sustain:if:able kiwi

postmodern evangeegg?

Part of our commitment to being an inter-generational community at Opawa is “Take a Kid to” services, in which we all, adult and children, explore the Jesus story. We had over 190 people in attendance, including 50 kids, a good number from the community. At the risk of being called a postmodern Ned Flanders, by the tallskinnykiwi, as part of our walk to Easter, I unveiled this today.

Inside each “egg” is something to open, break, suck, for each day of Holy week. I’ll post about each one as we go through Holy Week. Our kids got the “egg” after the service and are invited to open it each day of Holy Week, sharing the story with their families.

So why, tallskinny, might I not be more cheesy than Ned Flanders?

1. This is designed to let people enter the story, for families to sit together and tell the Jesus story. I know a church that did something similar, but all the activities were focused on inviting people to church. This is the opposite. It invites families to enter the story amid the fabric of their own lives.

2. It is tactile and experiential – there are things to break and suck and smell.

3. It is integral to the life of our community. We are having a short service each day of Holy Week that takes the same symbols and the same readings. Together, we walk the Scriptures with Jesus.

4. Help me ….

Updated note re evangelism: I like the distributed nature of the postmodern evangeegg. An egg has gone for use in a school class in Auckland, for a school class in Christchurch, and to give to a family of migrants in the community.

expresso

(Further on here). The expresso leadership team met last nite. 5 of us gathered to talk about how we are finding God spiritually, what is church and what a new congregation at Opawa could look like.

Excellent discussion. My summary:
– We’ll meet weekly; with a cycle of 3 weeks of discussion, 1 week of mission, 5th week of fun.
– Looking at Tuesday nites, 8-9 pm, in a local cafe.
– Discussion nites will have an opening ritual and a closing multi-sensory prayer. In between is discussion, with the group choosing the topic/question and different people taking turns to “kick-start” each evening discussion.
– We’re not yet sure about how often we should do communion.
– This will be a congregation of Opawa, seeking to offer a complete church experience, yet seeking to develop it’s own life that could look very different from existing ways that Opawa is church.
– We talked about the tension between small group and being church. How good can a conversation be amongst more than 12 people? If we talk around tables, will that still give us good conversation with a growing mix of one yet many, big yet small? (Any thoughts out there? Can you experience good community in a cafe with 50-70 people clustered around tables talking about one “kick-start”?)

We have gone away, with different individuals working on opening and closing rituals, others on logo’s, others on “group guidelines for a healthy learning experience.”

5 people signed up for growth coaching 2 date.

processing a tough one

A lot of my thought has gone into a tough pastoral issue this week.

Late last year we baptised a new Christian. His testimony was honest and raw. Coming back after the Christmas break, I became aware this new Christian had copped some flak for what he shared.

Sigh. I don’t know the who or what. Not everyone knows about this, yet there is a fair bit of talk in the community. Should I leave it or not? Is this a one off or more sinister? There are 25 new people at Opawa since December. Will hearing some of our history put them off?

Sigh. This morning, after consultation during the week with heads I respect, I took the plunge. In the context of communion I talked about being one body. I described the joy as the body grows (we had welcomed 4 new members), and the pain if one member of the body suffers.

I described some of what happened at and after the baptism in December. I then reminded us of the grace of God, in welcome, reconciliation and forgiveness, that is offered to all at communion. The invitation to take communion this morning was an opportunity to walk with Jesus in a body of honesty and forgiveness and grace.

The coming days will tell if I made a wise call and if the processes I engaged with were appropriate. Leadership is scarey and I’m feeling exposed over this particular call.

repackaging Jesus

Back before Christmas, I got interviewed for a national magazine as part of an article on “re-packaging Jesus.” Just noticed the article is now up on the web.

Some of my favourite quotes:
So, if you’re expecting what Rev Dr Steve Taylor at Opawa Baptist Church in Christchurch calls “a Mr Bean experience” – a mumbled sermon and badly sung ancient hymns, with people dozing off around you – think again.

And:
Back at Opawa, Taylor says that each church has to be like a DJ, sampling from a range of texts and traditions – the Bible, culture, ancient rituals. Whatever it takes to get people dancing. Different cultures, generations and churches will come up with different rhythms and God’s big enough for that. “When you mix these tracks together, new mixes emerge, new sounds.”

wireless

the church has just got a wireless network.
so i am showing off by posting from outside the men’s toilet.
wierd place to show off from isn’t it?
people get arrested for showing off in such places.
i should go.

a spring spirituality

Last September (Southern hemisphere spring), I gave out sunflowers, and invited people at Opawa to plant them as a sign of spring hope. Opawa has had many years of winters, and I suggested the seeds could embody our prayers for hope.

Last nite, a church family popped around with this photo. The sunflower stands over 3.6 metres tall.

Wanted

– a VJ
– an environmental artist
for Sunday evenings in Christchurch.

Displacement

We have our annual church meeting this week. I’ve been here a year now and so the AGM is undergoing a radical re-shape. It’s trying to be more like a family time – with food, with comedy and live music, with sharing of what’s going on and talking about the future. There will still be motions and agendas, but the dominant image will, hopefully, be framed around the metaphor of family gathering. We have written to any and all our non-members to tell them about the changes and invite them along.

In preparation, I have been out and about shooting video. I made a list of all those new around Opawa since the last AGM and have been videoing them saying who they are and what they appreciate about Opawa.

Anyhow, I added up the list, and blow me down, there are nearly 60 new people. It’s been quite a year.

But then my thoughts jump. I wonder how it is for the long-timers. When 60 new people arrive, how do they feel? What are the pastoral issues associated with this sort of change? After all, the dominant metaphor is family.

reading for all its worth

We have started reading Walter Wangerin’s The Book of God, as part of worship at Digestion, our interactive Sunday evening service.

The nominated reader comes and sits on our “Hot text seat” – a gorgous red chair, and away we go, listening to the narrative of God in history. When we feel done, we put it aside for next Sunday. It’s a bit like a bed-time story.

In evangelical churches, the Bible is usually reduced to a tiny bit that someone explains. My hope is that reading the Book of God promotes the story, unexplained, uncommented on, reminding us of the big sweep of God through history.

growth questions

We are ringing people around church at the moment, asking them;

In what ways do you see people your age grow/develop/change for the better?

Are their any other ways people your age can grow/develop/change for the better?

Age range?

Planting native trees

We inducted a developmentpastor, Jason King, on Sunday. We then gave the new Opawa concrete slab and brick barbeque a test run in its role as community builder in our midst. An excellent, excellent day.

The new development pastor, as part of the induction, gave the church a tree, a New Zealand native, which he then planted in the church garden beside the barbeque.

A symbol
… of the desire to be planted native with us
… of the need to be watered and tendered, especially in the transplant stage
… of the desire to provide shelter and shade in response to being cared for

I thought it a superb symbol of pastor-in-community.

280

280 people came through the Christmas journey last night.

christmas journey update

We had over 170 people through the Christmas journey – the interactive Christmas experience – last nite. So we’re well on track to exceed 1000 people for the week. We’ve had media coverage on national print, local TV and local newspapers.

I worked late last night and through the windows of my office listened to the chatter of kids and the murmer of adults. It’s like a party atmosphere, local community kids dragging in their friends, church people connecting, Pete the bereted designer cruising around, fixing, fiddling, enjoying the uptake.