sustain:if:able kiwi

post-it prayers

This has worked well the last two Sunday evenings. Invite two people to stand with their backs to the audience. Give out post-it stickers and invite the rest of the congregation to write “thanks God for” prayers on the post-it’s, and place them on people’s backs.

Its a fun and interactive way to pray. It uses gifts of encouragement (which, according to the apostle Barnabas, are at the heart of the missional church). For it’s impact, on Amy, (who is part of the ministry team at Opawa) read here.

colouring our worship

Context: I have been thinking about how to name the wide range of emotions and experiences people bring to church. I am going to try this on Sunday and am wondering if it could become a regular part of our Sunday morning congregation.

Environment: cross at front, colour paint chips in baskets around church.

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visual worship worth bookmarking

Christ is the image of the invisible God; Colossians 1:15. And so some useful resources for those who take the Incarnated Image (whether visual/video) seriously at this site.

And this site also.

worship: reasons for voyaging

I led opening worship at the consultation for forming leaders in emerging churches today.

I introduced and explained an artwork from outside the Christchurch Art Gallery. It is called Reasons for Voyaging and features 7 sculptures, in the shape of canoes, honouring the different ways people have travelled to New Zealand.

I introduced, with space to pray, around 4 topics:
1- our voyages here – thanking God for those who gave us space to come
2 – our spiritual voyages – honouring those who taught us to read, write, think, create, who have mentored and believed in us
3 – bumpy voyages – praying for those in the emerging church going through bumpy voyages at the moment
4 – voyages home – recalling what God is birthed in us that is not yet realised, our dreams, future leaders, future communities.

And we used a verbal refrain:
Wind of God,
unpredictable
breath on us.
to commit in community our private prayers to God.

I then gave everyone a postcard of the artwork and invited them to write a prayer for someone they are “voyaging” with as a spiritual takeaway. I had a Jack Johnson surfing video in the background, specially for the Opawa Jack Johnson fans (Danielle, Shawn, Lynne, Amy, Roanna, Andrew and Mel).

I then introduced the hongi, a Maori ritual of greeting, and invited us to share it with each other, respectful of its origins and as a prayer that the Spirit of God would blow, unpredictable, through us.

It seemed to strike a chord with some.

Update: Rachelle gives a punters perspective here.

reading the popes funeral through alt.worship eyes

It was interesting to watch the Pope’s funeral on TV last night. Great to see an inspirational leader honoured in this way. Wonderful to see religion so mainstream.

I kept wanting to watch it as a worship curator; wondering how I would lead/take/curate such an event. Here are some Protestant reflections.

Contextualisation: The Mass was in Latin, so basically incomprehensible and inaccessible. Yet the commentators, an Archbishop and various Catholic experts, provided interpretive comments. So there is some desire for accessibility and comprehensibility. So why not go the whole hog? Why not translate?

Tradition: A strength of Catholicism, eg the retaining of Latin, is continuity with tradition. You respect and honour a 2,000 year old history. Yet this notion of tradition was deconstructed by the commentary noting the changes. For example, the 20th century pope not being carried everywhere in public on a special chair. Another example, the willingness to just distribute a wafer as an inclusive symbol of both bread and wine. So tradition can and does change. Surely any change weakens your ancient roots.

Audience participation: It was totally impressive to see the host distributed to an audience of 40,000. So you can have audience involvement in large events. So “alt.worship” might not just be for small groups? And at times the funeral was halted by the cheers and chants of the crowd. Great to see that even in such mass events (pun intended), the audience shaping the “liturgy.” I am interleaving this with reflections on U2 and how they involve the audience in their concerts. Large need not equal passive.

And a question:
What was George Bush, that “Christian” fundamentalist, really thinking as the host was distributed?

with Easter love

in love, we wrap
the body of Jesus

in love
we lay petals

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.

worship treat

I was quite pleased with this.

It took about 20 minutes to make;
Two boxes;
Seal a red light in the top box.
Cut a cross in the top of the bottom box.
And so the red light shines through the cross and falls on the communion elements.
As you reach in for communion, the light of the cross falls on you.
The idea was sparked by thinking about Moses and the burning bush. The fascinating thing is that the bush is not burnt. So the text carries that sense of God + nature rather than God denying nature.

God does not burn us up, but in love and warmth reveals who we really are. So as you reach for communion, let the love and warmth of God reveal who you really are.

sheep and worship

Sometimes worship experiences just click. I preached on kingdom KPI’s today, a process I have been spinning about over the last few days.

As people came in the door, they each got a plastic sheep, about 1 cm. (thanx to Renee for the spark of the idea). Small enough to lose.

I spoke about the lost sheep and at the end of the sermon I invited them to name their sheep …. I mean, to name a sheep. Full sermon here if you can be bothered (of if Kingdom KPI’s in postmodernity are bothering you)

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labour day music and workplace spirituality

New Zealand is celebrating Labour weekend, with Monday as a public holiday. The origins of Labour Day are in the struggle for an eight-hour working day, and New Zealand workers were among the first in the world to claim this right. So at the core of Labour Day is a commitment to justice and fairness.

During the offering on Sunday, I am wanting to link our labour with Labour Day and Micah 6:8; “See that justice is done, let mercy be your first concern, and humbly obey God.”

I have rolled a roll of white fax paper down the floor of the church. People will be invited to write on Post-it notes the ways they labour; and attach this to the roll of paper. We will then take up the offering. I need some music …. linking work and justice and God. Any bright sparks out there?

emotionally violent worship

an electric guitar played well – that is pure and discordant – is an instrument of emotional violence.

so much of church music is soft and schmaltzy. to hear an electric guitar solo on Sunday evening, in the midst of a worship song, was a superb reminder of the emotionally discordant violence that is the death and resurrection of Christ.

and loud, so loud, the electic guitar solo must be played, if we really do believe that this event changed human history.

all that we are; responding to all that God is.

stripping worship

“It’s like you’ve got this room, the same room at the end of the day, but you’ve cleared it out and lined it with red velvet and beautiful standing lamps and nice chairs with ivory castors.” – quote from pop band Goldenhorse, about playing their songs with an orchestra.

I read this yesterday and it resonated with what we are trying to do at Opawa service wise. Worship tends to be quite plain; songs, talk, home. So why not strip it out and line it with image and imagination and participation and Scripture and prayer and space to think and contemporary music, alongside the song and the talk.

It will be the same room at the end of the day – worship – but a lot richer. And in doing so you appeal to the whole person, and allow multiple entry points for people on their God journey.

prayer as snowboarding or skate boarding video

I am leading a prayer time for a community youth service tomorrow nite. I am wondering about praying “eyes open” – ie showing a video of snowboarding or skateboarding and then praying that in God we will have the same freedom, fun and discipline ie learn the moves.

any suggestions on useful video clips, as its not my scene?

blessed to be a faithful witness

The theme of Sunday was blessed to be a faithful witness. The challenge is to move that head/heart knowledge to hands/feet/body action.

As part of the response, I “drew” a street map on the floor, using white tape to mark the main streets of the east side of our city.

People were given stars, and invited to place a star on the place in the city where they are blessed to be a witness. (This was mixed with communion and a song by Ben Harper, Blessed to be a witness, from his Diamonds in the Inside album.) It was an hands/feet/body way of praying.

As I took some photos the morning after, I realised how seriously people had taken the exercise. There were stars up on the balcony, people who live and work in the country.

There were even stars on the door, through which people leave church. I am continually blown away by the way that people “work” with symbols, making them personally and interactively relevant.