sustain:if:able kiwi

living the (digital) text: use of social media in theological formation

Day one of the Living the text intensive kicked off today. A really engaged group and it looks like being a rich week.

One of the things I want to encourage during the intensive is a variety of learning experiences, a whole range of different and new ways by which folk can engage with each other. For instance, one of the assessment tasks is based on each person creating their own blogsite onto which they are expected to place a 1,000 word reflection on the intensive experience.

It’s a pretty simple process. I give out a one page “how to get started blogging.” Each student sets up their blog and sends me their URL. (I arrange an optional tutorial on the second day for any folk who get lost.) I create a central “class blog” (a living the text blog) and each student’s blogsite is listed on the sidebar. (If you click on it, you’ll see previous “cohorts”, the classes of 2008, 2007, 2006.

Having a central blog then allows a second piece of assessment. This involves students being expected to comment on each others blogs. So for example 10 comments of 100 words each becomes a 1,000 word addition to the original 1,000 word self-reflection.

Educationally, this has a number of advantages. Students get to revise not only through their own 1000 word reflection, but they also hear the reflections of others in the class. It reminds them of the diversity of experience. It also allows them to take the class interaction into another, online, context. The intensive experience, which can become quite rich relationally, can continue. And they get to explore the world of social media, which IMHO is an essential part of being in ministry today.

new blog name?

A recurring question, with our shift across the Tasman, is “What will you call your blog?”

It started out as “emergentkiwi” and that is still it’s URL. That name felt appropriate at that time, a signifier of a search for forms of faith that made sense for Kiwi’s in a globalised, millenial culture.

Last summer, while keeping the URL, I renamed it “sustain:if:able kiwi“; because it was summer. And with my garden an increasingly important part of my spirituality, I wanted to reflect on issues around sustainability – still of (emerging) faith and spirituality, but with an earthed feel, and linked to a more scattered spirituality.

But how does that translate with a trans-Tasman shift:
kiwi-in-exile?
taylors4life?

any helpful suggestions welcomed, as we wing our way Aussie-ward ….

adelaide + anglican + fresh in expression

Chris McLeod is an Anglican Vicar in Adelaide. He took my Living the Text in a Contemporary context course I taught at Tabor in October last year (and am teaching again at Tabor 28 Sept-2 Oct later this year). Before church ministry he was a chef (and threatened to bring food for our final day of the course, but wisely let a pastoral situation have priority!)

Anyhow, he’s just set sail on a fresh expression-ish evening service. It comes complete with a blog progress report of their first service, themed around Mother’s Day. And he’s keen to find travelling companions – so to all of my Adelaide readers and also to Anglican readers, head on over and let him know how exciting it is.

It’s enormously satisfying for me to see students trying stuff like this. Go Chris.

sharing the linking luv

Apparently, today is world blog day, and you are meant to link to 5 blogs you have never linked to before; to share the linking luv … so here are 5 blogs that I have recently wished I could blog like;

Backyard missionary – good, honest Aussie battler

Laura Drane – a new blog that comes from a mind well worth listening too

Fernando Gros - self-reflective and lateral linkages being made around globalisation, film, popular culture, Christianity

Sue Wallace – creativity and spirituality plus

Andrew Picard – down to earth pastoral minister

worth watching

Think Christianity looks a webite worth watching: “A conversation and general thoughts on the Christian faith from people of all walks of life. The good, the bad and the ugly.” To join the conversation, you simply send an email saying why you do or don’t go to church. It becomes a blog post and the dialogue commences.

blog links

My post on 7 things I learnt from Bono about worship leading, and a follow-up post in which I outlined what this might look like in a congregation of 180 rather than a concert of 40,000 attracted quite a bit of blog comment at the time. Interesting to note that Sarah Dylan Breuer offers similar reflection here. It is far longer than my post, but reflects in a similar way on U2 as participatory and experiential worship. It is fascinating to see someone shaped by a Baptistic ethos, like myself, and someone shaped by an Episcopalian (Anglican) ethos, like Sarah, express similar views on the art of liturgy.

One of the most visited posts on this blog is a sermon I preached back in 2004 on the Prodigal Son. I just noticed a link from here and a post describing how a church group, called home, used the sermon, along with three different worship stations in response. It is quite wierd reading their post and realising that totally unbeknown to me, my words were being spoken on another continent. I bet they got the accent wrong!:)

blog worth reading

Malcolm Chamberlain (UK) has started a blog. We swapped mission notes and shared a coffee at a local beach back in 2004. Malcolm is a thinker – working toward a Masters on postmodernity and mission, and a doer – planted a faith community called Dream (who supplied an emerging church postcard 2005 here). Malcolm has even said some nice things about my out of bounds church? book here, in a blogpost reflecting on community and mission in contemporary culture.

Update: thanks to the sharp eye of Bruce, who noted that I had forgotten the blog address – http://malcolmchamberlain.blogspot.com/

podcasting Steve

The Red Herring interviewed me last month. It proved to be a fascinating conversation that is now up as a podcast; in two parts, complete with mixed in background music.

Part One: Steve outlines the links between the United Kingdom and New Zealand. He points to the role played by alternative worship communities in initiating emerging churches. We talk about globalization theory, particularly the idea of “glocal,” suggested by Roland Robertson. Steve reveals the role of women played in emerging churches in New Zealand.

Part Two: Steve’s one blog contains “postcards” from emerging churches around the world, including the Philippines and Japan. During Brian McLaren’s recent visit to Christchurch, Steve interviewed Grace McLaren about her take on the emerging church in New Zealand. Steve reviews three movies in relation to the emerging church, and summarizes his blog about 1 Peter as a feminist tractate.

If you’re bored, and want to listen, go here.

ground hog day in typepad blog world?

Quite a number of typepad blogs I visited this morning have lost posts. It’s like Groundhog day, reading stuff you’ve read before and thinking, I’m sure this blog has posted more since then. Nada. Gone. Typepad life has all bounced back to around 12 December. It’s quite hilariously funny, although probably not for those hosted by typepad.

More: Here’s the typepad media release; here’s the admission of a mistake and here’s the promise of regular updates here.

blogging for education

This afternoon I’ve been working on a new block course Living the text in a postmodern context, which I am expecting to teach at Fuller in 2006.

DRAFT: This course will explore the communication of the Biblical text in a contemporary world, with particular missiological reference to the use of the Bible in the emerging church in a postmodern context. It will explore ways to maintain the integrity of the Biblical text, applying the best of academic insights around text, community and culture, to the task of communicating the Biblical text with reference to postmodernity. The course will combine both theory and practice, believing that learning often happens through seeing new models, while new practices necessitate a shift in the under girding values. As a result of the course, students will be better equipped to read and communicate the Biblical text in a postmodern context.

Previously, I have often used journals as a form of assessment. It allows me to listen and interact with students, and allows a greater flexibility of expression than traditional essays. It has worked well.

Today I wondered about inviting students to journal, not with pen and paper, but on-line. Students could very easily be given their own course blog-site, organized by lecturer beforehand. Students would be asked to journal regularly at their own course blog-site, with a suggested number of entries (and word length suggested). Students would be assessed with particular reference to the course learning outcomes. Students could be made aware of each others “course blogs” and be encouraged to read and interact with each other’s journals, using comment functions.

I wonder if this would greatly increase the level of community learning and interaction. Any thoughts?

random links

Last year I wrote a slightly tongue in cheek A-Z of the emerging church. It has leapt back into blog circulation thanks to tallskimpykiwi [sic] and I like how it is (sort of) being “open-sourced” ie added to here.

One of my local cafes – jack flash - is offering $2 coffees in the morning.

Some blogs I have been meaning to mention for a while;
a whole rash of people at Opawa have started blogging. They are on my side-bar blog roll but for the record; feel free to meet Andrew; Paul; Amy; Jo; Ann.

and two Kiwi exports – Mark Pierson and Duncan MacLeod.

another local blogger

Good to see Andrew, an Opawa-ite blogging away at what the flock. Good stuff.

Update: Paul was blogging before Opawa and has also now joined the Opawa blogger list.

Other Opawa bloggers:
me
Lynne
Paul

Why I am Southern Baptist, bible believing and into the emerging church

(Or a Biblical word of encouragement to tallskinnykiwi and a Biblical word of admonition to the notion that the Emerging Church is a threat to the gospel).

OK, I pastor a Baptist church and I live in in Southern Hemisphere. This clearly makes me a Southern Baptist and able to enter the debates here and here. I note the following Biblical texts, that have converted me to being a Southern Baptist emerging church disciple.

Firstly, (we are post-Easter after all), take Luke 24 and the Emmaus Road story. Jesus preaches, and the disciples don’t get revelation. Jesus preaches the Prophets and the Law. I mean, that is one BIG expository sermon. And still the disciples don’t get it. It is not until they are in community with Jesus, eating supper, that Revelation occurs.This Biblical text calls for repentance from expository preaching and a commitment to finding God in community. (Don’t get me started on Biblical scholarship that suggests the two disciples were husband and wife and thus woman were equal participants at the table of Jesus.)

Secondly, take Colossians 1:15. Christ is the Image of God. Move over word-bound, propositional theologies. Christ can also be revealed in images. This Biblical text calls for repentance from solely word-bound, propositional theologies and a commitment to image-based, multi-media worship.

These Biblical texts have converted me to being a Southern Baptist emerging church disciple. I have repented of my expository preaching. I am seeking a Bible based ministry of multi-media worship, sharing food among a community of friends.

worship leader blog list

A US magazine (I’ve never heard of) called Worship Leader has a feature of emerging church, and the little wee emergentkiwi blog gets a mention. So there we are. Maybe its time for me to release my worship DVD!! Tee he. Or is it that they think I can sing!

(thanks Will for the heads up – I wondered why there was traffic from your site to mine!)