The Church Basement Road Show
Mark Scandrette, Doug Pagitt, and Tony Jones are hitting the road and doing a church basement road show. The information and tour dates can be found on the tour website.
Labels: emerging church, friends
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A while ago I was chatting with a teacher who was talking how difficult it was to teach at the school they were at. Transience and a almost nomadic existence of the families had a constant turnover of kids and on top of that, many parents were totally disengaged from the education process. I see that at work and also at home with Mark's friends who have been moved out of his school to another one in the pursuit of cheaper rent, divorce, or eviction. It isn't the kid's fault but of course they pay the biggest price. At work I have been studying demographic trends for two projects I am working on. Part of it is looking closely at the neighborhoods we serve. I also need some comparison neighborhoods and I have been using Mayfair (where we live), Lawson Heights (where I grew up), Lakeview (where I used to work), Nutana (where I like to go for coffee), and City Park (again, it's the coffee). I know data interpretation is a science and art and I don't claim to have an understanding of either but when I look at Riversdale/Meadow Green/Pleasant Hill/King George (note to self, take some better photos of these places and upload them to Wikipedia) and compare them to those other neighborhoods, it shows how serious the need is in these neighborhoods. I was looking at some crime stats the other day and I thought that they were high for the year but they weren't even for the year, they were for the month. Before I dismissed them, I thought back to the day that Wendy was grabbed in our car while waiting for me outside of work and also the evening I was grabbed by a drunk while walking home from the theatre with Mark. In Wendy's case, she was okay and in my case, being 6'4" and sober was enough to deal with the situation but looking back at it, there is a lot of violence here. Of course on top of that there is the poverty, the disintegration of family values (I was talking to one agency where older sisters were pimping out younger ones), rampant drug use, illiteracy, and the gangs. Now I know this is an academic exercise since almost no one plants churches in poor neighborhoods (why would you where there is wealth in the new suburbs?) but do we ever ask ourselves what is the best way to make an impact on urban communities and could there be a better way to positively make a difference other than hold worship services other than a Sunday? Of course there is. When one looks at what is making a difference in most inner cities, they are not churches. In Saskatoon there is The Bridge, the Friendship Inn, the Saskatoon Food Bank, White Buffalo Youth Lodge, the Salvation Army Community Centre, Egadz, Quint Community Economic Development Corporation (a non-profit organization founded by residents of the five core neighbourhoods in 1995. When a community meeting concluded two years later that affordable housing was key to solving inner city problems, Quint stepped forward with solutions. By 2002 they had helped over 100 low-income families with children become homeowners. These families pay, on average, $33 less on their mortgage payments than they did on their previous rental payments) and other organizations who provide a wide variety of services for the community. While there are some wonderful churches and cathedrals downtown, they serve a different demographic and are not involved many social justice issues. My question is what if we started to start ministries and ideas that had the community in mind as opposed to planting another church, what would they look like? I think of Harambee (I love their history), Urban Rest Stop, a small scale family housing program, third spaces like the Freeway, or the Franktuary (read the story), or places like the Simple Way, Mustard Seed House, or the Hawthorn House. My other question is what if we made a commitment to the places abandoned by the empire? I expressed my frustration before about the 1000 Christians descending on the west side to "clean up the place" for a day. I guess it gives warm fuzzy's to people who don't actually shop, live, or even visit the lower west side but I am talking about making a long term commitment to a place that are often left behind. These places aren't just in the inner city either. I was outside of Ottawa a couple of years ago and some of the rural communities look like the last the good thing that happened to them was during the Diefenbaker years. I think of what former NHLer Joe Juneau is doing up in northern Quebec. When I have shared these discussions previously, one of the questions that comes up is sustainability. Of course all of the links I have given have shown sustainability over the years in a variety of ways but there is a bigger question that we don't often address and that is the unspoken idea something has to support a salary (often of clergy) to be worthwhile. Until we figure out a way to fight our addiction to a paycheck from the church, the mission of many churches will be to provide employment for pastors. Are we courageous enough to take a risk knowing that it probably won't pay off but because it is the right thing to do and do it in some of the poorest neighborhoods where they may be no pay off? Well, others have and made a big difference. Real change always starts at the fringes, someone said something or the other about faith and a mustard seed once... Labels: church, church planting, emerging church This came from Jason Evans today and it will be of interest for some of you. "But why this starts a new season for us is that these programs commence a new project that we are taking on with the Ecclesia Collective. We are now in the process of developing an internship program. This program would take 3 to 4 young people that would live in the loft, above our home, spending 10 to 12 months as a part of the Hawthorn House community. Interns would spend time with our community, share meals and rhythms with us, work in our garden with us and we would (preferably) connect with a neighborhood non-profit agency or locally owned business for part time work. Brooke and I will meet with the interns every week for guided time to discuss spiritual formation, social engagement and community life among other things. The internships will not start until this coming fall at the earliest. If you are interested, get in touch." Labels: church, community, education, emerging church David Fitch challenges Mark Driscoll's assertations that the emerging church does not have converts. Labels: emerging church, evangelism, theology For those of you inside and around San Diego, you may find sustainable kingdom, sustainable church something worth checking out. Labels: Christianity, church, conferences, emerging church Stephen Shields is moving Faithmaps back to Blogger. The new (old) address is faithmaps.blogspot.com. Labels: blogging, Christianity, church, emerging church I am moving Resonate's e-mail newsletter server to new software this weekend. It is working today so if you want to sign up, click on this link to receive mail about Resonate, Cultivate Gathering, or upcoming events across Canada. Labels: emerging church, Resonate Scott is writing on Christianity becoming a sub culture far removed from the rest of Canada The problem is that few people are willing to admit that Christianity has become a sub-culture. In many ways it is as foreign to the average Canadian as being a Seik, or Amish. Virtually all church growth strategies still mistakenly assume that the average non-churched person understands the language and culture of evangelical Christianity. The sad fact is, they do not. They don’t use words like “blessings” and they don’t “trust you’ll have a good day”. They are not even marginally interested in hearing some guy talk about an issue that is wholly irrelevant to their lives; let alone in a time slot that is inconvenient with music that they don’t listen to… repeated over and over and over. I met with a denominational leader this week who admitted that he feels the denomination he belongs to, and the Christian world in general, has lost it’s poignancy and is probably obsolete. This is undoubtedly a hard admission from an individual whose entire career is built on encouraging churches to grow. We wondered together if there was any hope of the church actually connecting on a macro level with its community, based on what is happening now. This denominational head told me he doubted it would happen. The solution, it seemed at the time, was for the church to finally come to grips with the brutal and almost ugly reality of incarnational living. Jesus Christ was far less mainstream and far more controversial than Christians are willing to be. His lifestyle was well beyond the acceptable range for behavior in your average Baptist or Free Methodist Church. He was accused, apparently in light of some supposed evidence, of living flagrantly and with moral license. For my entire religious life I have heard the argument that as a Christian I must be careful when playing with fire, morally and culturally speaking, lest I get burned. The unspoken truth of that statement may be that most Christians are so afraid of being burned by the fire that they don’t even come near the heat. Some of the comments on his post suggested the Christians were supposed to be irrelevant and the church is two worldly already but that isn't really what Scott is getting at (I will say that since we have talked about this for years). It is a church that is so far out of the world that many congregations have to get consultants in to find out what is going on in their neighborhoods. How does it get this way? This is going to make some of you madder than usual but when I read Ron Sider's The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience and see those going to church and professing to be Christians to be no different than anyone else, we know something must not be working. Is it fear of sin or just fear of the world? Scott mentions incarnational living which is kingdom values and living them out in the world outside the church walls which is difficult when many churches have to hire a consultant to see what their neighborhood is thinking. In some ways it goes back to the turn of the 20th century with evangelicalism's struggle then to deal with modernity and we secluded ourselves in Christian camps, t-shirts, music, politics, and art. Also while struggling with engaging culture, we have tossed aside Kingdom values and exchanged them for the values of power, control, and money which even the most committed opponent of the faith will say are the ways of Christ. As John Wimber wrote, everyone seems to be able to see this except those of us in the church. Folks, the world knows what this is supposed to look like. Years ago in New York City, I got into a taxi cab with an Iranian taxi driver, who could hardly speak English. I tried to explain to him where I wanted to go, and as he was pulling his car out of the parking place, he almost got hit by a van that on its side had a sign reading The Pentecostal Church. He got real upset and said, "That guy’s drunk." I said, "No, he’s a Pentecostal. Drunk in the spirit, maybe, but not with wine." He asked, "Do you know about church?" I said, "Well, I know a little bit about it; what do you know?" It was a long trip from one end of Manhattan to the other, and all the way down he told me one horror story after another that he’d heard about the church. He knew about the pastor that ran off with the choir master's wife, the couple that had burned the church down and collected the insurance—every horrible thing you could imagine. We finally get to where we were going, I paid him, and as we’re standing there on the landing I gave him an extra-large tip. He got a suspicious look in his eyes—he’d been around, you know. I said, "Answer me this one question." Now keep in mind, I’m planning on witnessing to him. "If there was a God and he had a church, what would it be like?" He sat there for awhile making up his mind to play or not. Finally he sighed and said, "Well, if there was a God and he had a church—they would care for the poor, heal the sick, and they wouldn’t charge you money to teach you the Book." I turned around and it was like an explosion in my chest. "Oh, God." I just cried, I couldn’t help it. I thought, "Oh Lord, they know. The world knows what it’s supposed to be like. The only ones that don’t know are the Church." When you joined the kingdom, you expected to be used of God. I’ve talked to thousands of people, and almost everybody has said, "When I signed up, I knew that caring for the poor was part of it—I just kind of got weaned off of it, because no one else was doing it." Folks, I’m not saying, "Do some-thing heroic." I’m not saying, "Take on some high standard, sell everything you have and go." Now, if Jesus tells you that, that’s different. But I’m not saying that. I’m just saying, participate. Give some portion of what you have—time, energy, money, on a regular basis—to this purpose, to redeeming people, to caring for people. Share your heart and life with somebody that’s not easy to sit in the same car with. Are you hearing me? That’s where you’ll really see the kingdom of God. Labels: Christianity, church, emerging church, theology If you are interested and a part of the Twitter community, Resonate's weblog is posting to Twitter. Labels: emerging church, Resonate, technology A couple of weeks ago I posted about The Blind Side which generated some good discussion in the comments. What caught me off guard were a couple of e-mails that were sent about the post and the hypocrisy in me posting it and advocating the position that I did. Apparently because I haven't raised any NFL prospects in my house, I ought not speak of such things. Even if that made sense, it is ignorant of the fact that Wendy and I have had someone living in our home for a couple of years after a particularly brutal time in their life. While I never did get a NFL tryout for him or even a scholarship to a major U.S. college, it has been a big change for all of us. It also suggests that perhaps a blog doesn't tell everything about a person or maybe a search of the archives may be helpful. The accusations also got to me because one of the things that I have been working on/obsessed with is setting up a safe house for 10 or so teen boys in Saskatoon who need a place to figure out life. We have some emergency facilities at work for keeping youth on an emergency basis. While we are doubling that capacity, it isn't enough and there are youth who are either on the street or in really awful home situations. It is a complicated and long process which is a ways away an official start let alone finish but I think it is the right thing to do. While speaking of work, I have some interesting stuff going on right now that will help guys with the transition out of the shelter and into their own place. Saskatoon has a tighter housing market than New York, Toronto, Vancouver, and Calgary at 0.4% and if you aren't making much money, are illiterate, or just feeling overwhelmed, guys tend to end up at flophouses which are called, "shooting galleries" for a reason. I have been in some of them and I almost threw up. My first apartment was a small studio apartment but it was a charming shoe box sized studio and was safe to roam the hallways. The goal is to help guys find safe places they can afford to live on. Having a little extra money in the bank makes a world of difference. I was reading an article from the New Year with the mayor who pointed out that people making $40,000 can't afford a home in the city which is true. I can't fix that but I hope to help those making around $20,000 a year a decent apartment. Outside of work, a group of us is taking some small steps toward create an alternative seminary in Saskatoon. We met Monday and those there had some excellent ideas. It was good. For those of you who have no idea what is so alternative about theological education, check out the Disseminary which was the inspiration for the idea as was the Invisible College in Kingston. So now you know. Labels: Christianity, community, discipleship, education, emerging church, ideas, theology It's just a hunch, but I sense that some of the key players are less and less willing to work with that particular language. I think that, whereas a few years ago people were excited by the prospect, people are getting used to/bored/fed up with 'emerging church' as a concept, and will thus leave it behind. Not that I think that that means 'game over' for all that people like Emergent stand for - far from it actually - but I think people may increasingly assimilate those ideas into their practice without taking the name. (I think for some time this has been foreseen in the collapse in usefulness of the term 'emerging church', which is so tired as a phrase it has begun to mean nothing.) I think people have become tired of a whole lot of talking, and want to see things actually happen... and when stuff actually happens, it tends to be quieter and create less internet hum than the talking about it. I agree with what Kester is saying. For some the term, "emerging church" has become meaningless for many reasons. I am both tired of the term "emerging church" which I agree means nothing now to many people but at the same time I am excited about some of the projects that I am a part of but at the same time don't feel the inclination to talk (or blog) about them, partly because we are in the middle of trying to make them happen and many people in the church dismiss anything with the emerging church out of hand. As I am in an environment which includes the old and new, the label "emerging church" carries a lot of baggage (much of it isn't fair or accurate). I think it is also an evolutionary process where one is confronted with new ideas and as time passes we move forward with those ideas which in turn help our ideas evolve further. Labels: church, emerging church, ideas, Resonate Labels: Christianity, church, emerging church, photography Here are my notes from my session with N.T. Wright at Soularize. I was running video during the session but then Spencer fired me and had Adam Klein run the video so I was able to take some notes. The entire talk will be for sale in a while on Soularize Feedlive and in Soularize-In-A-Box via TheOoze. I hesitate to post these notes because I was tired after a long day and was busy with other things. If they reflect poorly on N.T. Wrights theology or his talk, make the assumption that is it my fault and not his. I did borrow some of this from Kyle Martin who took some excellent notes of all of the sessions. We gathered at New Providence Community Church for a reception and a wine tasting. After the worship band warmed things up and Spencer introduced Bishop Tom Wright, things got started. Acts for Everyone Bishop Tom spoke on Acts (his book Acts for Everyone is coming out in December) and began by saying how we need to read through Acts in large sections as opposed to a verse by verse study (Frank Viola made some of the same points the next day -- I'll blog some about his seminar tomorrow). It is a story and must be read that way to understand the whole. He also made the point that the book was probably written as a part of Paul's legal defense. He spoke about the nature of Acts being a riot a day influenced by the actions of believers. He also talked about how a fellow Bishop who remarked that when Paul spoke, the people rioted and when [the Bishop] spoke, people made tea. Bishop Tom talked about how the Kingdom of God is the overlying theme of Acts. It begins in Acts 1 and extends after the 28th chapter. Acts is the story of the kingdom of God breaking into the world…living this Kingdom life will cause riots and those that will carry out this message will face persecution. Acts 1-11 says nothing about going to heaven when you die. It is about the restoration of Israel but it looks different than the Jewish people originally thought. The Kingdom of God looks like a community hanging with people from all worlds, with God living out his promises, as God claims the world as his own. The Second Coming of Jesus is Jesus coming to earth to rule and reign and to ultimately renew it. Not us being taken away to heaven which contradicts what most evangelicals believe and partly explains the lack of a theology of earth that has played a part of global warming. Wright then spoke on the ascension which confuses many because it is not a literal ascension upward. It reminded me a story of my brother coming home from Sunday School and learning how Jesus went to heaven on a Popsicle stick. Instead it is the place where heaven and earth intersect/overlap/interlock. Jesus didn’t go up, he went into God’s space. Jesus is at home in the space we call heaven. Jesus was already transformed and this ascension leads us through Acts. To the Jew the temple was this overlap (inside the temple was heaven, and the temple was on earth). But Jesus was a human not a building and its for the whole world. Acts 1-13 has a Jewish focus where we have Jesus community lived out in the temple in the outer courts attracting Jews. Jesus is announced as the Messiah. Acts 13-28 Jesus is announced as the Lord of the world and Caesar is not. The early Christian community is the church the place where heaven and earth collide. Bishop Tom mentions 1 Kings 8 and Isaiah 6 = connected to Acts 2. It is the place where the spirit comes alive and the community is equipped to share to everyone in the culture and provided opportunities. the name of Jesus carries power. Acts 7 has Steven preaching in the temple as a marker to Jesus and he is martyred. Acts 4-5 leads into this by sharing how we must obey God rather than men, not looking for trouble but allegiance brings trouble at times. Jews see water, sea as dark and evil. Look at Noah, Jonah, Moses and the sea as the dark chaos of creation. In order to bring the message of hope Paul must go through the dark and evil sea. Wright connects Luke to Acts through the crucifixion and the shipwreck Paul goes through. Jesus going to Jerusalem, Paul to Rome; climax of cross and shipwreck for the ultimate message to be declared. Luke’s theology is woven into narrative. People must go through fire and water (cross) in order to show Jesus as lord which happens over and over to Paul. Paul utilizes Roman citizenship and political powers. It is not our job to get the right people in, it is to keep accountable the people in positions of power. Acts has been thought of as a document to help Paul on his trial at end of Acts. Wright finished up with Luke having justification as a woven theology in his narrative. One day God will sort it out, and we should live in anticipation in the present for the the future. To be saved is to live out the Jesus way of life as heaven and earth intersecting. Jesus is powerfully present in Acts through faithful battered followers - Acts 2:42. Again, you will be able to get the full video in a short time from Soularize Feedlive and later in Soularize In a Box II. I am looking forward to reading Acts for Everyone and hope to explore the topic more. Here are all of my photos from the session with Bishop Wright. Labels: Christianity, church, emerging church, Soularize, theology Cultivate Missional Living [CML] is a six month training course for people who want to learn how to engage in mission in an urban community. [CML] takes place in the Beasley neighbourhood in downtown Hamilton, Ontario - one of the poorest neighbourhoods in Canada - and is hosted by The Freeway. For more information about [CML] or to receive an application form, please contact the [CML] director, Jordan Donald, by e-mail [jordan@frwy.ca] or by phone: 905-929-0890. Labels: Canada, church, discipleship, emerging church, friends, Resonate, Salvation Army, video Nathan Colquhoun (whose blog I just bookmarked because I can never spell his last name correctly without looking it up) took some great photos of the recent emerging church documentary road trip. The details of the recent road swing are here. Labels: Canada, church, emerging church, friends, Resonate Despite all of the hype about Facebook (which I find invasive), there are some other web apps out there that are worth a look at to help a church or non-profit connect with people online. Below are five of my favorites and some ideas on how they could be (better) used. That's my list. Add some of yours below in the comments. Labels: church, communications, community, culture, emerging church, ideas, media, photography, Resonate, technology Labels: church, community, emerging church, Resonate, theology Labels: Christianity, church, church planting, emerging church, ideas, theology, video Labels: church, conferences, emerging church, environment, hockey, seminary, Soularize, sports Labels: Canada, church, emerging church Labels: Canada, Christianity, church, emerging church, Resonate Labels: church, emerging church Labels: architecture, Canada, community, emerging church, Third Space Spencer Burke sent this out as a part of TheOozeletter today. Labels: art, church, conferences, Emergent, emerging church, hockey, Soularize, TheOoze Labels: church, community, conferences, Emergent, emerging church, environment, Soularize, theology Labels: communications, emerging church Labels: Christianity, church, Emergent, emerging church, politics |
It’s easy to talk about religious people reaching out to their communities, or about churches making a difference. There are scads of books being written about “being Christ in your community”. The pathetic reality is though, most don’t really even come close. Neither do churches’ attempts to reach into their communities, neither do outreach driven services. [Emerging] churches do little better.
