e~mergent kiwi

Jesus the good woman

Luke 15:1-7 presents Jesus as like a good shepherd, searching for a lost sheep. Luke 15:8-10 presents Jesus as like a good woman, searching for a lost coin.

The church has been very happy to tell me about the first, Jesus as good shepherd. But why has the church been strangely silent about the second, Jesus as a good woman?

Strange, because a feature of Jesus is the way he includes both male and female. 27 times the writer of Luke matches a story about a man, with a story about a woman; starting with the angel appearing to Zechariah and Elizabeth in Luke 1; followed by Simeon and Anna blessing the baby Jesus in the temple in Luke 2; through to men and women being present at Jesus death and resurrection. 27 times.

As Kenneth Bailey, Finding the Lost, notes, Jesus is remarkable for the way he affirms both women and men as "full and equal participants in the kingdom of God." Surely this pairing has something to say about women in ministry.

to do at easter if you are in christchurch

Here is a higher resolution version if you would like to put up a poster in your church/workplace.

what should a preacher preach?

On Sunday I preached a sermon. Nothing unusual about that. What was perhaps unusual was that it engaged with a public issue by asking a question: would Jesus smack children?

The sermon had the following sort of outline:
1. invitation to engage with a Biblical text: Luke 18:15-18.
2. question - would Jesus smack, followed by explanation for the question - that New Zealand is engaged in intense current debate about anti-smacking Bill
3. implication one - should Christians protest against this Bill (I gave 3 reasons why you might).
4. implication two - should Christians smack, and an exploration of some Bible verses often used to support smacking
6. some exploration of the question, would Jesus smack
7. some pastoral comments about the complexity of life and of parenting
8. pastoral prayer for parents (prayed by my partner, Lynne)
9. chance for talkback with me after the service if people wanted (about 10 people did and it was a good, robust discussion).

There is that old saying, religion and politics don't mix. So why Steve, why on earth did I mix them on Sunday? These were factors I considered.

1. The whole discussion is so much in the New Zealand public mind. Christians are being asked for their opinion. Christians need to have an opinion. To not preach is making a statement - that the Bible has nothing to say about our current society. Equally, preaching on it might provide an example of how to think Christianly, and thus how to respond in conversation.
2. The topic of how to parent did fit in with the Biblical text and a baby dedication.
3. We have a privatised religious culture (a fruit of modernity). The longterm result of Descartes declaring that "I think therefore I am", is a Christian faith that is offered expressed as individual and internal and intellectual. Yet the Jesus of the Bible seemed to me to make claims that were global and societal and practical. Surely the gospel needs to impact on all of life, including how we parent.

These were the reasons why I might preach. I also considered the reasons why I might not preach.

The dangers as I saw them there were
1. Pulpits can be misused as places to make dogmatic statements. I ran the risk of doing a bad job, of misusing a privileged, public platform and thus marginalising people.
2. Of exposing myself. It is far easier to keep quiet and stay safe.
3. That I would start a process whereby the energy of church might be distracted from our current community mission focus.

Three for, three against.

4 days later, still feeling drained after the stresses of preparation and prayer and anxiety, I am still pondering the wisdom of my decision. Was I plain dumb to mix religion and politics on Sunday?

easter scattered

From Opawa church newsletter:
As a pastor, I always struggle with Easter. It is the highpoint of the Christian year and one that I believe that all Christians should engage with. Yet it is the last holiday before winter and for those who work hard, an important time to re-create.

So, whether away or present, we are asking you to join with us in this high point of the Christian year. If you are going away for Easter, simply order an Easter Bach Pack (Friday or Sunday or both) from the office.

Note to blog readers: I had hoped to offer this as a resource over the internet, but Easter is simply coming too fast. Never mind. There's always next year.

what is Kingdom leadership in the midst of change?

Note: this post has been churning in my head for 18 months and has nothing to do with any current circumstances. It was helped by this comment on the Allelon site.

People respond to change in different ways. Most change theory draws a bell curve and notes that if you suggest a new idea, some love it, others hate it, while the majority adapt, but at varying rates.

Leadership tensions emerge when those who hate change start to dig in, actively resisting change. A common leadership response is to leave them behind. This can be done in a variety of ways: stop listening, manipulate, change leaders, change constitutions, play power games, etc.

Another common response is to simply give in to those who dig in. This means that a minority are dictating the future of the majority.

At our most recent AGM I told the story of taking my 2 children for a holiday walk to a nearby river. One child (no prizes for guessing which one) decided she was "the leader" and strode off ahead. The other dawdled behind, then hurt her knee trying to cross a fence. She decided she could no longer walk. Effectively, she was simply going to dig in.

This is exactly the situation many change processes find themselves in at some point or another. Should "the leaders" stride off, leaving some behind? Or should we let those who are "dug in" dictate the pace, meaning we are never likely to get back to camp?

The task of leadership demands getting both the strider and the dug in back to camp, because that is where healing is.

To achieve that required helping both sides to sit in each other's shoes for a moment. The "strider" needed to listen to another's pain, while the one in pain needed to see the big picture.

I am struck by how often simply the act of listening to people is followed by a shift in attitudes and understanding. Perhaps this is the real task of leadership in transitional churches, to remain aware that God can speak through any and all, to help people keep listening to each other, to keep articulating a shared reminder of the big picture.

updated: would Jesus smack children?

Update: I have added in the sermon "would Jesus smack?" to this post.

Further to my post regarding the anti-smacking legislation, I am preaching on the topic this Sunday: Raising children in an anti-smacking society.

I am aware of the dangers of mixing the pulpit with politics. But it is a hot topic in our New Zealand culture. The Biblical text is Luke 18:15-17; where Jesus welcomes the little children. What would he do if one of those children mis-behaved? We are dedicating Samuel Taylor, one of 10 children born in recent months. So our families are facing the issue of raising children.

So would he? Would Jesus smack children?

Update: OK, here is my sermon. It is for the sake of discussion, and I hope people read it as a discussion document.

From Luke 18:15-17
15Some people brought their little children for Jesus to bless. But when his disciples saw them doing this, they told the people to stop bothering him. 16So Jesus called the children over to him and said, "Let the children come to me! Don't try to stop them. People who are like these children belong to God's kingdom. 17You will never get into God's kingdom unless you enter it like a child!"

And I wonder which person you are most likely to be in this story.

Are you most likely to be today the little one who simply needs to be blessed by Jesus? Are you most likely today a parent of a little one, simply wanting God to bless your children and your family? Are you most likely to be a disciple, someone who doesn't like little ones bothering Jesus, perhaps someone who wants to stop little ones making too much noise in church? Or are you the crowd, you are most likely to stand back and do nothing, as the little children, and those caring for little children, are stopped from getting close to Jesus?

Who are you most likely to be in this Bible story.

Because I'm going to read this Bible passage again. As I do, I want you to choose who you are most likely to be. You to choose – child, parent of a child, disciple, or one of the crowd – in this story. Give you a moment to choose.

PAUSE

How many chose to be a child – a word to describe how you felt;
How many chose to be a parent of a child – a word to describe how you felt;
How many chose to be a disciple – a word to describe how you felt;
How many chose to be one of the crowd – a word to describe how you felt;

Now let me read this story again.

And of course the person I have missed is Jesus. That's because I want to ask Jesus a question today. 2000 years after Jesus was born, I wish I could reach through time and ask him: Jesus, would you smack a children?

I mean Jesus, what would you do if one of these little children begins to misbehave. Perhaps they pinch another child on your knee and make them cry and then poke their tongue out at you, and call him a rude name?

What would Jesus do? Can we imagine Jesus smacking a child?

I want to ask the question because we as a nation is in the midst of an intense debate about the place of smacking in raising our children.

Sue Bradford's Anti-smacking Bill is before Parliament;. The Bill seeks to repeal section 59 of the Crimes Act. Section 59 of the Crimes act lets parents use 'reasonable force' to discipline children.

So; there are cases in NZ law where a child has been beaten with an electric cord around the head. The injuries have required stitches. And the child has been left partially deaf. The jury found the step-parent not guilty of assault on the grounds that it was "reasonable force" in the circumstances. How would you feel if you were the child, or if you were the child’s grandparents, in that situation?

And so the Anti-smacking Bill aims to repeal section 59 of the Criminal Law.

Now I realise that raising children is a hot topic. It's personal. And it's not necessarily safe for a preacher to get up close and personal.

But surely this Bill affects us here at Opawa. Whether to smack or not,
when to smack or not, is an issue that faces every parent, every grandparent here in this church.

So at the risk of doing a bad job, at the risk of being misunderstood, I'm going to do some thinking aloud. Not with the aim of saying "this is how you should parent", but to get us thinking as parents and grandparents.

Yesterday I got an email, asking me to inform you as a church of a protest march against the "Anti-Smacking" Bill. This Wednesday, Simon Barnett, Gary McCormack and Alison Jones from Newstalk ZB are the main speakers at a protest march. Organisers asked me to stress to you that this march is for Kiwis from all walks of life. Christians are asked NOT bring signs with Biblical verses or slogans, or speaking in a derogatory fashion against any politician.

Now I think as a Christian, you could go on this March for the following reasons.
One - If you believed that the Ant-Smacking Bill was a bad law, a misguided response to child abuse, that runs the risk of making innocent people guilty even though they won't be prosecuted.
Two - You might go on this march to protest against a Labour party who has made this a party vote rather than a conscience vote in Parliament.
Three - To remind politicians that New Zealand is a democracy and they need to take note of the fact that 80% of Kiwis are against this Bill.

But you can not go on this March believing the Bible encourages smacking. Let me repeat that: You can not go on this March believing the Bible encourages smacking.

Because the Bible doesn't encourage smacking. Try to use the Bible in relation to the smacking and you often hear the quote; "spare the rod and spoil the child."

It's actually not from the Bible. "Spare the rod and spoil the child" comes from a poem by a man named Samuel Butler, who in the 16th century was poking fun at Oliver Cromwell. I have a copy of the poem if you want to check it out.

Try to use the Bible in relation to smacking and people often find verses in Proverbs. Now before we explore one of these verses, a wee reminder that you have to be really careful with how you use Proverbs.

Proverbs are short pithy sayings. They're a form of poetry, and any English teacher will tell you that can get in a tangle if you take poetry literally.

Take this for example: Proverbs 23:2 "And put a knife to your throat, If you are a man of great appetite." Anyone here willing to take that literally?

Or this one; Proverbs 24:13 "My son, eat honey, for it is good, Yes, the honey from the comb is sweet to your taste>" Anyone here keen to let their children eat only honey?

So it's not good Biblical practice to apply Proverbs literally. Nor to pick and choose the Proverbs that suit you.

Which brings us to a Bible verse often used to support smacking;
Proverbs 13 v 24.

New International Version (NIV)
24 He who spares the rod hates his son,
but he who loves him is careful to discipline him.

And in The Message translation
24 A refusal to correct is a refusal to love;
love your children by disciplining them.

The immediate question raised by the NIV version is: what is a "rod."

The rod is a shepherd's rod - the same rod as found in Psalm 23. Shepherds didn't hit sheep with their rod. Instead they used the rod, gently but firmly steer a sheep, say in danger of walking off the edge of the cliff. So Proverbs 13:24 is not about smacking, but about steering a child, setting and enforcing safe boundaries.

So, if you want to find a Biblical answer to the question;
Would Jesus smack; You can't use "spare the rod and spoil the child" cos that's not the Bible; Nor can you use selected verses from Proverbs, because is not about smacking, but about steering a child, setting and enforcing safe boundaries.

So would Jesus smack?

On the one hand, in the Sermon on the Mt, Jesus blesses the peacemakers. He commands us to turn the other cheek. He comes across as strongly against physical violence.

But on the other hand, in the temple, in John, Jesus takes up a whip to drive moneychangers out of the temple. Even if Jesus didn't hit anyone, he's still holding a whip. And someone holding a whip is a pretty scarey character.

But in both the Sermon on the Mount and in the temple Jesus is interacting with adults. What about children.

And so we return to Luke 18, the Bible passage I started with.

Where we see Jesus welcoming children. For God so loved the world; and so Jesus welcomes the children. So our starting point as parents is grace and mercy, not guilt and fear.

Where we see Jesus reminding the adults not to stop the children. So Jesus, full of grace and mercy, is willing to set and enforce safe boundaries, to rebuke the disciples.

I love how in this weeks Practising our faith art image, Jesus bends down and is talking to the children at there eye level.

Have you ever thought about yourself from a children's perspective? You as an adult are 3 times bigger. So much more powerful. So much stronger. And yet here is Jesus choosing to humble himself, to get down to children's level. Wouldn't be neat if all of us at Opawa did that with every child in our midst.

Knowing that children are so much more vulnerable than adults. In Jesus day, children were nothing. Simply the property of parents.

But not to Jesus. To Jesus children are actually signs of the Kingdom. Imagine taking that literally, that every child we know is a sign pointing us to God’s Kingdom. Jesus is changing understandings of ownership. Children are not the property and responsibility of parents, but are signs of the Kingdom.

Oh the dignity, the importance, the privilege that Jesus has suddenly given to children.

Shouldn't Christians do everything they can to protect children and align ourselves with those who seeking to protect the vulnerable in our society.

Would Jesus smack? It's hard to imagine it based on what we see in Luke 18; a good of love, setting boundaries, giving children dignity and protection.

Follow Jesus through the gospels and you find an enormously creative person. Who treats the woman at the well differently from Simon Peter, who is treated differently to Mary, who is treated differently Martha. There are many creative and effective ways of parenting and disciplining a child that don't require physical punishment. Research shows that parents who smack are more likely to lack parenting skills in other areas.

So the harassed mum doing her weekly shop with her two-year-old toddler throwing a major hissyfit in the supermarket aisle doesn't need a lecture on the rights and wrongs of smacking. They may, however, need help in employing broadening their range of parenting strategies. And that will ultimately benefit both her and her child.

So to repeat what I said at the start; I realise that pastors aren't really meant to give parenting advice

I appreciate that all parents have moments when they're at their wits end and so perhaps the last thing you need today is a lecture from some church pastor.

I appreciate that there is a huge diversity of views regarding physical punishment. I appreciate that most parents work really hard and want the best for their children.

I appreciate that every child is unique. There is no size fits all. What works for one child may not be work for another.

I appreciate that effective parenting is not an exact science. It's not a machine where if you put in X and Y; weekly memory verses and nightly prayer, then out will come the perfect angelic teenager. It's a bit silly for parents to claim all the credit for a well-adjusted child. Just as it is for parents to beat themselves up when a child insists on going its own precarious way.

All I'm saying it this:
Let’s keep thinking as a church about how we protect the vulnerable in our society and work to stop the unacceptably high levels of child abuse.

Let's keep praying for our parents.

Let's keep thinking as parents. Because you can't smack children because some verse in Proverbs tells you so. It's a question we need to keep asking: would Jesus smack a child?

Let me finish with 3 tips for raising children. It comes from George Barna's book, Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions.

Tip 1: Raising children
Pushes parents to
Mature in their faith
As much as it moves children
Toward spiritual wholeness. George Barna

And we see this in today's Bible passage. That through children, Jesus is challenging all of us; caregivers, disciples, crowd. "You will never get into God's kingdom unless you enter it like a child!"

Tip 2: Fewer than 10% of parents who regularly attend church with their kids
read the Bible together, pray together or participate in an act of service as a family unit. George Barna

That's America. Let's work to make New Zealand different.

Our children will define the future,
Which makes them our most significant and enduring legacy. George Barna

And whatever your opinion on would Jesus smack, I hope everyone would said "Amen" to that.

australia details

A fair bit of time in the last few months has gone into planning for a 7 day stint in Australia. Here are the current details.

MELBOURNE

Saturday 5 May
Morning "Take no sandals (a missional leader); Unfreezing imagination (a missional church); Practices for the table (a missional spirituality); When the Kingdom of God is near, is that far? (a missional intentionality)." A conversation between life, mission and Scripture, all in grounded life among a 96-year old church.

Afternoon (provisional) "Spirituality2go. A workshop on resourcing Christ followers outside gathered church"

Sunday 6 May
Preaching twice at Doncaster Church of Christ

ADELAIDE
Tuesday 8 May
10.00 am - 3.00 pm "Leadership in The Emerging Church" - seminar for ministers and lay leaders at Adelaide West UC
7.00 - 9.30 pm "Alternative Worship" session at Parkin-Wesley

Wednesday 9 May
12.15 - 1.00 pm Chapel Service at Parkin-Wesley
2.15 - 3.30 pm Colloquium on "The Emerging Church" at Parkin-Wesley
7.30 - 9.30 pm "Alternative Worship" session at Parkin-Wesley (repeat of Tues. evening)

Thursday 10 May
6.30 - 9.00 pm [re]generate pub conversation about fostering new and fringe faith communities.

Saturday 12 May
9.00 am -12.45 pm Keynote Speaker at Presbytery meeting.

More details on Adelaide here

speaking and writing: a theological murmer about the Bible

Yesterday I did a post pondering the differences between speaking and writing. I wrote:

Something deep within me says that oral communication is different from written communication. I know that what I write to speak is different from what I write to be read; different pace, different rhythm, different style. And when I quote someone in a verbal presentation, I won't cite publisher, but I will in a written document. What is more, I wonder if people read differently than they hear.

The opinion, from my wise and learned commenters, is an overwhelming yes, that speaking is different from writing.

OK, here's the theological murmer that has been running through my head over the last few days as I have been thinking this aloud;

If speaking is different from writing, what does this mean for the Bible? How can we navigate "Jesus speaking"; to "Luke or John writing"; to the preacher "preaching" today? What is being lost and gained in this transmission folks?

easter resources

I am working on Easter stuff at the moment. (Working on something that I think is my most innovative in a long time. Hoping to be able to blog it in a week. That's not meant to be a tease, just an excited Steve Taylor-Tigger-like-bounce.) Anyhow, I am finding Passion in Art by Richard Harries incredibly helpful. 32 Easter related art images, from ancient to contemporary, each with 2 or 3 pages of written reflection. It offers me both visual and theological gifts. Very helpful for my creative juices.

speaking and writing

I need some help in processing an issue.

I do a regular [fortnightly] slot on a [Christian] radio station. Titled "Viewpoint" the brief is as follows:
Viewpoint is a 2 minute monologue designed to equip the Christian audience to better understand current news and social issues from a Christian perspective. Each item needs to highlight an issue that affects the average Kiwi, and provide them with an understanding of how the Christian Worldview provides a Biblical perspective. Whilst the Bible does not need to be quoted, it is important that the Scriptures themes be clearly communicated. Viewpoint is not designed to promote the contributors viewpoint, but the Bibles. It should be challenging, informing and insightful.

To date I have done a reflection on the movie Babel and the Treaty of Waitangi; on the movie Blood Diamond and where is God in Africa; on how a rich country like New Zealand can respond to the Parable of the Great Banquet in Luke 14. It has been fun, but it has also been an added stress. And I work on making them "edgy," so I feel quite vulnerable when I do them.

The radio station have now asked if I would be willing to have the MP3 placed on their website. No worries.

They have also asked if I have a written transcipt and if so, would I be willing to provide that for the site. I do. But here's the rub.

Something deep within me says that oral communication is different from written communication. I know that what I write to speak is different from what I write to be read; different pace, different rhythm, different style. And when I quote someone in a verbal presentation, I won't cite publisher, but I will in a written document.

What is more, I wonder if people read differently than they hear. I face this with my sermons. They are spoken (obviously), but I use a full script. When I arrived at Opawa, some in the congregation were older, and more hard of hearing, than at Graceway. So I offered them my full script. We also offer it to speakers of English as a second language. Now you can hear the pages turn at Opawa on a Sunday morning.

Yet when I speak the script, I make on the spot adjustments and it comes in the context of a 75 minute service. Sometimes people have not been present, but they have gotten the script and they have concerns about my theology. (Other people are simply there and still have concerns about my theology :)). And often the concerns boil down to the simple fact that the written word is different from the spoken word and when I explain the whole service, there concerns seem lessened. (For example, I did a sermon last year really pushing the Incarnation hard. We then opened it up for talkback and in that interaction, the community brought a nice pastoral balance). So the whole was different from one part.

And I don't have a script writer who carefully inserts footnotes to validate my points. And I am not sure that I want to spend the time to turn my spoken words into written words. And my first book editor told me (in love) that I needed to learn not to write like I speak.

Am I barking mad? Am I being lazy? Is speaking different from writing? Should I seek to preserve the difference? Would a internet surfer who stumbles across the written transcipt of my radio Viewpoint be able to appreciate the difference? Does it matter? Won't people in fact be more likely to read my words than to download the MP3 and thus in terms of reaching a wider audience, I should encourage verbal transcript? If I provide a written script, will I have had to spend more time dealing with brickbats and bouquets? Yet shouldn't I be honoured that people would care enough to send me the brickbats and bouquets?

Ahhhhh. So many questions. Any wisdom out there?

Further link:
Speaking and writing: a theological murmer about the implications of this post for Bible

there's a sheep in our church

Michael won the Opawa Baptist Leadership award today, for an act of outstanding leadership in our community.

It started with a sheep. The Biblical text was Luke 15:1-10, and involved 3 stations themed around lost and found. On Friday I joked to one of the worship leaders that we needed a sheep. "Oh," he said, "my father is a farmer. Let me check." Later he left a message. "Sheep will be at church at 9 am on Sunday."

I arrived, planning for the sheep to be outside. You know, one lost sheep outside the church. Would have worked well. But the sheep was already inside, on stage, installed in a wooden pen, tarpaulin on floor, hay scattered around, sitting quietly. So much work had already been done. Such a quiet sheep. I didn't have the heart to suggest a move.

All went well until the second song. I think it was the violin, but suddenly the sheep has his feet on the edge of the pen and is staring wildly around the church. The eyes of the gathered children are on stalks. One brave boy inches forward. I shake my head, but the boy doesn't get my body language. He grabs some hay and tries to feed the sheep. The sheep goes nuts, and jumps clean out of the cage.

Boy jumps backwards and I jump forwards. Afterward someone says they have never seen a pastor move so fast. I grab the sheep and press it against the wooden pen.

I am wearing my Sunday clothes and I have to preach in about 10 minutes. I am wearing a cordless microphone. If I try and get the sheep back into pen, I risk losing the microphone in a flurry of hooves. If I try and take the microphone off, I risk losing the sheep. I am stuck.

I am holding a sheep, in my Sunday clothes, in front of a watching congregation. I am about to go down in history as the pastor responsible for a sheep lose in Opawa church. I am starting to refresh my CV.

Suddenly Michael is beside me. Local teenager from the community. Middle finger bandaged after a rugby game that week. Calmly Michael picks up the sheep. Together Michael and I place the sheep back into the pen. No-one else in the congregation has moved. But young Michael has stepped forward, taken initiative and saved my day.

One of my beliefs is that we are all leaders. This is based on my understanding of leadership as influence. We all influence people, so by definition we are thus all leaders. You don't need to have a position or a title, to exercise influence. You might exercise influence for good, or for bad. But we all influence others and we are all leaders. Michael earned the Opawa Baptist Leadership award today, for an act of outstanding leadership in our community.

encouragement

An email overnight: "I deeply appreciate your work and agree with Scott McKnight that Out of Bounds Church is one of the most helpful and stimulating books out on the emerging church."

From Mark Shivers, graduate student at Vanderbilt University. I am using a honey of a paper he wrote on worship in postmodernity for my upcoming Masters paper: Critical Missional Issues for the Emerging Church.

lost and found worship

Sunday the text is Luke 15:1-9. A worship response is shaping up around 3 stations.

ONE: Community station - with pictures and explanation of the church's various community ministries and the invitation to

Look: at the pictures and explanation of the church's various community ministries

Reflect: by praying

Act: by saying yes to participating (including needing more Boys Brigade leaders, and involvement with our annual Easter Journey art installation).

TWO: Sheep station - with a metal fencing and gate, and the invitation to

Look: at the fence and the gates.

Act: by sitting inside the sheep pen.

Reflect: How would you feel if you were ninety-nine? Pray for us at Opawa, and for what your feelings mean for the future of the church.

THREE: Coin station - with a whole lot of coins scattered around and the invitation to

Look: at the art image, Woman Sweeping, by Jean Vuillard; which portrays God as an ordinary house-keeper in everyday life.

Reflect: on the following poem
I was passionate,
filled with longing,
I searced
far and wide
But the day
fhat the Truthful One
found me,
I was at home.
by Lal Ded

Act: by holding a coin. On one side of the coin is a name of a child in our community (either from Boys Brigade or Koru). Pray that they will be found.

The other side of the coin is blank. It might be your name. What does it mean for you to know that God, like the woman, searching is for you? It might be someone you know. You might want to pray for them by writing their name (permanent marker supplied).

Whatever you do, take the coin with you into your week.

emerging, missiology and the mainline

Can emerging be anglican|lutheran|mainline? Yes, according to Ian Mobsby, who is self-publishing his Masters research under the title: Emerging & Fresh Expressions of Church. This does not wave around abstract theories on the emerging church. Instead it draws on narrative data, the real live stories of Sanctus 1, Moot, B1 and the Church of the Apostles. Not content with sociology, it then trawls the deep waters of theology and ecclesiology. It uses a reframed understanding of Trinitarian theology and arguing that the emerging church is using a synthetic model of contextual theology, seeking to reframe what it means to be Christian in post-modern post-secular contexts. The book concludes that the Emerging Church is reframing a new approach to ecclesiology and missiology.

Buy it here. All sales are ploughed back into the Moot community.

anti-smacking legislation

I sent the following email to my local MP, to Sue Bradford and to the political parties I am most likely to vote for in the next election. (For my many readers from outside New Zealand, our Parliament is voting this week on a piece of legislation that would make the act of parent smacking a child a criminal offence.)

In no way do I condone the unacceptably high levels of violence shown to children in New Zealand society. However the legislation as it stands seems to me to be a blunt instrument and a poor response.

I would ask you to consider these issues as the Law goes before Parliament,

updated: why lent?

Why Lent? "And so you can see why a lot of Reformers are not happy with the Emerging Church. After effectively getting rid of quite a number of meaningless rituals like Lent ... the emerging church seem to be undoing some of these gains. Don Carson describes the emerging church as a protest movement. Is it true? Are we protesting the protest? Are we rebelling against the Reformation or are we helping the church to reform again to regain its status as the one holy catholic church?" Tallskinnykiwi wrote

Both at my previous church, Graceway, and now at Opawa, I have introduced a focus on Lent. This year this has included the Lenten 7-pack Practising our faith - a takehome resource with art and text, studies for our small groups and introducing mid-week Lenten study group/s. So why does this shortstubbykiwi support lent?

1. Easter is too important: For Christians, Easter is the highpoint of the church year. An event anticipated is much more likely to be an event celebrated. I liken it to a birthday party - the use of an invitation is crucial for building anticipation. Practising Lent allows us to send invitations to, and among, our church community. It allows the community of God to build toward Easter.

2. Lent is a great time to focus on discipleship: In Lent, Jesus is walking toward Jerusalem. The use of Lent, (and Advent) allows us to focus on the following of Jesus in discipleship. Every year Lent allows us to pause and remind ourselves of Jesus taking up the cross. Lent is thus like grit in our shoe. It works against "cheap grace."

3. Lent allows us to accentuate the postive by building practises: I do not see Lent as time of denial, but as a time of building Christian practices. Here at Opawa we explore how Jesus lived (for example this year as part of the 7-pack Practising our faith we are focusing on his mission, his use of Scripture, who he ate with, who he included in his community, what his wallet said about his priorities). This has nothing to do with Don Carson's "protest" but about our passion to live as Jesus lived.

Update: 4 - A comment by John Hebenton: Steve talked about some Lenten material he has put together around good practices. I really liked this. It reminded of the Irish Penitentials, which were about developing the virtues rather than penance for the sin. I have tried to approach Lent in that spirit this year Instead of just giving up computer games, I have thought about what virtue I wanted to build by doing that – spending time with my children. Instead of just giving up swearing at bad drivers, I decided to build the virtue of praying for peace for those who annoy me (bad drivers) – I keep forgetting this one. It has made all those silly giving things up for Lent so much more meaningful."

Sorry tallskinny, I remain totally baffled about why a bunch of "Reformers" would be unhappy with my working with Lent as part of forming a community in the way of Jesus as revealed in the Biblical narrative of his walk toward the cross.

leadership resourcing

I met monthly with a group of leaders at Opawa, each tasked with providing leadership of an area of the church: from community ministry to facilities, from spiritual growth to children.

We gather for an hour to catchup, pray, evaluate and support each other. This year I wanted to further ground us in Scripture with a particular focus on wanting to let Scripture resource what are very unique and different roles. 1 Corinthians 3 and 4, are for me, wonderful leadership texts, offering 6 images of leader - as servant, gardener, builder, resource manager, cross carrier and parent.

So at the end of each meeting I have given our leaders a "takeaway" - a concrete symbol, with the Bible text attached and the questions - what challenges you, what encourages you. They are invited to sit with that symbol over the month, and return to share what it means for their leadership. (The attached photo is of a towel, representing leader as servanthood, and seeds, representing leader as gardener.)

The first round worked brilliantly, with great discussion and really honest sharing. It takes very little of our meeting time, and yet sits with people over the month, inviting them to apply the Scripture to their leadership living.

I blog this, wondering if the use of symbols as takeaways for ongoing group work, might be of some help to readers.

God at work group at Opawa

Today marked the beginning of the end of 13 months of planning. A year ago I wanted to orientate Opawa much more intentionally around workplace mission. I initiated the following:
: 3 sermons on work place spirituality, in order to promote
: a 3 week God at work midweek discussion group (which 20 people attended)
: in order to invite those interested to form a regular and ongoing God at work group.

Today this regular God at work group started, with 7 people gathering. The group will be based not on content and information, but on a process of reflecting on actual workplace experiences, and how we might live as salt and light in our workplaces. The following processes will be employed:

a) Dwelling in the … work - a person will bring a workplace experience. It could be a practical work problem or an ethical work problem or a theological wrestling. The group will listen to an experience, will explore by asking – what strikes us? or what questions do we have? and then reflect together and back to the person who shared what they are hearing.

b) Dwelling in the … Word – the group will engage with a Bible passage relevant to the work area, by listening, exploring by asking – what strikes us? or what questions do we have? and then reflect together on how work and Scripture link.

c) Dwelling in the …. practise – a person will bring a particular work practise: it could be individual (a prayer, a practise), it could be church-based (work prayer for Sundays, shaping a work-place pastor), it could be community-focused. And these will become a concrete way to respond as God@work followers.

To run the group will require a scribe to document what is happening, a keeper of the conversation as safe and focused and an organiser of times, dates, reminders, drinks.

The group started today. The processes worked well and all the responsibilities were picked up. The processes will ensure that the group does the work and generates life within itself.

Each year we will re-run the 3 week God at work discussion group, thus allowing those new to Opawa to engage, to keep this mission before the church and to ensure new life drips down into the regular God at work group.

It is a dream come true, due in no small part to Nigel, from the UK, who served with us setting up part of this project last year. Thanks Nigel. Thanks Opawa for letting me dream and plan. Thanks God who loves this world and it's workplaces.

more lenten resources

A few weeks ago I highlighted some Lent and Holy Week resources. Here are two more:

Tears of lament: "The triumph of life takes place at the edge of death" Jacques Derrida
Running in Highgate, Dunedin, this church are using Lamentations as the basis for creating a "House of Sorrows." They are wanting people to post prayers and stories of the 'lament' in our present world. You are also welcome to send to them a small piece of cloth/rag, which will be placed in their church as part of the House of Sorrows; thus creating an installation that can give voice to lament and be a place for offering prayers of Hope. Sounds a fascinating mix of global prayer and installation and community.

And there is some good thoughts on worship at this New Zealand liturgy site, along with suggested resources through the Church Year, especially useful for those who appreciate words well-used.

missional church and New Zealand

Update: I am exhausted but excited. Excellent day with the Anglicans and serious interest in 3 Dioceses in possibilities around the missional church leadership coaching course being offered in their patch.

The upshot of the Baptist group is a definite commitment to hold a gathering,(Tentative date is July 29-31, 2007), called something like sharpening the edge as an attempt to say "what is God's mission in New Zealand today" and "what are the lessons we can learn from grassroots missional experiments?" We hope that asking these questions might make us all learners and sharpen both the edges and the existing church in it's change processes.

The gathering will be Baptist in energy but open to all. It is going to deliberately include non-baptist mission stories.

The hope is an event that become an ongoing conversation. So the event will be based around practioners telling stories and a listening panel of wise heads reflecting feedback on the practioner stories. This listening panel will then stay on for some hours after the event, and further to reflect together on what they heard and the sharp questions raised. All will (dreaming big here) be recorded and podcasted. Thus we will end up with grounded community mission narratives and good missiological reflection. This will generate mission questions, from the lived experience of NZ, which should generate further and ongoing intentional conversations.

More details to follow but if you are interested in a genuine learning conversation about mission in New Zealand today, then pencil in 29-31 July. More details will follow on the blog, or flip me your contact details.

Original blog entry:
I have a most interesting 2 days ahead. Firstly a day in Wellington leading a retreat with the Anglican Ministry Educators Network, who want to know more about emerging church/fresh expressions. Then onto Auckland for half a Thursday to gather with a Baptist group who are wondering about some sort of national New Zealand Baptist missional church gathering. I will be fascinated to work, and walk, between two denominational systems and compare interest, skills and capacities.

missional church resources

Allelon has a revamped website. It includes the new Roxburgh journal; which starts with the question; What is missional Church? which is a podcast interview with me, in relation to Opawa and missional church and change, recorded when Al Roxburgh was here in December.

So, when I asked Steve the question "What do you mean by this term missional church?" he started with a kind of definition then went into stories about the people at Opawa and the ways God was shaping a new imagination for the church out of the narratives of these diverse people. You'll here the whole story in the Podcast and find some images on this page to help you get a picture of what Steve is up to.

It's sort of wierd and sort of nice, that of all the places in the world to focus on terms of missional church, Al Roxburgh starts with Opawa. I do need to say however, that Al Roxburgh's statement about "what Steve is up to" is way over-rated. I was sitting in the shower last week thinking the opposite; that I have no idea what I am up to. And being encouraged that God has a history of being in the chaos and so I am content to therefore be in the midst of that chaos.

Anyhow, check out the revamped site, which also includes Alan Roxburgh interviews with Craig Van Gelder and Pat Keifert.

How did Jesus use the Bible?

We limit not the truth of God, to our poor reach of mind,
by notions of our day and sect, crude, partial, and confined.
The Lord hath yet more light and truth; to break forth from his word.
(Hymn from the 1850's by George Rawson.)

The Bible is important to Christians, who claim that Scripture is God-breathed (2 Tim 3:16). And I think of Genesis 2:7 Lord God breathed into adam the breath of life. And of John 20:22, where Jesus breathed on the disciples, the new adams, and they received the Holy Spirit. The Bible as God's life-giving Words.

The claim that Scripture is God-breathed in 2 Timothy 3:16 is then followed by a statement of what Scripture is useful for "teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness."

Which got me thinking about how Jesus used the Bible. Luke 10:25-37 (the Parable of the Good Samaritan) is one of the most well-known Bible passages of all time. So how does Jesus uses the Bible in this passage?

Firstly to answer questions. A lawyer comes to Jesus with a question: What must I do to inherit eternal life? It's hard to tell if this is a sneaky question, someone trying to trap Jesus. Lawyers can do that.

So do we at times. We come to the Bible already assuming we know what it says, we know the answer. We only want to know if the preacher agrees with us, fits into our existing boxes.

Still, the Bible is used to answer the lawyer's question. 2 Bible verses are merged together; Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; from Dueteronomy 6:5, and Love your neighbor as yourself from Leviticus 19:18. So the Bible is useful for answering questions.

Secondly, the Bible is useful for connecting with real life. The lawyer wanted to justify himself, [Lawyers can do that] so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbour?" (v.29)

Jesus answers by telling a story. A story from his real life, a crime story, about respected local leaders, about local ethnic conflict.

So the Bible is useful because Jesus can relate the Bible to his world, to his culture, to the issues of the day. So that's a 2nd way the Bible becomes useful, to connect with our real life.

Sometimes people say to me "Steve, we're not sure you are really and truly a Biblical preacher. You use stories rather than exposit the Bible?" And at those moments, I am comforted by Jesus here in Luke 10.

And I also think of all those parables that Jesus used; how he took objects from everyday life, and how he took local stories (his equivalent of our movies or newspaper articles). About 30% of Jesus teaching was parables, using stories connecting the Bible with the real world.

Can we do what Jesus did? Can we take our favourite Bible passage and find a story from our world, that could communicate this verse today.

There is third way that the Bible is useful in this passage. This comes at the end. Jesus has told a story and the lawyer has grown in his understanding of what it means for him to practise his faith.

Who should I love as my neighbour? Answer comes in the story: Love anyone who has need. And then comes verse 37: Go and do likewise.

So the Bible is not just useful for answering questions and for trying to dodge tricky lawyers. Nor is the Bible, useful just for telling a story that challenges people and grows their understanding of following Jesus.

The Bible is useful when we go and do likewise. Here's a quote from Chris Marshall, Lecturer in Religious Studies at Victoria University in Wellington. "The authority that any [Bible] text possesses is not measured by what we say about the text, but by what we do with the text, by the way we permit the text to function in our life and thought."

Practical ways we are working on this at Opawa include:
-Every year we use a Bible passage to shape our vision for the year.
- the use of Dwelling in the Word, as a congregation, as a Board and as a leadership as we plan and make decisions about our future,
- the use of lectionary (daily Bible readings) among the staff team, and the use of lectio Divino on these Bible texts when the staff gather. We also print these lectionary readings in our newsletter, and invite the church to read the same Scriptures with us every day.
- At Digestion we have started mixing God's Big Story with the Hot text. Someone shares a Bible verse that is currently "hot" for them and then we as a congregation work in groups linking that text with God's big story (creation, journey and promise, power and justice, songs and sayings, Good news of Jesus, letters of love)
- Often sermons include discussion and interaction and application

Because "The authority that any [Bible] text possesses is not measured by what we say about the text, but by what we do with the text, by the way we permit the text to function in our life and thought."

So they will know we are Christians not just by our head knowledge of the Bible. Nor will they know we are Christians because we are trendy and hip and able to relate the Bible to real life. Rather, the Bible is God’s living word, because, we, like Jesus can tell stories, can connect these God-breathed words with our real world lives today. And then we can "Go and do likewise."

Lobotomised Christians and the Colonial Cringe of New Zealand: Interview with Steve Taylor

The latest CS Arts magazine is out (March 2007). The magazine is Christchurch produced and aims to resource the arts community from a Christian perspective. The design and layout is always top notch. This edition is called "The Big Picture" and the focus is film. It includes an interview with me; titled "Lobotomised Christians and the Colonial Cringe of New Zealand." Here is my 2 favourite parts:

"I often think Christians are lobotomised, walking around with heads that have no appreciation of beauty, creativity or image. Art, or engaging with film, reminds us that we are made whole in 'the image of God. To be authentic disciples, to be a true church, a whole church, we have to have these kinds of discussions."

and

"The danger for the church is that it thinks it always owns the conversation. Film is a chance for us to listen to someone else’s voice. We need to listen in a way that respects that voice and doesn't colonise it. That's the danger of using film. The other danger is it just becomes an illustration of your point. So the use of movie clips in sermons etc. It's like going to kindergarten, it's a good start."

For the entire edition, go here. I am on pages 6 and 7.

UK applause

I wrote an article (3,000 words) last year, titled "Emerging, established or re-emerging?; which explored some theological and ecclesiological themes around the story of our move to Opawa Baptist, and the change processes around the planting of emerging church congregations, using a multi-congregation model, in an established church. It is a mix of storytelling and reflection on the Trinity. It has now published in the UK journal Ministry Today (Edition 38, [Northern Hemisphere] Winter 2006). (You can subscribe on-line to the journal).

They also carried the following review of my Out of Bounds Church? book

The Out of Bounds Church? Learning to Create a community of faith in a culture of change by New Zealand Baptist minister, Steve Taylor, should be essential reading for any one wanting to understand 'emerging church' for four reasons: first, this is a book by a practioner, who currently runs three forms of 'emerging church' while pastoring a traditional church in Christchurch. Second, it is a book by a theologian, who has applied academic rigour to doing mission. Third, it is a book by a person very much in touch with the cutting edge of today's youth culture(s). Fourth, it is by a New Zealander, and, in this reviewer's opinion, the New Zealand churches are very often ahead of their Western counterparts. Steve Taylor is an extra-ordinarily creative individual, and this is reflected in this book. I found this an unsettling book, for it makes me realise how much my church, along with most churches, is out of touch with contemporary culture ... One question which this book leaves me with is this: is 'emerging church' dependent upon creative individuals such as Steve Taylor?"

What do you think? Is the New Zealand church often ahead of the game? How important are creative individuals for emerging churches? Would this be a good thing, or a bad thing?