Chalk and Cheese

We're about to begin another summer (summer? Hah - it's pouring down outside!) bookended by the 'right and left wings' of Christian conferences in that, for the third year running we will be in Keswick next week during Convention time and going to some of the meetings, and then at the end of August going to Greenbelt Festival in Cheltenham. The history of how we got to this point is complex and can wait for another time, but it is fascinating comparing and contrasting the two events. Chalk and cheese.

We've been to some excellent events at Keswick, but I still find myself getting mildly irritated with what I perceive - maybe wrongly - to be a slightly smug, self-satisfied tone emanating from some meetings and leaders. The emphasis is on personal spirituality to the extent that in 2005, a couple of weeks after the 7/7 bombings, at only one of the meetings I was at was this nation-shaking event or the issues behind it even mentioned! Maybe I was at the wrong meetings. Where is the application of the gospel to where people are itching, starting with where they are at rather than with what we have to tell them? Is the Church as represented here just getting older and more irrelevant?

Certainly the age profile at Greenbelt is much younger and there are all sorts of professing Christians who go there who would not be found at Keswick - e.g. Goths, Gays, 'Emerging' Church, post-congregation (of course the opposite also applies!) so levels of relevance and inclusion would appear to be better. We've been to some excellent events at Greenbelt, but I still find myself getting mildly irritated with what I perceive - maybe wrongly - to be a
slightly 'trendy lefty', 'we're more enlightened and intelligent than all those comfortable middle-class church-goers' attitude. The emphasis is on issues - environment, politics, sexuality etc. However, does Greenbelt go too far in the other direction - right out on the edge, far away from the safety, certainty and soundness of Keswick? It's been said you only find out where the line is by stepping over it sometimes.

In 'The Church After Christendom' Stuart Murray talks about different models of church:
- Bounded-set: fixed core and boundaries. Believe then belong. Secure, but restrictive. Exclusive.
- Centred-set: fixed core values; no patrolling of boundaries, good for belonging before believing
- Open-set: neither boundaries or defined centre. Inclusive but undisciplined.
- Fuzzy-set: ill-defined boundaries; liberal, relaxed. Unstable - liable to go to open-set or bounded-set

Keswick seems to me to be for those of the 'bounded set' type of church, Greenbelt ideally for 'centred set' but I wonder sometimes if it is in danger of going 'open set' in it's desire to include everyone, and so lose Christian distinctiveness... not likely to be a problem for Keswick! Or is that the chance you take when you get out of the boat? This relevance and inclusion thing is tricky isn't it? Needless to say it is another issue I've been reading and thinking about over the last while.



The two conferences are very different (I'm trying hard to think of a speaker who has appeared at both conferences and can't. Anyone know of one?), but its good to remember that both are also populated with people sincerely trying to follow Jesus as best they can and he loves them/us all!

P.S. Speaking of chalk, last year I went to the Keswick Convention Bookshop to buy 'Intelligent Church' by Steve Chalke (ouch) and couldn't see it anywhere. I asked the assistant and she, obviously embarrassed, reached into a box hidden under a table and got me a copy. Apparently the leadership at Keswick were concerned that people would be offended if Steve's books were on display. I was offended that they weren't!

P.P.S. Cartoon from here. Check it out.

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A busy weekend

Last weekend was a busy one.

Saturday (07/07/07... oo-er) was the annual Fun Day organised by the 'Friends of Swinton Grove Park'. This is a group of local residents who work with the Council's Leisure department to improve and look after the local park. Judith and I are two-fifths of the current regular membership, and the Fun Day is the biggest event of the year, both in terms of people coming and workload. Other neighbours help out on the day with the various activities (though a few more present when we started setting up at 9.30am would have been good) and the Leisure staff provide things like a generator, gazeebos etc. The recent wet weather meant numbers were down this year to around 300-350 (last year it was over 600), though there was actually no rain to speak of during the day.

It was great to see such a mix of people there from many different ethnic groups - a snapshot of our area really - all getting along and having a good time. The only iffy moment was when the bingo went haywire and the game had to be re-started... they take their bingo seriously round here! All in all a nice bit of community cohesion building in these times of 'terror', though due to the nature of our media (in part a reflection of the news we want. Discuss.) the only place you'll hear about it is right here! If you want to see some photos go here.

Sunday - Early Sunday, 7am early - was Alannah's Car Boot Sale to raise funds for her time in Zimbabwe. Thanks to the generosity of friends and folks at church we had a lot of stuff to sell and it was good fun. We couldn't find a sale on any other day than Sunday, so we had to miss church, joining of course with the many others who do so every week. It was our first time running a stall, but the traders either side and behind us were friendly and helpful, and very interested in what we were raising money for. We had some good conversations with them and a number of the shoppers. The regular traders and shoppers all knew each other and all day there was banter and laughter. In other words, a Sunday Morning community, arguably more open and welcoming than some others I could mention...



Something coming through time and time again in my sabbatical reading is the importance of community and relationships, and how they should be modeled by an outward-facing Church as a taster for the Kingdom of God. The thing is community 'out there' at it's best could teach us a thing or two! We shouldn't be trying to replace the positives of community and relationships already happening, or, perish the thought, breeze in saying, 'Watch, let us do community for you'. But we can add into the mix an awareness of the God who is already present and working among, and so make community three dimensional by adding a vertical element to the horizontal.

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The 'n' word

I turned on the TV earlier this evening and a prog called "Lenny's Britain" was on. This is a series where Lenny Henry travels around the British Isles checking out our sense of humour, what makes people laugh in different places and in various jobs and circumstances. He was on a ferry to Ireland and then travelled to Belfast. So, I took an interest.

In Belfast he met with some Northern Irish comedians who were talking about the rise of racism that was accompanying the influx of immigrants over the last few years now the locals weren't fighting each other so much. One told a story about the apparently innocent use of the word 'nigger' by older people who had never so much as met a black person. Lenny Henry's reaction, spoken in the commentary was as follows: "I'm not so much shocked by the use of the 'n' word, more saddened. There's always a skip in my heartbeat whenever I hear it. And no matter how well-meaning the people are saying it, no matter how fitting the context, the word for me is still taboo."

As it happens this describes quite well my reaction when a few minutes earlier in a clip from his stand-up routine Lenny had used 'Jesus Christ!' as a comic swear word. I'm sure he meant no offence (it was but one of what my friend Geoff Mann called "a million casual blasphemies" in a song we used to do) and I won't be burning an effigy of him. But it reminded me again of our culture's current measures of political correctness and what will or will not be tolerated, and the marginalisation of Christians. Without in any way taking away from the genuineness of the emotion, or the history behind it, is Lenny's sadness at the mention of the 'n' word more valued than mine at the casual exclamation of the 'j' word?

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Stones

Last night was our area Confirmation Service, hosted by Brunswick. All a bit too Anglican for me, but at a basic level a good opportunity to express or re-affirm commitment... and one of those doing so was our daughter Alannah, so naturally we were there to support her.

Of course, as I sat there feeling a bit more non-Anglican than usual, God decided to remind me he can speak through anything!! As people came into the service each was given a small stone. (This is something we have done at Brunswick before, but may have been a bit of a shock to folk from other churches who might have been expecting a hymnbook!) The stone was not a means for us to express our reaction to the sermon (...though, thinking about it... I feel a digression coming on. Must... find... close... bracket...) but for us spectators to also make a fresh affirmation of our commitment by bringing the stones to the front and building a cairn.



As I sat there with my stone I thought, well... I'm part-way through this sabbatical and, as I wrote last time, at a strange stage of having laid everything down as best I can, not knowing what to pick up again or in what way, yet with a head full of inspiring but non-specific stuff and a desire to try to get beyond the 'fishing people out of the river' work to finding out and attempting to deal in some way with the bigger issues of what/who is throwing them in. To cut that very long sentence short, all I can do at this present time is make a marker of my continued trust in God to bring me through this process, hopefully strengthening that trust in that act.

It was as I was thinking this and actually getting up to go down to place my stone that the thought came to me: "It's like I'm shaping up to face Goliath, I've rejected the armour of Saul, and what I need next is the 5 smooth stones". Yowza! Good summary of where I'm up to. I don't think it means I will be given exactly 5 specific actions, but the timing and stone/stones thing was a reassuring God-incidence.

The photo is of our finished cairn at the end of the service. As always, thoughts, comments, chocolate very welcome.

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Some assembly required

Last week I had another day with my 'Spiritual Director' where we chatted, shared and prayed over my sabbatical/study leave so far. This was the second of three of such days we've planned for the start, mid-point and end of this time. So... about half-way in, where are things up to? I mentioned last time about the office clear-out and golf lessons being possible pictures of what is going on in the S/SL. The feeling of clear-out and being taken apart has intensified - I was saying to someone the other day it feels like the bits of my work/ministry are lying around me on the garage floor, waiting for re-assembly (I hope!). It's a strange feeling of lack of specific vision and motivation. Plenty of vaguer vision and inspiration about the church and society, culture, engagement etc coming out of what I've been reading, but nothing coming into focus yet about how exactly I will take some of that and re-enter the fray.



I've also been reminded again of a thought I had back when this S/SL was being considered - that I was like a computer that had been running lots of programmes for ages and was getting sluggish. The best thing to do with a computer in such a situation (free Tech Tip here) is to re-boot... start again just with the basic operating system. The next day (God-incidence?) I came across this quote from Bono: "That to me is the spiritual life. The slow reworking and rebooting of a computer at regular intervals. It has slowly rebuilt me in a better image. It has taken years, though, and it is not over yet" (from 'U2 on U2'). Well, the re-boot has happened and I'm now just running the basic operating system with the choice of what other programmes to add. Lots of possibilities, I can't possibly do them all, and I don't want to go back to a situation where it seemed like I was trying to do them all. (Also, I would like to find a different angle for some things, something that would work better. Too idealist? I don't know. Still thinking this one through. More anon).



I'm hoping and praying the next bit of the S/SL will see some re-assembly, some specifics. But just now it's a little weird and a bit of a struggle... that's probably something to do with impatience. I was reminded again the other day that this is a valuable time in and of itself, not just as a means to an end. And it may not happen again for some time!



I feel a twinge of guilt at the luxury of having someone spend this time focusing on me and what I'm about. I also feel a bit guilty at taking this time out when I see or meet others who seem to be able to just bash on year after year without any visible signs of fatigue, loss of vision, energy etc. Maybe they've got the balance right - the balance I've struggled with for years, leading in the end to a situation of near burn-out. When I end this time and get back involved in stuff (whatever that is to be) I need to establish a pattern or balance of activity that will include relaxation and rest, reflection and study, not in a big block like just now, but in the daily/weekly/monthly/annual round. Could be a challenge given the chaotic nature of the urban context.



As always, those of you who are, thanks for the prayers. All comments, queries, suspicions of heresy, whatever, welcome.

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

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Books, birthday-bash and Wemberlee

The gaps are getting longer... sorry. Told you I wasn't too good at this diary-keeping stuff.

May so far has seen a number of reading days clocked up at NTC (Nazarene Theological College), more golf lessons and office clearing, plus a Nice Surprise, and Alannah's 18th Birthday.

Books read so far fall into two groups:

1. On reflection and silence - ' Into The Silent Land', Martin Laird; 'Poustinia', Catherine de Hueck Doherty.

2. On mission - 'Church in The Back Streets' by Stanley Evans (an urban classic from the early 60's), 'A Charismatic Approach to Social Action' by Larry Christensen (from the 70's - one of only a few I'm aware of on that subject from that spirituality), 'Church Beyond Christendom' by Stuart Murray (follow up to 'Post-Christendom' which I read earlier in the year together with 'Intelligent Church' by Steve (books-kept-under-the-table-at Keswick-Convention-Bookshop) Chalke), plus a number of articles and booklets and podcasts.

Currently I'm reading: 'Journeying Out' by Ann Morisy, 'The Secret Message of Jesus' by Brian McClaren and 'Gospel Without Compromise' by Catherine de Hueck Doherty. Yes, organised and structured as ever, I have 3 on the go at once.

Coming up in June I am going on a 5 day conference on Post Christendom led by said Stuart Murray, then later in the month the "Jesus in the City" Urban Congress in Bristol and a couple of day events looking at Community Organising. This is what a trainer said Carisma had been doing without really realising it, so I want to investigate some more and see if there is something to be learnt for future direction. That will then be about it as far as going to conferences etc will be concerned - there were a couple more things pencilled in, but there is so much buzzing in my head already I think after the stuff in June it will be time to attempt to focus down and apply. There are so many issues and areas of interest and possible research and it's like each thing I look at opens up several more.

For Alannah's 18th on the 26th she asked for a Big Family Meal, so as many as could get there got together in Sheffield for a mega pub lunch. Rumours that several of the staff handed in their notice as the horde piled in have so far been unsubstantiated. It was a lot of fun, and also Tess's (Daniel's fiancee's) introduction to a number of Alannah's aunts, uncles and cousins. She survived! Photos here.

As for the 'Nice Surprise'... Having been offered some tickets to watch Chelsea in the F.A. Cup semi-final least year, this year, thanks to my brother-in-law Dave it was one better... 3 tickets for the first F.A. Cup final at the new Wembley Stadium - again featuring Chelsea! Again I was accompanied by Daniel and Judith's Chelsea-mad cousin Martin. A great day out, and though not exactly a classic final our team did win, which was an improvement on last year. To quote Martin (every ten minutes ever since apparently): "YESSSSSSSS!"



Maybe I'm reading too much into this but the epic clearing-out of the office and the way the golf pro has taken my swing (I use that term loosely) apart before beginning to put it together again so I can do what I was doing before only better, could be pictures of what is going on ministry-wise. Whaddyawl think? Don't touch that dial, folks. Keep it here and keep praying. As always all comments etc much appreciated.

And finally, with another off-spring hitting adulthood (yes, we are that old), I thought it appropriate to include for your edification and reflection the following thought on parenthood...

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Greetings from Benburb

I'm writing this from Benburb Priory, Northern Ireland where I'm staying for a weekend organised by Maranatha. When I saw it advertised in their mailing I realised the venue was a place I visited about 30 years ago as a young Christian. I have since bored many people with my reminiscences of my time here and how I felt the close presence of God, particularly on several walks in the woods by the river accompanied by the Irish Setter and Cormac and Rosheen the Irish Wolfhounds that were here then. Sometimes it can be disappointing to go back to places, but this afternoon I met the two dogs that now reside here - large black things of unknown breed (though not as big as Wolfhounds) - who just like their canine predecessors came along with me on a walk through the woods. In fact I was going to walk into the village, but they met me in the drive and more or less manoeuvered me off to the right to the path to the river! Talk about deja vu! Nice one God.

There are about 25 of us on this retreat, most from various parts of Northern Ireland. At our initial meeting this evening during a prayer time someone said that they felt that we should offer up our individual agendas for the weekend up to God, what we were hoping to get from it and instead ask him to do what he wanted to do in each of us. Fair enough. My first thought was that beyond re-visiting somewhere significant in my early spiritual life I didn't really have an agenda, but then I began thinking about this sabbatical/study leave and that I had an agenda for it of "having something to show" at the end of it. And I remembered that my most recent prayer to that effect was this very afternoon. It seemed that God was saying I needed to abandon that agenda, and that it was actually a human thing - I wanted to come out of this time with a neat package of guidance and direction or reading and writing accomplished to justify the time in other people's eyes. I needed to offer the time back to him (the whole S/SL not just this weekend) and let him accomplish what he wanted for it. That may or may not include some of those things - but it won't matter either way. Maybe it's a sort of variation of Matt 6 v33. Seek first the Kingdom... It could be this is what the anonymous note from the 'Caretaker' that has appeared on the end of the first entry in this blog is about. Go have a look.

I wonder what the rest of this weekend has in store? As I have no internet connection here and can't post this yet, read on...

Wednesday, Belfast City Airport...

The weekend was rather good and had a similar feel to the Renewal events I went to in the North and South of Ireland back in the 70's. (More deja vu. Is one of the features of this S/SL some re-visiting of my spiritual roots?) The people who came are from that movement in fact, some going back to the initial move of the Spirit in the 70's, some more recently 'awakened' as one lady put it. They were a lovely bunch, mixed Catholic and Protestant and the question never arose as to who was who. Which is how it should be. Good fellowship, sharing and ministry. I ended up co-leading one session (hope that doesn't count as 'work') and played a bit of guitar on Sunday to help out as one of the musicians had to leave on Saturday night. Several people asked me if I'd thought about moving back to N.I... hopefully they were just being polite and not speaking with the Unction of you know Who!!!

Then it was back to Belfast for a few days staying with mum. As they would put it here: "My ears are tawked aff me so they are."

P.S. Experimenting with adding video via YouTube.

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