sustain:if:able kiwi

mission collective: living (night 2) reflections

Our second round of mission collectives has just kicked off. I’m just back from the living collective. (Creating meets tomorrow evening, then Loving gathers over Sunday lunch). The aim is to affirm the diversity of our life, gather in a conversational manner (4 times a year) around mission. Tonight I’ve been sitting in a shop, the workplace, of one of our congregation, collecting around the challenge of being salt and light with neighbours and in our workplaces.

In my bag is a blank card, with the words: Live your faith. Share your life, and a verse that encourages us to start by sharing life with people. It’s proved such an eye opener, a reminder of the need to be fully human, real, vulnerable with people.

During the evening P. shared how the off the map interviews we showed last time had inspired him to do an “off the map” interview with their neighbours, and the value and insight experienced in simply listening to the spiritual search of another. M. shared how God has changed her and her friends notice that, so she simply tells them it happened at Opawa and they come along. A. called me over to share that the “grandparenting” role I suggested he try two years ago is still going with one of our young adults. S. asked if I remembered the first time she came to church and how rude she felt she was and how my response lowered her defensives and now she’s an “apprentice” Christian.

I drove home, my heart singing. It’s been a tough week for me, people in my ear about this and that. But its nights like this that make it all worthwhile – honest people caring enough about mission to gather tired bodies and the stories of lives changed and changing.

Acts as justice in two thirds world perspectives

We had Steve Maina, from Church Missionary Society lead Bible days yesterday. What a gift!

A lot of synchronicity in the room: the Bible days topic (based on the lectionary) being the book of Acts, Steve being from Kenya and working for Church Missionary Society, the date falling in Opawa missions week.

Steve was superb. Passionate. Enthusiastic. An intellectual capacity, combined with a depth of study. Fresh eyes. He kept hammering away about justice: that the book of Acts is about justice – about the Spirit being shared between ethnic groups, about wealth distributed fairly.

Take the gift of tongues. For years this has simply been a dog fight between Pentecostals and non. But when you consider tongues as an outworking of God’s justice, then Acts 2 and Acts 11, become a reminder of Gods’ favour upon outsiders. New ethnic groups have just as much place at God’s table as any other.

Up goes the mirror: the dog fight over tongues is framed simply as justice. Do our church structures and policies and mission need to flex, to ensure an equal voice for all? Are Pentecostal ways of leading justly participatory? Are Baptist church meetings places of justice, where everyone has equal voice?

Fantastic.

Bible days are proving such a gift. This is the fourth – John, 1 Peter, 1 Corinthians – now Acts. The next at Opawa is 2 Samuel on August 15. So often I see the Bible used either badly or loosely. Bible days brings intellectual resources into the community. It allows people to consider the Bible within bigger picture frameworks. It’s a living reminder that we need to engage the Bible in multiple ways – sermonic, lecture, lectionary. It’s allowing us, in a sustainable (every 6 weeks) to focus on the Bible. It’s bringing the academy into conversation with the pew.

more local mission

Sorry if this is sounding a bit like a stuck record, but there’s a lot happening mission wise at Opawa at the moment. When the church building project first came to the Board back in 2007, we discussed the danger of a building project turning the church inward. I’d come with a mission call, not with a “building call.” To help us process our priorities, one of the questions I asked the Board was how on earth we would explain a $500,000 building project to a solo mum in our local community. (We also read our Bible text for the year and asked each other how the building project would move us toward that Bible text). And we made a commitment to each other – that we would do both: build and keep our mission.

So it is great, three weeks into a 12 week building project to reflect on the week past.

On Thursday this week, Shiloh re-started. 10 children, which is a third of the girls at Waltham in the target age range turned up and it was a great first night. It means we as a church now minister to youth and children five days of the week: with Brigades on Tuesday, Opawa Baptist Youth on Wednesday, Shiloh on Thursday, mainly music/Koru/family film night on Friday and services on Sunday. That’s a lot of love!

On Friday I walked into the church to see the first bach of flu packs scattered around the foyer. They are superbly presented, packed with a range of goodies, ready to be dropped off at the local school and doctors, for them to give into the community.

It is so encouraging to be part of a team and a church on a journey that is keeping both mission AND building in our planning, dreaming, visioning. The local solo mum has somewhere to send her kids and a flu pack, given the likelihood (79%) of her family catching flu. When the project is done, she can hang at the long table enjoying a cafe then catch a parenting group in the larger foyer.

a long table please

I came to Opawa Baptist in 2004 with some dreams. One was that the mission of God, as discerned in the local community, would over time change the church. This included a clear mental picture of a church in which the insides – the physical architecture – became different as people from the community found love and acceptance.

It’s now 2009. Last night was the end of term evaluation of the Gathering. The Gathering began in April, in response to people from the community needing a discipling space in our midst. It happens not at the church, but at our local community centre. Weekly, always with food, each week explores a Bible passage followed by a free flowing discussion.

Like anything new, it had no guarantees. But local people have gathered, feedback has been very positive and the “guiding” team remain energised. It’s one of the best things about Opawa this year, this gathering of local folk, previously not in church, in belonging and around the Bible. There’s such a deep joy in growing deep and strong relationships with our church neighbours.

A key feature at the local community centre is a long table. It’s where the Gathering has taken place. Everyone sits, so all are equal. It’s where food is served and the Bible is opened, where stories are told and real life mixes.

So in the course of the evening, one of the “guiding team”, a long term Opawa Baptist church member, turns to me. “When the building project is completed, I hope we have a long table at the church, just like we do for the Gathering at the local cottage.”

And my eyes sparkle! YES! Our/God’s mission, as discerned in the local community, is over time, changing the church – physically! It’s moments like this that make pastoral change processes worthwhile.

Updated: a wise friend took this one step further. He suggested that we build our own tables. Which started another spin of creative options – could the “long table” then be the church communion table? Could each congregation provide their own table for the new cafe space!

still flaxing eloquent saturday 25 july

another chance, last chance, to experience the Pentecost Spirit art installation at Opawa.
Saturday, 25th July, 8 pm. A great ending to our missions week.

a whole new spin on organic church

As part of my weekend, my hosts took me to Heronswood. It was interesting to wander the place, thinking about how mission and church life. You see, here I was an outsider. I’m not a convert, not an “organo-freak” and I’m a tourist, visiting Australia, just passing through. As I wandered, asking myself: how many entry pathways do communities of faith offer? how many types of learning do we encourage? how many “give-it-a-go,” beginners type resources do communities of faith offer?

Here is what Heronswood offered:
1. A space: a historic house and established gardens, around which one could wander, free of charge, absorbing the peace, or pay a small entry fee to wander another part of the garden.

2. A cafe: selling a range of food, a real try before you buy experience of new vegetables and imaginative possibilities.

3. A demonstration garden: ln which new vegetable varieties were grown, stretching the imagination, offering possibilities. Tied to this was a demonstration plot showing “the size of garden needed to feed 3 people for a year.” It was quite stunning to realise how little a space of land was required to grow vegetables.

4. Which was tied to “product” in the form of plants, seeds and books. You could buy those new possibilites you see in the garden. You could purchase the seed pack required to start your own garden. Lots of resources were targeted at beginners, both books and hands on starter kits.

5. Regular workshops were offered, in how to plant, compost, harvest. A chance for relationships, a chance for those who might not get books, but might learn by hands on practice.

6. A festival, twice a year, offered a chance to celebration.

7. A committed core, the diggers club (what a great name) in the form of a membership group.

What would it mean to stimulate our thinking by placing ecclesial life and mission alongside this type of multi-faceted place, the hands on experimentation, the one-off workshops, the festivals, the demonstration plots, offering a wide variety of ways to access?

Most churches offer a church service, which is essentially targeted at (7) the committed core, the members, those inside the community. If they get missional, they run (2) a cafe or a variety of community facing programmes. But it pales into insignificance alongside workshops, festivals, product, demonstrations, space and core.

A common response when I talk about spirituality2go is “lack of resources”, yet this was at heart a business, who have find a way to offer their resources in a sustainable financial model.

Another response is the limitation of buildings. Yet here was a place defined by a building – the old homestead – at their centre, who had simply built pathways and produces in and around this.

Opawa has made some moves in this spirituality2go direction. Our lenten wilderness blog, our 7 practices, our art installations (and an article on whether the Opawa art installations are foyer or signposts) are all hints. But there’s so much more to explore.

I tie this post to a chapter of my book, on spirituality2go, on Pete Ward’s concept of Liquid Church and to a recent post by glocal, asking where are the beginner resources in missional church.

post+pray+card for building project

Here is the creative work from our creative pastoral team. A photo of the building project and some words, being sent out to 20% of the church, so that everyone gets a post+pray+card in a 5 week cycle. About 19 cents/copy at the local stationery shop. A way of inviting prayer, of connecting people, of sharing progress. Prayer requests can change each week as the project develops. Isn’t it great.

Front:

Back: with room to print address labels

Now, what about a series of 10 post+pray+cards next year on various community ministries? And then another set the year after on various art pieces?

winter spirituality week 2

“It’s not every church you get to play twister while singing the final hymn” was one piece of feedback on our 10:30am service.

We’re into our second Sunday of s-l-o-w-i-n-g down, winter spirituality. We Kiwis tend to hurtle from February to December and then collapse in January. So we’ve suggested to our congregations and small groups that they take 2 slower weeks in early July. So at 10:30 am the focus was on winter spirituality and along with a winter call to worship, dedication, baptist and a winter spirituality sermon, part of the worship was a time to “sabbath.” People “sabbath” in a variety of ways, so a range of options were scattered around the church:
– lego
– “kicking tires” of the building project
– card making
– browsing church library
– checking out spiritual practice resources
– helping put together our flu packs (seen over $750 donated for these in last 2 weeks)
– reflecting on winter visuals
– catching up with people
– twister!!
ending with Great is thy faithfulness. It was great looking around, seeing the spread of generations, the mix of people, the laughter and care and creativity, hearing the conversations around what sustains and nourishes our inner life.

If we’d had more energy and the new foyer cafe that is part of the building project had been completed, it would have also included hot chocolates all around. But what we did was enough, slowing the pace, reminding us of a whole-person spirituality and our diversity as a group of people.

practical praying for building project

Starting a building project can be way more than just a construction site.

What about we take photos of the work as it progresses? And every week we send a progress photo to people in the church (dividing church into 10 groups, and cycling through the entire church over a 10 week period). On the back of the photo we provide a list of what might be happening with the project that week, and ways people can pray.

A simple way to keep people informed, to encourage connection and enhance prayer.

application block/bung: updated

Text for Sunday: Jesus said, “When you’re celebrating a wedding, you don’t skimp on the cake and wine. You feast. Later you may need to pull in your belt, but not now. As long as the bride and groom are with you, you have a good time. No one throws cold water on a friendly bonfire. This is Kingdom Come!” He went on, “No one cuts up a fine silk scarf to patch old work clothes; you want fabrics that match. And you don’t put your wine in cracked bottles.” Mark 2:19-22

So I’ve got the introduction and backstory: conflict in Mark 2, the wedding image – in the Old Testament, in Jewish culture, in Revelation. God as party God, Christian discipleship as “friends of bridegroom”: a fabulous picture.

But I’m blocked/bunged up with verse 21-22 – the wineskins part. If I was all emergent/esque it would be easy – I’d just trash talk the old. You know the drill: old, wrinkly, leather past it’s due by date. New wine is coming, all youthful and goateed and hip and fine silk.

But is that really what Jesus would be wanting to say at Opawa on Sunday morning: a 98 year old church, visitors for a baby dedication of a child from a historic and faithful family, to a congregation that has given space for new wineskins of Grow and Side Door and espresso and the gathering to develop. What is the application?

I need to dash to talk to 90 Salvation Army community and church youth workers, so thoughts please while I’m gone ….

Updated: Thanks to those who commented and emailed. You were each helpful and encouraging. Here’s how I finished: (more…)

the day a man attacked our church with a hammer

I arrived on Saturday afternoon to find a man with a hammer attacking the church walls. So began the practical part of church renovations. It took about 6 months to make a decision as a church. (Unanimous!). It took about 9 months to reach our fundraising goal 80% of a $500K project. It took 12 months to secure council consent!

This week it began …

So for the next 12 weeks, staff are working around diggers, hammers, skill saws. Oh joy!

For those curious, we put together this 8 minute video for our 2008 church meeting, as an attempt to communicate and link our mission and ministry with the practicalities of our building changes. Enjoy!)

Room by Room – Opawa 08 from opawa mac on Vimeo.

In a nutshell; Stage 1 and 2 involves
* renovations to our toilets, including disability access
* a dedicated cafe and kitchen area
* a larger foyer area
* that can be sub-divided to allow multiple use by multiple groups
* more office space for our staff team
* improved access to our children’s area
* as a foundation for Stage 3, which will include family hub ministry (for more see here and here).

for more go here

the downside of packaging

I recently blogged about the importance of the packaging. However, as Paul expresses it so poetically in 2 Corinthians 4, faith is always found in earthen vessels. In other words, the beauty of the message is always carried in fumbling human attempts.

So the downside of paying attention to the packaging, is the list I mentally compiled after a Sunday in the foyer.

In essence: Pastor, we need to pay attention to the following “earthen” packaging:
– warmer church please
– followup the dedication please
– make amends for a service mistake please
– address the confusion over after-church coffee please
– take more control of worship please
– take less control of worship please
– visit some newcomers possibly

All feedback gained at the door at Sunday. All good and important. All worthy of time and attention. It’s great that people care.

But can I be honest (Can I say this on my blog? What will my “church readers” think! Hopefully they’ll be reading the header, “all thoughts personal and provisional” :)!)

and say I don’t. That the list actually causes me to shrivel. It’s not that I don’t care about the idea and the person who gives it. It’s just that, well, the detail of that list drives me crazy.

To use the Pixar example, I’m more naturally wired to be part of the Pixar creative team than to be the person to run the organisation and do the quality control. Their is an organisational part of church life that drives me crazy. (Can I really say this on my blog? What will my “church readers” think! Hopefully they’ll be reading the header, “all thoughts personal and provisional” :)!)

And the more a church grows, the more that organisational thing intrudes. Every new initiative – community ministry or trust or collective or ministry flu pack – demands more organisational and detailed packaging.

So it’s one thing to value the packaging. And I do. It’s quite another to do something about it, let alone to get it right.

groups as mission

Last year at Opawa I offered the following snapshot of our mission life: Currently, three evenings a week, smaller gatherings occur at Opawa. They provide a snapshot of our changing mission

It is fascinating to realise how mission has shifted for us as a church: away from Sunday attractional services to smaller, more relational groups. Each group has a different interest, funds a different type of conversation, engages with a different way of spiritually searching – questioning place, thinking place, experiencing place. (more here).

So it was interesting to read the following caution by John Finney, The Four Generations. Finding the Right Model for Mission. (It’s a Grove Book, which I find an increasingly useful resource). He noted that groups attract a certain type of person – more likely the curious, the gregarious, the educated, the articulate, those who have time. And that’s not everyone. “A vast number of people in this country go to work in the morning, come home, watch the television, do a bit of DIY and never go out except for excursions to the shops or on outings or to see other members of the family. They belong to no organization, join no group, seldom go to the pub; they are self-sufficient.”

So while a variety of short and long groups have been more than useful for us, a reminder that we need to keep chewing on the mission question. Which caused me to ponder again the potential of mission collectives in our life.

These were birthed over the weekend. (We are aiming for four a year.) The aim of the collectives is to collect, focus and resource energy around our mission life. We offered three different collectives on 3 different days in three different locations, each with a distinct vibe. In total 47 people turned up. Could have been more, but by and large, people left energised and challenged.

Now consider the collectives. Living encourages being a good neighbour/worker, creating encourages art installations, loving encourages our incarnational work in our local community. Their focus is NOT on groups as mission (although yes, the collective itself is a form of group), but on the use of lifestyle, creativity and service to name Christ. Perhaps this is both/and; groups and collectives together forming a partnership for us at Opawa.

Interesting. (Yes, I know, probably only to me dear reader, but this is my blog!)

mission collectives weekend

Just a friendly reminder that Mission Collective Meetings are to be held (birthed) this weekend!

LIVING collective meets Friday 19th, 7:30-8:45 pm, Bad Back Shop, 303 Colombo Street: You might choose LIVING if your find yourself most challenged to be a good Christian neighbour or workplace witness. You will be encouraged, connect with others, share the ups and downs and gain some thought provoking input.

CREATING collective meets Saturday, 20th, 8-9:30 pm, on the stage of Opawa church auditorium: You might choose CREATING if you are most energised by something like a Christmas Journey. You will connect with others, engage around some thought provoking input on installations and reflect on the recent Flaxing Eloquent Pentecost Installation.

LOVING collective meets Sunday, 21st June, 12:30-2:30, in church foyer. You might choose LOVING if you find yourself most involved in a local Waltham focused ministry. You will experience the history and diversity of Waltham, connect with others who love this community and be inspired by hearing what they are doing. (Lunch provided and bring layers as you will be walking outdoors.)

What are mission collectives? As a church we have a passion for reflecting Christ’s love into our communities and beyond. Mission collectives help resource and encourage us in this. They happen four times a year, once a term. All regulars (members and adherents) are asked to choose one. By going, you encourage others. It’s simply part of being a healthy body. By going, you are encouraged, through input, sharing of stories, pray and planning.