Monthly Archives: April 2008

Why The Missional Incarnational Church is Screwed

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My friend Andrew Menzies emailed this thru today… I enjoy extreme statements as they make us think more than gentle conciliatory ones. Here’s a pie in the face for those of us are seeking to connect with specific people groups.

“The projects known as ‘Fresh expressions’ and ‘mission-shaped church’ are, therefore, the outcome of this evangelical-liberal collusion. For all the protestations, they are a clear conspiracy against the parish.

Perfectly viable parishes, especially in the countryside or the semi-countryside, are increasingly deprived of clergy who are seconded to dubious administrative tasks or else to various modes of ‘alternative ministry’ such as ‘ministry to sportspeople’ or ‘ministry to youth’. In all this there lies no new expression of church, but rather its blasphemous denial.

The church cannot be found amongst the merely like-minded, who associate in order to share a particular taste, hobby or perversion. It can only be found where many different peoples possessing many different gifts collaborate in order to produce a divine–human community in one specific location.

St Paul wrote to Galatia and Corinth, not to regiments or to weaving-clubs for widows. He insisted on a unity that emerges from the harmonious blending of differences. Hence the idea that the church should ‘plant’ itself in various sordid and airless interstices of our contemporary world, instead of calling people to ‘come to church’, is wrongheaded, because the refusal to come out of oneself and go to church is simply the refusal of church per se.

One can’t set up a church in a cafe amongst a gang of youths who like skateboarding because all this does is promote skateboarding and dysfunctional escapist maleness, along with that type of private but extra-ecclesial security that is offered by the notion of ‘being saved’.”

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From ‘Stale Expressions: the Management-Shaped Church’, Studies in Christian Ethics, April 2008 by John Milbank.

So… what do you reckon?! (I will offer my views tomorrow)

Grassroots Pics

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Just go here taps movie for some great pics of the recent Forge Festival.

I have chosen one that for me stands out – not because its a fantastic pic – but because it captures something of the heart of the festival.

smithy.jpg

The pic was taken during a short time we set aside to honour older missionaries and those who had gone before us -acknowledging that we stand on their shoulder. Of all the people we could have chosen (and there are plenty) Smithy finished up being the one. This image shows 3 ‘generations’ of Aussie missionaries.

Smithy was and to some extent still is the roving itinerant evangelist who was responsible for starting the ‘God Squad’ (mission among outlaw bikers) and for paving the way for others to take seirously the task of mission that says ‘go’ rather than ‘come’.The fact that I finish up deeply knitted into the forge community is no surprise, as this man was one of my heroes as a teenager and inspired me to follow Jesus passionately more than almost anyone else I can think of. I loved his direct, straight talking approach to preaching and his courageous example of following Jesus into the difficult places. We honoured him as one who paved the way for the rest of us.

The others in the photo are Alan Hirsch the founding director of Forge, and Kim Hammond, currently the Victorian director and the festival organiser.

The festival is very much about gathering the tribe and celebrating the missionary adventures God has called us to. I really didn’t want to come home at the end of it as it felt like we were amongst family and people who genuinely shared our hearts for the work we are called to.

Home again…

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Its been a great 4 days of hanging with the Forge tribe from all around Oz and even a few from overseas. Alan & Deb Hirsch made the trip back from the US for the event and it was great to see them again. We spent a couple of hours over lunch yesterday in their home strip of Acland St, St Kilda. When I am around the forge crew I am reminded again of how much I value those relationships.

This year’s festival was brilliantly organized by Kim & Maria Hammond and had a huge diversity of options for people seeking to learn in many different areas with workshops and electives in 5 different streams.

The general sessions were great value. Frosty led off with a stoing challenge to us to live out the truths we already know and to be people of action rather than content with talk. It was pretty classic ‘Mike’ as he pulled no punches and spoke boldly to all of us present.

Sally Morgenthaler was first up on Saturday morning and spoke about living out of our true identity and the importance of authenticity in mission and ministry. She did a great job and provoked us to think about how/where we may be living out the type of life we feel we are supposed to be living rather than actually being content with living as ourselves. I had the opportunity to have a long conversation with Sally over dinner and it was great to see the same person around the meal table as we did behind the lectern. She is living what she preaches.

That evening TSK was up and he was in great form. It was a mix of zany humour, great insights and genuine inspiration to live as the people of God. It was really good to have him back in Oz offering his insights on what God is doing all around the world, from the point of view of one who sees more than most. We had some time to reflect and laugh about our teenage fundy days spent at Maylands Baptist back in the early 80’s. How things have changed…

Sunday morning saw the festival joined by the congregation that normally meets in Life Expedition – a group of Asian young adults led by Tim Goh. One of the things that impressed me hugely over the weekend was the way the volunteers from the church served at the festival. These guys set up, cleaned up and did everything in between – and they did it with fantastic attitude. Hats off!

The keynote speaker for Sunday morning was Danielle Strickland, a Salvo leader from Canada, but now working in Oz. She is one of the most sensational communicators I have heard in a long time. She spoke with passion, insight and more than a touch of attitude. If you ever get the chance to hear this woman speak on living out God’s dream for the world then don’t miss it. In terms of ‘learning’ this session was my personal highlight, partly because of the personality of the speaker, but also because she re-ignited some embers in me that had grown a little dim. Maybe we’ll need to look at getting her over west to shake up the local crew.

Daz Gardner finished the weekend off with a challenge to actually make change happen – not to just hear more good stuff and then go back to business as usual. Daz was as raw and raucous as ever and his message was a great way to tie together the weekend.

As well as the opportunity to be challenged from the front by some great communicators, it was also incredibly valuable to simply be there with our Forge team and with people from all around the country who are seeking to express mission and church in ways that fit their context.

Its interesting reflecting on the take up of missional incarnational ideas around the place. It varies greatly from state to state and denomination to denomination. My observation this time around, is that more people are making the shift from thinking about missionary praxis to actually getting on with it. And more established churches are recognizing the need to adopt a missionary posture if they are to genuinely engage their communities.

I wonder where things will head in the next 10 years as more churches pick up on the missional incarnational approach, while others go harder at the established form. Let’s hope we all keep learning!

Repeat After Me

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“Seafood extender does not belong on a seafood platter under any circumstances.”

After 4 great days in Melbourne this was the one disappointment. Lygon St in Carlton is well known for its cafe strip, but competition seems to sometimes ring out the worst in a business as it tries to save money.

With the fish of the day being ‘basa’ (cheapest and most tasteless imported fish available) and seafood extender used in place of crab meat it was one of the least memorable parts of the trip!

Last time we ate in Lygon St we were greeted with a warm bottle of chardonnay and instead of succulent king prawns on my seafood pizza, (as the menu read) I was greeted with tiny tinned prawns…

Rant over.phenomenon download

God of the Miraculous (Occasionally)

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I’m vegging out waiting for the festival to start. Vawz – who came in on the midnight flight – is asleep in our room while I tap away up here.

Andrew lent me a copy of a very interesting and provocative DVD entitled ‘Finger of God‘ that looks at the miraculous intervention of God in our world – everything from gold teeth and gold dust to healings and dead people coming alive. Pretty wacky stuff… but what if?… What if God really does do things that are so far outside my paradigm that I can’t even comprehend them?

My skepto-meter does go off like a banshee when I hear of gold teeth and similar ‘what the?!’ kind of experiences, but I admit I do the see the world thru a ‘God who doesn’t give gold teeth’ framework.

Its a very well made DVD and well worth a look. But be prepared to be disturbed. It raises the question – does God want to do miraculous stuff more often than we know and we miss out because we are not conditioned to see it or ask for it?

Then there is disturbance in the other way. Cam

has written a brilliant post on his ongoing battle with multiple myeloma. He is ‘terminally ill’. There is no cure for his form of cancer – just a buying of time thru chemo etc. He has been prayed over for healing, but last night a well known big name ‘healer’ came to town and he went along…

Read his reflections hereroad to perdition divx online

Exilio is Ready to Go!

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Its been a long time in the making but the brilliant new resource ‘Exilio’ is now out and ready to go!

Exilio is based around the content of Mike Frost’s book Exiles and over 24 weeks addresses the question of how we live in a world that no longer sees itself as Christian and where our story is now just one amongst many. The essence of the course is to challenge you to not withdraw from the culture but to deeply engage with it and to be the salt and light Jesus spoke of.

The world I grew up in was one that frowned on any kind of ‘mixing with the world’. We were to be separate and holy… Well, that worked well didn’t it…

The various elements of this course prepare you to live as a disciple in the world but without the fear and baggage that so often has been present for conservative evangelicals.

The Exilio facilitators pack consists of a copy of Exiles, a DVD of Mike Frost giving input, an Ignition manual (a study in the book of Acts) and the facilitator’s manual. I have read the book, watched some of the DVD and overviewed the course manual, and it looks like top quality stuff.

There is a website up here

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that is still in the development stages, but it will give you more info and a feel of what Exilio is about. If you are looking to equip people for missional living then this is worth every cent. Pete Horsley tells me that they can currently only take orders from Oz and NZ, but they are happy to post all over the world to those who are keen.

I’d love to hear the thoughts of those who have already started using Exilio. Anyone already up and running?

Great Expectations?…

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I have noticed that there is a direct inverse correlation between the thoughtfulness of what gets posted on here and the amount of physical work I do.

It seems the harder and longer the work, the less headspace I have for thinking on the more significant issues of life. The last couple of weeks of blog posts probably exemplify that!

It might seem quite obvious at first, (that we will be tired and weary) but it isn’t always that obvious to those of us who have been in paid ministry.

I know that in my own days as a pastor I would be constantly thinking thru issues of vision, strategy and implementation so that we could keep developing our church. However I was often disappointed to rock up to a church leadership team only to find that the other guys (who work ordinary jobs) hadn’t given the same issues much thought at all – if at all. In my more despairing moments it seemed that the future of our church was decided once a month on a Monday night and that in between time it was business as usual – quite literally.

The last few weeks have been quite full on with both retic and forge work and I have often come home at night quite exhausted. My body is weary and because of that it is hard to get my brain into gear. I know the same is true for those who engage significantly with people or use their brain in their work.

‘Coming home’ is a chance to unwind and relax. More serious pursuits are over for the day and its ‘family time’ or ‘rest time’. I don’t think that’s unreasonable either.

And yet for those of us committed to the local community and to our churches, the evening is the time we have available to catch up with others or to have those (sometimes) necessary meetings.

As I listen to pastors frustrated with their congregations as to their ‘lack of commitment’ part of me agrees… and then another part of me says ‘you’ve got to be kidding! Live their life for a week and then see how you go…’

My mate Steve McAlpine is currently working a full time job while he seeks to plant a new household congregation, and is also pondering the challenges I have been writing about.

If we expect too much of people we leave them feeling overwhelmed and like failures. If we expect too little then the absence of challenge leaves people growing stale and ‘fat’.

I think it would be interesting to hear from both pastors and full time workers as to how they manage this delicate balance – given that work and church/community involvement are only two components of life. Let’s add in staying physically fit, catching up with friends, extended family, recreation… the list goes on doesn’t it?

Is this a tension you are aware of and chewing thru. If so what are you learning?

Lewis on Life

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‘Give up yourself, and you will find your real self. Look for yourself and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin and decay. But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in’.

CS Lewis

Vose Seminary

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Jarrod McKenna

Last night I was invited to see the Baptist Theological Collage chance it’s name to the Vose Seminary to honor a great man that who has been so good to me and the Peace Tree Community over the years, Noel Vose.

For those who don’t know Noel, you should. 🙂  He is a wonder, wise, prayerful and humble servant of Christ who I am honored to have as an elder in my life. It was a wonderful evening but I felt a little under dressed (just me or are suits the equivalent of Baptists liturgical robes? :)) But I was pleased I brought my thongs so I wasn’t bare footed. 🙂

My mate Thomas Day thought it funny that a middle aged man in a lovely suit who was also waiting to say hi to Noel, couldn’t stop staring at my feet.  Tom said he went in to near shock and his mouth wouldn’t close when Noel excused himself from a conversation to come over and gig me a big hug. Tom said afterwards that people would think Noel more wonderful because of how he embraced the homeless looking guy (I wasn’t that shabby!).

A friend who lectures there commented to me that he thought the only thing that would have been a lovely touch to the night was to mention the traditional land owners, the Noongar peoplem, when telling the history of the collage.  I’m interested if others think this important for us as the church to acknowledge? I recently wrote this for Sojourners that people might be interested in:

http://blog.beliefnet.com/godspolitics/2008/02/australia-says-sorry-this-is-h-1.html download to hell and back dvdrip

 (picture from “God’s politics”) cabin pressure free