sustain:if:able kiwi

expresso dress rehearsal

Blog followers know that I’ve been working away, with a team, on a cafe-congregation, called expresso. Last nite we had a sort of dress rehearsal, and invited some people to join us, worship with us, and then evaluate with us.

It was a neat night – warm and thoughtful – were the 2 descriptors I would use.

The feedback was positive, and so with a few minor alterations and a deep breath we are taking the plunge … espresso – cafe church; Tuesday, 8 pm, 31 May, the couches in the foyer of Opawa Baptist Church.

nor west festival: metal work

Email from the artist who will be guiding the Saturday, 21 May, morning metal work:
A few thoughts: In addition to the corrugated iron it could be fun to have some other materials that we could attach-to or juxtapose beside the iron.

shellac (is good to work with. You can buy the flakes and dissolve them
overnight in meths). I can source this if you want.

It’s sounding like a LOT of fun.

out of bounds in melbourne

I’m in Melbourne this week; Wednesday evening there is an out of bounds book launch, 7.30pm, 81 High St, Preston. I am doing 5 short bursts around 5 different missional metaphors.

Thanks to Phil’s energy and Forge’s enthusiasm.

Thursday I meet with Forge interns for breakfast. Later that day, and into Friday, I am at Unfreeze 2; working with Churches of Christ denomination, doing some tag team stuff with Al Roxburgh and a seminar titled “Trips to the Edge of the Ecclesiological Envelope. Stories of planting and transforming conversations.”

I fly back Saturday, in time for the Pentecost NorWest Festival.

gurus and mentors

This week has been a bit upheaving. This week one of my gurus asked me to speak with them at a conference. I’ve read the gurus books. I’ve listened to the guru speak. I’ve been profoundly challenged by their ideas. And now the guru wants me to share the mic. That’s quite destablising.

I’ve watched someone choose a mentor this week. They are an immensely talented person, and by a random set of co-incidences, they have chosen an immensely talented person. I can see them becoming a leader like the person they have named.

I wonder if I need to see guru’s and mentor’s in a new light. I’ve often seen them as people to aspire to. But I wonder rather, if guru’s and mentor’s call something out of us. Deep within ourselves our creativity resonnates with their creativity, our leadership with their leadership. The aspiration is not in fact us wanting to be like them, but our gift mix being called forth. I wonder if reflecting on the people who inspire us might actually help us name what God is doing in us as leaders.

quiz night

We had a quiz nite at church last nite. Teams of 5; 8 teams in total. We met for fish and chip tea, and then got into the “quiz” nite – trivia, famous faces, places, TV themes, music. It was a great nite, just being together, laughing, relaxing, building community.

Observations.
1. I had been vidoed that day by a Baptist crew and asked the question “Why is Opawa attracting young adults?” It was neat to look around and see so many young adults, and so many kids, probably over half who have joined in the last 6 months and think, “yes, this is a changing church.”

2. Great to turn up to something at Opawa that I had nothing to do with, in organising or planning. Our development pastor has a brief to “build community” and this was his gig.

3. Quiz nites are quite popular in NZ culture and I didn’t ever think I’d see a quiz nite at Opawa Baptist.

Oh, our team won!

Nor-west people festival
a pentecost celebration

thinking + music + movie + coffee + creative expression

10:30 am Saturday 14 May -10:30 am Sunday 15 May
[ [ 24 hours of prayer ] ]

Tuesday 17-Thursday 19 May: 7:30-8:45 pm +
[ [ Biblical teaching on God as Spirit + art and coffee options ] ]

Friday 20 May: from 7:30 pm
[ [ Café, Live music (Derek Lind) and (late) movie ] ]

Saturday 21 May – must book
Creative project. Cost: $10/ session (materials, lunch)
[ [ 9:30-1pm: Painting / metal work ] ]
[ [ 12-3 pm: Kite making / flying ] ]

Opawa Baptist Church, 285 Wilsons Road, Ph 379 7680
… ………………………………………….
Creative project: Either book by phone [379 7680] or return card to Opawa Baptist Church, cnr Hastings and Wilson, Opawa: On Saturday 21 May;
___________________________ (name) would like to attend: Painting/metal work, 9:30-1pm (incl lunch); Kite making and flying 12-3 pm (incl lunch)

first ever nz emerging church course?

Friday and Saturday, 23-24 September, I’m teaching what I think will be New Zealand’s first ever course on the emerging church, set within the context of cultural change and discipleship.

I will specific examples of current emerging trends; including online religion, Christian festivals, spiritual direction, social justice – and explore how they are affected by culture and what it means for discipleship today.

Anyhow, the reason I post this is … have you read any good books on on-line religion, cos I have a bit of hole in this area of my bibliography?

motorcycle diaries at film church

Tonite we’re watching Motorcycle Diaries at Gospel and film class . (Plot summary here.)

Since one of the aims of the course is to identify ways in which film may be utilised as a point of engagement for the gospel within contemporary society, and since the assessment includes a piece of work on how a Christian church could use and interact with the medium of film in communicating the Christian message, I’ve put together the following questions for a “popcorn” discussion.

[9 Q’s on Motorcyle Diaries for Film Church]

(more…)

– 14 were the number of Opawa people who enrolled to do a small group leaders training course
– 5 were the number of sofas brought, as part of making the church foyer more of an inviting place to hang

I should go away more often. Things happen when I leave and I like that.

can’t comment

if anyone is having trouble posting comments on the blog, please email me;
steve at emergentkiwi dot org dot nz

roger – i have sorted the problem with your comment and “posted” it for you … last week i had unwittingly blacklisted the letter “m”; so any word starting with “m” was considered out of bounds!:) sorry.

Why can’t we dream?

Written at LAX airport: Friday 29th April

In Douglas Coupland’s book, Polaroids from the Dead, is a wonderful story of a skeleton who visits a dying city. There is no water, the buildings are decaying and the artists and creative’s are dying. The skeleton visits and cries, over and over, “Your city is dying because you have no vision of the afterlife.”

I often use the story in my classes, to reference the fact that firstly, even in modernity a spirituality exists and secondly, the power of dreaming, imagining, to release new life, a prophetic imagination.

If we have lost the power to dream, are we in fact enmeshed in a dying and decaying city? Has modernity so corroded our souls, have our insecurities so overwhelmed our creatives, that the skeleton now cries alone.

Or, is it rather that exile is a time consuming process? It took years of grieving before a new way of living, a new spirituality of synagogue and Mid-rash could emerge. Is it too early to dream? Are we still in a time to grieving?