sustain:if:able kiwi

New Mission seedlings: How could a church tend a seedling?

Initiating creative trends in the Church’s witness is part of what it means to be a Presbyterian minister, according to the Book of Order.

The ordinand is admitted to a fellowship responsible for the guardianship of the Gospel – a guardianship which must express itself in freshness and adaptability as the Church is led by Christ to do new things. The minister has not only the task of protecting the Church and the Gospel from error, but also, and particularly, the task of initiating creative trends in the Church’s witness. (Book of Order, Appendix D-4: Ordination and the Ministry of Word and Sacraments, (1966), (vii))

As a consequence, ministerial training needs to include opportunities, encouragement and training in innovation in mission. KMCL is working toward this aim in the birthing New Mission Seedlings. The aim is to establish in each Presbytery of the PCANZ a New Mission Seedling; seven throughout New Zealand over the next few years.

Each seedling  involves a long term commitment to mission in a local community. They are sites for learning

• for interns learning to lead in mission
• for KCML as a learning community being shaped by the challenges of initiating creative trends
• for churches and Presbyteries in mission, invited to partner in establishing new communities of faith
• for the national church, given that each seedling is established to address a mission question the church nationally does not yet have an answer too. This will be facilitated by annual National Incubators, that share wisdom and stimulate good practice.

In sharing this vision with a local group from a Presbytery, a minister asked an excellent question: Could we participate? We have folk who have skills? Is there some way they can participate? Can partnerships between NMS and local churches be fostered?

My immediate response was to think about the Presbyterian distinctive of shared decision-making. We look to shared processes of leadership rather than to bishops or charismatic individuals. This instinct should shape our approach to initiating creative trends in the Church’s witness. Denominationally, the question of how could a church help a seedling is in fact a deeply Presbyterian question that attends to the richness of our tradition.

A practical response is to note the following:

1 – Presence to ensure solidarity and enhance partnership – from the extreme of move into the area, through choosing to work in the area, joining a club or activity in the area; participating in a local school with reading. There are a range of ways to enter Incarnation, from full relocation, to a range of ways to be alongside.

2 – Gifts – There are a range of ways to participate in initiating creative trends present themselves

• Finance – people could contribute (food, coffee, events, etc)
• Service – commit to a team that experiments in ways to serve. This could be on a fortnightly pattern, or in key community events or linked to Christian festivals.
• Prayer – gathering in the community to listen to God (pray and read Scripture) amid the patterns of the community
• Specialisation – specific skills might be offered, for example chairing a local board meeting, teach te reo. These involve taking an individual skill and offering it, ideally in ways the express both competency and solidarity.

3. Seasons – this speaks to both length and in timing. You don’t move plants in summer but in winter. So there are seasons in the sending church to discern, that involve the state of the community and vitality of practice. This also applies individually. A person in a demanding season of work has less to give than the season following children having left home.  A season by nature has an ending.  Always invite folk to participate for a season and then to review.

These thoughts could apply to a local church. They could also apply to a Presbytery, given that being presbyterian is about shared mission. Local churches and Presbyteries can be visited, the mission shared and folk invited to participate for a season, in a range of ways as listed above. Will you consider offering yourself for a year, to participate in six prayer walks; or one community festival or a year of listening to children read in a local school?

Each person that participates at the end of their season, faces a choice. To renew their commitment? Or to return to their sending church? Either way, the season of shared mission has exposed them to incarnational and contextual mission. They are richer. They church will be richer. In doing so, we are making another statement.

We are declaring that initiating creative trends is a body practice. It refuses to rely on amazingly gifted people. Instead, together, in partnerships, it finds multiple ways to participate in the mission of God. This is some of the thinking that lies behind New Mission Seedlings at KCML.

Presbyterian Church of Korea newspaper

The Presbyterian Church of Korea has a weekly newspaper and my recent 10 day visit to Korea has made “the Presbyterian news.” (Including a photo: I think I look tired, my family think I look lovely)

I don’t speak Korean but I’m told the article speaks about
– the multicultural context of NZ
– the curriculum of Knox Centre for Ministry and Leadership
– the concepts of reformed and reforming and the need to hold both in tension in the task of forming leaders and being a seminary
– the reality that being diaspora has a context, which needs to be taken seriously
– that I met on my visit to Korea the translator and readers of my Out of Bounds Church? book, translated into Korean.

Being a guest, hosting a host: KCML in Wellington

It is always fun when you find yourself as guest hosting a host. It was a joy on Tuesday night for KCML to host the Wellington Forum of Central Presbytery. The place was packed. Extra chairs were needed with locals suggesting it was the largest ever gathering of the Wellington Forum.

When we as KCML began planning to move our winter blockcourse from Dunedin to Wellington, one of our hopes was that we would find ways to connect locally, both with place and with the Presbytery.

When we emailed the Presbytery, we discovered that the Wellington Forum, which meets every few months, was meeting on the Tuesday of our arrival. Great timing.

After a number of conversations, the Forum kindly agreed to meet at Silverstream Retreat, where KCML is staying. We agree to share a meal, for those able to come at 6 pm. Which meant that as newly arrived guest, I got to welcome Presbytery members to dinner.

It was great to look around and see a room with interns at every table, eating with Presbytery members from across the Wellington region.

When the Forum began officially after dinner, KMCL was given 40 minutes. First, we invited two of our interns to share about their experience as interns. Second, we launched two hot off the press KCML resources. KCML is committed to resourcing the local church and in the last month, we have released a CD and a book.

Songs for the saints is a musical resource for small churches by Malcolm Gordon. Built for Change is my new book, which reflects – practically, theologically – on innovation and change. I had hoped to have actual copies. However stocks are already low in Australia. Good news for the book on one side of the Tasman, bad news for it on this side. I mocked up a copy, which meant that both resources could be physically blessed by Kevin Ward, Senior Lecturer at KCML.

Third, the KCML strategic plan was shared, followed by questions. The plan was recently endorsed by Council of Assembly and this was the first time it was shared publicly. It was great to talk about Presbytery partnerships, New Mission Seedlings, National Learning Diploma and to sense the interest and enthusiasm from those present. “Can I have a copy of your powerpoint for my church?” was a great question to be asked.

All in all, a great evening for KCML and for our interns, as together we experienced being Presbyterian, being part of the wider church.

KCML in Wellington: Winter 2016 blockcourse

KCML is in Wellington for the 9 days of our Winter 2016 blockcourse. This is new territory for us. It is the first time a KCML blockcourse has been held outside Dunedin (apart from occasional visits to Auckland and Ohope). We are staying in Silverstream, a retreat centre in the Hutt Valley.

The possibility emerged after discussions with the Synod of Otago and Southland, during meetings in February and again in March. This included conversation about the geographic location of intern block courses. The Synod noted their commitment to theological education both locally and nationally and hence the logic of block courses being held both locally and nationally.

The pragmatics emerged in April. With the 3rd All Black v Wales test in Dunedin in June, weekend accommodation was becoming both difficult to find and expensive.

The Presbytery connections emerged in May. The response from local churches has been fantastic. There are rumours of homebaking arriving on Tuesday. We are hosting the Presbytery on Tuesday evening. They will hear from interns and we will launch two new resources – one book and one CD – we at KCML have published in the last month. We will make site visits, to a local innovation site as we reflect on “the Church is led by Christ to do new things” (Ordination and the Ministry of Word and Sacrament, D-4) and to the Assembly Office, as part of building our patterns and connections with the wider church.

Being first time there will undoubtedly be some glitches. All part of “the task of initiating creative trends in the Church’s witness” (Ordination and the Ministry of Word and Sacrament, D-4)!

KCML strategic plan “enthusiastically endorsed”

On Saturday, I was in Auckland presenting the KCML strategic plan to Council of Assembly. It is something I have been working away on for the first 8 months of the job, through team retreats, listening and engaging across the church, seeking feedback on drafts from key stakeholders and testing pieces in a range of contexts. I presented to Council of Assembly for around 20 minutes, then took questions for a further hour.

While this is much more now to do in terms of communication, the Council of Assembly report out today is some indication of our direction as KCML. Key phrases worth underlining include:

adaptability to change
training for lay people
innovative training outside traditional congregation contexts
enthusiastically endorsed

The Leadership Sub-committee report was one of the highlights of this Council meeting. Knox Centre for Ministry and Leadership (KCML) principal, the Rev Dr Steve Taylor was welcomed to the meeting. Steve made a presentation on the KCML strategic plan. He outlined the key factors KCML believed it needed to concentrate on, and the consultation process engaged in so far. He noted that we live in a changing world, that the Church is changing and that KCML also needs to foster adaptability to change.

Steve explained the five core areas of KCML’s strategic focus, and elaborated on presbytery partnerships, new mission seedlings, a national learning diploma, post-graduate mission and ministry practice. He indicated that KCML aimed to provide Presbyterian-centred, life-long learning. It was recognised that the specific cultural contexts of Te Aka Puaho, Pacific Island and Asian congregations would be included within the strategic planning. The plan identified training for lay people as particularly important for the future of Presbyterianism. There was discussion about how the Council could best resource, within the Church’s strategic goals, support of KCML’s programmes. The Council enthusiastically endorsed the KCML strategic plan and agreed that KCML would work with the Leadership Sub-committee, Resource Sub-committee and others to investigate options for funding and implementing its strategic plan.

Council endorsed a proposal from Rev Diane Gilliam-Weeks, convener of the Leadership Sub-committee, that LSC, Press Go and KCML appoint a task group to work strategically together to develop and have oversight of local learning entities for innovative training outside traditional congregation contexts. This would provide the ability to oversee the range of partnerships and ensure the learnings/benefits from these local learning entities are effectively communicated to the rest of the Church for the benefit of God’s mission.

a busy wee patch

The photocopier is whirring away as I type, printing off 90 sets of workshop notes. On Saturday, I am delivering two workshops on the theme Making Jesus known through the nurture and teaching of people in the Christian faith. It is part of the 150th anniversary celebrations of the Synod of Otago and Southland. They have chosen to celebrate 150 years by looking forward, offering resourcing workshops on around each of the five faces of mission of the PCANZ: to make Jesus Christ known:

in nurturing and teaching
in loving service
in proclaiming the gospel
in transforming society
in caring for creation

It is a wonderful approach to being 150 years old, one of the first invites I got to speak when I arrived as Principal and I’m thrilled to be part of it.

Then on Sunday, I am preaching at Knox Church, Dunedin. My focus will be fresh expressions of mission as they emerge from the lectionary text of Acts 9:36-42. I want to take a gendered and economic approach to Acts and suggest that economic justice as in fact one of the marks of the early church. My sermon is titled “Women’s wealth.” It is my first sermon in a Presbyterian church, so it will no doubt become an important memory. After morning tea, I am leading a workshop on mission with the church.

Here is the blurb –

Rev Dr Steve Taylor, Principal of the Knox Centre for Ministry and Leadership will be leading a workshop after worship for all interested people. Steve is a missiologist, a discipline that among other things explores how the church can be part of what God is doing in the world. It is an approach which influences much of how the church understands itself.

Sometimes people ask me what KCML lecturers do between teaching block courses. I guess this is one answer – resource the church in mission and ministry 🙂

Knox online mission teaching

Knox Centre for Ministry and Leadership went online today. The topic focus was Mission and the church. Video conferencing was used to connect interns together and for two hours, Scripture was read, in conversation with readings from Newbigin and the context in which the intern is ministering.

It is an experiment we are trialing this year, in 1 of our 7 courses, made for a number of reasons.

First, traditional education tends to offer theory, which is then applied, often in an assignment. The Mission and the church class has a major assignment which involves working with a group from the local church over a number of weeks in exploring what God is up to in the local neighbourhood. The use of video conferencing was a way to try and place the local context more front and centre, in a different way than in a classroom. Essentially we have halved the face to face contact time and replaced it with in-context tutorials.

Second, some recent educational research has argued that the closer a student is to their context, the more likely they are to begin to experience change, as they seek to integrate content with their current lived experience. In other words, the face to face class removes a student from their context, while e-learning allows them to stay in context, increasing their range of connections they make.

Third, the Knox Centre for Ministry and Leadership internship offers three block course intensives a year. Providing online engagement in between intensives increases interaction between lecturers and interns. It also provides another way to strengthen relationships between interns. (“Is that what your office looks like” was one comment heard today).

Fourth, technology is an increasing part of life today, so it is good for interns (and lecturers) to be invited to learn and grow, to experience forming and being formed through digital means.

Fifth, online technology offers some avenues for Knox Centre for Ministry and Leadership to be more engaged in training nationally, including connecting with those in rural areas. If we can do this with interns, could we down the track also do it with lay folk and ministers in context? So this type of experiment allows us to learn and grow, testing our capacity, exploring ways to enhance access to ministry and mission training.

Today had some hitches. As was to be expected. But the conversation I was part of was one of the most honest and sustained exploration of ministry and call that I have experienced in quite some years. To read Scripture, to pray and be prayed through digital technologies, was a rich experience.

It takes a church to raise a minister: Theology Matters SPANZ column

As Principal of KCML, I get to write a regular column for SPANZ, the quarterly magazine of the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand. Here is my column for Summer, 2016.

It takes a church to raise a minister

I am now three months into my placement as Principal of Knox Centre for Ministry and Leadership. My first day at KCML was also the first day at school for my daughter. We were “newbies” together. As we set off that morning, I found myself thinking of the African proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child.”

The proverb reminds us of the importance of relationships. Healthy communities, whether schools, churches or ministry Colleges, offer a range of relationships. These relationships, at all sorts of levels, nurture growth. That is a positive take. Equally, there is a negative take. Unhealthy communities offer a range of relationships which, because of their dysfunction and inhospitality, bring decline.

At my first KCML team meeting, I shared this sense of being new and asked the question: “If it takes a village to raise a child, does it take a church to raise a minister?” The question grabbed the teams’ attention. We found ourselves digging into Scripture. We noted the importance of relationships in the cross-cultural shifts that occurred in the church of Antioch and found ourselves giving thanks for mothers and grandmothers in the raising of Timothy. We recalled with gratitude the individuals who had given each of us as lecturers’ opportunity in ministry. We noted how certain churches and certain ministers keep cropping up in the call stories at National Assessment Weekend. My colleague, Geoff New recalled his farewell from Papakura East and the words of the Session Clerk: “We would not be the people we are now becoming without your ministry and in some strange way you wouldn’t be going to your new job at Knox except for the journey of obedience to God you have been able to take among us and with us.” The notion that it takes a church to raise a minister was ringing true.

Theologically, Christians understand God in relationships. In the Gospels we hear stories of how Jesus relates to God and vice versa. In the Creed, we find images of “dynamic relations to characterize more specifically God’s ways of relating to us” (David Kelsey, Eccentric Existence). God relates to us to create us, to reconcile us and to draw us into the making of all things new. As Christians, we worship God in relationships.

At the risk of being simplistic, let me sketch two models of theology matters. One is an institutional model of education that expects KCML to train ministers. This model might elevate ordination. Theology matters, but it risks becoming the domain of certain people, who read certain textbooks and gain certain qualifications. Perhaps this creates someone who runs the village.

Another is a relational model of education that expects the PCANZ to train ministers. This model might elevate baptism. Theology matters for disciples, for all called to love God heart, soul and mind. Theological education belongs among the whole people of God, in song and in the workplace, across all the specified ministries of the church. KCML remains, as one part of the village that raises the disciple.

This has implications for all of us. If the African proverb is true and it does indeed take a village to raise a child then theology matters. Not for certain people in certain places, but for every disciple of Jesus, called in their baptism into the mission of God.

For discussion:
1. What Bible stories and images of God help you understand the proverb: “It takes a church to raise a minister?”
2. What are the implications – for congregations, for theological colleges and the PCANZ – of a relational model of education?

marae opening

It was an wonderful privilege over the weekend gone to represent KCML at the re-opening of the Maungarongo Marae, in Ohope. The marae is the courtyard of Te Aka Puaho (Glowing vine), the Presbyterian Maori Synod of the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand. (For the history of the marae, go here).

The re-opening began with an Awakening the Dawn ceremony. Beginning at 4 am, it involved prayer in language, offered by a wide variety of religious groups.

On the way into the marae, you pass some maihi, the carved archway, which for many years was a gift from Te Wanangi a Rangi to KCML. They lived in Dunedin and were a visual reminder to staff and students on a daily basis that there was a Covenant between Te Wanangi a Rangi and KCML. In 2007 these old friends returned here to Ohope.

Seeing them at Ohope is a reminder of the history of bi-culutural training partnership between Te Wanangi a Rangi and KCML which has enriched over so many years.

There is a Maori Proverb

He tangata ke koutou, He tangata ke matou
I roto i teni whare, tatou, tatou e

In English,

You are one people, and We are one people
Yet, within this house, we are one together.

With the marae closed in recent months, we at KCML have been weakened by the distance. Now, with re-opening of the marae, there is a chance for the relationship to be strengthened. In opening the marae, we at KCML brought a koha, a gift.

It is a picture of Knox, painted by the partner of a staff person. We give it to this marae, in the hope that it might live in this house, this marae. In the hole it has left at KCML, we will place a picture of this marae.

We offer this as a prayer that – I roto i teni whare, tatou, tatou e

3 month anniversary: an emotional and grateful reflection

This week marks 3 months since I began as Principal of Knox Centre for Ministry and Leadership. I celebrated the one week milestone with some thoughts and it seems appropriate to repeat the practice.

I returned to work this week and found myself awaking each day profoundly grateful that I’m called to this role, at this time and place. I am so appreciative of the space to innovate, the genuine invitation and repeated expectation that KCML will live into its mission to train the whole people of God. I am excited by the possibilities that have been generated in staff conversation and at a two day staff retreat in December. While these are still embryonic and face many more conversations with key stakeholders, there is a whole host of creative, connective, ideas beginning to take shape. I am grateful for the resources that come with the KCML space. This includes the team, the variety of financial stakeholders, along with the enormous goodwill and generosity I’ve experienced, repeatedly, within the Presbyterian church and the KCML team. Very quickly as a team we have moved into constructive, prayerful, accountable relationships that are a delight to participate in. They are a group joyfully facing a new future.

This is a great role, in a great place. Long may the honeymoon continue 🙂

last trip of the working year

I took this photo at Paekakariki on Wednesday, to mark my last trip for the year, as I flew to Wellington for a day on Tuesday, then drove to Palmerston North on Wednesday. It is just over 9 weeks since I began as Principal at Knox Centre for Ministry and Leadership and the trip this week enabled me to complete two important tasks.

First, connecting with intern churches. KCML trains using an internship model and the trip to Palmerston North meant that I have managed to connect with the six ministers and local church in which the incoming (class of 2016) interns will be placed. That has involved a local visit and three road trips – to Christchurch, Palmerston North, Rotorua and Tauranga. It has been such a good exercise to sit with local leaders and explore what it means for them to work with an intern and sense their passion and commitment to form leaders for the future church.

Second, connecting with Presbyteries. The trip this week means that I have managed some form of connection with each of the seven Presbyteries that make up the PCANZ. Working from the bottom up

• a welcome to the Southern Presbytery as I briefly introduced myself at Inspiring Mission, Dunedin;
• a welcome, introduction and Q and A with Alpine Presbytery in Christchurch;
• a lunch gathering with available ministers from Central Presbytery in Palmerston North, in which I shared some of what God might be calling us to in this next season as KCML;
• a visit to Te Aka Puaho, to share in worship and a cup of tea;
• a visit to two local churches in Kaimai Presbytery (with an invitation to speak in 2016);
• a meeting with key leaders from Northern Presbytery;
• engagement with folk from the Pacific Island Synod as part of the block course in Auckland;

Each connection has been different. This is as it should be, because each Presbytery is different and has different patterns of working and being.  For me, these visits are only the beginning. A key part of the future of KCML will be forming training partnerships – each different – with each of these Presbyteries in the years ahead.  But they represent, in the space of nine weeks, a good start in terms of being out and about around the country, connecting and beginning the conversations that will takes us forward in partnership.

road trip 2015

The Spring KCML block course concluded on Thursday. My various teaching slots went well. Working with folk who all already have a primary theology degree and who are all in ministry 70% of the time means different levels of knowledge and question are in the room and I’m still reflecting on that.

Following the block course, I took the opportunity of being already in Auckland, to embark on visiting around the Bay of Plenty region. First, a visit to St Johns Rotorua. We will have two interns connected with this church in 2016. With the current leadership team including a recent graduate, plus having experience of another intern a few years ago, it was a rich sharing of insight and experience.

Second, a visit to Te Aka Puaho. It was a joy to share karakia (prayer) with Whakatane Maori Presbyterian Church on Sunday, a cup of tea afterward with a range of Amorangi (Maori Ministers) and lunch with the Moderator and Te Ahorangi, Wayne Te Kaawa. Wayne is a partner in training and it was good to see him in his home town and to be welcomed warmly to the “heart of Te Aka Puaho.” His wife Helen was just back from Fiji, so the conversation reigned across a wide range of justice issues, both local and in the Pacific.

Third, a visit to St Enochs, Tauranga. We have another intern beginning with this community next year and it was good to share insight and reflect on the privilege of forming leaders in mission.

In betweeen was the sheer joy of driving, of being back in rural New Zealand, of re-connecting with Pohutakawa and fern frond. I visited a number of artists, Trevor Nathan and Maree Aldridge, at the Just Food Cafe. I also connected with a few friends, from previous lives. It all felt spiritual, an earthing, a reminding of place, people and potential.

Now for a few days break, including a return to the Team Taylor holiday house ….

the First Real day at work: Auckland blockcourse

Tomorrow is the First Real Day at work. Tomorrow the Summer KCML block course starts. which means I get to meet students. It’s very exciting, after six weeks of connecting with staff and with the church, to actually connect with students.

KCML operates on an internship module. Students speak 60% of their time in placement. The other 40% is a mix of mentoring, tutorial group work, plus three block courses spread over the year. The block courses last for 10 days. The Summer block course is in Auckland, to ensure interns are situated in a multi-cultural context. Which means that I’ve got quite a bit of gear to pack.

I am involved in 5 lectures, plus preaching at the Graduation sermon. I’m very much looking forward to the First Real day at work. But not to the 5 am start, to fly to Auckland.

first week: three words to describe KCML

I often ask people, in job interviews or reference checks, to provide 3 words to describe. There is always room to expand on the three words, but it’s a useful way to encourage clarity and focus.

So, at the end of a first week as Principal at Knox Centre for Ministry and Leadership (KCML), let me apply the question to myself. Three words to describe KCML?
– warm
– connected
– thoughtful

Let me expand
– warm – with a wonderful welcome morning tea on Monday, with hot scones and cream lamingtons on the Wednesday, with a range of interesting people in the staff lounge in the afternoon, with lovely greetings on arrival from a range of people
– connected – closely to Knox College in a range of practical ways (including the morning teas), with the church up and down the country, with culture in interesting conversations about digital archiving and crossing cultures
– thoughtful – lots and lots and lots of conversations with people who care deeply and passionately about the church, ministry and the future of faith

It’s been a good first week.