When things come together

 

Don’t you just love it when things work out – and the last few days have been like that for us.  It started when a car that had been out of action for more than five weeks was finaly sorted just when we were starting to think it might be finished, or might be very expensive to repair.  That was a particular bonus for us, as we needed to be in two different places today, separated by 120 miles or so, and for various reasons both needed cars to reach our respective destinations.  It’s been an interesting emotional journey, working out how to share a car, especially when we have taken it for granted in accepting engagements that the two of us could be in different places at the same time.  Only magnified, of course, by the fact that we live in the middle of nowhere, five miles from the nearest public transport.  A test of patience on our part, and a mark of patience on the part of the workshop mechanics.  It eventually came down to an electronic component that cost peanuts …

So, we got to our engagements today: one of us in Edinburgh, leading a workshop on clown ministry in a deprived neighbourhood, and the other in Aberdeenshire with the Diocese of Aberdeen.  No prizes for guessing who was in which place!  In different ways, both events were transformational, and not just for us.  There’s always something specially rewarding about ministry in a deprived space, and seeing how the Gospel lifts up and empowers those who are so easily marginalized.  And that’s just the church leaders – who are increasingly disempowered and discouraged by the realization that what they have been doing isn’t working any more.  The Episcopal Church is a minor player in Scottish church life, but there was a remarkable degree of openness and expectancy among the folks from Aberdeen diocese, and some meaningful conversations and engagements.  And – in both places – no angry people.  That has to be good news.  All too often, those who are struggling, for whatever reason, become embittered and angry – and show it whenever they get the chance, blaming whoever happens to be in the firing line.  Not doing that surely has to be a spiritual gift in itself.  It is certainly a sign of growing spiritual maturity.  And that must be an evidence of hope and faith in the future.  Which, when you think about it, is what Pentecost is all about.  So on Pentecost eve, how encouraging to be able to blog like this at the end of a day well spent, in which we both found encouragement – and signs of God at work – in such diverse spaces.

Sound bites

Back in October last year, John preached a sermon in the chapel at the University of St Andrews, entitled ‘Sound bites can damage your spiritual health’.  A sound bite that we heard at a meeting last night has pushed that question a bit further for us: can sound bites also damage your theology?

The sound bite in question came at the end of an impassioned address about mission and (appropriately enough since we will be marking it at the weekend) mentioned Pentecost as a model of how we all need to hear the good news ‘in our own languages’, otherwise  we don’t hear it at all.  That sentiment must have been repeated thousands of times, as a way of asking ‘what are the languages people today speak?’ – cultural languages, often, rather than the spoken word.  The talk in question ended with a great sound bite, in which the speaker spoke of a ’silent Pentecost’ that he believed is already happening in some churches.  Which gave the two of us plenty to talk about.  A ’silent Pentecost’ sounds slick and neat, but what does it mean?  Indeed, does it mean anything at all?  Is the adjective ’silent’ not a contradiction in terms when placed alongside almost anything to do with mission, not least in connection to that explosive event which most commentators regard as the birth of the church?  Those who know us even casually will be well aware that we are more than happy to promote non-verbal explorations of spirituality and faith.  And still reflection (silent, even) can be part of that.  But people whose lives are touched will always want to speak about what they have discovered.  And at the heart of any sort of practical theology is reflection on the practice, as (at a minimal level) we exchanges notes with other people.  Sound bites have their place (and we’ve coined quite a few ourselves).  But they can also be used to undermine good theology in a subtle way that makes nonsense look like wisdom.  Surely that has to be the case with this one.  It certainly isn’t one that we’ll be adopting for ourselves.

What makes something worship?

After our post about what makes a church, we were planning to move into a different direction today.  But here we are back to a closely related topic.  So what happened?  Well, in between times we went to church!

Yesterday was a Sunday when we had no particular commitments and so we headed to a church which has a highly creative and deeply incarnational outreach midweek, to see how that translates into what they do on Sunday.  The design of the church sanctuary told us what to expect: in concept, quite similar to a traditional shape, with a platform up front on two levels – though not quite the choir and high altar, more the guitars on the lower level, drums higher up, and behind it all in the space where a stained glass window might have been, was the ubiquitous screen on which to have the words of songs projected.  The impression of a conscious ecclesiastical design was confirmed by a modern version of an altar rail separating the platform from the congregation (or ‘audience’ as the preacher preferred to call us).

That word ‘audience’ (repeated more than once) maybe gave a clue as to what was going on.  Because the nearest model for the would not be any sort of traditional liturgy but the sort of entertainment that might be found in a night club.  The way in which music was used, the physical movements of the congregants (mostly fists pointing in the air at regular intervals), and the general atmosphere generated by strobe lights flashing at regular intervals, was virtually identical with club culture.  When we were all exhausted by standing up doing that, on came the stand-up comic – in the shape of a special address for the children.  It has to be said that it was very good comedy, though apart from the fun aspect of it, the precise point was lost on one of us.  That was then followed by an extended period of more reflective singing, and the way in which that was led had definite similarities with an on-stage hypnotist inviting a clubbing audience into other forms of consciousness.  And on and on and on …. for more than two hours (that being the point at which we left as one of us had another appointment).

It all raised a question of what worship might be.  In particular, what it means for worship to be embodied in culturally appropriate forms.  It may well be that for some people the model of club culture is authentic – though, to be honest, there was little sign of that in this instance.  At one point the words of a song disappeared from the screen and it was obvious that nobody knew them (not even the musicians).  Nor was there much sign of the sort of spontaneous engagement with other people that you might find in a club.  In fact there were so many people looking slightly lost and wondering what they were supposed to do that it didn’t quite seem to be a very good cultural fit for them.  The musicians were the only ones who looked as if they were really into it.  Probably that was why they were in the sacred space.  And why the drummer was higher than the rest, because actually without the rhythm to keep it going the music would have been extremely flat.

Maybe it was the fact that it was a sunny day – and disco lights work better in the dark.  Or possibly it was our tiredness at the end of a busy week.  Or the fact that one of us had another appointment that day.  Or just our inbuilt cynicism.  But it did give us plenty to talk about in relation to what constitutes worship.  It certainly did nothing for either of us – other than give us something to talk and blog about!  Still, we will go back, if only because on this occasion there was no sign of a sacramental celebration and we will be curious to see how that happens in such a context of worship as entertainment.

What makes a church?

We started talking about this in response to a question asked by Cid Latty, founder of CafeChurch network.   If you’re not familiar with this, then go here to see Cid’s vision and passion for a cafe church on every high street in the UK.  

But it’s a question that comes up more and more as Fresh Expressions of church multiply.   So what is the minimum number of things that need to happen for a gathering to become a church?   It’s astonishing how quickly new expressions of church resort to default mode rather than thinking through some of these bigger questions.   Moving into new territory can be unsettling for pioneers, just as the thought of change can have the same paralysing effect on long established groups.  As we look around, it seems that a fair number of things that are claimed to be essential to being church are more to do with  mechanisms of control than with spiritual purpose.   But the heart of the question is surely something to do with following Jesus, which maybe implies that we should start with practice rather than with structures.  Of course, we may find we raise more questions than answers, but Jesus himself was always asking questions because that is how we grow into maturity.

A key question would be, ‘How can we encourage one another to follow Jesus today?’   If what we hear is to be believed, then what goes on at present in some churches is not helping people to follow Jesus better, which rather implies that just adopting the practices of these same churches is not going to be a good way forward.  So what might some core values be?  Prayer is obviously central — and not just for people who might think they are Christians.  Almost certainly, those who are reached through things like a cafe church will be quite keen to find out how prayer can resource them.   Then there’s sacrament.  Sharing bread and wine is obviously significant – but a key question here is how to create a space where people can encounter God in that meal.  Most traditions are more concerned about control again, focusing on questions about who can have the bread and wine, not to mention more trivial matters such as the shape of the bread (or the cup), or how the wine was produced.   made of?   It was John Wesley who regarded eucharist as a ‘converting ordinance’, which suggests we sit more lightly to our concerns and see how God embraces those who choose to partake.  

There’s the Bible as well of course - but we said more than enough about that in a previous blog.  Just to add here that once we find creative ways to use it for today the chances are that we’ll end up using it a whole lot more than some churches do now.

And in case you’re tempted to dismiss all this as church mice ramblings, a lot of it was sparked of by Steven Croft’s new book: Jesus’ People: What the church should do next - a newly published work that is both eminently sensible and eminently readable.  Which, among other things, obviously means that we agree with it!

Scary stuff

Recently declassified documents from the US provide evidence of a clear link between interpretations of the Bible and the ill-fated adventure into Iraq.  For a full account look here.

It has to be said that politicians aren’t the only ones who can use and abuse the Bible for their own ends.  Christian people can do the same.  And today’s Christians are more likely to be confused about this than previous generations would have been, just because they hardly bother to read the Bible at all, but often pick and choose bits that can be understood as supporting the opinions they already hold for other reasons that are nothing to do with faith.  This seems to be a particular problem for the sort of non-liturgical churches that typically describe themselves as charismatic or evangelical, where traditional spiritual disciplines like Bible reading and prayer are often marginalised altogether to make room for the singing of praise-and-worship songs – and when the Bible is read, the passages chosen are entirely the choice of whoever happens to be leading a service.  Churches that are more rooted in the historic tradition certainly have a lot of challenges to deal with in today’s world, but at least if you follow a lectionary huge chunks of the Bible are being heard, even if sometimes we are not quite sure what to do with them.  Paradoxically, that also means that those churches which regularly claim to be ‘Bible-believing’ (= code language for those same charismatic/evangelical types) take it far less seriously than others who just regard themselves as ‘ordinary Christians’.  When you see the way in which sacred texts are being manipulated in today’s world, by religious and non-religious alike, asking some fundamental questions about their meaning will have more than just a detached academic relevance.  If that news report is anything to go by, for many people it is a matter of life and death.

Is anything worthwhile emerging?

We spent the weekend with a stimulating house guest, Kevin Ward from Knox College in Dunedin, New Zealand.  Like us, Kevin has an interest in emerging church, and in his inaugural lecture asked the question whether some of the emerging movements could really qualify as being ‘church’.  To find his answers to that question, go here.  So no prizes for guessing what the conversation has been about for the past 48 hours.  It was the sort of conversation that is more about comparing notes than anything else, because the three of us are pretty much on the same page on all this, which could probably be described as being encouraging of emerging church, combined with big questions about some of the groups that think they are ‘emerging’ – and the underlying question ”what are they emerging from?’  Too many such groups are still emerging from dissatisfaction and anger with traditional church, which inevitably clouds the agenda and turns something that could have missional potential into what easily becomes a forum for grumbling about past hurts (real or imaginary), and an over-concern with individual’s own agendas and opinions.  Of course, there will always need to be a space for people with issues – but that is a therapy space, not a missional space!  Which is the crucial difference between ‘real’ emerging church, and those who are only playing at it and adopting the terminology because it seems to be trendy.  The only sort of emergence that is authentic is that which comes from a spiritual encounter with gospel, culture, and the values of the Kingdom.  Once that engagement is lost, then however worthy other concerns might be, they are going to struggle to be regarded as authentically church (or even Christian) in any deeply rooted way.  We were also reminded again of the importance of being theologically grounded in any reflection on what church might be for the 21st century. 

That’s not the first time we’ve said all that, of course.  But thanks to Kevin’s visit and conversations we have seen a few new angles on it.  And, of course, had our insights (or prejudices, according to some) affirmed.  But then, isn’t that what friends are for?

Anger mismanagement

According to a poll published today, the British are the angriest people in Europe – and the Scots are more angry than most.  Apparently, Scottish people get angry 4.5 times a day, compared with the UK average of 4 explosive episodes.  Which compares with 3.5 for the Italians and 3 for the French (both regularly regarded as much more emotional nations than the British).  The even tempered Scandinavians, though, only get angry once every five days.  For more on this story, look here!

We’ve recently had a few examples of why Scottish anger levels might be quite high.  More than two weeks ago a church mice car broke down and had to be transported back home from the roadside.  It still isn’t repaired, in fact the workshop doesn’t even know what’s wrong with it (apart from the obvious, that it doesn’t go).  Then just this afternoon it took over two hours to drive from the city of Aberdeen to the rural mousehole – a journey that should take about 30 minutes.  And no, we weren’t in the broken down car.  This was a combination of road works and silly drivers that created gridlock of such proportions that nothing was moving at all.  Surprisingly, though, the survey’s predictions were nowhere in evidence.  If people were angry, they certainly weren’t showing it.  Just patiently waiting to get through.  Is the explanation to be found in the famously buttoned-up Scottish personality type?  Or, more worryingly, perhaps the pent-up frustration is being worked out in the home environment as couples squabble or even beat each other up.  If that seems far-fetched, the other week the Glasgow police force was put on high alert because the rival football teams Rangers and Celtic were playing each other – and statistically, that means a significant measurable increase in domestic violence.

Of course, there’s always the theological explanation, that belief in an angry God makes anger OK for everyone else.  Maybe we should plot the results of this poll alongside the traditional belief systems of the various nations?  Does Calvinism make you more angry than Lutheranism?  Or maybe not.  It could generate a lot of emails from angry Christians

Stress on the cards

Hard on the heels of our post about food being instilled with spiritual virtues comes news that Psychic Sisters, who have had a concession n the famous London department store Selfridges since 2006, are seeing business ramp up in the current recession as hard-up stressed-out executives consult them to try and plan their future.  For all the details, go here (another HT to Time magazine!).

The virtues of the Jesus Deck have already been praised by at least one of the contributors to the Sheffield conference, Reaching out in Mind, Body and Spirit.  So this has to be a missional no-brainer: whose church will be the first to offer debt advice and counselling, along with readings from the Jesus Deck?  Just remember you read it here first!

Eating and drinking spirituality

One of the latest food crazes to hit the supermarket shelves is apparently food and drink that is embedded with positive aspirations designed to nurture one’s spirituality and help us all to cope in these stressful and challenging times.  Everything from bottled water to bars of chocolate are being blessed and prayed over as part of the manufacturing process – and the labels and packaging are being redesigned so as to offer symbols and colours that will restore the balance in the consumer’s life.

We are not making this up – today is May 1st, not April 1st!  But if you’re still understandably skeptical, then go here for a more extensive account of this growing marketplace trend.  For the more technically minded, who wonder how it’s done, take a look here and here.

Of course, none of this should be surprising to Christians, who have for generations believed in the spiritual efficacy of eating and drinking bread and wine that has been prayed over!  And it’s not a new thing to suppose it might offer new life for those who are otherwise struggling.  Wesley famously regarded the Eucharist as a converting ordinance, which sounds remarkably similar to the claims being made for these ‘embedded’ foods.  Is there a new missional opportunity here that we should be thinking about?