

which is fine for us. but i couldn’t help wondering what the worship leader, what Australians in general, think of people who get all teary eyed in public places?

earthing

The plan was to look for accommodation and an internet search threw up a range of possibilities.

Outside one house was a collection of hard rubbish – tenants obviously busy packing. And chucking, based on what was lying on the verge. Including things like dead plants. In pots.

My eyes light up.

Pots. Now, a person can plant things in pots. Like vegetables. And a person can take pots with them, from house to house. Especially a person who’s traveling light, carrying only 23 kg of luggage, the allowable airline allowance.

A polite enquiry and YES! the pots are mine.

Later, a visit to a local plant shop, for some renewed potting mix, plus a few plants and seeds.

And so our earthing in Adelaide continues, hands in soil, and now growing basil, parsley, rocket, spinach and mesculun lettuce. Just a few pots, just a few plants, all great for spicing up salads.

So a beginning. And as that great Aussie theologian sings: From little things, big things grow.

new migrants landed

safely, tiredly, sleeply

day 1 – gained aussie bank accounts, checked out new office, scored food for first nite

day 2 – forecast 40 degrees, kids seen new school ….

on urgent list still to get – car (under 2 litre, hatch, low kms, manual, ) and house to rent to Marion area or close to trainline

new blog name?

A recurring question, with our shift across the Tasman, is “What will you call your blog?”

It started out as “emergentkiwi” and that is still it’s URL. That name felt appropriate at that time, a signifier of a search for forms of faith that made sense for Kiwi’s in a globalised, millenial culture.

Last summer, while keeping the URL, I renamed it “sustain:if:able kiwi“; because it was summer. And with my garden an increasingly important part of my spirituality, I wanted to reflect on issues around sustainability – still of (emerging) faith and spirituality, but with an earthed feel, and linked to a more scattered spirituality.

But how does that translate with a trans-Tasman shift:
kiwi-in-exile?
taylors4life?

any helpful suggestions welcomed, as we wing our way Aussie-ward ….

opawa farewell

Today we are farewelled by Opawa. It will be sad time. Yet perhaps also a God-honouring time, as we become thankful for the work of God’s spirit through God’s people at Opawa over the last 6 years.

So the Taylor family sat in a cafe and asked each other what we’ve appreciated about Opawa. In no particular order:

• the welcome, initial and ongoing. We’ve found people at Opawa to be consistently warm and open, captured in the the big hug from Ngaire, waiting to greet me on my first Tuesday of work.
  a willingness to change. You at Opawa said you were when you called us and mostly you have demonstrated that. One small way has been your willingness to try new things, different ways of responding to God in worship.
• the way you have welcomed our kids, taken the time to appreciate them as individuals and as people, sent them cards, prayed for them.
• KIDZTIME. It works. It’s age appropriate and interesting. And lots of effort is put in by the teachers.
• People at Opawa get on and do stuff. People make an effort and things happen at Opawa.
• Koru (the intermediate youth programme) is really good for community people, but being there has helped our kid grow and gain in confidence.
• you said there weren’t any “pastor’s wifes” expectations and that has been Lynne’s experience. She didn’t do anything for a season and that was OK. Then she became increasingly involved and that was OK too. (Please extend that “no expectations” courtesy to the next “spouse”
• The kids have had opportunities to serve – to help with data projector and speak at Grow, to welcome people at door, help with the kids at Grow and sing upfront
• the space to do and try lots of things – adding congregations, ministries, Bible days etc.

Opawa, you’ve been our church family for the last 6 years and we, the Taylor’s have loved being among you. We’ll miss you.

my saint francis moment

So Sunday I went looking for gathered worship. Being on holiday, being in unfamiliar terrain, it meant checking out the signboard on the nearest local church for the start time. 10:30 am Sunday’s it said.

Next day I duly arrived. Disconcerted, I noted a distinct absent of cars. Now I know that country churches can be small, but this was wierd. Perhaps, the minister and the loyal locals parked around the back. So I drove around the corner, but still the street was deserted and the church doors remained locked.

I checked around the buildings and noticed the noticeboard, advertising the Christmas services. So their was life in the buildings. And then, looking closer, I noticed the fine print – that start times for January were in the “Echo.” Of what the “Echo” was, there was no indication.

So the large sign gave a time, the fineprint gave a sign, but both were useless and the street remained empty. So much for the hospitality of the gospel in this local manifestation of God’s body!

I noticed a seat. Seeing I’d driven about 20 minutes, I decided to take a moment. The seat was large, comfortable, out of the wind and in the sun. I nice play to settle and still.

After a few minutes, there was a large, defiant quack. Mother duck emerged from the creek a few feet away, protesting loudly.

Beside her were eight ducklings, who deemed mother’s protest a trumpet call to charge. The ducklings waddled across the gap and began to circle my feet and then settle companionably. One brave duckling pecked my shoe. Another, braver, began to nibble my socks. It felt like Saint Francis, and much closer to heaven than any church service I could imagine.

To add distinctiveness to my holiday spirituality, I had grabbed When I Talk to You: A Cartoonist Talks to God. It’s been a great aid for prayer and reflection. And Leunig uses a duck to express his feelings about prayer. The duck symbolises many things, including nature, instinct, feeling, beauty, innocence, the primal, the non-rational. He concludes: “A person kneels before a duck … The person is praying.”

It seemed to find physical expression in this St Francis moment. The church building might be locked, God’s love expressed in the body of Christ, absent. But God’s love in creation, outside the building, is nuzzling at my feet, reminding me that love exists in the world, and can be experienced through unexpected stillness and undeserved trust.

wanted: church in Adelaide

I was driving this morning, thinking about the values that would mark the “ideal” church for the Taylor family in Adelaide. As a pastoral family, we’ve never had to “choose” a church before. We’re suddenly going to be “church shoppers.” Which is a seriously wierd experience. So what will we be looking for?

Here’s my first thoughts:
1. In a poorer area, and with an outward mission that we as a family could serve in. I really want the kids to be part of a family that serves, not just because we have been “church pastors”, but because we are Christians.
2. A community committed to growing our kids (9 and 12). This need not mean great children and youth programmes, simply a culture that is taking the growth of all ages seriously.
3. Existing worship that is thoughtful, culturally connective and whole-bodied
4. Space for the development (if necessary) of new forms of church

Am I asking too much? Is it fair to go into a church with an existing set of values? Am I just becoming a church-shopper? Are these things realistic?

And then I laughed. I suddenly realised that I know a church like this. It’s in our city, just down the road, called Opawa, the church that we are currently part of!

Thanks Opawa, for all you have done to be a GREAT place for the Taylor family. You are going to be so missed. And as we have sensed all the way through this call process: we simply have to trust that the God who has given us such great friends, family and church here in Christchurch, will do it again in a new space.

u2 concert’s and a world transformed by the gospel

This is part of Laidlaw College information night promotion, short video’s of people responding to the question: so what part of your world do you most want to see transformed by the gospel? Here’s my contribution, reflecting on my recent U2 concert experience

click here to watch 25sec video clip

Check out the rest – other religions, Japanese people, young people, community spirit – here. It’s an interesting initiative – using social networking – specifically Facebook, as a promotional strategy.

grieving loss as the reality of change is processed

I’ve struggled with depression all week. I know that for some, Christianity is a victory lap. That’s fine. It’s simply that for me, this week, Christianity has been the suffering Christ. Such has been the shape of my week, a week of grieving over the implications of the Taylor family decision to go on mission to Australia (see here and here). On Monday it was the realisation of so many dreams that are not yet reality: Stage 3 of the building project, the family hub, the future of Grow, developing leaders, culture-making days, making bible days digital and youth-engaged. While what God has done at Opawa in last 6 years (part-time, 0.6/week) has been beyond all that I could dream and imagine, there are still more dreams, unfulfilled and I grieve as I hear God’s call is for me to lay them down.

On Wednesday it was a Laidlaw student, who had been dreaming of doing a Masters with me on the topic of the emerging church.

On Friday, it was pulling up at Opawa and seeing the new building project and realising that what I have helped lead and fundraise for over the last 2 years, I am unlikely to enjoy. We were promised a build in 3 months. The project started in early July. It is now October, the hammering continues and the talk is currently early December for the offices, and late February for the foyer cafe. It feels nuts to be leaving a cafe I will never enjoy.

On Saturday (today), it was a planning meeting with regard to a administrative staff transition and realising that a future I had planned for, had worked toward, was suddenly taking shape exactly as I had envisaged. Again, I will not see the fruit of it.

It’s grief. I imagine this is what those who look at death face: a grandchild they will never see turn 21, a graduation they will miss, the realisation that life is moving on and I will not be part of it. As I began, for some, Christianity is a victory lap. It’s simply that for me, this week, Christianity is the suffering Christ.

Since I am on the topic of grieving loss, for those who are interested, here is how we processed the leaving with family and leadership.
(more…)

wealthy emerging church authors? yeah right!

Every now and again, around the internet, I see people making blog comments about emerging church people with their book contracts and PhD’s. Often this is linked to snide implications about “gurus” making money from ministry.

Just this week I have been signing book contracts in regard to two chapters I have written for two books that will be published in 2010, through two different academic presses. One is on the Spirit in the world, the other on Bible in popular culture.

For the record, one contract gives me no money. Instead I get given one free book, plus a 50% discount if I buy any copies of the (my) book. The other contract also gives me no money. Instead, they simply give me one free book. So two free books is the sum total of “wealth” I am generating!

Both chapters have taken hours of work. In fact, in order for me to write them, in between pastoring and lecturing, I have paid people, to help me research and edit. It costs me personally, which I am very happy to do because it does ensure I actually produce something. (This is funded by any speaking fees I get paid.)

I’m not complaining. Not at all. When I write I feel God’s pleasure. It gains me “credibility”. Correction – if well-written (and well-edited:)) it might gain me credibility! It helps spread ideas. It is part of my role/charism.

But I thought I would make this post, just in case readers have come across those rumours regarding “wealthy emerging church authors”!