e~mergent kiwi

a shifting mission?

Currently, three evenings a week, smaller gatherings occur at Opawa. They provide a snapshot of our changing mission

: Tuesday is espresso, a conversational congregation. Over the last few years, it has provided a place for those inside and outside Christian faith to talk, argue, learn, laugh.

: how to read the Bible is a 8 week block course on a Wednesday, that includes a number seeking faith and wanting to consider the place of the Bible.

: Sense making faith is on a Thursday and has a different set of participants, who bring with them existing spiritual experiences outside of organised religion.

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

In saying this I do not want to advance an Incarnational VS Attractional divide. Sunday remains important because it is our most visible place and people often start there.

The image I use is of a physical presence. Most businesses have shops, most clubs have clubrooms, most cafes have seats. Without these, you would struggle to find them. So mission as the funding spiritual search needs a place in which people can "land." But what is key for us is the development of multiple spaces, so that when people "land," they are not offered a one size fits all, but a variety of ways to continue their search.

communion: a step too far?

This was what I did for worship at Grow last nite:

- white cloths to close off part of the church foyer
- two slide images, one titled "life", the other a Coptic church icon,
- communion at end, lit by scented candle
- on black squares on way up were post-it stickers, naming various "black areas of our life" - various sins against creator, redeemer, sustainer
- on white squares on way back were another set of post-it stickers with various "white areas of our life" - fruit and gifts of Spirit
- we read a confession of belief
- then people were invited to walk up, considering the black squares and allowing Spirit to search them,
- to enjoy communion and
- to walk back, considering the white squares and the fruit and gifts of Spirit we might need for week ahead.
- Updated: playing Radiohead's "Everything in it's right place"

I wanted to avoid a rush and squash, so suggested people walk up one by one, and those gathered pray for the person as they walked.

I was quite pleased with the space. But only about half the people responded. Which is not normal. Was it a step too far? too much focus on the individual? And if so, does it matter? Could there be times when we invite people into a more challenging practise of communion?

kingdom signs discerned

The point of looking for Kingdom signs is not just the writing, but the reflecting. Over time, prayerfully, as one reflects on what is written, themes begin to emerge. It is often in these themes that Kingdom clarity becomes clear.

ImageChef.com Poetry Blender

So as part of the Kingdom signs project, I am suggesting that people only blog journal for 5 days in 7. That leaves a 6th day for reflection, looking back over what one has written and starting to prayerfully ponder. And a 7th day, for rest, for doing nothing. This is essential to any spiritual practise and common sense given that we are human - prone to sickness, busyness, etc.

It is only a week, too early yet, but reading the Opawa Kingdom blogs (Regina; Phil; Judy; Viv; Allan) blogs, I am struck by the beauty and power within our everyday lives. God seems richly present: in creation, in sustenance, in Scripture, in healing, in sunshine, in life cycles, in hugs, in restoration.

PS Just a word about the kingdom signs selection - I simply asked 5 people from the church. They had to be lay, there had to be male and female, they had to come from a range of life situations, to be both long and recent in the church, they had to be people who were probably not doing this sort of thing already. All mixed with a bit of intuition, people who I just wondered if they would enjoy and benefit from the practise. All 5 said yes (one will start in a week or so). I also had material available on the Sunday after the sermon in case others wanted to join. (And I ran out of copies, which was grand).

Material:
Introduction here, instructions here and here

Sense making faith

Sense making faith: a mind, body, spirit journey

For anyone interested in using the physical senses of sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste in their search for God in the world surrounding us. Requires no prior knowledge of Christianity, simply a curiosity about the spiritual search.

Thursday for 8 weeks, starting June 26, church foyer, 7:30 - 9 pm. First session is an introduction, with freedom to change your mind and pull out after that.

kingdom signs

Regina is journaling here;
Phil is journaling here;
Judy is journaling here; Viv is journaling here; and outside Opawa, outside New Zealand --- Eleanor is journaling here; Dan is journaling here; Jane is journaling here ...

... anyone is welcome to join them, introduction here, instructions here and here

ImageChef.com Poetry Blender

discerning Kingdom signs as the practice of a community

Update: In response: Regina will be journaling here; Phil will be journaling here; Judy will be journaling here; Allan is here

Email I just sent out:
I am starting a 4 week series on Kingdom of God and I am asking for your help. My aim for the 4 weeks is to help us become better at finding the Kingdom in our ordinary and everyday lives as Christians. I am writing to ask if you would be willing to be part of a public experiment. And for the next 4 weeks, make a commitment to keep an on-line journal in which you write a paragraph each day on Kingdom signs that you are noticing in your everday life and work. Your journal, and those of 4 others in the church, would be advertised and placed on our church website. (I will also invite anyone who wants to in the church to join us, but I want a few examples to get us all going).

Why do this? I suspect that many people lack confidence in looking for God. I suspect that the more we do it, and the more we see examples of others doing it, the better we will get. I suspect that watching other people, is a great way to learn. I suspect that examples from ordinary people is more helpful than pastors. I think it is a good way of using technology to help us relate as a church and to take Sunday into our life.

Resources being used:
1. A model for discernment: download file
2. Setting up a online journal: download file

soak and space

We had an evaluation and planning meeting of our Soak service last nite. Soak is quite unlike any alternative worship thing I have been part of. It's got stations AND sung worship. It's in the main church that is beautifully lit with candles and draped with fabric. Which works stunningly well in creating a very rich space. We try to avoid theme-based stations, instead offering regular communion, confession and journalling stations, which lessens the intense creativity usually demanded by alternative worship.

Soak happens monthly on the first Sunday of the month. It starts with sung worship for about 30 minutes. It then offers a lectio divino Bible reading for about 15 minutes. The various stations are then introduced and people are invited to leave when they want to. A benediction is taped to the exit doors.

What this means is that Soak is what I, for lack of a better word, am calling an adult space. So much church spoon feeds you. Every minute is programmed and full. You are not required to do much. In contrast, at Soak, if you lack an inner world and don't want to work that inner world, you get bored pretty quick.

Here are some of the unexpected learnings:
- some (not all) of our teenage boys love it
- people stay so long, regularly over 2 hours
- it's genuinely redemptive with 2 people asking about baptism
- the Bible has been liberated, allowed to become a springboard for prayer rather than something to analytically dissect.

formation in community through process

I looked around the room this evening. It was the 4th week of a 10 week evening block course on How to read the New Testament, giving tools for reading gospels, letters, parables etc. It's part of changes made last year, including (paid) staffing re-alignment, part of clarifying our focus around discipling and mission resourcing.

As a church, staff are our largest budget expense and we don't think it's Kingdom to focus that resource predominantly on internal activities such as Sunday worship or church activities.

Anyhow, back to tonight. 15 people in the room. A nice mix of long, medium and new timers. And those new to the church, why are they there? Well, because they've not read the Bible and have a hunger to understand it.

Hearing that is like being in heaven. It's great to be part of a church that is attracting people new, hungry and with little Christian history. It's great to be able to offer places where people can choose to take their Christian growth a step further. It's great to teach in groups, allowing formation through relationships.

Term 3 we are planning God at work input, including some weeks on work life balance and some weeks on mid-life planning. Again, taking seriously formation, not for church life, but for work life.

More of an overview on discipling at Opawahere.

broken glass Pentecost prayer

Pentecost invites us outside the walls of the church. So as one small part of this year's Pentecost celebrations at Opawa, we offered an afternoon walk around our community, to visit sites of significance and hear their stories. We visited where the new motorway had cut a swathe in the 1970's, the first bridge in the 1880's, the historic local homestead, our school and a local community centre.

At the school, we heard the census data, that makes our community one of the poorest in the city. We were then asked to walk on, praying in silence.

We walked across the play ground. A broken bottle had been smashed and one by one, the group bent down to pick up the pieces.

Silently. And then carry the pieces in our hands back to rubbish bins at the church. Silently.

I think I saw the Kingdom. The people of God praying by picking up the broken glass in our community. In anger at such stupidity. In practical expression of God's Kingdom come in our school playground as it is in heaven.

It's a Pentecost moment I will never forget and there is no other place and no other community and alongside no other people I would have rather been than today at 5:15 pm on a bitter, rainswept Christchurch afternoon.

disturb us O Pentecost Spirit

This week is Pentecost Sunday. In Acts 2 we find the story of the first Pentecost. It is the story of a group of dispirited and scared Jesus followers. Touched by the Spirit they find themselves disturbed. Such a disturbance becomes a profound reorientation, as they find themselves outdoors, in God’s mission outside the church walls.

As a church, we celebrate both these dimensions over the next weeks. Our worship space has been disturbed – both in the Pentecost art installation and in the new screens making a new front. It is part of a month long experiment. In the disturbance of these physical changes, we are invited, like the first followers of Jesus, to let God to profoundly reorientate us.

Spirit as fire, as gaunt, twisted willow; touching coloured houses; connecting with God's world, and

Spirit as fire, as gaunt, twisted willow; touching coloured houses; inviting your move; a jump toward black, or toward white?

In addition, we are providing 3 ways to make this reorientation practical:

1 - Join us at 4 pm this Sunday either for a seminar on Mission trends in the 21st century OR to Prayerfully walk and listen among our community.

2 – Join us at 7 pm this Sunday for a prayer concert, an evening of song and prayer for God's mission, led by Jamie Wood, from Pioneers Mission agency.

3 – Takehome a self-denial globe as a practical way of considering your place in God's mission outside the church walls. This will then become the focus of our 7pm evening services, Grow through Colliding Worlds, on May 18 and 25.

discipling today

Email from a pastor: I have been thinking quite a bit about discipleship in the church. The question that is in my mind is this. How do we do discipleship in the 21st century and in a missional context. I grew up as a Christian where discipleship was done in a formal group setring and it is all about how I should live a life that is opposite to the world. But I realise that if we are to resource people to be salt and light in the community, I would need to rethink discipleship and to look at how we can disciple people in the context of missions. I was interested in hearing about the preaching series you did at Opawa where you focused on behaviour and you gave out little information cards for people to reflect on and apply.

2. Could you tell me more about the preaching series you did? What were the
topics and could you send me the outlines of what you did and a set of those
information cards you gave out?

I thought there might be other's interested, so have decided to post my email response, as follows .......

Excellent question. It's a process/environment issue not a program issue, but that is not always helpful, so here are some concrete ways that we express our discipling:

1 - individuate with growth coaching - we have developed 1-1 whole of life coaching that allows us to start where people are at and walk alongside them relationally. It was joy to sit with our Growth coaches last nite and hear stories of lives changed. Lots of work has gone into this and a good place to start is here and follow the links.

2 - offer frameworks in regular weekly, evening block courses during term time eg Work/life balance, How to read Bible. These allow us to add concrete input into our seekers. So at the moment, we have quite a number of people new to the church, seeking God and bringing very little Bible knowledge. So short term courses allow foundations to be laid.

3 - shift from talk to walk, in our 7 practices of faith For more on this go here, for what is a mix of input, takeaway practices and return storytelling. It started life as a Lent series and we are now seeking to use them as a sort of introduction to discipling and membership, to give us a common vocab around a life lived Christianly.

4 - create accountable community in our God at work group - this might be a bit out there, but it is a process designed to focus people as salt and light in workplaces. It took a lot of foundation laying but the result is here . The group has been meeting now for over 18 months, quietly running themselves. They took our service on Sunday and it was magic to here them talk about God in their workplaces and the salt/light benefits gained by them meeting monthly around simple practices.

All this is the results of lots of trial and error. No formulaes or programmes, simply having a go.

why did you go to Opawa Baptist?

He was puzzled. He was senior in our denominational leadership. He was aware of the history of Opawa Baptist, 96 years old, a fine past. He was aware of my history, emerging church planter. And so he was honest enough to ask, "why did you go to Opawa?"

And this quote from Maggi Dawn's blog says it better than I could yesterday.

"The really interesting questions that surround the Emerging conversation have less to do with the how and why of a deliberate strategy to re-create the shape of Church, and more to do with how the concerns of Emerging are, in fact, emerging in different settings all over the place - messily, imperfectly and in unexpected places - which, in fact, is more faithful to the concept of emergence. For many Emergers, the least expected place of all to find an emerging congregation would be slap in the middle of a suburban Parish church. But that's what is going on in quite a lot of places.

And that's the conversations I'm glad to be part of at Opawa.

practicing communion with storytelling

Last Sunday the sermon text had been the Emmaus Road. A number of challenges were given: to seek the Risen Jesus on the road, to practice Christian practices, to depend on the Spirit.

So on Sunday we decided to provide time for storytelling.

3, not 1, communion tables were placed up the front and chairs added to ring the tables. I read from the Emmaus text. Bread was broken and thanks offered.

I then reminded people of the sermon and placed the communion elements on all 3 tables. I invited people to participate in two ways.

They could either remain seated and be served. Or, if they wanted, they could come to front, sit at a table, share communion and tell a story, of either meeting Jesus during the week, a Christian practice they were finding life giving, or a way they were needing the Spirit. A sung item was played.

And it worked well. Appropriate numbers of people responded and some encouraging stories were told. People talked afterwards about how helpful it had been. It was a worthwhile way to practice communion with real live stories around table.

the missional God is an ordinary God

This place was build so that people who gathered can read their hymn books. A comment made to me recently as a person gazed around the Opawa building. It was a reminder of the history that faces us everyday.

I enjoyed my time with the Board also - it helped to make me more aware of your context and the 'ordinary' things that you face in the journey. Another comment, another person, a reminder that amid all the mission changes is the ordinariness of everyday.

As one who has made a journey through alternative worship to community development work to parish ministry I find it disheartening to read your seemingly gleeful evaluation that 'now the parish system has been legally blown open'. A comment made here. It's a heart cry that God might be considered missional among plain parish and not only sexy fresh expression.

The organisers are looking for alternative worship… but, of course, since it's a conference, I have no control over the space at all - over the lighting, seating, where the focus of attention will be… i can't do stations, there will be limited multimedia capacity… up until now i've been fighting the limits and getting nowhere. today i've just given into them, and stopped thinking it needs to be alternative. it just needs to work with the people and the context. A blog post naming the stress of being asked to be emergingly alternative in showcase settings.

Can God be a lifegiver among the ordinary, in the plain parish, in the places where the hymn books go, in the limitations of conference settings? Is resurrection really that powerful, that inclusive, that revolutionary?

This is the real challenge for missional church. It's not to start a hot new thing for 20 years olds, or to import the latest flash song/video clip/alt. idea from another context. It is to truly live the claim that God is life-giver in our here and now. This is surely the heart of Incarnation - God with us - not in some idealised, abstracted other.

imaging resurrection life 2008

The door is open, and Jesus walks out, into our city, calling "Come, follow me"

and in response, the invitation to reflect on resurrection by placing flowers - symbols of colour, life and potential - on maps of our city, in the places where we live and work, as our commitment to live resurrection life to the full.

pushing pause on a strength: easter journey 2008

Our easter services: creative, contemporary, multi-sensory, happening Easter Thursday, Friday and Sunday. But note, for the first time in 10 years, there's no Easter Journey (interactive art pilgrimage) at Opawa.

I wrote to the main organisers, Peter and Joyce on December 28, 2007, noting that Easter was the earliest it has been in 95 years and that given the enormous energy required to do our 2007 Christmas Journey, open for 60 hours continously in a public park, it might be time for a pause.

In hindsight, it was a good call. It's a good discipline to pause something that you as a church are really well-known for. We've been able to give Peter and Joyce a weekend trip away. We've been less busy as a staff. We've been able to do more with Lent.

How about you? What have you discovered when you have paused something you're really well known for?

camp bible

So it's church camp this weekend. I am really looking forward to being able to simply hang with people, to talk and walk and laugh.

As part of camp, we've been wrestling with how we engage the Bible. We've got ages 0 to 80. We've got people from across our congregations.

So we've hatched a plan. On the Sunday morning, before morning tea, we will offer 4 different options. People can choose how they engage the Bible; whether by Bible Study, by Dwelling in the Word, by Godly play, or by interactive adventure. Over to them. Different options, but every option will be engaging the same Bible text (Philemon).

Morning tea will gather us and then, around the communion table, we will read the Bible text we have all engaged with, and then invite an open mic time, with people sharing what God might be saying to Opawa.

It will be fascinating to see how it goes and whether the offer of diversity around the Bible enhances unity.

(And, don't tell anyone, but it is also an experiment for me in whether this could actually be a regular part of our life. I.e. on a Sunday morning could we gather for shared worship - then offer diverse options (say sermon, kids time, discussion, service in our community) - then return for communion together. And whether the offer of diversity might enhance our unity.

team changes

Our (paid) team at Opawa is changing. Amy Hay, who was employed 2 days a week in areas of youth and worship is stepping down in order to concentrate on her studies. And Craig Fairhall and Paul McMahon are joining us 2 days a week each in areas of mission and discipling (a search that began in October last year). So change and uncertainty. Excitement and sadness. All mixed together for us at Opawa.

It continues our commitment to team ministry by part-timers rather than sole charge leaders-do-it-all. It continues our missional journey, focusing us on mission and discipleship. At some point I might blog about the selection process, which was the most rigorous and innovative selection process I have been through. We worked with a Human Resource consultant, who gave a lot of sharpness and skill. It was a new experience for me and for those in the process, but was well worth it.

It was also a deeply God process. At one point we as a Calling group were a bit stuck. A radical suggestion was made and the selection panel went away to pray about it. The Scripture the next day, from the church Lectionary Reading, was 1 Kings 19. Elijah is called, unexpectedly, to anoint new leaders. It was the Scripture that I had used to shape the first year of my ministry at Opawa. I read it, amazed at how the Lectionary reading could so clearly read our life.

We will welcome Craig and Paul as a church family on Wednesday, March 12 and farewell Amy on April 5. For more on Craig and Paul,

Greetings from the Fairhall family to the church family of Opawa Baptist Church. It is a fantastic privilege to be joining the pastoral team and coming to serve and worship God within your midst. We arrive at Opawa full of anticipation and excitement as God unveils a new chapter in both the life of our family as well as for the people of God who call Opawa home.

Our ministry journey has already seen me in pastoral leadership roles across a wide ecumenical spectrum over the past eight years. Beginning with four years as Assistant Pastor for Omokoroa Community Church (in the Bay of Plenty) followed by a time as a church planter at Southbridge. Over the past two years I have had dual roles as the Interim Minister at Rangiora Presbyterian Church as well as Pastor for the St Nicholas Youth Trust. Our move to Christchurch in 2004 was to enable me to complete a Bachelor of Ministry degree through BCNZ. As my role at Opawa is part time I will also be studying towards a Masters degree in Theology.

We are a family that enjoys the outdoors and physical activity following many different sporting pursuits. I have run a couple of Christchurch marathons over the past two years and dabble in the odd game of golf. The children participate in athletics, cricket, soccer and swimming, while Sharyn is a great walker and also enjoys swimming. Latham & Samantha attend Hillview Christian School and are enthusiastic about all areas of their lives. Prior to entering into church ministry we spent seven years progressing up through the dairy farming ladder in both the Waikato and Mid Canterbury regions.

I have had a strong sense of God's leading in the decision to come to Opawa and I am thoroughly looking forward to working within a multi-congregational church. I have a desire to see people grow holistically in all areas of their lives, unlocking potential and empowering people to serve God with their natural talents.

Craig will:
• Develop and deliver growth programmes. Both candidates will do this, Craig bringing his coaching skills.
• Be Growth Coach leader
• Leadership/management of some ministry leaders
• Leadership/management of plus 5 interns
• Be responsible for some Sunday night Grow sessions.
• Resource God at work programme
• Preach
• Catalyse new congregations (Both and with Steve).

Referees describe Craig as solid, mature, reliable and personable. He is respected by people because he has "rubbed shoulders with ordinary people. Gets alongside and works with them." He has character, honesty, integrity and can apply Biblical knowledge to life. They are enthusiastic about the role for Craig because he is ready for a challenge and has proven ability to preach, to teach, to visit and to minister to all ages.

Paul McMahon is married to Anne and they have lived in Bishopdale for four years, after moving from Auckland in 2004. They have been attending Opawa since early 2005, and were involved in planting and are still involved in co-leading Espresso (a congregation of OBC).

Paul has recently completed a Master of Theology (BCNZ) in political theology, looking from a Christian perspective at distributive justice in New Zealand, and also has a BA (Hons) in Political Studies (Auckland).

Paul works one day a week for Stepping Stone Trust (a mental health provider). He also works one day a week as a research and teaching assistant for Steve Taylor.

Paul is interested in most forms of politics and occasionally gets to play cricket. He misses his dog in Auckland, and the Ranfurly Shield, but not the traffic.

Paul and Anne’s sense of call to Opawa is strong. It began when they attended the Christmas Journey in 2004, as they sat in the 11pm service on Christmas Eve they felt the Spirit of God urging them to change church. After some prayer and investigation they came back to Opawa and got involved. Paul’s call as a pastor is to them an extension and expansion of that call.

Paul will
• Develop and deliver growth programmes. Both will do this, with Paul bringing his facilitator skills.
• Leadership/management of some ministry leaders
• Be responsible for some Sunday night Grow sessions.
• Preaching as theological storytelling around our mission life.
• Resource existing mission leaders
• Catalyse new congregations (Both and with Steve).

Referees describe Paul as thoughtful, reflective, honest and growing. He is respected by people because they feel listened to by someone who will go below the surface. They are enthusiastic about the role for Paul because he cares about the whole of life and he will help others grow in that. He uses his own life experience really well to help others grow.

lent cross [digital] 2008

People's "digital" responses (in contrast to physical responses), in relation to the Lenten 2008 journey, are starting to roll in. In time I will get them up as rolling slideshow on flickr, but for now.... (and scroll down) enjoy the diversity ....

lent cross 2008

One of our artists, Pete Majendie, has made this cross for our 2008 Lenten Journey. It is in the shape of a door, which fits with our theme for the year; Building the Kingdom, not with a church building focus, but into our homes and workplaces. (So the cross is part of an ordinary domestic door, which will be opened for Easter Sunday).

The cross is designed to be a physical collecting point as part of our Lenten Journey. The actual journey through Lent consists of Si Smith's 40 images and they are sent out among our community either physically (post) or digitally (email or cellphone). Then there are 6 set projects, (for more info on these go here), which allow people different ways to process the 40 days of Lent, at any level of creativity. Each project is designed to be displayed, again either physically (placed or pinned on the Lent cross) or digitally (through a website). More projects will be added each week, creating a growing momentum, and offering future participation for people next year (about 25 of our Opawa folk have asked for the resources).

The underlying idea was a desire to create a journey that could be done individually yet in community. So much of church stuff is based on come to us. What about go? So it was a great thrill on Sunday to place, on the Lent cross, photos sent to us from UK, Germany and another town in New Zealand and to have a sense that there is a global community walking Lent with us.

spirit2go, into the wilderness, Lent 2008

Working toward Lent this year, I have also been seeking a way for people to do spirituality without any physical link to church, while retaining some sense of shared life. How could people do a shared task, but in their own timestyles, yet be encouraged by each other? In the old days it was meet physically, same time, same place. But is that the only way?

The upshoot, the first crack, is a website (www.spirit2go.blogspot.com).

So for Lent 2008, people can download si smith's 40 day resource, with poetry (for a small fee). Which is great and is supplied via Proost and certainly doesn't need me to build a website for that. But it is individualised and for me, I need people with me on the journey. Perhaps I'm oldfashioned, but I get encouraged by other's creativity.

So ... I then designed 6 assignments that link with the 40 days (for example build sand castle, visit a wilderness area - etc, more info on website). Lent covers 40 days plus Sunday's. So that gives some lay days. And why not use that to process the 40 days in different ways? Why not have shared projects that people can do in their own time that help them process, projects that access different ways to connect with God, projects that compliment 40's themes.

And all projects with the invitation: take pictures, sound recordings, blog journals, and email your work to the spirit2go website. So that we are encouraged by what others do. So there is a sense of shared journey.

If it works, i will want to add more projects around themes; a set around Kiwi spirituality and another set around meals in Luke and slow eating and food.

At Opawa we are also offering a physical option - paper based with a physical cross in the foyer. So people can mix and match their own combo of digital and physical. Introduction to whole concept tonight (Thursday), 7:30 pm in church foyer.

UPDATED: OK, 20 people from Opawa have signed up. Some have gone digital, some physical. And emails from 3 people in the UK, keen to join us. And a lovely note from the poet, "This internet thing is great ain't it? Best wishes for your endeavour, it is very encouraging for me to see a bit of creativity grow legs and find uses all over the place."

a very GOOD day

"How was your day," someone asked? "Very good. Very good," was my reply.

Details are still confidential, so I will have to be somewhat vague for at least another 10 days. Midway through last year I began a process of change. I knew it would be destabilising and unsettling. I knew that I could not guarantee good outcomes. I knew it would have been so much easier for all concerned if I did nothing.

But I could not shake this sense of some new horizons. And the status quo did not line up with the horizons. To do nothing would have been easy, but unsatisfactory. So the journey began. A complicated, messy, unsettling journey.

Along the way were some unexpected detours. Processes are good, yet intuition needs to be valued. God spoke. The use of outside expertise allowed the intuition to be tested, clarified, searched. Today I watched the intuition pay off. I watched the new horizons become clearer and a team of people begin to gel.

Lessons learnt (again, apologies for needing to be vague):
- trust your intuition.
- check your intuition by using experts.
- trust the process. God can work through clear process.
- trust the process. If the process is clear and consultative and well-thought through, God can work.
- trust the process.

A very GOOD day. I hope that despite the vagueness, this post is still useful for some. I guess I am saying that leadership is messy (especially when the outcomes are not clear and will not be clear for months), that intuition needs to be valued and that you need to trust the process.

the offering

I was on holiday on Sunday and decided to pop along to Opawa. It was a wierd thing, turning up 1 minute early to the church you pastor, sneaking into the back row, simply to worship.

A neat thing happened during the offering. The money was collected, and then it was stated that one of our families was leaving to go and be a youth pastor at another church in another city. So the family were invited to come to the front because they were our offering.

It seemed so appropriate. This family have been one of our plus 5 interns. As an intern, we have supported them financially through there training, in there case probably some where near 14,000 dollars. We have also provided supervision by our staff for them, and offered yearly reviews of their ministry and progress, as a way of trying to partner in their growth and development. We have invested in them, and now they are leaving. We are the poorer and the church has just "made a loss."

But the Kingdom will be blessed and so they are just as much an offering as every coin and automatic payment was that morning. Go well Warwick and Rebecca and Alyssa and Georgia Rose.

planting community contact

So I am walking home last week. It's about 6:30 pm, a clear, pleasant summer evening. I see a woman struggling to offload an item from a trailer. Offering a hand, we carry the item into her garage.

Her: Thankyou so much for your help.

Me: No worries. We moved house last week ourselves, so I know what's its like moving stuff.

Her: Did you move somewhere close?

Me: Across the river. About 10 minutes walk. (She's looking confused as to why I am walking this way if I live 10 minutes walk away so I explain). I'm the pastor of Opawa Baptist, so I this is my first go at walking home from work to my new house.

Her: Opawa Baptist. Are you the church that gave out plants recently.

Me: Yes. [Context for blog readers. When I arrived at Opawa 4 years ago, I suggested an annual Spring Clean as a way of our church community engaging with our local community. One day when we as a church offer a variety of ways to serve - around our church buildings, clearing rubbish from our streets, cleaning up local homes. Over 4 years the idea has morphed and grown, including gaining local government funding to offer a community barbeque lunch, and this year, seedling vegetable plants given out to homes in the community].

Her: That was so kind. I gave mine to a friend who was just moving into a new house. It was so appreciated.

I wander off, sort of gob smacked, pondering the fact that the church I pastor is now known in the neighbourhood as the "church that gives out vegetable plants." What sort of God are we portraying? What are we needing to learn as seek to partner this God at work in our community?

updated (with a womens voice): moving four advent candles

I have just reworked our use of the Advent candles, to try and capture the movement and journey that is inherent in the Old Testament narratives. As a church, we have just finished a series on the Minor prophets, so it also serves to tie that into our Christmas preparation. And to involve the children.

I quite like it, and the way it connects narrative, Bible, movement and symbol. You?

A video will play, From Adam to Jesus (downloaded from here); offering a visual layer.

The 4 Advent candles will be given to 4 groups standing at different places in our worship space. Each group will have an adult and kids. Each group will say the words below, then come forward holding unlit advent candle high, place it in the Advent candle stand and lit it.

Candle A:
In the beginning, before Adam
God allowed for chaos
And storm and troubled times and fear of the dark

Then, when all was formless and empty, God spoke, "Let there be light"
candle is lit

Candle B:
In the course of time, through Abraham and Moses
God allowed for a journey
From home comfort to a promised land
From familiar family to a new nation

Then, when the journey was hardest, God spoke, through burning bush and Mt Sinai. And there was light.
candle is lit

Candle C:
In the course of time
Through David and many kings
When power was misused and the way ahead unclear
When the covenant was broken
And the ancient wells ignored

Still God spoke, The LORD is my light and my salvation (Psalm 27:1).
candle is lit

Candle D:
In the course of time, through the prophets, minor and major
In collectors cards and stoning prophets
In the pain of broken promises and the hard times of exile

God spoke, "The people walking in darkness will see a great light;
those living in the land of deep darkness will see the light dawn." (Isa 9:2).
candle is lit

Updated - Another candle option: Replace any of the above with the following:
Down through time, through women brave and bold,
In the vulnerability of Tamar and the courage of Rahab
Because of the loyalty of Ruth and in the faith of Mary

God shone and the Spirit hovered and Mary conceived a son, "Who would save people from their sins." (Matt 1:21). Candle is lit

the Christmas journey Peace labyrinth begins at latimer square

I'm just back from the Christmas Journey Peace Labyrinth. It is fantastically beautiful at night, light by neon LED's, the lampost over the central stable, clouds of smoke drifting through the night air. About 250 people have walked through in first 3 hours.

700 hay bales arrived at about 5 am this morning and a team of about 30 people have worked through the day, setting up a guided pathway using hay bales stacked one, two, or three high; with spaces for a range of stations, offering moments of peace around themes like peace at home, peace at work, peace in community, peace with the earth. There is a livewebcam you can access here, which is linked to the peace with myself station.

It's just so accessible and so large, right bang smack in the middle of our city. It's exactly where Jesus should be at Christmas, as party people wander past and the mentally ill mumble by. I'm so proud to be part of a church which has this type of capacity, imagination, courage and missional heart.

It is open 24/7 from tonight, Friday through until Monday 24th December morning at 8 am. Yep, 24 hours, so there are people from Opawa who have volunteered for shifts at 1-4 am; 4-7 am etc. Amazing. (For the promotional video, go here).

having a blue christmas?

Amid the joy of Christmas can be pain and sadness, as we remember absent family, difficult circumstances, or the death of loved ones. You are welcome to attend our Blue Christmas service, Wednesday, 19th December, 7:30 pm, Opawa Baptist Church foyer, cnr Hastings and Wilsons.

The service will take time to remember those we love. It will use recorded music and prayers, silence and symbols, to affirm that Emmanuel God-with-us cares and loves us in our "blue" times.

full stop on stoning the prophets

For the last 12 weeks we've been Stoning the Prophets. While we have preached the prophets in the morning, we have also offered a time to gather every week at 5:30 pm to hear the prophet read aloud, from Hosea to Malachi. Once the reading is complete, we have played a music track, giving space to reflect. Then we've picked up a stone and invited people to reflect on what struck us as we heard the prophet read. We have concluded with the Lords Prayer.

Never more than 20 people, never less than 10. A group of regulars, mixed in with different people.

Today, after stoning the prophet Malachi, I invited reflection on what struck us, not only about Malachi, but about the entire 12 prophets. Here are the comments:

- God really, really cares. God would do anything to help them Israel come back.
- I struggle when someone else reads. I don't hear very well. So I read the prophet as we go else I lose the thread. God spoke to me through each book. That's amazing to me, that God speaks through the Bible every time.
- the minor prophets are so God-centric, so about what God will do.
- simplicity of what God is asking -justice and rightliving. It is simple yet seems so very difficult to live.
- I have so appreciated the patterns and rhythms of each book and over the 12 minor prophets. And the visual pictures - of flying scrolls and plumblines - such good use of words.
- Never know what God's going to throw at you and this is seen in the minor prophets. God deals with each prophet in such different ways. We need to be real and trust God when stuff is thrown at us.
- the hardness of faith, of these 400 years of time, of the prophet's message.
- in hard times, the promises of God were always present. God's covenant is so present in these books.
- it was easier to listen as the weeks have gone on. It's been a discipline. It has made me go back and follow up on each book and that's been good.
- it's been very bold. I've never heard of a church attempt to do this. To hear the Word has been good.
- So many phrases we sing in church come from the minor prophets. It's not just the Psalms that shape the worship life of the church.

So, would I do it again? Absolutely. It got us talking together about God and life. It gave a new appreciation of the Bible as literature. It affirmed the need for awareness of historical context. It allowed all voices to speak, from 10 year olds, to new Christians, to seasoned saints. We so easily approach the Bible through the sermon, in which one voice interprets a text and so it becomes very worthwhile to engage the Bible by hearing and sharing in community. And that stretched us and asked new questions of how we as a church engage Scripture.

It is hard to sustain every week. So we will probably be back after Easter, linked with a series I want to run titled Pictures of Biblical witness, exploring not a Bible book, but a theme developed through Scripture.

Thanks to everyone who came, to the readers and to Pete and Joyce for the gift of the space.

For more on Stoning the prophets: hearing Nahum, a description of the space, the initial concept and the advertising.

grow in Christmas cheer

(spot the cute little angel)

Grow in Christmas cheer kicked off on Sunday night at 7pm and was EXCELLENT. A highlight for me was seeing community youth gathered around one of our retired folk, making Christmas cards, and just watching generations learning together.

Grow honours the fact that people learn in different ways by feeding mouths and minds, hands and hearts, eyes and ears (publicity blurb), by offering a whole range of ways to learn, finishing by gathering in table groups around 3 questions: who is God; who are humans; how then we should act.

Practically, Grow in Christmas cheer offered video clip from Polar Express, a history of Santa, tips if you're shopping for justice this Christmas, a demonstration of how to make your own creative Christmas card, top 10 quiz guessing lyrics lines from Christmas carols, Biblical wisdom from the life of Anna in Luke 2.

Here is what the table groups learnt. Grow in Christmas cheer (Week 2) happens again this Sunday evening.

Peace labyrinth at latimer square

Some of our church folk have made (IMHO) this excellent little video to advertise the Christmas Peace labyrinth we're doing this year. You can view it, either a large (15 meg) or small (4.5 meg) file from here. Feel free to download it, especially if you are a church in Canterbury area.

The video is based on driftwood sticks: "little people" with "eyes". We're making thousands of them, to use as part of the promotion and as part of the installation. The last two Thursday evening's in our church foyer has been a great old time as all ages, from 2 to 80, have been at work/play, putting eyes on driftwood and attaching a tag, with the words "Take me to the Peace Labyrinth in Latimer Square." So we're going to be leaving them around the city (sort of like the Book crossing idea, that I have blogged about before).

People walk with their stick person through the labyrinth and are invited to leave it at the stable at the centre. Again, these are available to any in Canterbury area who want them for promotion.

new service called soak

starting Sunday evening, happening monthly, lots of space for stillness, including body massage prayer, creative space, communion, Biblical meditation.

Grow one week old

kicked off on Sunday evening. Excellent start, real buzz around the place, new faces, and faces we had not seen for a while.

It's only week one, so it's too early to evaluate. What we are trying to do is to offer a whole variety of angles on a topic. So for 3 weeks it is Grow through gardening and on the first week we played a scene from the movie Over the Hedge where the animals meet "the hedge". We then offered a history of gardens in ancient times. We guessed who owned a number of Opawa gardens. We interviewed a flower grower. We explored why the Bible starts with a garden.

We then invite people to process together. The set up is in table groups. As someone said, you have created collectives, not rows. To get people talking we are trying 3 basic questions - as you listened who is God? who are humans? how then should we live? We hope these will provide an ongoing framework.

We encourage people to write up their exploration and they are then placed on the web. We hope this encourages people that their learning is being taken seriously and they can see what they, and other's wrote, over the week. The first responses, are, IMHO, quite encouraging.

There are other bits built into Grow (gathering ritual, new approach to offering, response, take home projects), but I've explained enough for now. We are simply following our intuition - that people learn in different ways and asking the question - how can church can be a better learning/forming environment.

Christmas Journey of Peace

Latimer Square has a reputation as a more seedy part of Christchurch. It is a central city park that needs light and invites prayer that all of humankind will indeed find Christmas peace.

This Christmas, visitors to Latimer Square will encounter a 24 hour night light in the form of an outdoor Peace Labyrinth. The aim is to provide a still point in the midst of the busy Christmas season.

The Peace Labyrinth will consist of 700 straw hay bales, arranged in the pattern of a labyrinth, an ancient practice which invites one to find peace as they walk a guided journey, during which they encounter various stations focused on themes including peace at home, at work, in the environment and with God. A stable at the centre of the Labyrinth will proclaim the centrality that is found in the Light of the world.

The Peace Labyrinth is a continuation of the ministry of conceptual artists Pete and Joyce Majendie, in partnership with Opawa Baptist, Christchurch City Council and other local churches.

Their outdoor Christmas art installations have been the Majendie's Christmas gift to the city of Christchurch for the last ten years. In the last three years they have moved location from Opawa Baptist into the central city, enabling them to reach far more people. Over 8,000 people visited their Christmas Journey, located in Christchurch Square, in 2005.

The Majendie's ministry is based on using interactive art stations. Such forms of mission are essential in a culture in which so much contemporary communication is visual and participatory. A refugee station invites people to sit in a boat and consider what one thing they would take with them if they had to flee as a refugee to Egypt. A census station invites people to place a pin on a world map, indicating how far they had travelled to get to the Christmas journey. Rob Kilpatrick, then Director of tranzsend, upon seeing the world map in 2005, commented that the Christmas Journey was reaching more countries than the entire ministry of the tranzsend missionary society.

Thousands of "driftwood people" will be scattered around Christchurch shops and given to Christchurch schools. Made from driftwood, and fixed with two eyes, to look like people, they will come with a tag attached. "If you find me, please take me to the Peace Labyrinth."

A website is being developed that will offer practical peace resources, including ways to bring peace into our relationships with family, work, creation and God. A promotional video, of the "driftwood people" moving from work and play toward Latimer Square, has been shot and finance is being sought to show this in local movie theatres.

In 2007, the Peace Labyrinth will be operating in Latimer Square from 7pm Friday 21st December continuously through to 9am Monday 24th December. All are welcome.

back into stoning the prophets

We are back into Stoning the prophets again. We took a week's break last week, to give us all a breather, and today we're at it again, hearing the prophet Nahum read aloud from start to end. (Ever heard the prophet Nahum read aloud in church? The Bible declares that all Scripture is inspired, but based on our usage, some Scripture is obviously more inspired than others!)

As part of each Stoning the prophets we invite everyone to pick up a stone from a pile in the centre and to reflect on what struck them. Participants are invited to name this and then throw their stone back on the pile. It is a very powerful moment as one by one rocks thud onto the pile.

Here are the verbal reflections on the prophet Micah:
- such a gloomy book
- such a poetic book
- the stone chosen was significant (white bit on top). Links with Lord of the Rings as a battle, like Micah battling wickedness, yet prophetic promise that God's mountain will rise, like a white bit on top of a rock!
- Micah is seeing a whole picture - past, present and future of earth
- Doom and gloom, yet glimmers of light bursting forth.
- How can we today live Micah 6:8?
- stone is smoothed, shaped by life forces
- redemption in Micah occurs in dark places. What does it mean for us to seek redemption in dark places?
- redemption and grace casts sins into depths of sea

digestion is dead

I killed our evening service tonight. It has been struggling all year, lacking focus, leadership and genuine engagement. Unless a seed falls into the ground and dies. So as the service ended I gave out handmade packets of seeds: titled "new beginnings", with some information inserted. The soundtrack was "Seeds" from the new Salmonella Dub album with the lyric "Feel the season change." Each handmade seed packet had a seed inside.

We had a group of teenagers being silly at the front. One of them, trying to be THE smartist, simply ate his seed. I hope his guts are OK tonite.

Next week we start Grow. Here is the blurb:
We learn in different ways. Some by watching, others by reading, more by hearing, less by writing. Grow aims to feed the whole person: mouths and minds, hands and hearts, eyes and ears.

7-8:10 pm, Sundays

So it's a whole new season, with a whole new service to play with. Songs and sermon are gone. What will grow? What will be required to nurture the growth? Do I have the space to give this the time it needs and build the team it deserves? Watch this space.

pastoral appointments and scholarship opportunity

This was one of the outcomes of our church meeting last nite

Opawa Baptist Church is a multi-congregational church situated in Christchurch. We are committed to mission into our local and wider community, as well as to holistic growth in our personal lives.

We are seeking expressions of interest for two new staff positions, starting late 2007/early 2008:

Mission Resourcing Pastor (1.5 days per week)
Support and enhance our current mission initiatives; ask "mission" questions of all we do, and "next step" questions of our mission programmes; work with lay people to establish additional mission initiatives; equip lay people to be missionally engaged in their workplaces and support the establishment of new congregations reaching different people.

Discipling Pastor (1.5-2 days per week)
We want someone to help us grow people by providing next steps for discipleship in all faith stages. This will include resourcing and enhancing existing activities including assimilation, pastoral care, spiritual growth, small groups, growth coaching, training, baptism and membership classes.

Missional church scholarship
Opawa Baptist Church is a multi-congregational church situated in Christchurch. We are committed to mission into our local and wider community, as well as to holistic growth in our personal lives. We want to continue to resource this direction of our church mission and so are offering a full fees scholarship in 2008 to a student training in a three year ministry degree program. We are seeking a person with a sense of call to ministry and a passion to express this call in pioneering mission in Western culture.

In exchange, you will use your fieldwork to participate in our church life and internship programme as part of a congregational planting team. This scholarship is awarded annually but can be awarded to the same applicant for a period of up to 3 years.

Expressions of interest to Rev Dr Steve Taylor, steve at emergentkiwi dot org dot nz

stoning the prophets: kickoff

Stoning the prophets kicked off today. And an excellent kickoff it was. The space was wrapped in black cloth. River stones were piled in the middle along with a big black bible. Grass tussocks and box lighting added to the environment.

A brief welcome and a warning, that this could well be hard work. We so very rarely engage with the prophets in church, let alone large chunks of Scripture, let alone large chunks read aloud.

With that warning, we listened to the prophet Hosea. From chapter 1 to chapter 14. It took nearly 50 minutes, simply listening to the power of a long gone poetic voice.

Then the invite to pick up a stone from the pile in the middle and to share what struck us. People shared and then tossed their stone back onto the pile. There is something very primal about the sound of stone striking stone. There is something rich and powerful about being among a community taking the word of God seriously, as a community and not from a preaching expert.

Stoning the prophets continues for the next 11 weeks, from 5:30 pm, upstairs, in the Friendship Centre. It is designed to partner a 12 week preaching series on the minor prophets happening in our morning congregation. And it makes me wonder why we don't do this every week, simply gathering to listen to large chunks of Scripture being read in community.

tasting the Kingdom again

Here is another taste of the Kingdom. Last year, we spent a church meeting gathering around Scripture. Instead of me as pastor coming up with vision, I read a Scripture, offered some exegetical background, and invited each person to consider how Opawa could practise this Scripture in 2007. We then entered into community discernment and 7 ideas were generated. (For more detail, go here.)

One was that of workplace blessings from Opawa to people who work locally as a "thanks" for the work they do. Over 2007, this has slowly gained legs. A month ago books were given to a local kindergarten. (In return, they made us a card and then a group of them rolled up and joined us for our monthly family night. Quite cool really). This month, a cake baked for our local school, with a card from us, the church, to them. They have just been through a Department of Education review, so the cake was perfect timing.

In Luke 10, the disciples of Jesus are sent to speak peace among the towns and villages. I wonder if giving books and making cakes is a 21st century way of speaking peace into the communities around our church.

Photo from (here, as part of the picturing of 30 days in September series).

stoning the prophets

A chance to listen
to the minor prophets, as they are read aloud

A chance to learn
from the minor prophets, through reflective space.

...dramatic reading aloud from the minor prophets
...candle light among river stones
(You are welcome to dress as a prophet)

Twelve Sundays, 5.30-6:45 pm
From 23 September - 16 December (with a break on November 4)
Opawa Baptist Church Friendship Centre (A frame building opposite the church)

September 23: Hosea
September 30: Joel
October 7: Amos
October 14: Obadiah
October 21:Jonah
October 28: Micah

November 4: Week off

November 11: Nahum
November 18: Habakkuk
November 25: Zephaniah
December 2: Haggai
December 9: Zechariah
December 16: Malachi

one church, many congregations and one member

I wrote the blurb below for our church newsletter today. I post it here because it gives some insight into our life and into how we are reworking traditional concepts like church membership into our multi-congregational approach. Note also that there's a whole lot more thinking about how to innovate and free mission within existing systems that lies behind the multi-congregational approach. For us, its not a formula, but a way of pursuing the mission of God.

At Opawa Baptist we are one church with multiple congregations. I find it helpful to think of it as an umbrella, a shared handle and a shared shelter, under which different congregations huddle. We are one church as we share vision and values, pastoral leadership, all-church events, teaching, shared prayer, growth coaching and training, etc.

Under this one umbrella different congregations can stand. A congregation is seen as a place to develop community, to grow in Christian life to the full and to extend Jesus love. A congregation will express these values in different and unique ways. For example, people grow in Christian life through sermons on a Sunday morning, or through engaging with art at Side Door or entering into discussion at Espresso, or hymns and soup at the Hymn congregation.

Practically, at a church forum in 2004, we noted that this would mean:
1. Working at all-church celebrations that gather the whole church.
2. Building discipling and pastoral structures that could fit any congregation.
3. A newsletter suitable for all congregations.
4. Members are welcomed and people are baptized in either their congregation or at all-church celebrations, with the use of technology to share highlights from other congregations e.g. baptisms, membership.
5. All congregations seen as equally valid.
6. All congregations have appropriate ways to contribute financially to the whole.

I note this because Tuesday night will include a historic moment for our espresso congregation, as it welcomes IM as a church member. Other church members attend espresso, but this is the first time someone has been welcomed into Opawa Baptist membership at espresso.

Why welcome IM at Espresso? Because espresso is the congregation by which IM found his way into Opawa. Equally, for IM, becoming a church member is an expression of his sense of belonging to the whole Opawa church.

For more on our multi-congregational model go here.
For information on each congregation, check down the sidebar here or here.

chip off the old block

We are chips off the block, shaped by our parents, moulded by their attitudes and behaviours. The church I pastor has an old building and a new building. The old building, built in 1953, is an A-frame.

[Photo of church under construction, 1953]

It is quite rare to see an A-frame house in Christchurch, let alone an A-frame church. So this week the pastor from back in that day was contacted and asked "Why? Why an A-frame?"

Looking back I think the church realized that to replace the
former church, built in 1916 and founded in 1924, the new church had to be
of a design, outside the square and would revolutionize the way churches
would be built in the future.

That's a great chip to carry on our shoulders into the future.

leadership dreams and congregational reality

I was in working late on Thursday night, trying to clear some piles of paper from my desk. As the Irresistible Evangelism course finished I poked my head in, asking them not to set the church alarm since I was still working in my office. It was their last evening and the co-leaders were beaming.

I sat and listened to them tell story after story, of how the Irresistible Evangelism course had given people new insights, of how people had put the teaching in practise and actually been able to talk about Jesus in their social settings.

It was a high point for me as a pastor. At our church members meeting in August last year, we spent time asking "what is one thing Opawa Baptist could do to put Ephesians 4:3-16 into practice in 2007?" 7 ideas were generated and affirmed by those gathered.

At the start of the year we committed ourselves to 3 of these ideas:
- Every person be given the opportunity to mature in one area of discipleship
- Workplace blessings
- Everyone to know (be taught) how to lead someone to become a Christian

The Practicing our Faith preaching series and take home cards were one practical response to the first idea. Their is a group of people discussing how to make the second idea an integrated part of our church life. And now the first Irresistible Evangelism course was complete. And so together we brainstormed next steps: how to report back to the church, how to hold people accountable for their learning, how and when to run the course again, given it's effectiveness.

I like it when our dreams and plans become reality. I like being part of a church that takes the Bible seriously and let's it shape our life. I like see different gifts working together as a church body. I like being part of an outward looking church community.

Written for front page of Sunday's church newsletter

just a reminder of our justice weekend

Derek Lind and Amy Hay: Café night
Saturday June 30, from 7.30pm, $5, Opawa Baptist Church (café open: cash only please). All proceeds to TEAR Fund. Come, relax and enjoy an entertaining cafe night with Derek Lind, one of New Zealand's greatest singer/songwriters and winner of NZ's Tui music award, and our own Amy Hay

Amazing Grace (the movie)
Sunday 1 July, 6.30pm Rialto cinema, $10/adult, $8 school-age (pre-purchase tickets from church) (The movie is rated PG). Amazing Grace is based on the life of antislavery pioneer William Wilberforce. Opawa Baptist has taken a punt and block booked the Rialto for a special advance screening this Sunday night. Following the movie, people can move to local cafes to discuss the movie, using our specially pre-pared discussion guide.

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.

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?

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.

an easter journey

My latest radio viewpoint, going live today.

... The church has killed the Christian gospel with words. Blah blah blah from pulpits every single Sunday. It's time we started truly following Jesus. It's time we embraced all the 5 senses that God gave us... for more:

These are notes that serve a verbal preformance, and need to be read as "verbal."

Good morning Cathy and good morning listeners.

My viewpoint is based on a quote from Tom Wright, who’s a well known Christian leader and Biblical scholar. "The Word became flesh, but the Church has turned the flesh back into words."

"The Word became flesh, but the Church has turned the flesh back into words."

Tom Wright is mourning that Jesus used all his 5 senses. He used touch to open the eyes of the blind, he used taste to give us bread and wine, he understood emotion, as he wept for Lazarus.

And yet the Church has turned this Jesus of 5 senses back into words.

You see this when you enter a church and find nothing to look at but bare, painted walls. You see this when you enter a church and see a stage with nothing but a pulpit. The church has turned the following of Jesus back into words.

I was following a child into our church auditorium on Sunday morning. She lives a block away from the church and it was her second Sunday ever at Opawa Baptist.

And I nearly banged into her as she walked through the church doors. Because she suddenly stopped and just stared.

At Opawa, we have two installation artists, Peter and Joyce Majendie. They have an ability to communicate Jesus without ever using a word.

And in preparation for Easter they've turned our church auditorium into a real life garden.

And this is why this community kid, 2nd week ever in church, is just staring. Because instead of carpet, she’s standing on 20 metres of ready lawn. She's facing over 100 New Zealand native trees, dotted around two pools of water, and picnic rugs spread all over the grass and families sitting on them.

And that's just the auditorium. In the foyer are 13 other different art installations. You can try and carry a cross made out of railway sleepers. Or you can read the frontpage of the Jerusalem Times, 2 metres high, with two TV screens inserted.

This is the 8th year that Peter and Joyce and their team have done this. And what they've done is found a way to communicate Jesus without words. They’ve found a way to honour the fact that God made us flesh, with eyes to see and hands to touch and a heart to feel.

The Easter Journey is open here in Christchurch at Opawa Baptist every evening during this Easter week. But this is not an advertisement Cathy. This is a viewpoint.

The church has killed the Christian gospel with words. Blah blah blah from pulpits every single Sunday. It's time we started truly following Jesus. It’s time we embraced all the 5 senses that God gave us. That's my viewpoint.

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?

digestion with choice

di•ges•tion n.
1. The process by which food is converted into substances that can be absorbed and assimilated by the body. It is accomplished in the alimentary canal by the mechanical and enzymatic breakdown of food.
2. Assimilation of ideas or information; understanding.
and;
3. The name of our Sunday evening church service, where we try to "digest/assimilate" following Jesus today.

On Sunday we made a number of changes; and offered Digestion with choice. It involved tightening up what we consider the core tasks of worship; making them shorter and sharper; and then offering options, allowing people to choose the most helpful form of "digestion" for them. In other words...

We start, all together, for about 40 minutes to ...
GATHER as a people of God
GIVE in offerings and prayer for the world
HEAR the HOT TEXT of someone's favourite Bible verse and how it fits into God's big story
LISTEN to a Scriptural passage – short – sharp - ending with 2 questions (for talkback - see below).
CONNECT through notices

People were then offered a choice: over about 40 minutes they could choose. So on Sunday we offered 3 choices:
TALKBACK; to discuss the Biblical text with preacher, on the sofas in the foyer; a chance to address either of the 2 discussion questions, or any other, in a relaxed setting. Requires no preparation from the preacher (other than usual exegesis), just a willingness to dialogue and some ability to keep a discussion on track. The image is that of radio talkback.
WORSHIP in song: in the auditorium
REFLECTIVE SPACE: for this Sunday the reflective space involved a computer; with continous looping visuals and a 6 minute meditation (words and ambient track). The use of headphones allowed a person to be alone with God.

(Other options we have brainstormed as possible CHOICES for other evenings include communion, serving practically in the community, creative response, labyrinth).

Finishing with supper round 8:15pm. A person walks around each option; offering a benediction to those gathered, and informing them of the location for supper.

Why? After 3 years of Digestion we are recognising that it attracts children, young teens, teenagers, students, workers. So rather than force all ages into a discussion, or a creative response, or singing, why not give them some choice? It also recognises that people digest in different ways and in different rates. It also possibly invites people to be more adult about what they need to digest.

I will keep you updated on how it goes.

workplace spirituality

This worked well.

We printed a map of Christchurch city onto brown paper bags and people were invited to mark where they ate their lunch and 3 words to describe what they did. (Work can be viewed as a term that excludes the retired and homemakers, so we hoped that a focus on where you eat your lunch would prove more inclusive).

I then preached on Ephesians 4:1-16 as a workplace text, a challenge to use our gifts and ability for the sake of the Kingdom come where we eat our lunch during the week.

By way of response, people brought their paper bags to the front of the church and pegged them up. We will make these into a banner, and perhaps even a prayer mat for people to walk and pray over, with the words from Ephesians 4:16; when each separate part works as it should, the whole body grows.

the good old days

We all have memories of the good old days. Which means that any change process challenges the past. Take on a missional church leadership challenge and you face the history of a church and the values and habits of it's members.

But don't think this post is irrelevant if you are part of a flash, new, emerging startup. We planted Graceway Baptist Church, aged 25, thinking we were the newest thing on the church block. We had gathered a team, workshopped our core values, prayed, listened in the local community. I was washing clothes at the local laundromat, incarnating myself in the local narratives.

Week 2 and I left a message, asking one of our team to lead worship. He rang back, "So what's the pattern, Steve." Bright, young, one week into a church plant and he is searching for memories.

Every person that enters your church has memories and carries notions of what church should look like. They might get it from Mr Bean or a priest on TV. They might get it from previous church participation. But we all have memories of the good old days and change challenges these memories.

What to do with the good old days?

Visit one on one. Shows you are a listener, but takes time.

Ignore them. This can make things look good on the surface and serene in your office, but you might just be corking an explosion.

Shout louder by using the pulpit, or your knowledge, or your use of the Bible, to maximise your own voice. Again, this can make you feel good, but you might just be corking an explosion.

Our staff team has a pattern of gathering around Scripture. We are all part-time, committed to living and working not only in the church but in other forms of work. So we need a way to be gathered and scattered. Our current pattern is to share a common set of lectionary readings, to pray on Tuesday and every second Friday we gather to drink coffee, read the lectionary text and engage in some form of lectio divino.

Hence a 4th idea: New and old listen around Scripture. This Friday I invited some our older members, with long memories to join us. We read Scripture together. I then invited those with long memories to share one memory of one time when the church had come close to living out the Scripture that had just been read. The new on the block pastoral team listened. And then we prayed for each other.

How might this help a change process? For a start, the Scriptures, rather than the good old days, or a shiny new emerging idea, start our conversation. New and old are sharing time and text together. The work of God in the past is honoured. The voices of those often marginalised in a change process are heard, but in a context of Scripture and affirmation, rather than complaint. And if the new staff listen carefully, they might just begin to sense more clearly the historic pathways by which the God who began a good work in the good old days might carry it on to completion into the changing world that is our tomorrow.

7 practices, 7 images, 7 texts = Lenten 7-pack

Lent is coming fast, with Ash Wednesday February 21. Here at Opawa we are developing a Lenten 7-pack. These are being offered across our 5.4 congregations, giving us a way to talk about the practices we share as one church in many congregations.

The Lenten 7-pack will include;
: 7 spiritual practices (for the 7 weeks leading up to Easter),
: 7 hand drawn art images (in the Si Smith 40 genre. Here is a sample image

: 7 Biblical texts (drawing from the gospel of Luke and the journey of Jesus toward Jerusalem),
: 7 questions.

The 7-pack will be supported by study guide questions, so that groups and congregations can engage around text, image, practice. The 7-pack will also be supported by Si Smith's 40 as a worship aid.

We are planning to print the 7-pack business card size, so that people can carry around the practice of the week in their wallet. We go to the printer on Monday February 12. If any groups want to partner with us (sharing costs), get in touch or leave your details by Sunday February 11.

i have never been in a church with so much life

This was a comment made to me at the door, after the service, this Sunday morning.

Signs of life could have included;
- the kids praying the pastoral prayer with me up the front of the church;
- reflection on our 4th Advent art piece. (We focus on an art piece each Sunday in Advent by giving them out as postcards at the beginning of Advent, by having an artist speak to each art piece Sunday by Sunday, accompanied by a piece of live music). The actual art piece was present in church this morning;
- celebration of an Opawa sermon being published;
- a story of God at work touching a person's life in the Christmas Journey;
- commissioning 2 people on overseas mission: 1 short term to Cambodia, 1 for a year to Puerto Rico;
- the energy in the room; kids anticipating Christmas, a great musical mix of carols and contemporary chorus, lots of visitors ...

spirituality in public spaces

So I am having a go at offering spirituality at my local cafe. More precisely, I am running a journalling course for 4 weeks. 17 people turned up for the 1st night.

What's hot about a cafe:
- public space means neutral space. the dialogue feels less churchy. the prayers need to be more real.
- the social rules are already written and understood. this is great for those not used to church.
- the set up is easier as someone else does it.
- the vibe is relax, chill, coffee, cake. if that's your medium, then it's a great message.
- cafes have tables which people naturally sit around. instantly you can operate at a number of relational levels - whole group and table group. great for working with groups larger than 10 in size.
- when you pop back for a coffee the next day, you remember the God interaction. you are walking back into a space that has been spiritual. that's surprisingly good.

What's not as hot about a cafe:
- it is noisier. all those hard surfaces. especially when the milk is frothing. so everyone needs to talk louder. that's harder for introverts.
- there are economic realities to negotiate.
- what do you do with the walk-in crowd, the "Oh the lights are on, let's pop in." and they walk into an existing group. that takes a bit of relational skill to process.

But on balance, for what I am trying to do - offer spirituality in a public space - the positives far outweigh the negatives.

church as having your cake and eating it too

The All Blacks are playing France this Sunday Morning, kicking off at 9am. We have it here live… at Opawa Baptist!

Even if you want to watch the first half at home, come along and see the second half at the conclusion of the morning service!

a greatly missional week

It's been a great week for me.
- Community family film night last Friday, and the joy of offering hospitality to numbers of young people in our surrounding community, while helping them think Christianly about film
- Spring clean day on Saturday and the joy of practically serving as a church community and in partnership with other community groups, in cleaning our surrounding community
- Light party on Tuesday and having 60 kids - mixing of church, children's ministry and community kids - dressing up in non-scarey costumes, eating sausages, scavenger hunting, thinking about the Christian echoes around Halloween.
- I am have been working on a missional project for about 6 weeks, something that I think has huge potential to influence our culture/s. I can't say what it is at the moment, but it has been such a joy to work HARD with a few new friends, and to test the project with various groups over the week and to see connectivity.
- I have been exploring the place of spirituality in our culture by offering a spiritual journalling course. Over this week 18 people have signed up and the local cafe has said yes. So something that was a dream a month ago is a go