e~mergent kiwi

Fuller, july 07, living the text in a contemporary context

Just a heads up for those interested, that I'm down to teach a week long intensive at Fuller Theological Seminary July 9-13. The course, titled Living the Text in a Postmodern context, emerges out of my personal wrestling with how to use the Bible, week by week, with real groups of people, given that people are made with 5 senses, and that our world has gone much more visual and interactive.

In more formal words: This course will explore the communication of the Biblical text in a contemporary world, with particular missiological reference to the use of the Bible in the postmodern, emerging church. It will apply theological insights around text, community and culture, to the task of maintaining and communicating the integrity of the Biblical text with reference to postmodernity. As a result of the course, students will be better equipped to read and communicate the Biblical text in a postmodern context.

I taught the course at Fuller a year ago and had a great time with a great class. So my expectations are high and I am looking forward to being back at Fuller. The course is being code-shared between the School of Intercultural Studies and the D.Min program, so it can be done either as part of the Masters, or for the D.Min. (I have also been asked me to develop it for their Masters in Global leadership, which goes on-line to 50 countries, but that discussion is still on-going).

Anyhow, more details of the course outline are here. And last year Ryan Bolger was asking me about the course and what I'll cover, so I did a 90 second podcast, if you want to listen here (450K). Or check out here for some of their learning from their class blogs if you want.

kiwi Christians watching Kiwi film

I teach a course called Gospel and Film. One of the learning outcomes is for students to identify ways in which film may be utilized as a point of engagement for the gospel within contemporary society.

I have suggested to the class that we build a class wiki together. In other words, let's look at a New Zealand film from a theological perspective and place our work on-line. This will occur over the weekend of August 3, and in preparation I've just built the wiki here. It took about 10 minutes using a site called www.wetpaint.com.

There are 8 members in the class and I will pair them, with each pair doing 2 New Zealand films each. Now we as a class are are open to suggestions. So, what are your top 3 New Zealand films that you would want considered from a theological perspective (asking questions like: In this film where are we? Who are we? What is wrong? Is there a remedy? What time is it?).

Leave your suggestions in the comments ...

is there a mission agency for the missional church?

Every 3 years in New Zealand, all the mission agencies get together. They call it Missions Interlink and it is happening June 5-8. The theme is "Remodelling Mission" and I've been asked to speak for 2 hours on the topic: "A Missional Church." "Specifically we need to see the biblical basis of the local church being the main instrument in mission and where appropriate delegating responsibility to agencies to work with their people in fulfilling the churches vision."

I said thanks but that the dates clashed with some existing teaching commitments. They moved the timetable to accommodate me.

I said thanks but I was in a really busy patch and would be unable to do any fresh work on the topic. They said come anyway.

I said thanks but told them that missional church actually offers a profound realignment for mission agencies. Missional church says that mission is not an extra, for over there; but that mission is the whole church. And that will set up an entirely different (and potentially quite uncomfortable) conversation for mission agencies. They said yes, that's why they want me to come.

Sigh.

My worst case scenario is that I am going to be fed to some lions. My best case is that I could actually say something prophetically helpful. Anyhow, as I'm short of time, are any of my readers interested in doing some research and thinking for and with me? Here are some of my questions:
- what does the reality of a rock star like Bono advocating for justice and commercial movements like Red mean for mission agencies in our world today?
- what does missional church mean for traditional notions of parachurch mission agencies?
- does Luke 10:1-12 speak to the cross-cultural challenges of our globalised world today?
- can a locally missional church function into a cross-cultural context, or does the mission agency have some role (whether old or new) in that?

Prayer for creative workers

As a church, we try to pray monthly for some dimension of people's work lives. This week we decided to pray for creative workers. We rang and interviewed about 10 people around Opawa, asking them questions like: how do you find satisfaction in your creative work; do you see this as being a dimension of your Christian life. If yes, how?; what could we pray for people who have a creative outlet like yourself. We then asked them to bring something of their “creative work” to display as part of the service.

For Sunday, I then wrote the following prayer:

Introduction:
Today we are surrounded by creativity. We have doves from Pentecost 07, Tiles at back from Pentecost 06, Painted tiles from Pentecost 05.

The first mention of the Spirit in the Bible is in relation to creativity, in Genesis 1: In the beginning God created. The earth was barren and dark; and the Spirit of God was moving over the water. The second mention of the Spirit in the Bible is also in relation to creativity, in Exodus 35: God had chosen two people, Bezalel and Oholiab, and filled them with the Spirit, to be a skilled and creative crafters of objects of art with gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood.

As a church, we try to pray monthly for some dimension of people’s work lives. We ring them and interview them and ask them to bring something from their work. So this month, we are praying for creative people;

Creator God,
Who gave us your creative Spirit,
As we take up this offering, it is a giving of our time and our talents
And so we thankyou for the time and talents of the creative and crafty people in our lives. For Pentecost art, for our musicians and singers, kids and adult, who week by week lead us
For crafty people like Ann and Deirdre
Andy and Jason who cut video
Kathryn and Michial who paint
Peter and Joyce who make art installations,
Gay and Ruth and Steve and Jannette who craft words
We thankyou for these people and for all creative people we know,
We thankyou for the gifts of their lives,
for the way they express the Creative God,
remind us of God’s vibrant colours and God’s attention to beauty,

Thankyou for the way that creativity is a gift, the way a card or a video loop or a well chosen word can give joy and insight,

Thankyou for way that this church - through Easter and Christmas Journey, through Pentecost festival, through Advent art postcards, through music on Sundays - in so many ways nourishes art and creativity. Spirit of God, continue to nourish our creativity I pray,

Creative God, forgive us for the times when we ignore the creativity in our everyday lives, the way we cook and walk and park and dress, when we say "oh, I'm not creative" and in doing so, deny that we are made in the image of the Creator God,

Creative God, you made us all creative,
Give us the courage to take risks, and reveal our creative talents
Help us protect the time and space to be creative
Give stamina and stickability,

God, may our work and the work of this offering, always point to you, the Creator, and never to the Created

This we pray in the name of the One who admired the Creativity of Creation, Amen.

come holy spirit

renew your church, for the sake of the world.

Our Pentecost 07 festival, the third Festival we've done at Opawa, is over (info on our Norwest festival 05 is here, and Spirit of Life festival 06 is here). In 2007 our focusing text was Ephesians 4:23-4: Let the Spirit change your way of thinking and make you into a new person. You were created to be like God, and so you must please him and be truly holy.

and over the Festival weekend,
we laughed: at Mr Bean and with a Trivia night

we thought: hard, as I did some teaching around "Who God is at Pentecost?" and "Who humans are at Pentecost?" Teaching notes are here (120K) and here (120K) if you want.

we integrated: applying teaching through videomaking, creating doves, making and painting model airplanes the colours of the Spirit, crafting music to reflect Jesus ascending and the Spirit descending.

we appreciated God's good gifts: in musical performance with Shooting Stars, Sunburn, Amy Hay.

So why would a local church throw a Pentecost festival?

1. It's fun. Sheer creative fun.
2. It's community building, as generations mix and people enjoy.
3. It brings visitors through our door - community people were part of Trivia nite quiz teams, a community youth gets to ask me "Who made God?" in a teaching time.
4. The Spirit needs to be reclaimed at the heart of the church. For too long the Spirit has either been a poor cousin, ignored by many churches, or the domain of nut cases. A Festival allows us to bring together head and heart, mind and emotion.
5. The first 2 mentions of the Spirit in the Bible are in relation to creativity (Genesis 1:3 and Exodus 35:3) and so a Festival gives practical expression to the rich and creative gifts the Spirit gives the church.
6. We are a multi-congregational church and a Festival brings the congregations together to laugh, think and create.
7. There are incredible theological riches that enhance our thinking about the Spirit and so a Festival gives me the chance, in a local church, to teach around Trinitarian notions like "Son and Spirit always together, always distinct."

Practically:
You need a good team and our staff team are stuffed. I think we will have broken even this year. Good numbers at the two evening happenings. Numbers could have been better during the Satur-day workshops, but no workshop "died."

coffee and a community grounded around Scripture

When I arrived at Opawa, morning tea during the week was 3 staff gathered inside an inner office. It felt huddled and insular.

- 24 months ago we painted the foyer in warm colours and brought 7 sofas.
- 20 months ago we brought a coffee machine.
- 15 months ago I invited the staff to gather, using lectio divino, around the lectionary readings. No need for preparation. Instead we simply read the Scriptures and listen to it and each other.

Today 11 people sat in the foyer drinking coffee at morning tea. P + B were dropping by to test the coffee machine. R + J were being thanked for their voluntary IT role with us. J works for a local community trust and drops in for morning tea. L staggered in, having walked a long way to bring his money for our annual Pentecost festival. 5 paid staff are regular. The sun streamed in. The coffee was good, the conversation was warm. The lectionary reading (Ezekiel 37) prompted good discussion and excellent insights about life, hope, church, Christian living.

It felt open, real and Scripture focused. I like what Opawa is becoming. I like the sense of hospitality. I like the way that coffee and couches draw us together as a community. I like the way that Scripture is a seamless part of our life.

stories of failure

She pulled me aside in Adelaide and thanked me for my input. Then she looked me in the eye and said "You should tell a story of when you failed." When people like that open their mouths - older, female, straight to the point - I listen. I listen very, very carefully, for this is real feedback. When people get that honest, I feel like time has stopped and I am standing on holy ground.

So I did. The next time I spoke I told a story of failure. It was to a crowd of 300 and it was impossible in a group that size to tell if the story was helpful.

Then this, from Cheryl's blog:
stu from solace and i keep talking about setting up a website that tells the story of the things we do that don't work… of the hiccups along the way, the failures, mysterious stuff ups. they far outnumber the things that go smoothly.

So tell me, oh beloved listeners. Do publicly told stories of failure help? How and why and in what circumstances?

so how do lectionary readings work?

Today Opawa church is meeting. Part of the agenda includes some long term building plans. Another part includes voting on 2 new Board members. Both will make excellent leaders. Both are new to the church and under the age of 30.

It can be a risk, in a long established church, going through change, to bring the names of new and young leaders, and the Board have agonised over this.

So this morning, I open my Bible to the Lectionary reading for today. The readings are placed in our church newsletter and we invite all the church to read with us. The reading is 1 Samuel 16, the annointing of David. Look at verse 11: "There is still the youngest."

Which made me laugh. Here we are considering new, and young, leaders. We have chosen a date some months ago, quite arbitarily. And now we have a Bible text that instructs the annointing of new, and young leadership. It is almost manipulative to read this Bible text, yet it is the Lectionary reading for the day.

How on earth does that work? How on earth can the Scriptures speak so clearly to our life as a church?

Update: Congratulations to Lucy Taylor and Lawrence Wood, who were voted on as new Board members last nite. I honour them and their families for being willing to take a risk and place their leadership development in the hands of Opawa church members.

guiding boy racers or How Would Jesus Drive

Following yet another high profile road death over the weekend here in New Zealand, and yet another "boy racer" headline, I got to wondering: If you were doing a Bible study for boy racers, what Bible stories might be a helpful guide?

And HWJD? Not What Would Jesus Do, but How Would Jesus Drive? What would your print on the HWJD bracelet that you could give to a young male when they got their license? Here's my first draft:
1. drive as if your father in heaven owned the car
2. drive as if your mother Mary was sitting beside you
3. drive as if your kid brother James was in the car seat
4. drive as if the Spirit was always clocking your km's.

What about you? Does the Bible have any resources that might shape the way young people drive?

are house churches biblical? part 1

I have always understood the following mantra: that the early church met in houses. So should we? But I was reading through Acts recently and I am beginning to question the mantra. I am wondering whether the choice to meet in houses might actually not be quite so simple. Hence my blog title. It's slightly tongue in cheek, but I do want to work my way through the book of Acts, looking at where the early church did meet.

Acts 1:9 - outdoors-church, meeting outdoors in a public space. This included teaching and discussion. (Same again in Acts 2:14ff).

Acts 1:13 - Hired space. The disciples meet in an Upper Room. Probably the room used for the Last Supper. Perhaps part of a house. Perhaps a room to rent, like we have today in our local hotels.

Acts 2:46 - Religious buildings. They meet daily in the temple. We often think of early church as separate from Judaism, but that was certainly not the case in early Acts. They were still using a religious building, paid for already. They were still part of priestly (paid) leadership. So any move toward a house church was on the back of existing church buildings and existing paid leadership.

Next post in this series will be about Acts 3-5.

film reviews: blood diamond and miss potter

Here are two recent film reviews I have written. The first is reviewing Blood Diamond, in which I conclude by pondering Danny (Leonardo Di Caprio) as a type of Christ figure.

The second is reviewing Miss Potter, in which I attempt a creative re-writing of The Tale of Miss Potter: "Once upon a time there was an author, and her name was Miss Potter. She lived with her mother in a home in London, underneath the shadow of overly protective parents. As a young woman, she was told one morning, "You may go into tea parties and (be chaperoned) down the lane with eligible young bachelors, but don’t go into the garden that is commercial book publishing."

My other film reviews over the years have included;

Out of the Blue; Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada; Inconvenient Truth; Over the Hedge; The Da Vinci Code here; Siones Wedding here; Praire Home Companion here; Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Mans Chest here; River Queen here; Brokeback Mountain here; Narnia here; Serenity here; The World's Fastest Indian here; Sedition, a New Zealand film about the fate of conscientious objectors in World War 2, here; Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, here

Further film resources:
Film as a point of gospel engagement (PDF).
Film and spirituality web resources.
Why gospel and film?

pentecost festival

Next weekend (May 25, 26) is Pentecost, which, along with Easter and Christmas, are The Big 3 in the life of the church. So here at Opawa we've got a Festival happening.

Friday we kick off with a family film and quiz show; then on Saturday evening we've got a NZ musical concert, with Shooting Stars, Sunburn and Amy Hay. Doors open at 7 pm and there's a $10 cover charge. Just a chance to enjoy the gifts of God and the community of God.

During the Saturday, it's Pentecost teaching; mixing head and hand.

9:30 am Bible + art + interaction:
Topic: Who is God as the Son ascends,
catching the human body into God
followed by hands on workshops including Kiz musical or art or videomaking. Considering for example: What visual images would you use to portray humans at Pentecost?

1:30 pm Bible + art + interaction:
Topic: Who are humans, as the Spirit drops down, like fire,
to enliven the body of God; by action, in communion, through community

followed by hands on workshops including adult musical or model airplane making or videomaking. Considering for example: How would you make and paint a model airplane to reflect what God is doing in the world at Pentecost?

This is the 3rd year we've done it. Every year registrations are slow and people at Opawa seem disinterested in the Pentecost teaching and the mixing of head and hand. I struggle to understand why people don't get into it more. I just love the idea of doing something hands on, with others, playing, creating, coffeeing together.

Do we not advertise properly? Is the Sunday teaching considered enough? Are people too busy? Is the head to hand challenge too out there? Is the topic of the Spirit a bit too scarey?

what it does it mean to be a Pentecostal?

Admit failure: that's according to Acts 1:16ff, where Peter starts his sermon by naming Judas as one of the apostles and a sharer in ministry. No triumphalism. No ignoring leadership failure. The church of Pentecost publicly admits failure.

Inclusive, including women, in ministry: that's according to Acts 1:14, where women and Mary the mother of Jesus are named. Their inclusion would have stood out to a 2nd century reader, as an indication that the church at Pentecost was a breaker of boundaries and a welcomer of all. According to Harvey Cox, Fire from heaven, the mark of the Spirit at Anzusa Street was not tongues, but the fact that many nations worshipped together. Again, an inclusive Spirit at work.

Bottom up leadership: that's according to Acts 1:21ff, where new leaders are chosen from the ranks of those persons whom the prayerful community chooses to lead.

Know many Pentecostal churches around today that sound like the early church of Acts?

emerging church course in a local church

A friend rang, wondering how he, a rural worker, could engage with my emerging church course that I teach here at BCNZ. I put some information about the course and how it might work in a local church, together for him. Then I thought it might interest some other blog readers, so here it is.

Emerging church: contemporary ways of being the people of God

Introduction: What’s Going On Out There? From the way people meet, to the way people worship, it’s clear that the church around the world is changing. So what’s happening on the edges of the church? Is there a place for labyrinths or multi-media creativity or spirituality2go in Christian worship? In what ways might internet church or Christian festivals change the future of Christian faith?

Emerging church as contemporary Ways of Being the People of God is a short course that takes trips to the edge of the church envelope and reports back on the emerging church around the globe. Topics include: leadership, the Bible, spiritual formation; worship and mission. The course is interactive and multi-media, mixing theology and practical outworkings for churches today.

Course content:
Lecture 1: New soil = new plants = new church shapes
Lecture 2: What is the new “soil” that is “postmodern cultures”?
Lecture 3: A missionary for a postmodern soil
Lecture 4: Identifying with the life of Jesus:
Lecture 5: Spiritual formation and the emerging church
Lecture 6: Transforming secular space
Lecture 7: Spirituality to go: Worship and the emerging church
Lecture 8: Living as a community: New forms of contemporary Christian community
Lecture 9: Leadership and the emerging church
Lecture 10: Evaluation of the emerging church OR
A mixed economy: the place of emerging church in established church

Details: Taught by Steve Taylor, drawing on his book, The Out of Bounds Church? Learning to Create a Community of Faith in a Culture of Change. Steve teaches this course every two years at BCNZ Christchurch.

He is also available to teach it to groups of more than 10 people in a local church. The course takes 10 hours and could be taught over consecutive Saturday’s. The course can be taken for audit, or assignment work could be completed for BCNZ credit (BCNZ credit fees would then be required to be paid).

Participants also receive a pre-course DVD with five 7-minute long video clips of emerging church leaders around the world describing their vision, passion, leadership and community.

For more information, contact Steve on steve at emergentkiwi dot org dot nz or 027 252 8227

what ascension day means for my faith

Today is Ascension Day, when the church remembers, and affirms, as it says in the Apostles Creed:

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord ...
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

Practically, today, I am glad that

God in Jesus is present through all time and space. The Jesus of the Gospels was bound in a Jewish body and timezone. After the resurrection we catch glimpses of a change of mode, for the Resurection body is a bit of a shape-shifter. Jesus can defy space by moving through walls and can defy time by moving quickly from place to place. The Ascension suggests this movement through time and space is now complete and that the Jesus we worship is now present at all times and in all space. He is both outside time, yet inside time. (This is speculative, but I wonder if this might be why many cultures narrate pre-Christian encounters with Jesus-type images and figures. Could it be that the resurrection body of Jesus appeared not just in Galilee and Judea, but also in pre-Christian New Zealand etc?)

A human body now live with God. Jesus, born as a baby, was God en-flesh, choosing to limit his divinity in order to endwell humanity. This gives dignity to our bodies, our armpits and our noses, our sweat glands and our bottoms. The Ascension of Jesus has no record of the human body of Jesus folding up like a sack of skin on the ground. Instead we have the nail scarred hands been taken to heaven. This means that human sweat glands and bottoms are seated with God, caught into a Trinity of love. God has embraced humanity. The celebration of human bodies is complete.

Faith without sight is now the normal way to follow Jesus. We are called to walk with no God in visible sight. We are called to believe in the guidance of God's Spirit, to humbly seek discernment, to trust our intuition and seek wisdom through the body of God. Faith without sight, flying blind in some sort of fog, is our normal Christianity.

God's people are the primary hermeneneutic of the Gospel. Into the gap left by the loss of Jesus, comes the infilling Spirit of God, who forms us as the new Body of God. All the gospels record Jesus commissioning his disciples (Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:15, Luke 24:48, John 20:22-23. Why the church has chosen to prioiritise Matthew 28 is a matter for another post). We are now the hands and feet of Jesus. God has no body on earth but ours.

The end of the Matrix movie captures this best. Neo soars into heaven, leaving the message that the freedom he has won now needs to be completed. The church as the body of God, has transcended time and culture and countries in a way that no one human could ever do. On Ascension Day I renew my commitment to embody Jesus.

coming back to earth

Sorry the blog has been a bit quiet. I've been in Aussie for 8 days, so internet access was a bit hit and miss.

And I never know what to blog when I am away speaking. I like to connect and talk with people. But how much do I blog about what is actually said? How much of what belongs in the room, in that unique environment, should stay in the room? I often post the bare details prior because some people who read this blog like to pray for me (Although I still remember posting such details once and getting this really rude comment in response about how I was obviously a bit up myself. Arrggh the joy of lurkers:)!).

Anyhow, overall, I had a great time and felt very well hosted and appreciated. The feedback from various punters in Adelaide was most helpful in terms of helping my communication.

For those who came up asking for more information on various resources:
the soundtrack meditation of Saint Brendan comes from here - 7meg; Bodge plants a seed is here; the images of 40 are available here; Richard Pierce, Conversion in the New Testament; Alan Jamieson, A churchless faith.

Finally, here is my host being nice: "steve was great to work with and very selfless in his service to us. I said to the synod on the saturday that we appreciated hearing from someone with a southern hemisphere accent and someone who could 'practice what they teach'. I thought it was great that steve was able to mess with people's preconceptions of mission and church by not fitting any of the local categories for such things. his Opawa journey connected very well with what many folk here are facing. through his stories, metaphors, insights and analysis he was able to communicate at a whole range of levels. the evidence was that people from across the spectrum commented on how they had been encourage and challenged... thanks steve for your generosity of spirit and great leadership over the week."

a missional church?

I arrived home at midnight Saturday, after 8 days speaking in Melbourne and Adelaide, looking forward to being with family. I was also looking forward to being with my Opawa church family, just sitting among them, enjoying others lead and preach.

Sunday was Mothers Day here in New Zealand. In today's world of widely varied family shapes and experiences, it's a service that needs to be handled with care. Part of the Sunday service included this wonderful prayer written by my partner, plus the giving of flowers to all the women in the congregation, as a way of acknowledging the fact that mothering is as much an action as a title, that we can all mother in a variety of ways.

Just before the sermon, 2 men walked down toward the front and grabbed the remaining flowers. It was so well co-ordinated that at first I thought it was a scheduled part of the service. But no. On the way back, past me, one of the men stopped.

"Are these flowers going to be used for anything else? If not, can we take them and give them out to the homes around us."

And off they headed, to knock on doors, and give a flower to people in our local and surrounding community, in the name of the church. They returned with stories of welcome and of relationships that will be followed up.

After the service, the person who secured the flowers was ecstatic. She had felt really strongly that rather than get 100 flowers, this year she should get 150 flowers. "That's the Spirit of God," she exclaimed, as we told her what had happened.

I am honoured to be part of a community where worship flows so spontaneously and naturally into mission, where the future of the people of God is indeed among the people of God.

a most interesting adelaide day

The Adelaide part of my trip kicked off today. I was surprised, and enriched, by the diversity of people in the room. Resources that I (can remember) mentioning during the Leadership and the emerging church seminar in various conversations included:

- Richard Pierce, Conversion in the New Testament

- Alan Jamieson, A churchless faith

Really appreciating people's hospitality and interest.

may in melbourne

I'm fried. Caught up with Mark Pierson on Friday nite, after teaching for 4.5 hours on Emerging Church blockcourse at Bible College of New Zealand. Staying with Phil and Dan McCredden, which is always fun, dodging dog slobber, dodging "the lodger" farts and Kiwi jokes.

Saturday, spoke 4 times at Unfreeze 3. Seemed to go OK; then caught up with Al and Deb Hirsch for Thai. Al spent the night looking cute and sweating his currie! Then spoke 3 times on Sunday at Doncaster Church of Christ.

The sweetest thing happened at Doncaster. They are using the Opawa Red Seat idea. I shared about this last time I spoke at Unfreeze two years ago and it is amazing to see an idea take root in another community, with another accent.

Off to see Andrew Menzies tomorrow then having lunch with Forge. Fried. Fried. Fried.

do they speak English also?

These are my Australian details. A lot of work over the last week, preparing materials and organising myself. I am really looking forward to it and to see what conversations emerge around what I do.

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 - On the couch: Panel on church and missional change

Afternoon - Spirituality2go. A workshop on resourcing Christ followers outside gathered church"

Sunday 6 May
9 am;5 pm - Finding our story in Elijah's story. Preaching 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
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.

code-sharing emerging church

Today was the first day of a 2 day block course I teach at BCNZ introducing the emerging church. It involved 3 groups: BCNZ students; Praxis (community youth orientated training programme) and 4 visiting Americans interested in the emerging church as it applies to their Church of the Brethren Denomination.

Each of these 3 groups wanted to have time with me and so I suggested we all meet together, rather than me repeat myself 3 times. It certainly made for a much richer classroom interaction.

It was great to see a visiting American returning from having lunch with some of the BCNZ students, proudly showing off his L&P (iconic Kiwi) drink bottle.

(The course finishes at 12:30 tomorrow and I have to be at the International Airport at 1:30 pm to catch my flight to Melbourne.)

dumb tech question

I am off to Aussie tomorrow, to speak at various things in Melbourne and Adelaide. I have a video clip that I really want to play at each of these gatherings (it sort of stirs up my Aussie mates you know). It is on Youtube and I can not presume that all the 12 places I am speaking have wireless. Is there a way for me to download unto my laptop a Youtube video?

Update: Hey thanks heaps everyone. All sorted. For those who are interested, this is the video that I, as a Kiwi, am keen to use in Aussie :). It's called - Someone always wants to steal your stuff.

leadership in zones of change

I spoke for about 2 hours recently to a group of ministers. My topic was "Mission with a Kiwi accent" and I explored a number of mission stories as they have emerged for us at Opawa, mixed in with some reflection on Scripture and change dynamics and cultural engagement. It seemed to go well, with a good deal of energy in the room and some good interest in some of their churches entering into the Missional Leadership Coaching course I run.

Toward the end I showed them this diagram; view image - 96K from Al Roxburgh and Fred Romanuck.

The diagram describes the life of an organism from one of rapid development (green zone), to organisational efficiency (blue zone), to death. This is a healthy and natural life cycle and can be applied to church life.

Each zone requires a different type of leadership to move to the next stage of the life cycle and it normalises and legitimises all stages of life. On the spur of the moment, without really thinking, I asked the group of gathered clergy to self-identify. How many were in a green zone church? And a show of hands. A blue zone? And another shows of hands. Red zone? And a further show of hands.

It was an interesting exercise to do, and a way of gaining insight into a group of churches. And then on the way home for me to reflect on the different leadership and change challenges generated, say, if the grouping was mainly green, or mainly blue, or mainly red.

new zealand music month

Today is 1 May, the launch of New Zealand music month. Some of the church staff came dressed appropriately.

A quick poll of "favourite New Zealand musician" at the staff morning tea revealed, in no particular order the following:
: Tim Finn
: Shihad
: Salmonella Dub
: Martin Setchell (Christchurch Town Hall organist)
: Roy Phillips (formerly of the Shadows)
: Brooke Fraser

So; who's your favourite New Zealand musician/band?