April 29, 2004
postmodern preaching
james from the place is phoning this morning. he is doing a research project on the placing of preaching in the emerging church. will post up any highlights of our conversation.
April 28, 2004
passion(ate) letter to mel
My article on Mel Gibson and the passion, they one that caused so much trouble (see here and here) has been published and is now also published on the web.
Headings include;
My movie of disbelief
The framing
The framing of violence
Gender relationships
Over-hyped
Evangelism by art
Please, if you are a Kiwi and you read it, why not also go and buy a copy of the magazine, as they have kindly put this online a monthly earlier than normal, due to the circumstances surrounding it.
April 27, 2004
lest we forget
Sermon from Sunday; titled lest we forget, a reflection on Anzac Day (Remembrance Day: headings include
unity
spirituality
mission
[not to be reproduced in any form, including verbal, without permission. ie. creative commons does not apply to this post]
Today is Anzac Day. April 25.
All around New Zealand sleepy Kiwis will have dragged themselves out of their cosy nest of blankets for the dawn parade.
Anzac Day used to be old fashioned, a dying memorial for the dead.
Today it’s increasingly popular
and many teenagers will pace at the front of the parade.
Today we as New Zealanders have gathered from Hamilton to Hokitika, from Clevedon to Christchurch.
A lonely trumpet has split the dawn. Wreaths have be wrapped around cold concrete memorials. Speechs have been made. Veterans have returned to the RSA to yarn and remember.
Lest we forget.
Many people believe that Anzac Day gave New Zealand the 21st keys to nationhood. Soldiers went as the boys from Taihape, Clive or Ashburton. They returned as New Zealanders.
Something happened at Gallipoli that made us a nation.
To use the words of 1 Peter, once we who were no people, a few boys from Taihape or Clive, now we have become 1 people.
Perhaps it was the fact that war touched almost everyone. 1 in 17 New Zealanders died or was wounded in WW1. Everyone in NZ would have known a grieving mother or a dead father.
Perhaps, it was that sense of participation. Mate with mate in the trenches and fighting. Us as a nation standing with England. Values of solidarity and loyalty and courage under fire.
And so we, NZ, became one nation through shared sacrifice.
Gathering together as a whole community to grieve, to remember.
Lest we forget.
Anzac Day. Today.
A day when New Zealand gains identity,
becomes one people,
through shared sacrifice.
1 Peter 2:10
At one time you were not God’s people
but now you are God’s people.
at one time you did not know God’s mercy
but now you have received God’s mercy.
And so the church,
the people of God,
us here at Opawa Baptist,
gain identity,
become one people, through shared sacrifice.
1 Peter is written to, as in says in chapter 1, 1 –
refugees scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia.
It’s a huge area.
1 Peter is written to a diverse group across this huge area.
How do you create one people?
How do you create one people among refugees, scattered across a vast space?
Peter reminds remind them of their roots,
At one time you were not God’s people
but now you are God’s people.
at one time you did not know God’s mercy
but now you have received God’s mercy.
1 Peter is written to a primarily Jewish group of refugees . We see that in 1 Peter 2:9
But you are the chosen race, the royal priesthood, the holy nation, God’s own people.
These are very Jewish words.
To a bunch of scattered refugees, aware of Jewish concepts of chosen and royal priesthood and holy nation.
Peter reminds them. At one time you were not God’s people, but now you are God’s people.
This is your past. It is important. To this past you must add the mercy of God and the sacrifice of Jesus.
And so the church, the people of God,
gain identity,
become one people,
through shared sacrifice.
How do you create one people among refugees, scattered across a vast space?
To use words and concepts from Maori culture,
you remind them of their whakapapa, their identity.
that they are one people because of God’s mercy.
Because of sacrifice,
the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, we are one people. Lest we forget.
Our identity as a church, as Opawa Baptist, as God’s people, is sourced in the mercy of God.
We are like the Anzacs, identity through shared sacrifice. Lest we forget.
3 practical ways this needs to affect our life.
Firstly, this needs to affect our unity.
We as a church can be united around the mercy of God and the shared sacrifice of Jesus.
Maori culture has a proverb; i nga ra o mua.
It means “to walk forward looking back”.
We walk forward as individuals because of our roots.
We walk forward as a church because of our roots, the mercy of God, the sacrifice of Jesus.
It is one of the reasons communion is so important.
Communion, the sharing of bread and cup, unifies us.
It is a time to share, to remember our common identity, our unity in Jesus.
Lest we forget, that affects our unity.
Secondly, this needs to affect the depth of our Christian spirituality.
As Gordon Coombs and Bob Thompson showed us, deep roots in God and deep roots in the Scriptures are the basis for mission.
We live in a superficial culture.
We are forever being offered new programmes or new techniques.
Both inside and outside the church.
1 Peter reminds us that we have deep roots to our Christian spirituality.
I love the scene from the movie Whale Rider, where the grumpy grandfather speaks of the way the past weaves into the present. Our Christian spirituality needs deep roots, in Scripture, in the life of the church
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Our Christian spirituality is about re-weaving the broken threads. It is about us weaving ourselves into ancient patterns of Scripture reading, Christian fellowship. It is about us aligning ourselves with the ancient story of Jesus and the church of God.
Anzac Day, 1 Peter, asks us to go deep in our Christian spirituality.
Thirdly, lest we forget needs to affect our mission.
Why would Amy Hay go and work for WYT?
Why would Peter and Joyce Majendie wheelbarrow 7 tonnes of sand in and out of this building?
Why does Gordon Sparrow teach 11 Bible in School classes each week, over 300 kids?
Anzac Day, 1 Peter give us a reason.
Lest we forget. Lest we forget the mercy of God.
We are involved in mission,
we share of the mercy of God,
because we ourselves have experienced the mercy of God.
Our mission needs to emerge from the mercy of God to us.
Lest we forget.
Opawa is re-emerging.
I am planning a newcomers get-together,
new people who have become regular in the last two months.
I counted off 14 adults and 5 kids I could invite.
19 newcomers in 2 months.
God is at work in our church.
I want our re-emerging,
our growth, our future, to be because of our roots.
Our identity,
our deep Christian spirituality,
our mission,
sourced, rooted, in the mercy of God and the sacrifice of Jesus.
Greater love has no one than this, they lay down their life for their friends. John 15:13
Lest we forget.
April 24, 2004
postcards on the emergent
I am in the process of placing my book draft - my take on the practices, theology and mission angles of the emergent church - before various respected practioners, listening to their feedback from where they sit.
Some of the comments are gratifying;
great project;
flattered that you want me to reflect on the precious nuggets you have dug from many earths;
spot on ... an amazing resource...
leadership
community development + spiritual leadership + entreprenurial re:emergence =
the leadership task at opawa
it is a significant challenge that demands a wide skill set. i loved planting graceway, which equalled a similar blend. some initial differences include my observation that opawa requires community development across a wider age range, on a wider scale, in a more settled context. spiritual leadership demands more respect for historically formed spiritualities. entreprenurial re:emergence requires a need to lay foundations of missional and cultural understanding.
April 23, 2004
integrity in a diverse world
Met with Tim Barnett for coffee.
My current thinking on the Civil Unions Bill.
1. God applauds the seeking of justice and the end to discrimination.
2. In a pluralistic society, rights of those we disagree with must be respected. Thus Christians must respect gay-rights, while gay-rights must respect Christian rights.
3. So Christians need to respect the gay right to have their relationships treated with societal integrity. Equally the gay community must respect the sacred and historical understandings that underpin Christian ideals of marriage.
April 22, 2004
unsettling the crevices
In reponse to here and the question; "Now is the world any different?" This is not a question of flushing away attempts at defecation. This is not a dismissal of child play, the elegant caress of a goodnight kiss. This is not an assertion of superiority around gradients of success. This is not a rhetorical ruse to dismiss the ontotheologic of the magna carta, the butterfly flap of the opaque obscurity of a verbal email exchange, as an irrelevant game of words.
It is a simple reflection on justice and a personal reminder in the everdayness of my life, that, in the deconstructive words of Caputo; a “Settling into the crevices and interstices of the present ... the provocation of what is to come … with bearing an ethico-political witness to justice.”
April 21, 2004
textures of worship
How much of our worship is flat walled and mono-coloured?
What would it mean to create textured worship, multiple layers, unexpected swirls, differently weaved and woven patterns.
weddings are a civil union
Some talk in New Zealand about a civil union legislation, to give same sex marriages full legal equality. I did a radio rant on the top; arguing weddings are a civil union anyhow, under 3 headings.
great theatre
a civil process of love
a wedding is good ritual
Civil union Bill proposes a new type of relationship model for New Zealand. According to their promotional website, for the first time ever, it will enable same-sex couples access to full legal equality.
Apparently there are thousands of different-sex and same-sex couples are waiting for an alternative to marriage, needing legal protection and security.
Proposed Civil union Bill will do this by granting registered civil union couples recognition and relationship rights which are equal to marriage.
I am sure there is going top be a lot of discussion about this Civil Union Bill. I am sure discussion will include the need for justice, to protect the rights of people. I am sure there will be a lot of talk about morals, the need to uphold marriage.
Alongside the talk of justice and morality, there needs to be talk about the societal implications of marriage.
You see, I spoke at a friends wedding on Saturday.
A lovely occasion. A very Christian wedding, wonderfully planned.
Great fun.
And I have concluded that weddings, the marriage ceremony, is in fact a civil union.
Firstly, weddings are a civil union because they are great theatre.
The hush as the wedding party arrives.
(The Saturday wedding came in old VW Kombi vans)
Everyone standing,
the entrance music,
the first look at the bridesmaids,
and finally the entry of the beautiful bride.
This is not a slop in and sit down with feet up on the café table.
This is high drama.
This parade reminds us how important this occasion is.
The parade that starts the wedding ceremony reminds the gathered audience, the civil society, that something important is about to happen.
Secondly, weddings are a civil process of love.
We live in a world of bad news. Every night we see it on TV.
And then you get those vows.
I, the groom, take you to be my wife, to love for ever.
The idealism. The commitment.
No one in their right mind makes such vows to a stranger.
And so our civil society has a process in which love can grow. Its called dating and engagement.
As a society we have a number of stages through which commitments can process.
The wedding is the end of a well-worked societal or civil process.
Thirdly, a wedding is good ritual.
By “good ritual” I mean that a wedding service reminds our society of a change of relationship.
Because of a wedding, two people will suddenly move in.
They will become one, one address, one phone number, one life.
And so a whole lot of relationships must change.
Separate friends suddenly have to treat two people as one,
suddenly parents have to surrender their main parenting task.
And so a wedding ceremony demands a major negotiation of civil relationships.
How does a society negotiate these changes?
Well, you throw a wedding.
You gather all your friends and family together.
Together as a society, witness this change of relationship.
After a wedding, if the parents come to take bride or groom home at the end of the evening, we all go, No, no, no.
Why? Because we as a society have witnessed a major change of relationship.
So a wedding is a civil union.
It acts in society to notify a change of relationships.
The Civil Union bill is before Parliament.
It will attract a lot of attention in the media.
It will focus on moral issues – the historical and theological influence of marriage in our society.
It will focus on justice issues – how to protect and safeguard the rights of those in relationships?
It will focus on family issues – what is the best place to raise children?
Alongside moral, justice and family issues, we must face the societal issues.
That a wedding ceremony is a civil union.
It allows us as a society to participate in high drama.
It allows us to engage in a process of building commitment.
It allows us as a society to change relationships
Supporters of civil union and
Applauders of tradition marriage
need to get their heads not only around moral and legal issues.
They must consider that weddings are a civil union.
April 20, 2004
don binney: standing in front of spirituality
I walked around the Auckland Art Gallery yesterday, and particularly appreciated the work of New Zealand artist Don Binney.
I have seen his work in books. His work is so much bigger in real life. He also uses textures superbly.
The large size and stylised format suggested for me transcendence, the biggness and boldness of God and life.
Yet Binney is a New Zealander who paints very New Zealand themes, landscapes and birds. So the contextual nature suggested for me immanence, God close and engaged with our world.
Often the bigness (transcendence) of God and the closeness (immanence) of God are juxtaposed. Groups/churches/people do well at one but not the other. It was nice to see both mixed.
April 19, 2004
wedding sermon with thanx
here is someone's personal spirituality in response to the wedding semon , read below.
"who did not accept false oneness". Why, oh why have I spent so much of my life trying to convince God that I am worthy of his acceptance? Why have I spent over 15 years avoiding Jesus because I can't live up to His ideal and am too proud to want his help? I don't want his help. I want to be accepted and adored for who I actually am; proud, quirky, hurting, succeeding, gifted, broken, whole and fragmented.
It cracked me open this morning to see in black and white the wholeness, the holiness, of being exactly who you are. Limited. Real. And that the brokeness is a much stronger building block than perfection or good intentions could ever be. I felt hope inside. It bubbled. That sense of 'maybe' got in a bit deeper, moving a bit of the performance aside. Maybe Jesus does accept me and won't force his change upon me. Maybe my limitations are the attractive part about me. Maybe, in my limitations and reality, the foundations stones of true building are laid down. In moving away from falsity, embracing my limitations, my disappointments, my reality, space is made for ME. I can move away from pursing false one-ness with Jesus and maybe just be. Be acceptable and accepted.
for more go here at Get Yer Goat
April 18, 2004
wedding sermon
for those interested in mixing U2 and God at a wedding;
[not to be reproduced in any form, including verbal, without permission. ie. creative commons does not apply to this post]
Nick and Marion,
it is a honour to speak at your wedding.
You are both really good people.
...some personal words to Nick and Marion about what I appreciate about them ..
I received an email from Nick with my instructions,
It was titled
the longest wedding sermon ever.
sweet as to mix U2 and Trinity
just don't forget to mention the g or j words.
I will leave you all guessing about what are the g and j words.
U2 have a song One.
They have many songs, but the song One is one of their finest.
The song starts
Is it getting better
Or do you feel the same
Will it make it easier on you
Now you got someone to blame
So is this the best thing about being married, about being one?
That you get someone to blame.
I Nicholas Charles Woodley
take you Marion Elizabeth Deeble,
so I’ve got someone to blame.
The song by U2 continues
Did I disappoint you?
Or leave a bad taste in your mouth?
I Marion Elizabeth Deeble
take you Nicholas Charles Woodley,
to disappoint me
to leave a bad taste in my mouth
What does it mean to be one?
For U2, being one includes times of disappointment and of blame.
There is a French philosopher with the rather unfortunate name of Nancy. Jean Luc Nancy.
Mr Nancy can’t stand false “oneness”. He can’t stand relationships and marriages and communities that just put up a good front.
But Mr Nancy does not give up on marriage. Instead Mr Nancy argues that true relationships, deep oneness, starts with us being real.
Starts with each of us acknowledging that there will be disappointment and a bad taste.
Because when we are real, when we face our limitations and name our struggles. We are then able to see other reality, to face others limitations and struggles.
And in that shared reality, we are One.
And so the key to building a good marriage is to be real.
to face your limitations and struggles.
Or as U2 finish,
One life
But we’re not the same
We get to carry each other
Carry each other.
Nick and Marion, you are Christians
You follow a God who accepted you.
Who knew your reality and your limitations.
Who loved you as you are.
This is what love is:
that God loved us and sent his Son to be the means by which are sins are forgiven.
These are the g and j words
God, who loved us in sending us a Son called Jesus.
God
who did not accept false oneness
who looked past all our “good fronts”
God accepting our reality and our limitations.
As you Nick and Marion have experienced that God acceptance,
so you have become One with God.
Marriage is like your Christian spirituality.
Keeping short accounts, not taking each other for granted, making time to listen.
Marriage is a journey. A shared commitment to grow and change.
And the only way you can grow and change,
the only way you can wrinkle and mature with each other,
is to be real with each other, to accept your limitations and name your struggles.
Nick,
I remember sitting with you, slumped over a café table in Kingsland
Two weeks before you had asked for some advice on how to choose a marriage companion for life, how to know someone was “the one.”
And then there you were, slumped over the café table, telling me that you and Marion had broken up.
And so your relationship with Marion has this sense of reality,
times of disappointment.
Yet here you are today and you are looking very handsome and Marion is beside you looking beautiful and it was all worth it.
Marion
On your website on march 16 you wrote
I am sooo over being engaged. I am sick of organising stuff. Why does deciding you want to spend the rest of your life with someone equal becoming a manic, diarised control freak?
And so you have built your relationship on reality and on struggle.
Yet here you are today and you are looking beautiful and Nick beside you looking handsome and it was all worth it.
Nick and Marion
you will probably not remember a single word I say.
When you watch the video tape, you will hear me say
Build you marriage on reality.
Build your marriage on your limitations and struggles.
One life
Because you’re not the same
You get to carry each other
Carry each other
April 15, 2004
i present you mr and mrs woodley
up to auckland to preach at a friend's wedding: the instructions are:
10 minutes will be fab
sweet as to mix U2 and Trinity
just don't forget to mention the g[od] or j[esus] words
speak to both us and the audience please
just make it gracewayesque or is that opawaesque?
sermons, time, engaging
with the loss of a youth pastor at opawa, we have an input/speaking/preaching "hole" in our evening services. crisis or opportunity?
the church has about 150 people at a morning service and about 40-50 people in the evening, some repeats but generally much more youth~full.
we are in the process of looking for someone else to join the pastoral team, but in the short term the hole will not be filled.
i am reluctant to get a whole string of guest preachers in. i work 3 days/week for the church and dont want to serve up 2 different sermons a week.
so i have been thinking. one option is that in the evenings we "discuss and apply" the morning.
so i preach as per normal in the morning.
then in the evening i provide a brief re-summary of what I preached, so that those not there in the morning are brought up to speed.
then i provide a range of options: for example
- discuss what does this mean for a work situation
- discuss what does this mean for a contemporary news situation
- take some paints and express this text in colours.
- write a poem in response to this text
- work on an emotional exegesis of this text.
ie a range of interactive options. what do you think? crisis or opportunity?
April 14, 2004
mark this gap
I believe that on the edges, in the fragments, among the absence is where God is most. Words that are much easier to write than to live. Leaving graceway, the emerging church I planted in Auckland was really hard. What was God doing with me? What was God doing with Graceway? what would leaving mean?
This, perhaps is part of an answer. (I scored this interview off mootblog).
Mark is the new pastor of Graceway - a Baptist new form of being church and alternative worship community in Auckland. I met Mark the last time I was in OZ when I was moving around doing Godly Play as a form of worship. Mark has a background in theological studies and in particular servants, a christian liberational project in asia.
Mark has taken over after the input of Steve Taylor who has finished his PhD and Mike Crudge who is now touring around spiritual tourists and students in North & South Island.
Mark, things are changing on the Auckland scene - with Mark Pierson going off to Melbourne, Steve Taylor off to Christchurch and Mike touring - sounds a tough time to start being a minister when everyine else seems to have gone liquid - what led up to this decision and what is Graceways vision now that Steve has moved?
Hi Ian!, I think i remember telling you that I was never going to be a Baptist minister- oops. i am now! Things are going ok. Really I’m just kind of settling into the job-seeing how things work etc. there seems to be a pretty good feeling around the place so far, and i haven't had an affair with secretary yet- oh yeah we don't have one!
Answering your question, a tough time in one sense, a good time in another. Now is a good time for new leaders to come through to start/keep on dreaming and doing stuff. There is sooo much scope here in Auckland to be involved in missional work. On the other hand losing Mark and Steve is like losing for want of better example, lets say Martin Johnson- a leader who has been there, done that, and then inspires those around them to do the same. And although they are still around in one sense it's not the same. The void will be there for some time and will be recognisable. I'm not trying to downplay what others are doing or contributing- just wanting to acknowledge the huge contribution made by these two.
My own decision to step into this role came out of a year that didn't really happen to plan- to cut along story short, i had plans of being involved in the community in which i live as a youth/community worker- it was all go then went pear shaped. I went to the Philippines- wanting to listen to the stories of the poor and hear from God in that context. On my return, I flt a strong sense of call to graceway- one thing led to another. Here I am.
My vision for graceway...ah, um. Good question. I could get very spiritual at this point and say 'my vision, don't you mean God's?' but you would probably see straight through that! My vision is developing- in process. Steve, Lynne and God, did a great thing at graceway. Weathered some heavy storms and kept it alive. I want to honour what they have done, build on it and help to make the changes and adjustments as they are needed. I guess i have been thinking along the lines of 'authentic worship- authentic mission'
the idea that as people are given the space to worship in authentic ways- then i think we will be more inclined to engage in mission which is authentic. Sounds hugely idealistic now that i write it down but we'll see how we go.
Regarding my role- i don't want it to be about maintaining structures- doing what we have always done just because.. but more of a facilitation role- helping the community to function well. Maybe a d.j. rather than a rock star- how bout that, i like that. There are plenty of rock stars around, you know what i mean?
I come from a fundamentalist background, so I don't have a lot of time for bollocks. i've seen too may damaged and battered people to want to be involved in the power games. In saying that i personally haven't had any problems. I'm happy to be part of the Baptist movement and I'm happy to be part of a larger grouping- in fact i think it's essential. Independant churches are independant of who exactly? I think i'll just do what i do hang out with my mates and let other people get on with what they are doing- i have never been a great fan of conflict!
A big part of what I will be doing is resourcing- ideas, gatherings, events- why reduplicate stuff all the time- i'm fully keen on sharing! I guess this where the net is a huge resource. It is always goo to network. I love networking, having coffee, talking. If people are here or there we need to connect- it is so important to me!
seasons
autumn in the southern hemisphere
the leaves are starting to fall
it is amazing that something that is dying
can be so intensely full of colour.
April 12, 2004
sick
this is abusive behaviour. this is not an individual problem but a societal issue. the internet needs to grow up and find ways to redeem such behaviours.
Update: If this was happening in a real world, a restraining order could be enacted. The internet doesn't really have this facility. Hence my assertion that this is a societal issue that the internet community as a whole has to work at.
a toast to the depths of opaquacity
i like dan hughes. he is so opaque that he must be deep. he draws the very best of opaqueness out of me. he liked my email. i liked his response.
for the record, our mutual email love session goes like this,
>>the opaque dan: ...theologies and ecclesiologies that have come to dominate the memory of the man Jesus. We envision a direct, participatory spirituality
>
>the opaque steve: All theologies start with the dream of direct, participatory spirituality.
the opaque dan: Maybe. "All" is a broad term and we might disagree with what "starting with" means in any given case. I do not believe, for example, that the major fourth century creedal conferences and the bureaucracies that calcified around their work-products had a dream of direct, participatory spirituality. Much of what we look back on with a bit of wistful and rosy retrospect, I would suggest, had a more nuanced history of political positioning and ideological power-mongering that we would do well not to forget.
>the opaque steve: What will prevent your's from calcifying?
the opaque dan: Mine will. Just as I will calcify, decay and die. So be it. Functionally, though, I am not setting out to build anything for anyone that could be christened, "mine." What I do and say is an outflow of my life as life. I only do theology and ecclesiology as it is locally relevant to my history, experience, communities and interests. I am, as far as I know how to, directly participating in the life I've been given without the ambition of creating a definitive anything save the definitive life that Daniel Hughes was given to live with and for others.
>the opaque steve: could not these theologies and ecclesiologies in their domination still contain inherent subversions, which if deconstructed, would reveal the subversive Christ.
>
the opaque dan: Oh, yes. Hegemony is self-subversive, indeed.
A toast to opaquacity. Now is the world any different?
easter thinking
great post over at barky's blog on presence and absence.
It’s interesting to note that the resurrection story begins with the words ‘he is not here’. A turning point in the Christian narrative is founded on an absence of Christ and the absence of God.
At the start of this Easter week I’ve been thinking about this – how absence shapes the experience and spirituality of the disciples.
it formed part of my easter sermonic reflection. mark applies it to the church. i applied it to our spirituality in general. for some easter resurrection is celebration of presence. for others easter resurrection is hope of life because God feels absent. this is much tougher, but potentially much more fruitful.
easter joy
new life walks on.
just back from graceway's easter dinner. mark's sermon was superb - about finding new life in unexpected places. there was a good crowd, and a good time had by all :-)
April 11, 2004
linked
one of my posts (an idea of an alternative way of being church) made it onto the Presbyterian Church of Aoteroa New Zealand newsletter here.
welcome to any presbyterian sojourners who might have clicked my way.
power of poetry
this has been a hard easter for me at a personal level. i am too busy. my book is in the last month of its life with me, and every spare minute is spent editing. it is my first easter in a new church and i am still finding my feet. a number of staff developments in the church have left me overloaded. on top of that, Christchurch experienced a cold snap and my Auckland blood froze.
this easter the psalms have been my lifeline. i have struggled to read the narratives of Jesus. i have been sustained by the simple elegance of poetry and metaphor.
thank God for different parts of the Bible.
April 09, 2004
April 08, 2004
Working the art
I did two art installations (of 16) in the 2004 Contemporary Passion of the Christ art exhibition at church. The aim is not high quality art, but interactivity – an engaging Easter experience.
One of the art installations I did was the “last bbq”, complete with tomato sauce, buttered bread and barbeque. People are invited to sit down at a picnic table and write on a plastic plate “what are the last words you would say to this dying man”. Then they stuff their plate in the rubbish, before moving on through the rest of the art installation.
Today I was cleaning the plastic plates (dry-erase markers), in order to recycle them. It was a rare privilege to read what people have written and to sense that people are “working the art,” penning prayer on plastic plates and in so doing, accessing the living God of Easter.
(I will tell you about the other installation later).
April 07, 2004
Palm sand-day
When you have 7 tonnes of sand in your church, it probably means you have the largest indoor ecclesial church sand-pit in the world. Perfect for Palm sand-day!
The kids stayed in for the entire service. During the sermon they were invited to build a sand castle of the “entry to Jerusalem.”
It was very cool to preach in the middle of 7 tonnes of sand and a 30 metre wide sand-pit with groups of kids all around me building sand castles.
Question to kid: Can I borrow your palm frond?
Answer from kid: That’s not a palm frond, that’s the TV aerials around Jerusalem!
April 06, 2004
church and the dub
I am a dub survivor
ready to ez on by
cos its been a long, long time
since the dance hall boy
loved your ways.
Went to Salmonella Dub on Friday. I’d forgotten I had a body that is God-made to move. I’d forgotten what it feels like to feel bass through my feet and chest. I'd forgotten the magical integration of a tight set, great lights, dub beats, and video.
Someone once described Graceway as like a Salmonella Dub set:
a mix of brass, beats, electronica, with Tiki tane conducting them like wild prophet, inviting us to join for the ride. And what a ride it is; sound, light, visual, dance, sweat dripping from every pore in my body. It finishes all too soon. But what a great gig, no great experience. I am reminded of how I enjoy our attempts at graceway to incorporate the elements of this experience into our worship; sound, light, visual, movement...connecting all the senses to God, who calls us to worship him with all our heart/soul/mind/strength. I go of to the next gig, thinking about just which salmonella dub track i will use on sunday...
April 04, 2004
shattered
shattered ... he posted the last chapter of his book to the helpful global friends who give feedback.
45,000 words
8 chapters
.... done ....
he broke open a beer, knowing that if he died tonite, he would leave a complete manuscript.
after a good nights sleep, he will return to the beginning. he will take to each chapter with a sharp red pen and the written comments of those helpful global friends.
April 03, 2004
a deconstruction of Incarnation
Incarnation is the new buzz word. (Alongside missional). Words are power, so in the spirit of deconstruction;
we are Incarnational because Jesus was Incarnational? Right.
Of course …
So Incarnational mission is retreating from people …
as Jesus did lots when he sought the quiet to pray?
So Incarnational mission is a geographic immobility and a snobbish attitude to other cultures …
as Jesus did when he focused on Israel and only very reluctantly blessed the Syro-phonecian woman?
So Incarnational mission is refusing to share the Messianic secret ...
as Jesus instructed people he healed to do?
No, of course not. So what is Incarnational?
A draft definition which awaits your feedback (drawing from John 1:14 – Jesus became flesh and blood and moved into the neighbourhood).
Draft definition: The immersion in the life of Jesus rooted and growing in a particular context.
Yet Jesus at times chose to limit Incarnation. He did not heal everyone and he did not travel to all cultures in the world. So we must hold Incarnation lightly, because in Jesus it is limited.
Note to self: Willow Creek is a superb example of Incarnation in an executive culture of Northern Chicago. Supporters of Incarnation must applaud all Incarnations, not just there own.
In the emerging church I see Incarnation occurring in a number of ways.
Incarnational worship - the expression of Christ in postmodern worship forms. Alternative worship is one such example and Jonny Baker has done some excellent writing and research on this here. Alt.worship is criticized for being attractional here. It might have evolved that way, but it’s heart beat is Incarnation.
Incarnational forms – some good examples of this are the Aussie bloggers; backyard and living room. This is an attempt to find more relational ways of being church, often not on Sunday. Mission occurs through relationships. Redemptive parties or big gigs encourage these natural processes. These have the advantage of still being too early to note criticisms.
Both worship and forms are attempts to move the conversation forward. Supporters of Incarnation must applaud all Incarnations, not just there own, limited Incarnation.
kiwis lead the way again: News flash from joe ker
1 April saw the birth here in new zealand of extreme.emerging church...
it offers fools for christ a unique experience and will make all baptists and other followers of full emmersion exstatic.
April 02, 2004
stripping, art and space
My latest radio rant ..
I want to soapbox about stripping the church.
Now before you reach for the radio dial, let me reassure you, I am not talking about a nude streak down the aisle.
At Easter, some churches strip ...
At Easter, some churches strip the church. As they move through the passion, through the last week of Jesus life, they take down all the furnishing and curtains.
The church becomes bare as they mourn the loss of God.
At Opawa Baptist, the process of stripping the church began early. It began on Sunday.
After the morning service, half the pews were unbolted and removed.
And in this bare space, metres and metres of black polythene were laid.
The church was stripped.
On Monday I went to the Christchurch Art Gallery.
One of the art exhibits was titled “The Imaginary Museum”. At about 12 points around the museum were nice comfy seats, a stack of newspapers and walkmans.
Open the newspaper and you were shown close up camera shots of various museums and art galleries around the world … Germany, France, Denmark..
Put on the headphones and you hear various museum directors describing their museums … Italy, Belgium, Finland.
The point is to get you thinking about how our environment shapes what we understand.
How does an art director in France use light, or the colour of the walls, or the placing of the doors, to shape our experiences of life?
Our environment shapes our experiences.
Back to church. On Sunday we stripped the church.
And over the next days, we will re-shape the environment of the church.
3 tonnes, of sand will be wheelbarrowed in and poured on the floor. A pool 5 metres wide will be made and filled with water. Trees will be placed. Paving stones will be laid down.
As I stood in this stripped out church space, I suddenly appreciated how light and colour and environment shape what we understand.
The point of all our work is to create an Easter resurrection garden. At Easter at Opawa Baptist we will literally worship in a garden. Hence the sand, the trees, the paving stones, the pool.
And at Opawa Baptist you can get to the Easter Garden by walking the Easter Journey,
walking the Stations of the Cross, contemplating artistic re-interpretations of the Last Supper, the Denial of Jesus, the walk to the cross.
So the point of stripping the church is to let our environment enhance our Easter experience.
Just like the art gallery, to let light and colour and enviroment impact on how we appreciate and experience Jesus death and resurrection.
And I suddenly thought about how environment shaped the teaching of Jesus.
The use of a boat and fishing and nets
to speak to fishermen about following Jesus, in Luke 5,
the use of lots of bread to speak about his body, in John 6
the use of parables, drawing from everyday experiences of the environment.
salt and light, coins and parties.
Jesus used his environment to communicate the gospel.
Is is time to strip our churches?
Week after week in churches our spaces and environments remain the same.
And our challenge is to follow Jesus. To let our environment shape our teaching
through the use of visuals on the OHT or PPT,
through the use of symbols and colour,
So that’s my soapbox this week.
Strip
not ourselves, but our church spaces
Follow Jesus
and use our environments to communicate the gospel and enhance our experiences of God.
April 01, 2004
do you want many or few?
I am in the final stages of preparing my book manuscript for emergentYS. Provisional title - e~mergent postcards: a postmodern missiology. It is a followup to my PhD research on the emerging church. It is a to book, not a from book, an attempt to name some new mission contours, to link Scripture with emergent practices.
One of the things I dream of doing with the book is give some sense of writing in community. I want to ask a range of people to provide “comments” – short paragraphs alongside my thoughts - to disagree, to provide an example, to add a prayer or a ritual- and thus broaden perspectives. Just like a blog.
I am wanting to include voices like a new Christian, women church planters, wiser older heads, alongside the usual names that one needs to lift one's book from obscurity to whatever.
The publisher and I are talking about having
a) 2 "commenters" that run through the entire book plus 4-6 other regular cycling commenters ie 6-8 commenters in total
b) 2 "commenters" that run through the entire book plus new and different voices in every chapter ie 20 commenters in total.
Would you rather have a few repeated voices for the sake of continuity, or more voices at the risk of not knowing who they are?
