e~mergent kiwi

an english eye for a kiwi book

Paul Walker, who blogs at Out of the Cocoon, is blogging his way, chapter by chapter, through my Out of Bounds Book?. Pop on over and have a read.

He writes: I enjoyed the book when I first read about 12 months ago, and I’m enjoying the second read perhaps even more so.

On the book front, I've also had emails from Canada and Spain in the last few days, thanking me for the book. It is quite humbling to sense that the book is connecting in such diverse - England to Canada to Spain - Western contexts.

Korean translation of Out of Bounds Church?

I have just been informed that Zondervan have licensed Jeyoung Communications to translate and publish The Out of Bounds Church? into Korean. It should be available in bookstores in about 18-24 months.

Links:
Out of Bounds Church translated into German

radio land

I have friend who in a former life, did a stint as DJ on student radio.

He then left to become a student at Bible College. After a year or so of faithful study, learning all manner of vital theological information about the Bible, he returned to student radio, filling in for a week or two of breakfast radio. The breakfast show included a daily surf report. Vital information for students I guess :)

The DJ put through the regulation call, live, to the local surf reporter. Down the line came the local surf reporter; So Mr radio DJ, who made the dinosaurs?

How would you answer that, on the spot, live, on radio? It's almost as funny as "So, Mr Pastor, what do you do with a dog who scoffs the communion bread?"

All this to say that you can ask me any question you want, live, on radio, this Sunday, 3 December. Between 9-11 pm, I am on the Green Room at Life FM. You can listen on the internet here.

My host is Frank Ritchie,
who blogs here. The show will include giveway copies of my Out of Bounds Church? book, kindly supplied by my publisher, Zondervan. Give me a during the show on 0508 LIFE FM. Or why not a few email questions from some of my overseas readers?

update: canadian perspectives on out of bounds church

Update: I mentioned a few days ago that Pernell Goodyear, in Canada, is spending a whole week blogging on my Out of Bounds Church? book. There is now Pernell's revew of my book, an interview with me, including some really interesting discussion in the comments and a Kiwi/Canadian quiz with book giveways.

Over the next few days there is a podcast discussion about the Out of Bounds Church? book between Jordon and Pernell. Plus there will be Canadian perspectives from the likes of Jamie Arpin-Ricci, Mike Todd, David Fitch , Len Hjalmarson and others. It is great to be amongst a group of Canadians talking mission. I just wish it was real and over a cafe table, rather than virtual.

a Canadian eye for a Kiwi book buy

Pernell Goodyear, planter and pastor of The Freeway in Hamilton, Canada, is spending a whole week blogging on my Out of Bounds Church? book. The week will include

: A full review of The Out Of Bounds Church?... what I think is one of the best books written on the emerging church to date.
: An interview with the book's author, Steve Taylor.
: Additional musings and exploration ["two cents worth"] of what it means to be Out Of Bounds, by myself and other Canadian voices.
: Amazing insights and questions... that's where you and the comments section come in.

So for a Canadian eye on a Kiwi book buy, head on over.

German translation of Out of Bounds Church?

There is a German translation (2 MB) of postcard 5: Spiritual Tourism that has just been placed on the web. (It is available from here).
I was just so pleased when Daniel emailed to say he had made the translation and could he have permission to publish it. And now Zondervan have kindly said yes.

So, for those who speak German, you might like to follow Daniel's recommendation: "I recommend the chapter to you most warmly!"

with permission

I am stoked. And humbled. And blown away.

Just had an email request in relation to my Out of Bounds Church? book. A US seminary, with a track record of innovation and intentionality around missional church, is currently going through a consultancy process. And could they have permission (Zondervan said yes!) to use the first 2 chapters of my book as preparatory reading in the ongoing process of re-imagining.

(In the first chapter I use a "newspaper sociology" (an approach coined by Alvin Gouldner) to explore contemporary culture. In the second chapter (applying the work of Michel de Certeau) I argue that our starting point, both theological and missional, is to read the everyday practices of people and church communities. This reading is an affirmation of the belief in the Spirit of God active in the lives of people and allows us to partner with missio dei, God's activity in the world God loves.)

I struggle to get my head around the fact that my little book could be part of change processes among seminary leaderships.

(This post is a repeat of a post on my out of bounds church? book blog).

a compelling read through a missiological lens

I keep a separate blog for my Out of Bounds Church? book, but at a personal level the emergentkiwi is celebrating the book review's (by Mark Hopkins, School of Intercultural Studies, Fuller Theological Seminary) in the Evangelical Missions Quarterly July 2006.

"I was encouraged to find Taylor's work deeply anchored in biblical/theological thinking. He has done a fine job of exegeting global popular culture ... Another strength is Taylor's "insistence on 'extreme discipleship' rather than 'Christianity lite'" ... This book is a compelling read that I recommend for anyone wanting a good introduction to both the emerging church and practical missiological issues related to faithfully engaging global popular culture."

At heart I have always seen the emerging church as a missionary movement. So it is very pleasing to have such a positive review from a global missions journal.

Buy Out of Bounds Church? here

jesus creed review

My out of bounds church? book has just been reviewed by Scot McKnight. It is always a privilege to hear somewhere else describe your words and I was intrigued by Scot's comment: "I'll tell you why I think this is a good book: it is theology emerging from praxis and praxis emerging from theological reflection, and both emerging in and out of local contexts, and each of these three items emerging out of serious engagement with culture and philosophy." I appreciate Scot's recognition of the variety of narratives that I tried to weave together in the book; stories of churches on the ground; theology; postmodern culture both popular and academic.

Scott titled the blog review Least Known, Best Emerging Book and commented "I've found a book that no one seems to talk much about but which is a very fine book." Which left me pondering what makes a book "least known": is this simply a reflection of marketing, of Scot's world, of the US emergent conversation, of the sheer volume of books around, of ....?

a tall skinny book shelf

Link

This is the 50 books on Andrew Jones emerging church bookshelf. He rates the Out of Bounds Church no 3 in his "Top Ten Books considered essential reading on the emerging church."

Andrew then wonders aloud about whether books are the best place to capture the emerging church story. "Very few of these books are from the "other" half - the emerging church of the margins, the poor, and the churches that no longer look like church. Emerging church leaders in the latter are less likely to publish a book as a means of communication."

Random thoughts
-I both blog and write books. They are both different media that serve different purposes. Blogging is fast and instant. Books are thoughtful. You have more rope to hang yourself. The more words, the easier it is to fall into potholes and inconsistencies. They have had the tires kicked by editors. Both are valid medium. Both have different purposes.
- We need mechanisms to "capture" all types of stories. We need podcasters and researchers who can audio capture existing stories and form internet repositories of "storied" wisdom.
- Books give no more "validation" to a movement than "non-books." 1 Corinthians reminds us of diverse gifts and one Spirit. Can the variety of current publishing forms be an opportunity for celebration of diversity?

Post repeated from my book blog.

more on DJing gospel and culture

Last week I blogged some images, built around the image of DJ, that I think provide a more helpful way to understand how the emerging church responds to culture. The usual stereotype offered by critics of the emerging church is the assumption that because we pay attention to a postmodern culture, we are therefore assimilating into this culture. Instead I think that when you examine emerging practices, you see complex pattern; moments of juxtaposition, subversion and amplification;

Anyhow, my post has attracted some good blog engagement. It's inspired some worship in Germany;

: the practices, a DJ showed people how to mix
: the actual mixing of poetic sounds
: with Matthew 5:21ff and Jesus imagined as a DJ, living out a mix of "God-beat and culture, helping people to listen to the God-beat inside their mixes"
: participants invited to nail a record onto a woodpanel as "a prayer that asked God to free us from our mix and make us able to listen to his beat."

It sounds a great DJ mix of practice, scripture, community and prayer.

And Bob Carlton has a fantastic post about morality and leadership as applied to the DJ. He explores whether a DJ exists for self-interest or generosity, in light of internet radio and proconsumer technologies. I would argue the latter and that is why I argue in my out of bounds church? book that a DJ can only exist in community and why the DJ image (postcard 8 of the book) needs to be read alongside the spiritual tourism image (postcard 5 in the book), in which the church community and it's DJ mix is urged to exist for the outsider. Bob has also got a QT file of God DJing. It's great (although I wonder if God ends up portrayed as remote and arbitrary (and male?)).

Further DJing resources:
: last weeks post is here.
: for a QT e-video of me being interviewed about DJing in relation to globalisation and culture, download here (11 MB)
: for more on DJing, including where I explore how this is happening in 1 Peter, and engage with the work of Miroslav Volf, read out of bounds church? book):
: also check out the outofbounds blog.

Last week I blogged some images, built around the image of DJ, that I think provide a more helpful way to understand how the emerging church responds to culture. The usual stereotype offered by critics of the emerging church is the assumption that because we pay attention to a postmodern culture, we are therefore assimilating into this culture. Instead I think that when you examine emerging practices, you see complex pattern; moments of juxtaposition, subversion and amplification;

Anyhow, my post has attracted some good blog engagement. It's inspired some worship in Germany;

: the practices, a DJ showed people how to mix
: the actual mixing of poetic sounds
: with Matthew 5:21ff and Jesus imagined as a DJ, living out a mix of "God-beat and culture, helping people to listen to the God-beat inside their mixes"
: participants invited to nail a record onto a woodpanel as "a prayer that asked God to free us from our mix and make us able to listen to his beat."
It sounds a great DJ mix of practice, scripture, community and prayer.

And Bob Carlton has a fantastic post about morality and leadership as applied to the DJ. He explores whether a DJ exists for self-interest or generosity, in light of internet radio and proconsumer technologies. I would argue the latter and that is why I argue in my out of bounds church? book that a DJ can only exist in community and why the DJ image (postcard 8 of the book) needs to be read alongside the spiritual tourism image (postcard 5 in the book), in which the church community and it's DJ mix is urged to exist for the outsider. Bob has also got a QT file of God DJing. It's great (although I wonder if God ends up portrayed as remote and arbitrary (and male?)).

Further DJing resources:
: last weeks post is here.
: for a QT e-video of me being interviewed about DJing in relation to globalisation and culture, download here (11 MB)
: for more on DJing, including where I explore how this is happening in 1 Peter, and engage with the work of Miroslav Volf, read out of bounds church? book):

Post repeated in my book blog.

a must read

I don't normally blog reviews of my out of bounds church book here, because I didn't want this blog/my personal blog to become some sort of pimp. Hence I maintain a separate out of bounds church book blog where I record reviews, discussion, further resources, stuff that got edited out of the original.

But this recent review was a real encouragement;

The Out of Bounds Church has revolutionized my thinking about the Church as it relates to college-aged people... If you are interested in making the church work for teens and twenty-somethings, I think this is a must read.

For the full review go here here;

For all reviews of the out of bounds church? go here;

To buy the book go here.

DJing gospel and culture video interview

In postcard 8 of my out of bounds church? book I explore the relationship between gospel and culture. Rather than present either/or opposites of wholesale withdrawal or wholesale assimilation, I use the image of DJ to explore how, in a fragmented and postmodern world, we engage in multiple responses to culture; of protest and subversion and affirmation. I think it's some of the most creative thinking in the book.

Anyhow, late in 2004 (when the book manuscript was with the printer) I spoke at a ecumenical conference (national youth ministries of the Anglican, Catholic, Methodist and Presbyterian Churches in Aotearoa New Zealand); the big E. The theme was gospel and culture and they asked me to exploration the interaction between global and local. It was a chance to earth the DJ image in terms of ministry and young people and globalisation. It is a more "well-cooked" version of Postcard 8, including a social justice reflection. It's now a chapter in a book; titled "Culture - Yeah Right."

(Buy the book, by contacting Jacky Sewell, 3/89 Michael's Ave, Ellerslie, Auckland. Cost - Book $20, DVD $45 or both for $60. P&P $5 in NZ, $10 Aust and Sth Pacific, $20 rest of the world.)

They also interviewed me, and this is now an online QT video (11 MB). So if you want to see my "summary" or get the 10 minute summary, download here.

This post is repeated in my out of bounds church? book blog.

Old Testament emerging mission

In December I was e-interviewed about my out of bounds church? book. I was asked to comment on an absence of interest in the Hebrew Scriptures in the conversations around missional churches and to what extent can the Hebrew Scriptures offer new models to the Church that is emerging.

In the interview I noted that a dominant mission model in the emerging church is the going to forming new communities of faith. This is often based on contrasting attractional forms of church with incarnational forms of church. I mentioned a article by Walter Brueggemann as a great example of careful Bible reading that goes beyond 2 binary opposites of mission as attraction vs mission as incarnation. A number of people have since emailed asking for the full reference: Walter A. Brueggemann, "The Bible and Mission." Missiology 10, 1989, 397-412.

Steve, before you dash off-line, could you summarise the article? Can perhaps could you apply it to emerging church? Well, part of the article includes 4 different ways in which mission is at work in the Old Testament.

I Kings 4 is a subtle critique of the use of God to legitimate actions. This would mean that Americans who blogged against the Iraqi War are performing mission in the style of 1 Kings 4.

Dueteronomy 19 is the working for legislative reform to enact God’s justice. This would legitimate something like protest4 as Biblical mission even if it never "incarnates" a new faith community.

1 Samuel 2 offers the power of imagination to offer a new vision of society. This would legitimate the art of alternative worship as Biblical mission in it’s potential to offer a radical re-dreaming of Christianity enculturated.

Hosea 2 offers the belief that in a fragmented world, God can intervene in love. A Blue Christmas service offering hope of God’s love would thus be an expression of mission in the style of Hosea.

And for those who want more detail on the Biblical texts, here are my Church and Society (University of Auckland) 2003 Course lecture notes..

1 Kings 4:20-28
This text offers success, of wealth and well-being. People are happy, safe and well-fed. Then it asks how are people happy, safe and well-fed? The answer is by tax and arms proliferation. And so the text paints the picture of a society of success built on tax and war.

The key claim made by the text is shalom, 1 Kings 4:24, that everyone is safe under there "vine and fig tree." This is a peasants dream,
Every man will sit under his own vine
and under his own fig tree,
and no one will make them afraid,
for the LORD Almighty has spoken. (Micah 4:4)

Thus this text links faith, church and a way of being in society. The text reads as a shopping list, a government vision statement. This model of peace and harmony depends on government spin, promises shalom, and flows from a central system, in which church and state are in harmony. A Constantinian model of church and society is present.

Yet the discerning reader is left with a nagging suspicion. A hint of irony exists. All that glitters is not gold. After all, who pays for the system? And who is doing the forced labour of 1 Kings 4:6 (Ahishar-in charge of the palace; Adoniram son of Abda-in charge of forced labor.)? And why was their revolution in 1 Kings 11-12? The text asks some nagging questions about what funds a seemingly God-happy society.

Deuteronomy 19:1-10
In this text legislation, more specifically, Mosaic legislation, is used to societal reformation. Law in enacted to establish three cities of refugee. This new legal provision is not to provide exemption for murderers, but protection in case of accidents. How marvellous. Social justice for society through societal reformation.

Note that this is not, like 1 Kings, a "successful society vision statement" that glosses up reality. This text acknowledges that mayhem can happen, and that society can be adapted, shaped, and so to see justice.

This text is a foreshadowing of Romans 12. It is an argument for a restorative, rather than retributive justice. It proposes a public hospitality that is an alternative to vigilante vengeance. It attempts to describe a new way of living in which Christian mission has a public, institutional, reformational role.

1 Samuel 2:1-10
The context for this text is a society in transition. Israel is moving from tribe to state, from judge to king, from charismatic to bureaucratic. In this transition, we hear the song of a barren mother, the cry of the mother of the last of these judges. This is a song from below, a Liberationist speech from the margins.
Hannah means "grace, free gift." And she sings the song of surprise, caught by the unexpected gift of new life.

The song rejoices in a swift transition. This is not the societal reformation of Dueteronomy 19, but the rapid and abrupt inversion of the upside-down Kingdom.

In society, power and food were inequally distributed. The song anticipates the Magnificant in Luke 1, a new social reality, a radical change.
The Lord makes poor and makes rich
He brings low, he also exalts
He raises the poor from the dust
He lifts the needy from the ash heap
To make them sit with princes
And inherit seats of honor.

Such a vision immediately raises a range of questions; How realistic is this dream? How domesticated is the previous Reformation model? Is it enough to work for legal reform? Are there times when a new dream is needed? This is the grit test that must always haunt the song of vision.

But alongside the grit test we must appreciate the role of vision. In this text the literary forms are important. This text is not a memo or a legal document. It is a poetic "song." It dreams. It steps outside current realities, current bounds of language. This is the power of poetry. Thus for Brueggemann, "In handling such literary form … one should also see liturgy and all artistic acts as crucial for mission." (p. 405)

1 Sammuel is perhaps a form of liberation theology. In its dreaming, it also challenges the way society is. This is subversive, a rupture of society, that moves toward an alternative social reality. It is the free and energetic construction of a new way of being.

Hosea 2:14-18
This textual fragment is set in the midst of a poem that draws on the metaphors of divorce and remarriage. There is simultaneously both complete loss of relationship and complete gift of relationships.

So life is fragile. In this text, God takes and God gives. This is evident not only in relationships, but also in economics. A society of wealth and prosperity, of grain, wine and oil, is fragile (v 2-13); new life is a surprising gift (v 16-23).
V 2-13 is a court case, a lawsuit of indictment.
2:14-15 is a hinge.
2:16-12 speak of disarmament and environmental hope.
The hinge is unexpected. God intervenes.

And so this text suggests that God is not bound by human constructions of how she/he should act. In a society of security, this text has looked below the surface. It speaks it's unique vision of social reality, that God is not bound by social constructions.

The church moves, speaks, knows of a different way of viewing society. The church declares a new way of living, in a society of peace, environment health and inter-connectedness with God.

Interactive student learning:
And to aid student learning I gave out Ello and invited groups to use Ello (children’s lego) to depict these mission models. We then discussed how they might be useful in contemporary cultural interaction.

out of bounds author interview and book stuff

Having read my out of bounds church? book, Darren Wright recently asked me some quite inciteful/insightful followup questions:)! Questions included...
my favourite cheese;
can the Hebrew Scriptures offer new models to the Church that is emerging;
gender balance in the emerging church;
seeing people as consumer or as tourist;
theological and missiological differences I see between the church that is emerging in Au, NZ, US and UK;
It was a fun interview, yet also really got me thinking. Thanks Darren. If you want to read the full interview go here. (For Darren's extensive review of the out of bounds church? book go here.)

And while I'm book blogging, The out of bounds church? was rated the best book read in 2005 over at the Freeway and rated in Jordon Cooper's top 5 for 05 .

superb book review

This review of my out of bounds church? book by Greg Hughson, Chaplain at Otago University, made my day. (All out of bounds church? book reviews are logged here.)

This is a great book about what is happening on the edges of the Church. It is also an introduction to post-modern missiology. It is essential reading for anyone interested in discovering how as Christians today we can build healthy communities of faith and engage in effective mission amidst a culture of change .. Steve's theological position is neither conservative (isolationist) or overly liberal (accomodating to culture), hence this book will appeal to a wide range of readers ... Steve's knowledge of theology, church life, academia and travel make this book an excellent read ... This is an engaging and easy to read book. It is one I will return to often for a dose of inspiration when the creative juices are running low. I highly recommend it.

Link.

go little book

Go
into the world, little book
and wherever you go,
may you stimulate wise and sensitive discussion.

God be with your author, your readers, and all those who are touched by your message. In the name of Christ, your inspiration, Amen.

Prayer by Brenda Rockell at the Auckland out of bounds book launch.

out of bounds book launch Auckland

You are invited ... to an Auckland book launch of Steve Taylor's book, The Out of Bounds Church? Learning to Create a Community of Faith in a Culture of Change, Zondervan, 2005.

Wednesday 12 October, 2005, 7-7:30 pm, The Community of Saint Luke, 130 Remuera Road, Remuera.

There will be
: Books available ($25) for author signing
: Drinks and nibbles
: Big ups to two Auckland church communities (Graceway and Cityside)
: Prayerful commissioning
: No charge

The Out of Bounds Church? book launch is occuring as part of the futurechurch conference. Following the book launch (from 7:30 pm) Steve Taylor and Margaret Mayman will "animate" a conversation around the theme: Disconnected? Our relationship with the Christian tradition. You are more than welcome to stay for this session. (It costs $5).

To book your nibble, RSVP by leaving a comment Tuesday 11 October.

midwiving and leadership formation

I've just had some more of my thinking published. In my book the out of bounds church?, I spent some time using the image of midwiving to describe emerging church ministry. It is organic and life-giving. It employs a multi-facted skill base amid the mess and complexity of life in giving birth to the dreams of mother and child.

Anyhow, I have now developed my thinking a bit further. This started life (OK, was birthed) as a paper I gave in November 2004. I has now been published (born again?) in a recent Ministry, Society and Theology Journal. In the article I explore some Biblical echoes around mid-wives, particularly in Exodus. I then apply the mid-wiving image to the task of spiritual formation, theological education and ministry leadership.

Title: Midwiving and the practices of theological field education.

Copies of the entire journal (264 pages) can be purchased for $7 (Aus) from:
The Editorial Committee
Whitley College
271 Royal Parade
Parkville Vic 3052
Australia

out of bounds church perfect beer match

I've just found the perfect drink to go with my out of bounds church? book. The search has been on ever since May, when Darren Wright settled down for a extended review of the book. (The review proceeds over nine posts, so start here). His review included a plea for beer sponsorship; if any Beer company would like to sponsor me, say Coopers or Hoegaarden or Stellas, please contact me via email :) to go with his dinner of Chilli Squid. Click to view dinner

And so my search began. Today I can proudly unveil the Avery Out of Bounds Stout as the perfect beer match for the Out of Bounds book.

Avery Out of Bounds Stout Commercial Description: This big, roasty stout takes flavor to the extreme. We aren't afraid to use plenty of rich roasted barley and a mountain of hops to give this full-bodied stout that little extra something you've been looking for in a beer.

For a limited time period, I am willing to supply one bottle of said beer to accompany one review copy of the out of bounds church, in the hope that both products, when combined, will lead to a gentle, benign view of life, and a gentle, benign review of book on your blog. If you would like a review copy please let me know.

This post also appears on the out of bounds church? book blog.

mobile theology

In my out of bounds church? book, I argue that a church committed to Incarnational mission will take seriously Incarnation within a globalised, roaming culture. I ask the question; What will it look like to fund a spirituality in a world gone 24/7? It's a part of the book that applies Incarnation not to subcultures, but to global culture and I offer a number of suggestions including cybermonks, spiritual takeaways and postcards.

If I was writing the book now, and not 18 months ago, I pick up on a fine selection of posts at planet telex. The image of mobile phone is used to illustrate perfectly this global, roaming, 24/7 world that we live in. There is an introduction to what I would call spiriutal tourism, but what planet telex calls mobile theology here. There is a plea for interactivity here (which engages directly with material from my book).

Here’s an idea…
Send people out from your community with the task of sending you via email or via picture messaging 3 images that speak to them of God during the week. Upload each image to the website as the week progresses, use the images during worship on Sunday, swap the images as free wallpapers for people’s phones. The next week ask them to do the same thing, but with a different theme, what makes them happy, images that make them sad, images of friends, images of meals eaten…

Then there is a suggestion of mobile worship, which offers a subversive set of spiritual practices.

It's an excellent set of resources that offers in the mobile phone a very concrete metaphor and takes seriously the questions of postcard 5; both for everyday spirituality and for worship.

Repeat of a blog post from the blog about the out of bounds church? book.

some good news

For those who don't read the out of bounds church? book blog, I've been smiling for the last few days because a complimentary copy of my out of bounds church? book arrived on Monday, with the news that my publishers have commissioned a second print run. So I am quietly thanking all those who have brought copies and made this possible.

Note: (I set up the out of bounds church? book blog to offer various extras in relation to the book - like the original postcards in colour, like sections cut in the editing process, like my responses to questions emailed to me by book readers and also to collect all the reviews and blog comment/ary on the book.)

len sweet encouragement

For those of you who don't follow the out of bounds church? book blog, I was blown away by the following email from Len Sweet.

Steve:

I assigned your book to my doctoral students, and they loved it ... I thought the book was dynamite . . . and glad it exploded in the hearts of my students as well

selling out

So I've got this new book - out of bounds church? - that got released in February.

And in April my local Christian bookshop - yah for Manna Christchurch - throw a book launch. And they are going to sell out of my book, so I give them the 6 remaining copies I have left.

So they owe me books. Last week they ring. New stocks of my book are in and I can come and pick up the 6 copies they owe me. So last night we cruise in there. I double park and Lynne rushes in.

And returns empty-handed. They've sold out. Again. Twice. Either they are only getting in little handfuls of my book, OR Christchurch is buying!

Update (17 June 2005): Susan from Colorado writes: When I bought your book about a month ago (either in Borders or Barnes & Noble in Colorado - can't remember) I got the last copy. Hope they restocked. Great job on the book ! We're using it for ideas on our own unusual culture at Flatirons Community Church in Lafayette, Colorado. Selling out again!

out of bounds in melbourne

I'm in Melbourne this week; Wednesday evening there is an out of bounds book launch, 7.30pm, 81 High St, Preston. I am doing 5 short bursts around 5 different missional metaphors.

Thanks to Phil's energy and Forge's enthusiasm.

Thursday I meet with Forge interns for breakfast. Later that day, and into Friday, I am at Unfreeze 2; working with Churches of Christ denomination, doing some tag team stuff with Al Roxburgh and a seminar titled "Trips to the Edge of the Ecclesiological Envelope. Stories of planting and transforming conversations."

I fly back Saturday, in time for the Pentecost NorWest Festival.

its my book launch

Today, Friday 22nd, 7:30 pm,
Manna Christian Stores, 103 Manchester St.

I'd love to knock off work at 12:30, and spend the afternoon in the sun, relaxing, preparing ...
but it's been a hell week and the weekend is packed.

Update: The launch was neat. Nice mix of people from many of my walks of life. Amy and Kaleb played some live music, including some Jack Johnson requests. Oh yes, the juice ran dry and the books sold out. Now I'm trying to get Manna Christchurch to tell Manna Auckland and ....

View image: trying to spell my name: 74K

View image: live local talent: 70K

View image: the duel of the cameras

(thanx Jas for the pics)

"I highly recommend The Out of Bounds Church. It is creative, fun, different, challenging, and disruptive! What more do you want? It would be so sweet if Youth Specialties could put a copy in the hands of every senior pastor in America and the world".

For more highlights go here or the full review here.

the blog about the out of bounds church book

When you release a book, people start to review it and interact with it. Which has left me with the dilemna - What to do with such stuff? It sort of seemed a slight sideline to the point of this blog (which doesn't really have a point, but nevertheless still felt off the point) and I don't want this blog filled up with various book bites.

So I've built a new website/blog: the blog about the out of bounds book.

It includes
: reviews and web interactions
: the Original postcards
: some humour
: directors cut - various bits that hit the editing floor
: mistakes
: my responses to "author emails."

Head on over. Check it out. Give me your feedback (here please). Link to it, so that it steadily moves up the old google rankings.

(PS I'd love to include some sort of discussion forum for each chapter. But I lack the technical expertise. So if any kind reader could help me set up some sort of forum, I'd be stoked.)

the author is frozen

I have just met my twin brother, who due to publisher deadlines, stopped growing in May 2003. That was the month my book went to the publisher/editor. While my ideas became frozen in print, I kept growing. Tweaking, changing, adapting.

Now I get emails from people, with questions and comments about my book. Which is like way cool, but that was May 2003 and have you heard about "postcard 10" (my book has 9 "postcards" on contemporary mission)?

I had a constant debate over 3 years at seminary with my Old Testament Lecturer. Deeply infested by contemporary reader response theory, he used to maintain "the author is dead." It was a slogan designed to rial my desire for some level of authorial intent, as one strategy for allowing coherence between original text and context.

Is an author dead? Or is an author frozen, a virtual twin, a camera snapshot of a brain stranded in time?

Christchurch book launch

Just confirmed a date for my Christchurch book launch;
Friday, April 22, from 7:30 pm
Manna Books, Manchester Street
drinks, nibble and live music (hopefully)
all welcome

a wierd joy

Just got my first email from someone;
who I have never met,
who has brought my book,
who found it helpful,
and who was asking me mission questions - how to connect with their poorer, multi-ethnic community.

It is such a joy for me to know that the result of reading my book was thinking about mission and finding God in spaces new and other. Yeeha!

Original Out of Bounds church

Surrounded by a 10ft chain fence, a locked gate and "out of bounds" notices the church opens for just one service a year. The vicar is fed up with the time it involves and the local parishes want rid of the burden of maintaining it.

The Church of St. Giles is the parish church for the ghost town of Imber, an isolated village on Salisbury plain was requisitioned by the War Office a week before Christmas 1943, and the area made permanently out of bounds to the public.

For more

The unveiling of a new book

(My book, the out of bounds church? learning to create communities of faith in a culture of change goes from the printer to Zondervan HQ for the start of distribution today.)

Today feels like the first time I was naked with my wife; very exciting, but a high level of performance anxiety.

free downloads of out of bounds book

The internet rumours are true. Due to an administrative error, the entire text of my book was available as a free download on the internet over last weekend. Frantic emailing state-side and the error was corrected.

Which, when I paused for breath, left me pondering the question - if a person was to download it, would they still buy a hard copy?

OK, let me make that personal. If you downloaded a book, would you still want to read/own/possess the hard copy?

Is free downloads good marketing, or bad selling?

Booked to San Diego

My tickets for USA arrived today. Zondervan and emergent/Youth Specialties are flying me to the US as part of the launch of my book - out of bounds church? learning to create communities of faith in a culture of change.

I am due into LA on Monday 31 January. (Any bloggers in Pasadena keen to keep me awake Monday?)

I am spending Tuesday at Fuller Theological Seminary, with Doug McConnell, Dean of School of Intercultural Studies. We are brainstorming around globalisation and emergent church and training. I am also doing a seminar for staff and students at Fuller - where I will try and present some sort of overview of the emergent tribes and suggest a range of metaphors that might stimulate mission in a postmodern world.

Wednesday, 2 February I fly to San Diego for the emergent convention. I am doing 2 seminars;

Out of Bounds: Mission in the Emerging Church
and
Text in a TXT World: Postmodern Communication

As a result, people are meant to buy copies of my books and spread the word that it's hot! I'm looking forward to getting a close up view of emergentUSA and meeting some people that have until now only been blog names; and three cheers for zondervan and emergent.

mono-cultural philistine

I feel such a mono-cultural philistine. I need permission to use a contemporary art image in my book. The email trail lead to Germany.

So I ring Germany.

"Do you speak English", I have to ask.

Click. New voice.

"Do you speak English", I have to ask again.

Click. New voice.

I mean, how would I feel if someone rang me in New Zealand, asking me if I spoke their language. I was so embarrassing.

HOW WIERD IS THAT

if you type in "out of bounds church" on amazon.com - you get my book, and a chance to pre-order! that is so totally wierd ... and totally like, vulnerable and scarey.

for more info on the book...

moving the out of bounds church?

out-of-bounds church? learning to create communities of faith in a culture of change, is the editor-ordained title for my book. due out feb 05.

Zondervan sent me a fancy "author care" pack recently, in pastels, complete with flowers. And a "book form" to fill out. And a question: who do you know who could write reviews for magazines and newspaper?

If you have this sort of access - to publications, to magazines, to Christian news, that do book reviews - and want a review copy, drop me a line and I'll flick your name to Zondervan