sustain:if:able kiwi

scripture and rhythm

I have a problem with my Scriptural rhythm and I’m looking for a new method. For a number of years I have used a regular Scriptural rhythm based on the Revised Common Lectionary. It offers 4 readings – Psalm, Old Testament, Gospel, Epistle.

At the start of the year I suggested a pattern of shared Scripture readings to our church leadership team. I invited us to all read the same Scriptures, as this would give us a shared Biblical language. I also invited us to meet regularly for lectio divina around these texts we were dwelling in together. Different staff would led us. Nine months on, a real sense of communal collegiality has developed in which the Scriptures are literally forming our conversations and dreams.

In introducing this pattern, I was concerned that the Revised Common Lectionary might be too complex for a group of Baptists. Instead, I found a set of readings in Daily Prayer. This offered a Psalm and one other reading, swapping between Old Testament and New Testament. It could be photocopied as a simple booklet. It has caught on and quite a number of our church community at Opawa are now reading with us. I doubt they would have connected with the RCL.

But. A big but. The strength of Daily Prayer is it’s weakness. The daily progression does not integrate into a weekly rhythm. Thus we can’t integrate our daily readings into our weekly gatherings. I need something simple, that can also give us a progression weekly (and we gather as different congregations on Sundays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. So we need like 3 different weekly rhythms!).

So the RCL is too complex. And Daily Prayer can’t be integrated into weekly patterns. Does anyone have any suggestions that might help – something simpler than RCL that can work both daily and weekly?

workplace spirituality site

Nigel has been with us as an overseas intern for the last 3 weeks, working with us in the area of workplace spirituality. This includes running a 3 week course on “Where is God on Monday?”

As one (of his many) gifts to us at Opawa, he has developed a website to nourish workplace spirituality; part of resourcing our mission. Enjoy!

work intern – welcome Nigel

Nigel, Jo, Archie and Jacob arrived from the UK today. They are with us at Opawa for 3 weeks. This is our 2nd go as a church at hosting overseas interns. Last year we had Shannon McMillan, who worked as an “art” intern. Nigel is a “work” intern, and will be helping us explore workplace spirituality across our congregations. He’s also fascinated by Opawa as a story of emerging within an established context.

Overseas interns is a tricky balance – so much culture crossing and the need to find ways for all parties to bless and be a blessing. Each year I hope we get better at hosting overseas interns; we now have more staff, better structures and a dedicated intern study space.

I guess I am saying with this post: overseas interns welcome; if you live outside New Zealand (or Christchurch) and want to learn and be a part of the Opawa story, feel free to get in contact.

community and interaction

A year ago 4 of us started espresso. It was a risk, but we wanted a conversation space, a place where people connected with God through each other. As part of the birthing of espresso, we developed a set of guidelines. We read this pretty much weekly, hoping to create a climate of interaction that is safe and allows people to participate as much or as little as they want.

Anyhow, Espresso had 17 punters on Tuesday nite. (We were kicking off a number of weeks of discussion around the spirituality and themes in relation to the Da Vinci Code.) Now, when you get to about 17 people, group dynamics can start to change. It is easier for people to fall silent or slip to the edges of a group. It can be harder to have your say. I’m not saying this happened on Tuesday, nor is it necessarily a bad thing. I’m just making the observation.

So what do we do?
1 – Just keep going. But will we start losing one of our driving values of conversation and participation?

2 – Start another one. It would be great to have espresso’s all over Christchurch. But it seems to take a lot more energy to get from 4 to 10 than from 10 to 17. So if you are always planting another group when you got to about 15-20, then aren’t you always dealing with fragility? Is that a bad thing?

3 – Do some things together; like an ending or opening ritual and then separate into smaller conversation groups. (The space we meet could easily handle this). But what work needs to happen to ensure that the espresso DNA is expressed in each and every smaller conversation? How would it feel as these groups change change every night? Would you feel like you were in a better/worse conversation than across the way? How do you create safe entry spaces of first timers?

I’m thinking aloud; so any thoughts and observations are welcome.

Spirit of life Pentecost weekend

The Spirit of Life festival was our Pentecost celebration, building on the NorWest Festival held last year. The aim was to connect the Spirit with the whole of life

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waiting on Pentecost

: We’ve been praying every day this week.
: Tomorrow over 60 people have booked for seminars – creating art installations; Spirit and Jesus; Spirit and church; tile and kite making; spirituality of new life.
: From the auditorium roof are hung branches of twisted willow, forked, for we are waiting,

for the Pentecost flame of love.

espresso anniversary

espresso is the Tuesday congregation at Opawa that has been celebrating it’s first birthday over the last few weeks. It started with a team of 4 and now has about 10 people. (for more on espresso’s history go here) It’s been an experiment in planting an emerging church within an existing church and in valuing community-in-discussion for spiritual formation.

After 2 weeks of evaluation through May; including questions like – What was the original idea/intention/purpose of Expresso? What has worked? what do people like about expresso? What has been difficult or could work better? Ideas about the format/structure/time/place? Size of the group/absences/sustainability/place for growth of the group? Unexplored areas to be incorporated? What/Is their a role of corporate prayer/bible reading/singing worship and other traditional aspects of church? Is it church? – we cut the cake and listed our highlights of the year. In no particular order;

Worship: Anne’s line-dancing “ending”: “It was a cracker!”

Worship: Simon’s U2 Record (vinyl) ending: (love rescue me)

Worship: The tent with Fat Freddy’s Drop

Thinking: food and vegetarianism debate(s): Jesus and food.

Thinking: Karen’s input

Community: Rockclimbing team building/nurturing

Thinking: Can God heal all relationships? discussion

Celebrating new life?

A child? Grandchild? Special little person?
then…our upcoming seminar
New Life: Rituals and prayers for new babies
Saturday 3 June, 2.00-3.30pm
may be for you!

Creating memories
Blessing baby rooms
Prayers for sleepless night
Planning a blessing/naming/adoption ceremony
Rituals for the unexpected

Consider yourself invited
(Creche available, please pre-book)
Opawa Baptist Church
cnr Hastings and Wilsons
Phone 379 7680

Information flier here. Part of Spirit of Life Pentecost festival.

Spirit of life pentecost festival

The Spirit in all of life, inside and outside the church, in word and deed, in art and mission, storytelling with Simon Brown, teaching with Steve Taylor, art and mission seminar with Peter and Joyce Majendie, creative seminars, rituals and prayers for new babies, coffee, community …

Friday, 2nd June
6.15pm BYO takeaways for tea
7.00-8.30pm Trivia night
9.00-11.00pm Movie: The Fighting Temptations

Saturday 3rd June
From Inspiration to Installation
9.30-5.30: creating public art as mission
(Peter and Joyce Majendie) Cost = $45

OR
9.30-10.30am: Spirit of Life Teaching 1 (Steve Taylor)
10.50-12.30: Story telling (Simon Brown) (note a)
OR Leaf rubbing & kite making (note b)

1.30-2.00pm: Spirit of Life Teaching 2 (Steve Taylor)
2.00-3.30: New Life: rituals and prayers for new babies
OR Leaf rubbing and kite making (note b)
OR Tile painting creative expression (note b)
4.00-5.30: Either Storytelling finishing or enjoy time out.

7.00-8.30pm: Concert and storytelling
8.30-9.00pm: Supper
9.00-10.00pm: Late night worship (in Pentecost art installation)
Notes: (a: Charge = $20 for non-Opawa Baptist people)
(b: Material fee of $5 applies)

Sunday 4th June
10.30-11.45am: Pentecost church service (Simon Brown)
7.00-8.00pm: Worship in the art

All at Opawa Baptist Church
cnr Hastings & Wilsons, Christchurch,
More info: 03-379 7680 or office at opawa dot org dot nz

More info here

communion with Jesus

Communion sunday morning and I was preaching around Luke 24:36-43. I was struck by the thought that when Jesus ate fish with his disciples, it was like his first resurrection meal. It was an image I wanted us to capture. So we set up 4 long tables, uniform table cloths and 15 chairs, in a line at the front of the church, and invited people to come and eat with Jesus.

With 185 people, we couldn’t really afford a full meal. Instead we had big loaves of bread and caraffe’s of grape juice and wine tasting glasses. After the words of invitation, we sung 3 worship songs. That, and actually being seated and served at the table, gave people time to linger.

Lots of positive feedback and a more communal experience of communion for us at Opawa.

training in artistic mission

Wondered how to link creativity with mission? Wondered how to tell the Christian story without words? At Queen’s Birthday weekend at Opawa Baptist Church, Peter and Joyce Majendie are presenting a one day seminar entitled, “From Inspiration to Installation: Public mission through public art.”

Peter and Joyce will share their knowledge gleaned from years of practical experience, including;
1. moving from ideas to creativity to implementation
2. art, creativity and mission
3. using public spaces
4. mobilising volunteers
5. working with media groups
This seminar is part of a Pentecost weekend experience that will include art, creativity and spirituality seminars, cafe and live music.

For full press release

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planting churches for the 3rd age

I am in a number of conversations among people at Opawa about planting a fifth congregation; a third-age congregation, church for wise older people. Under our multi-congregation model; church is about growing in community; growing in spirituality; growing in mission.

This invites the question; “what would church look like for you and your friends who don’t know Jesus” to grow in community; spirituality; mission.

I have dreamed of church for the 3rd age since I arrived at Opawa. People are living longer and most Western countries have an increasingly older demographic. I have been among some fruitful conversations among Opawa people in recent weeks. Some books I have found helpful in my thinking include Older people and the church based on real research in the UK among older people, both churched and unchurched; and Pioneering the 3rd age another missional perspective in the UK.

thursday friends

Each day of this Easter week, at the start of the Easter Journey, we have run simple church services; fifteen minutes to pray, read Scripture and offer some sort of symbolic engagement with what Jesus is doing each day of this Easter week. We roster them out among the staff team. The aims are to:
– help us as a church community live inside the Scriptural journey to Easter
– utilise the great environments that are a gift of the Easter Journey
– provide a bit of a buzz as the Easter Journey kicked off each evening.

The downsides are that these are the most random services I have ever done. Church every day is totally new terrain for Baptists. You have no idea who will turn up, nor whether you will have 1 or 20.

Tonight (Thursday) was a classic. As I prepared and thought about what Jesus did on the Thursday, a number of themes presented themselves
: the place of Judas, apt given the hype around the Gospel of Judas
: foot-washing and servanthood
: communion
: the human struggle to answer the call to prayer

In the end I went with a theme of friendship. It is my eldest daughter’s birthday today and at 8 am the phone rang, one of her friends, wishing her happy birthday. It’s really sweet to see your daughter being loved by her friends.

So I decided to tell this story of friendship and then invite people to thank God for their friends. Then use that “emotional exegesis” to help us enter into a 5 voice reading that re-told portions of Thursday night. And thus to consider how the friends of Jesus treated him.

At 7:02 pm it is start time and I look with stunned mullet amazement around those gathered. First time I’ve seen children at these. Oh my goodness. Thirteen children and five adults. Yep. Child/adult ratio WAY out of wack. One family is new and probably totally unchurched.

Friendship suddenly makes this a very appropriate service for 13 children and 5 adults. We sing happy birthday to my oldest. We go round the room and all name our friends. We listen to adults and kids read the Scriptures. We ask God to help us be good friends to Jesus.

Thirteen kids then race into the Easter Journey and I collapse exhausted, thankful that in the mercy of God I did not go with an adult intellectual discourse on Judas, a solemn foot washing or an exhortation to stay up late to pray with Jesus!

easter journey

Opawa Baptist is amazing. As preparation for our Easter Journey they gut and redecorate the entire church. The worship space has become a garden, complete with lawn, fog, lighting, two pools, 1000 colour pannets, trees and shrubs. The Easter narrative is told through art. It’s beautiful and haunting and communal and stunning.

I’ll try and post some pictures during the week. Some observations:
– for people who, by trade are landscape gardeners or builders, setting the Journey up is worship.
– inviting people to tell a story through art invites the immediate question; “what is the story?” This is serious spiritual formation.
– so much church worship is wordbased. The Easter Journey invites the eyes to worship God.

Open 7-11 every evening this Easter week; plus 1-11 pm Easter Friday and Easter Saturday. Every evening we are holding short services, 7-7:20 pm. For more resources go here