sustain:if:able kiwi

mclaren weekend: updated

Things are falling into place nicely for Brian McLaren, this weekend (for more details, go here and it’s still not too late to register ).

– Registrations are update: finished with near 100, which means a good conversation. Update: with a real diversity of church backgrounds which will also greatly “salt” the conversation
– The coffee maker is booked.
– We are having a number of panelists who respond to Brian on the Saturday, as part of the discerning and contextualising process. The panelists have gelled into a really nice mix that includes young, women, lay, alongside the usual respected leader names.

Here is an outline of some of the workshops for the Sunday afternoon;

How much Spirit has the emerging church got? (Steve Graham): A look at the questions Pentecostal/Charismatic churches and the emerging church might have for each other over what it means to be people of the Spirit eg the place of congregational singing in worship, ecstatic gifts in services, divine creativity, seekers’ ‘initiation’ into the dynamics of the Spirit

The Art of Curating Worship (Mark Pierson): seeing worship as an art form to be curated rather than a list of boxes to be filled.

A café church spirituality (Lynne Taylor): two stories of emergence, of different groups engaging with our world in different ways… with common themes.

Update: Spirited Exchanges (Jenny McIntosh and Elizabeth Taylor): Spirited Exchanges is something for people who are struggling to find a “place” at church – who have been wounded or hurt by church or it’s leaders, who are asking questions but not necessarily finding answers. We want to create a regular place where people can come and air their doubts, share their story, and find acceptance, not judgement. This is a double workshop that includes exploration and then the running of an actual Spirited Exchanges. Ideally people would attend both.

Update: Emerging Workplace Spirituality (Alistair McKenzie): Emerging church can easily just focus on doing things differently when we gather together. If we continue to think that church is something we come to, then we will fail to realise our potential for being the church God sends out into the world to work in partnership there. What sort of spirituality will support the ministry of all God’s people the other six days?

Other workshops include public artistic mission and a book club discussion of McLaren’s “a generous orthodoxy” and Taylor’s “out of bounds church?” (authors not necessarily present).