where are we going?

non-western theology

2005-07-17T20:10:00.000+12:00

today at church i had the fantastic opportunity to present an exploration into non-western theology. so, with the help of my husband and my dear friend hanna, we developed six 'stations' that encouraged thinking about god through different cultures. so i thought i would share them with 'you'.

the first is the aboriginal station - the statement below was used to help us gain an insight into the spirituality of the aboriginal people (it represents the thoughts and discussions of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Ecumenical Commission. It comes out of a couple of workshops held at their Commission meetings in late 2002 and early 2003). we had also tacked up a whole wall of black building paper and spread out lots of examples of aboriginal art. so just as the aboriginal people are seeking a recognition and of their spiritual heritage we asked both the adults and children to paint a symbol of their own spiritual journey following the aboriginal art forms.

i was quite astounded when i first read this statement below. i stumbled across it online (as you do), and as always it brought tears to my eyes to read about a people group yearning to understand jesus/god in ways that are culturally authentic. their ability to recognize their spiritual/cultural heritage as being their 'old testament', as part of their salvation history feels incredibly significant. i find these expressions so much more meaningful than the 'one size fits all' kind of (western) christianity that i so detest (i suppose the challenge for me is to be able be tolerant towards that culture!).

We are what We are - Spirit People
We believe that the Creator has always been with our people since the beginning of time. Our connection to this land Australia and the stories from long ago emphasize this and reveals to us our ongoing relationship to the Creator. We know that the Spirit is always close to us and within us. The spirits of our ancestors are always around us looking out for us and showing us the path we should travel. We are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses…

Since the coming of the Western Culture, there has been a breakdown in our relationship with the Creator. Our ways have been under threat and this has led us to move away from our roots and into a foreign way of thinking. This has caused hardships within our communities as we struggle to find our way. Sometimes we have failed to recognise the Spirit present with us. We looked to the new culture to show us the way forward and it has led to more confusion and loss of direction. This culture has failed our people. It has shown it cannot satisfy our deepest yearnings.

This culture wanted us to look for the Creator through their eyes. They have failed to see that the Creator exists within our culture. While Abraham was wandering in the desert our peoples had been for many generations living in close relationship with our Creator. We have an Old Testament, which we can now accept as part of our salvation history.

How short sighted Western Culture was to think they had the monopoly on the Creator and how blinded were we to believe this was true. It is up to us to reclaim our beliefs. Our Creator yearns for us to come back. Our relationship has been tested and made stronger because of the many mistakes along the journey because we have learnt so much from the experience. We now know about Christ. This story from the Western Culture has touched and had an impact on our lives.

We did not have Jesus amongst us as the Apostles did but he left us the Spirit of the Creator with us. We know this Spirit to be the same Spirit who is with us now because of what it has done and continues to do. This Spirit of relationships reminds us about our responsibilities to one another and creation and that we all come from the same source of life. This Spirit is also the Spirit of the Rainbow Serpent, the Brolga, the Emu, the Stars, the Fish, the Plants, the mountains and much more. We must hold on to and strengthen our Spiritual heritage.

As a Minority we stand as the strength of this Land. We affirm our belief in the Creator Spirit who created us. It is in our connection to this deep sense of belonging that our Identity lives. Our Culture can never be broken. We embrace our past. We are alive in the present and have hope in the future. The Creator Spirit calls us into a search for a deeper relationship with himself and each other. The Creator Spirit calls us to renewal.

3 months later...

2005-05-14T16:00:00.000+12:00

a quick update: i have been working very hard in my new job and i have not had time to work on my research essay, however the agreed due date is looming (22nd may) and i have been putting in time over the last couple of weeks to get it finished. in a strange kind of tension i feel as though i am putting in both too little and too much work into this thing. it is coming along nicely though. i think i may write more once i've finished, as the blogging has at times gotten in the way of actual (tangible) product.

if you are interested, check back in about 2 weeks when i will resume the conversation.

2005-02-04T21:32:00.000+13:00

well, it happened, i've neglected my blog for over a week. it feels like an asignment for school that i've been procrastinating about. but in reality i went on a 'long weekend' holiday with the other one and our very good friends mel+steve (sea kayaking and rock climbing), and then started my new job. i have been so looking forward to having a normal life - you know, 9-5 jobs, weekends off - but i think i might have been dreaming when i thought i'd have a good amount of time to be able to finish my research paper in the evenings and weekends. i suppose if parents can do it, i should be able to.

so i haven't done any work on my paper for a week. it feels awful, like i'm going backwards, loosing track of everything that was being held/suspended in my floating 'mid term memory' (i'm convinced i have one - i gets completely wiped after an exam, but can last for up to 5 days).

according to my little counter there must be people checking here every now and again - i'm grateful because that mere fact gives me motivation to think about my research so i can produce something semi-intelligent to post here.

on a less positive note, trinity roots are playing their last ever gig in raglan tomorrow night. i never checked when it was so i'm missing out. forever - because i've never seen them live. a tragedy, they've contributed so much to nz music. new years resolution - more live music, more live theatre, more adventures.

if you are reading this and you are not a nzer (or just haven't really heard their music), go to the official trinity roots website and click on the 'music player' to get a taste. it seems you can listen to most of their recorded music (their two main albums anyway). flick through til you get to a song called 'home, sea and land' or 'beautiful people', or maybe 'little things', or maybe 'true' (if you wanna know what "nz" sounds like!).

steve collins - small ritual

2005-01-27T23:16:00.000+13:00

arrival
click on the picture for a better view

2005-01-27T21:49:00.000+13:00

the image above is from steve collins and his fantastic site called small ritual, where he's posted a collection of articles and images he's produced over the last few years on emerging church and alt. worship. he also hosts a very helpful site about all things 'alt. worship'.

i've been really inspired by a number of images/diagrams he's produced that show a 'reimaging' of the worship environment in order to foster interaction and participation. in the diagram above the idea is that as opposed to the congregation/leader dichotomy that characterized much of our worship experience, by designing the space to facilitate movement and involvement, worship becomes a multidimensional and relational experience.

it reminds me of the way in which doug paggitt describes (in his book 'reimaging spiritual formation') how his church space is structured 'in the round'. the couches/chairs all kind of face each other which, while it causes problems for sound equipment and microphones, creates the experience of being 'in' the worship - not just watching. the very experience of visually interacting with the other people sharing the space with you must be significant in itself, compared with visually interacting with the back of someone's head!

last year i was involved (for my studies) with a christian group who met weekly. we usually met 'in the round' as we numbered about 20 on average. on one occasion the leader for that week arranged the chairs into four rows of 5 chairs (bear in mind we met in a room that would fit 200) i think because he was giving a 'talk' accompanied with a drama. it felt like the strangest thing in the world sitting there in a row. i dare say it felt just like church, and like the whole point of our meeting together was sacrificed in the name of 'order'. i'm really not sure why we were seated that way - perhaps so that our focus would be directed to the front - but it only allowed me to interact with the two people i sat next to.

my point is this - i realised at that point how important it is that we, no matter how unintentionally, organise our space to enable visable interaction with each other, and therefore how much difference could be made by intentionally reorganizing other environments. obviously large numbers of congregated people necessitate rows - which is perhaps precisely why i avoid them.

community of the day

2005-01-24T16:47:00.000+13:00

(drum roll please)......and the community of the day is......the freeway cafe, a non-profit coffee house in hamilton, ontario, canada who are "committed to re-investing in the local and global community". well, they may not have officially opened yet (april is the goal), but i'm excited for them and what they're planning and dreaming. its a project of the freeway church community, who are also part of the salvation army family (go the sallies!). "that's right, now the folks who bring you quality vintage clothing at a reasonable price, also bring you church—done differently." classic.

a taster of what will be going on at the freeway cafe:

Organic fair trade beans and teas, scrumptious baked goods, live music, art gallery showings, free wireless internet access (with purchase), an incredible space (like your living room, only bigger), and a great location (right at the "downtown archway" at King & Wellington) will all make the café an amazing place to build community, get some extra work done, study, or simply be.

Tuesdays—Community Workshop @ 4pm
Wednesdays—Theology/Philosophy Discussion @ 7pm
Thursdays—Independent Film Viewing @ 7pm
Fridays—Live Music @ 8pm
Saturdays—Children's Story Time @ 4pm
Sundays—The Freeway Worship Gathering @ 6pm

identity

2005-01-21T10:52:00.000+13:00

i watched a documentary last night about face transplantation. it looked into the scientific and ethical issues surrounding this procedure, and interviewed a severely disfigured young woman who had been what i would describe as stunning until she recieved horrific burns in an accident.

its made me think about how complex our sense of identity is. having spent many years working with people with disabilities and am now moving back into that area for a time, i have lots of questions about what it means to live with a disability, to be defined by it. what does it mean to be made in the image of god and have a severe intellectual disability? what does it mean to say that god wants us to have fullness of life and yet many can't eat or go to the toilet on their own? what does it mean to be part of the kingdom/community of god if a disability/disfigurement causes others to be unable to relate to this person in a meaningful way?

i had a good friend who has been deaf since he was born. we spent alot of time together and he taught me to sign, i would translate for him in lots of situations that he would have struggled in as he didn't have any other friends/family members who could. we once had a conversation about the possibility of having prayer for healing and he really surprised me by saying that he didn't want to be able to hear - he had accepted the way he was and he was part of a strong deaf community, and he didn't want have to learn how to talk (having always been deaf verbal words are a foreign language). his identity is intensely connected to his deafness, which i'm not even sure he experiences as a disability! for a person in this position, relating to god would not involve music at all, which is quite a strange concept for me.

yet, while that is a positive example, i think there needs to be a tension between affirming people with disabilities as having unique identities that contribute to the way they (and we) experience the world and god, while also allowing them to, and helping them to, hope for change and better quality of life. (the problem (in my mind) with procedures that test for disabilities such as downs syndrome in the womb is that it alters the value we place on those who are with us who have such disabilities. it is like we are saying, bluntly, 'this is a category of people who can be terminated if necessary', and i am so not comfortable with that). there is a conundrum. we have the science which enables people with disabilities to have a much higher survival rate and much better quality of life. with that science comes the responsibility to use it, but also have the science to theorectially spare a fellow human a life of pain. who decides?

back to face transplantation. the science is there, but the procedure hasn't been done yet. the ethical and psychological issues are in question (ie the possibility of the face of a deceased loved one being recognisable on the recipient). however, studies have shown that possible recipients would risk more likelihood of death to have a new face than they would to have, say, a new hand or liver, suggesting that the very nature of authentic 'being' is very attached facial identity. i find this amazing, and it helps confirm my understanding of 'who i am' being more than just my soul/spirit/psyche or my mind/intelligence, but also has everything to do with my body, my health, my relationships.

ok, so the above is really just a collection of thoughts, be it makes me think about jesus' healing miracles and how the person on the recieving end of the healing was often (always?) enabled to re-enter community because the nature of that culture had previously prevented them from doing so. i just wonder what was more important for these people, not being disabled or being a fully accepted member of a community? or both? finally, what will the emerging church have to offer on this subject. with all our talk about faith and spirituality (life!!) as being holistic - will we (me) make a difference for people with disabilities?

2005-01-19T16:41:00.000+13:00

i just cropped this picture to use in my profile. this is one of my favourite photos from our wedding last april, taken by a friend (not the 'official' photographer). its got some of my most favourite people in it.

from left to right, my dad merv, my sister leah, me, jared (the other one), celebrant and beloved teacher chris marshall. set in the beautiful st. andrews anglican church in cambridge.

unbelievable

2005-01-18T13:02:00.000+13:00

i just flicked on the tely while i eat my lunch and tv1 is playing my (current) very, very favourite song 'home' by zero 7 (it also featured on 'garden state' to my delight). just when i thought no one else in nz was was paying them any attention. you can listen to it on their website :)

Lost in cheap delirium
Searching the neon lights
I move carefully
Sink in the city aquarium
Sing in the key of night
As they're watching me

Take me somewhere we can be alone
Make me somewhere I can call a home
'Cause lately I've been losing my own

Wrapped in silent elegance
Beautifully broken down
As illusions burst
Too late to learn from experience
Too late to wonder how
To finish first

Take me somewhere we can be alone
Make me somewhere I can call a home
'Cause lately I've been losing my own
Won't you take me home
Won't you take me home
'Cause lately I've been losing my own

and the list grows...

2005-01-18T08:12:00.000+13:00

i neglected to list a very important community website, that of my own ::: cityside

and also karen ward's living:room in seattle,

a project that really inspired me when i was writing 'let me tell you a story:::the gospel for postmodern nzers' for my cultural anthropology for missions paper. she describes it as a 'third place' or as:

"Social condensers" -- the place where citizens of a community or neighborhood meet to develop friendships, discuss issues, and interact with others -- have always been an important way in which the community developed and retained cohesion and a sense of identity.

'ubc' in waco, texas, also have interesting things to say on their site. this comes from their 'core values':

the experiential In today's culture, people will hold as Truth for themselves whatever they personally experience. So, at UBC, we have redefined our culture's understanding of experience with a more biblical perspective in that a balanced experience of God actually finds itself rooted in community and engaging the whole person - mind, body, heart, senses, and soul - yet shielding itself from straying into emotionalism or intellectualism. By balanced we mean that God has given us the opportunity to experience Him on several levels, and when we find ourselves operating on one single level, then possible pitfalls might incur. We experience God with others (via community), with mind (via thinking critically), with heart (via our pathos), with body (via service), and with senses (via fragrances, art, creation).

emerging communities

2005-01-17T22:39:00.000+13:00

below is list of communities/churches i have been visiting (online) for my research. my list is by no means final, but these sites have made it here because they display characteristics of 'emerging' expressions of community, worship, spirituality, theology, etc...and because they've taken the time to explain why they do the things they do, the thinking behind the practice.

xalt
vintage faith church
vaux
the inner sanctum
bridge communities
sanctus 1
sanctuary
regeneration
paradox
mosaic fort worth
moot
mayBe
living room
levi's table
kaleo
kairos
imago dei community
ikon
graceway
capax dei
cafe church
ascension

if you know of any community/church websites that i should take a look at, please let me know.

one of my favourites is 'vaux', a community in vauxhall, london. i have been borrowing their liturgies for over a year now. this is how they introduce themselves...

For the past 5 years or so we have been running services which try to explore the dialogue between God, our faith and our culture. In 1979 the writer Henri Nouwen said that "I am afraid that in a few decades time the church will be accused of having failed in its most basic task: to offer people creative ways to communicate with the source of human life." Vaux is trying to meet that serious accusation. Vaux continues to be an experimental space, and so by nature is always unfinished. This is spirituality by evolution, not revolution. We hope that you enjoy journeying with us.

....

2005-01-17T18:17:00.000+13:00

i've tried twice recently to publish a large post, but lost it both times.

i think i've mustered the patience to try a third time.

so, at the moment i'm reading...

2005-01-13T13:29:00.000+13:00

by doug pagitt and the solomon's porch community

a big part of my research is based on evaluating what other communities are doing. i've wanted to read this book for a while and surprisingly my local christian bookstore had it (i wasn't even looking for it!) so i bought it - which means i can underline stuff in it cos its mine. very liberating.

intertwined in what pagitt has written are journal entries from 6 people who are part of solomon's church - these are really interesting, especially when the comments are not so positive! for example, this by 'dustin':

Tonight i skip working out and Ad league to attend church Bible study. oh, whoops, Bible discussion group. If Doug saw me make that slip, he'd fo' sure throw me a beat'n. Getting the right name to everything at church is an art form. And mistakes only bring swift vengeance.

Dustin: "So I really liked the introspective prayer at the church service last night..."

Other more devoted church person smacks me upside the head, juts her hip out and wags a finger: "No you didn't. No you did not just call our church gathering a church service. Shizzam D, I best be kick'n you fo' that."

D: "I'm so sorry, I just haven't been a member long enough to--a"

Other: "No you didn't. No, you did not just call your peeps members. We are participants. Shizzam dawg. I oughtta rough you up right here."

Made me laugh, it's kinda true though, i'm often rediculously careful about the words i use to make sure i get the 'correct' idea across. ie i won't say 'evangelism' because it feels too modern and cluttered with preconceptions that i'm desperately trying to move away from, but i don't have a good alternative without using too many words. 'being missional' is a good alternative i suppose. language can really trip us up though, while we're experimenting with new ways of saying things we can often begin to sound very 'trendy', like we're forming a new clique with a secret code.

back to reading (and underlining, what joy).

by the way

2005-01-13T10:21:00.000+13:00

although my blog is getting more and more personal by the post...it all relates to what i'm thinking/reading/writing about for my research paper. if anyone in particular (ie the other one) is wondering how much study i'm actually doing, i'm doing lots, ok? really. like heaps. kind of.

cityside

2005-01-13T07:24:00.000+13:00

continuing in the theme of the last post, i need to comment on a third community that i am a part of (which will become even more significant in the near future) - cityside: a baptist church in mt eden, auckland which we have been going to for almost a year. its taken a little while to move away from the 'observant edges' (especially as we have been averaging two sundays a month at best), and now we are starting to get to know people and having the kind of conversations that, for example, involve imagining outdoorsy activities that could be done together. brenda (pastor) is great - especially in a fantastically theologically open, creative, real, way. and the community (through the influence of mark pierson who is now working with urban seed in australia) has developed in the 'alt. worship/emerging' form. to be honest, i literally don't know where i would be (on a sunday morning) if it weren't for this place.

i'm participating in the sunday morning service (in the form of a 3min reflection of the last few weeks of the christmas/new year period) for the first time this sunday. in a sense this kind of marks a transition from observing to participation in my head too. participation in the sense of giving something of myself to the community. what is brilliant about this community is revealed in the fact that while i've been asked to reflect on "something learned/understood/resolved/opened up/felt/experienced/new questions" there is the option that it "could be a negative - the distinct absence of God, or wrestling with hard issues". i need that option in a community of faith.

my life line

2005-01-11T09:08:00.000+13:00

have moved. Officially. new phone number etc. just me and the other one now! we were living with his parents (who are amazing), around the corner from his sister and her family (incl. children). now we're half an hour away (an hour with traffic).

the significance here is that i am anticipating feeling the need for 'community' quite keenly. i have had two places where this has happened for me - at bible college and in the bustling home+family life. the first will no longer exist for me and the second will not be quite the same from now on, which gives me a new motivation to seek community - that motivation being need!

in a sense this is a good thing, as i am committed (in more than a 'got to finish my research' kind of way) to discovering how people can authentically experience community in our (nz) context. but i have also become very idealistic about the extended family as community - which of course will continue for me (we are very fortunate that we are so connected with both of our families)...just differently now. i am also aware that what we have with our families is probably rare. the benefits being mutual support, enjoyment of each other, growing together, experiencing the extraordinary and the mundane together...(we still have this of course, just not everyday or even weekly contact)...

these are god's gifts to me, i want all my friends to experience this with others they love and trust. this is a place where god can be found, i think, in meaningful, ongoing connection with each other.

my life line is not very profound. it comes in the form of two 3 metre long cables from dick smith electronics that run from my computer to the phone socket. now, once again, i have net.

epiphany

2005-01-06T22:17:00.000+13:00

today, being the 6th of january, is epiphany on the christian calendar, also known as theophany in the orthodox tradition. as the name suggests, it is a time in which jesus is revealed, made known, shown to the world.

dennis bratcher writes:

In traditional Christian churches Christmas, as well as Easter, is celebrated as a period of time, a season of the church year, rather than just a day. The Season of Christmas begins with the First Sunday of Advent, marked by expectation and anticipation, and concludes with Epiphany, which looks ahead to the mission of the church to the world in light of the Nativity.

the baptism of jesus is celebrated during the epiphany, as is the visiting magi and the miracle at the wedding in cana when he turned water into wine. these events reveal all serve to reveal jesus to the world.

the very thought of a season in which 'jesus revealed' is celebrated gives momentum to the idea that he is still being revealed in countless ways, but just as his disciples probably didn't really get it until much later, niether do we.

transition

2005-01-06T11:11:00.000+13:00

my first post for the new year. had a blogging holiday (mainly because my blogging relates to my research and i took a holiday from that!).

i'm currently putting together a section ('chapter' if you will) in which i'm looking at how a new community would both remember and look forward through the lens of a cycle of annual festivals/rituals/celebrations/mournings. obviously this concept has become alive in my imagination as a result of being a member at cityside - but to many it would seem natural to organize the year in such a way (ie church traditions other than the bretheren and pentecostal traditions that make up the rest of my church expereince) (ie other faiths + cultures).

the communal retelling of stories is such a huge part of what it makes community - we do it informally without realising (stories about our past, people we used to know, our home towns, the land, the beach, "what we did on new years eve in 1998"), but we also do it formally - retelling the signing of the tiriti o waitangi, recounting war stories on anzac day, remembering the tangiwai disaster (50 years on christmas eve 2003). paul fromont (bless him) has read my paper 'gospel for pomo nzers' (and posted here about it) and has really got me excited again about the idea of forming contextual 'stories', fed by that which already belongs to us - myth, nature, history, that inform our spirituality and our connections to god and others. shared experience and 'knowledge' in this form so appeals to me - the ability to tell a story about god and creation through images that we recognize and love, images that allow us to say 'this is who we are'. for me, this is where the biblical stories come alive...more on that another day.

for now - transitions.

a new year. we're moving (first place on our own). a new life half way here (my sister's unborn child - a first for our family). a new job to start (after 3 years studying). i have so much to look forward to.

yet on this very old world who's existance depends on movement, transition brings about unimaginable human tragedy. i don't know how to comprehend this. so many now have so little to look forward to. if anything, i hope this changes the world forever, i hope those of us who 'have' are changed.

a generous or+hodoxy

2004-12-22T16:27:00.000+13:00

oh joy of joys, it feels like christmas already, the bible college library got their copy of brian mclaren's latest book earlier than i expected, and the wonderful librarian Anne emailed me. so now i will digest it.

monastic

2004-12-21T11:10:00.000+13:00

paul fromont has written about monasticism today - it made a lot of sense to me, and the more i think about what he's written the more important i think the concepts are for what i am trying to write/research. its all about envisaging a community that it intentional in the way its members do life together in an intensely outward focused way. i think that perhaps that was something that was missing from my first paper on this topic (the first (and definately largest) post here)...(although i had already doubled the word limit, from 3000 to 6000)...the importance for missional activity to originate from/be driven by a 'core' community. i think i alluded to the idea, but if i was to hope for an authentic/contextual/dynamic/evolving/journeying community to emerge from the type of evangelism that i have suggested, then those who are giving the invitation will need to be committed to something very intentional.

maybe this is what 'conversion' looks like (another question that has haning in the air), commitment to a community that embodies an alternative way of being human which is centred on Jesus (from paul's blog).

once a year cityside has a little ritual in which all those who consider themselves members join in a responsive reading and sign a plaque which is displayed in the church. i don't remember saying i'd adhere to any doctrinal statements, but it more had the sense of commitment to the community, in how i would relate to others, respect, support and love them etc. when i find my 'fractals' (we're moving) i'll see if its on there.

the prodigal project

2004-12-17T22:04:00.000+13:00

journey into the emerging church :: mike riddell, mark pierson, cathy kirkpatrick

re-reading. i think mike is the "I" in this quote that has caught my attention for now...

most of the bits of life that I'm most passionate about never get a look in at church. Some friends of mine put it this way: "We can't enter into worship on Sunday and embark on a pedestrian wade through a four hymn sandwich without setting aside the "holy" experience of a bar we spent last night in, listening to a funky soul singer, and sipping irish coffee...and we often want to cringe in church when we sing a melodic jingle aabout loving jesus, when we think of our soul's soaring as we play U2's "pop" album loudon our CD player at home."

so, even though i am part of a fantastic church community, i stopped and thought about what i was doing the last few times i felt like i god was near:

1) watching the movie "monster"
2) the news on tv: group of maori praying over dying whale
3) listening to zero7 "home"
4) at the nz symphony orchestra with nathan haines (stuning jazz musician) and his brother joel (who had written a number of the arrangements - his music was incredible)

i think (pretty certain) my non-church friends experience something similar, but don't translate in relation to 'god', does this mean the experience is less valid? i don't think so - but i feel like there lies a challenge for mission to my friends. uncovering the 'unknown god' they walk past everyday on their way to work. how on earth do you do that respectfully? what language do you use? does it work....and of course, what will it look like in 10 years time if it does?

making sense of church :: spencer burke

2004-12-16T10:06:00.000+13:00

eavesdropping on emerging conversations about god, community, and culture.

easy read from the guy who created TheOoze.com. really helpful images that capture the movement from one way of being church/christian/spiritual/leader/missional etc...to a different, more authentic way. burke calls them 'metaphors for transition'. i like that. it really is very wonderful how a metaphor can convey, sometimes with only one simple word, a complex concept that can be a struggle to grasp...

tourguide to traveller (leadership)
teacher to facilitator (learning)
hero to human (spiritual growth)
consumer to steward (ministry)
retailer to wholesaler (missions)
adversary to ally (faith)
warrior to gardener (evangelism) "warriors take territory by force; gardeners faithfully till and water the soil. While warriors are busy attacking, gardeners plant and fertilize"

emerging to... the question posed to me (which led to this reserch paper) following my paper on presenting the gospel to postmodern nzers was "what would a community founded/based on these concepts (in paper below) look like in 10 years?". i think these metaphors address many of the issues that that question raises :: what will 'conversion' look like, how will learning happen, what happens to leadership?

very much liked the last image 'warrior to gardener'. burke inserts conversations from theooze to illustrate his points. one visitor to theooze quoted from a discussion led by doug pagitt (pastor of solomon's porch) "gardens die every winter and require replanting" to which another visitor replied "i love that one. it's not failure. it's the natural life cycle". this metaphor has so many possibilities.

the celtic way of evangelism: george hunter

2004-12-14T20:16:00.000+13:00

how christianity can reach the west...again

just finished this great little book, bought it as an e-book from amazon (thanks christina b.) for only about $10 :)

very comforting to read about an 'ancient' way of 'doing church' that resonates so well with my own ideals. belonging before believing. receiving the message immersed in an intensely contextual/tribal medium. indigenous church. creating a community that touches god while being grounded in the 'everyday'.

i particularly liked what he wrote about the 'excluded middle' (from missiologist/anthropologist Paul Heibert), which has to do with how we explain/live/anticipate life. the middle level is the stuff between the level which our senses can comprehend (learning how to clean a fish) and the top level that religion usually addresses (where did we come from). so the middle level encompasses "questions of the uncertainty of the near futrue, the crises of present life, and the unknowns of the past...the future is not totally predictable. Accidents, misfortunes, the intervention of other persons, and other unknown events can frustrate human planning."

hunter says:

Their Christian faith and community addressed life as a whole and may have addressed the middle level more specifically, comprehensively, and powerfully than any other Christian movement ever has. A folk Christianity of, by and for the people developed. It helped common people to live and cope as Christians day by day...[and] can be seen today in the people's prayers and blessings that were passed on orally for many generations.

these prayers are described as 'contemplative':

contemplative prayer contrasts with the more usual approach of praying at a specific time or meeting, and it contrasts with the more usual petitionary approach that "request God to do specific things." Indeed, it is "the opposite of controlling prayer"...it is an ongoing or very frequent, opening of the heart to the Triune God, often while engaging in each of the many experiences that fill a day.

The Carmina Gadelica tradition gave people brief daily rituals, which they learned by heart, with suggested affirmations or prayers for directing their hearts, moment by moment, setting by setting...to accompany getting up in the morning, for dressing, for starting the morning fire...

hunter expresses the deeply trinitarian confessions of celtic faith throughout the book, but also here in a prayer for going to bed at night:

I lie down this night with God,
And God will lie down with me;
I lie down this night with Christ,
And Christ will lie down with me;
I lie down this night with the Spirit,
And the Spirit will lie down with me;
God and Christ and the Spirit
Be lying down with me.

called again: in and beyond the deserts of faith. alan jamieson

2004-12-09T13:14:00.000+13:00

have all but finished alan jamieson's book, the sequel to "a churchless faith" (which i not-quite-accidentaly permanently borrow from my father). it was recommended to me by david crawley, lecturer in spiritual formation at bcnz. it has been really helpful personally, but i do very much feel that it relates to the paper that i'm (apparently) writing. the three chapters that are particularly helpful are on questions, truth and evangelism.

on questions jamieson writes...

When we confront the questions that go to the very core of our faith and will not go away we inevitably find ourselves at a crossroads. Put very simply, stretched out before us are three options... dogmatism... reactionism... represent two polar extremes. There is a third option. It is the decision not to retreat to simple answers (dogmatism) or non-answers (cynical withdrawal but to live with the discomfort and the tensions of not knowing. in this directions lie gateways to the wonder of mystery and a paradoxical faith. It is the way of Ricoeur's second or willed naivety. It is the way of mystery. A mystery that holds powerful seemingly opposite truths together.

Pursuing a more paradoxical approach and way of knowing is messy and complex, and sometimes contradictory as we live with the tension of opposites. But that tension can also, at times, pull us open to bigger possibilities and greater realities.

on 'truth' he writes about the 'myth' and its ability to embody truth on more than one level - but historically, in its origin and in the message it conveys (its 'consequential' truth)...

and on evangelism he explores the idea of conversion, using the 'centered-set' theory...which i first read about at small ritual quite a while ago...as opposed to the life-boat model. he also has this to say

A careful reading of the gospels shows that Jesus in fact related to each person in decidedly unique ways and didn't try and encourage people to do tha same thing as their neighbour. To some Jesus focused on their physical health and incorporated this into their spiritual forgiveness, to others he said leave something, to one he said you must be born again - but only one! To another who hung on the cross beside him he said, "You will be with me in paradise." To a woman who touched him he said, "Don't worry! You are now well because of your faith." To the religious leaders he said, "If you don't change and become like a child, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven."

emergent matrix

2004-12-09T09:07:00.000+13:00

a whole bunch of blogs that i read have referred to an article by Scott Bader-Saye called "the emergent matrix: a new kind of church" published in the christian century as a reflection on the emergent convention in Nashville this year. so i read it. he has some good warnings for the emerging church - firstly that taking on new forms and practises needs to be born out of theological process/shift as oppossed to doing the newest, coolest thing, otherwise whats the point?...

"I think the major problem is that you may be rediscovering the ancient as a new gimmick," comments Webber. "If you don’t do the theological thinking that stands behind liturgy and sacrament and all the kinds of things that are part and parcel of the classical tradition, this will just fade out. It will have no staying power. The next generation is going to come along and do something different."
If a practice is reintroduced simply because it meets the needs or desires of a generation, it will only reinforce the modern penchant for novelty. One test for the emerging church will be whether ancient practices are retrieved as practices or simply as preferences.

He points the rift between emerging and mainline churches that needs to be healed somehow...

A lingering distrust of the "institutional church" has made partnership with mainline denominations difficult. For their part, mainline churches have generally failed to create space for new expressions of church to thrive.

He quotes Lauren Winner, and calls the "incarnational church" to live out this "relevant-resistant" tension as it does the "ancient-future".

"How do you simultaneously attend to the culture and be a pocket of resistance? You can’t be a pocket of resistance without attending . . . but I still think people come to church when church is different from the world, when there is something noticeably ecclesial in the broadest sense, when church seems like church rather than a shopping mall."

and from Rowan Williams he quotes: so often the church is renewed "from the edges, not the center," ... "Be grateful for new things happening, even if they are not easily digestible."

the tree of life

2004-12-08T20:54:00.000+13:00

i was looking for an image to put in my 'profile', i really liked this celtic 'tree of life', its apparently from the book of kells. the description is beautiful...

Tree of Life - Y Goeden Bywyd "The 'Tree of Life' is an esoteric philosophy common to many cultures and mythologies. Often regarded as an all nourishing, all giving mother, many myths speak of the tree of life, or world tree as involved in the creation of the universe... the ancients envisioned the entire cosmos in the form of a tree whose roots grow deep into the underground, its branches reaching high into the heavens and sky... (from the Book of Kells - a medieval manuscript)"

i wonder...is god like a tree
its interesting to think that genesis 1 + revelations 22 are not the only ancient traditions that refer to a 'tree of life'

i remember my dad taking me to trinity college in dublin to see the 'book of kells'...

The Book of Kells was written around the year 800 AD and is one of the most beautifully illuminated manuscripts in the world. It contains the four gospels, preceded by prefaces, summaries, and canon tables or concordances of gospel passages. It is written on vellum and contains a Latin text of the Gospels in insular majuscule script accompanied by magnificent and intricate whole pages of decoration with smaller painted decorations appearing throughout the text. The manuscript was given to Trinity College in the 17th century and since 1953 has been bound in four volumes. It has been on display in the Old Library since the 19th century.

i wish i'd taken a whole lot more notice.

McGrath "the future of christianity"

2004-12-07T10:43:00.000+13:00

unfortunately i didn't find Alister McGrath's book "The Future of Christianity" too helpful...i suppose he's covered the subject very broadly and objectively, but the result (in my experience) is that it didn't really produce that 'spark', like pooh's "aha", in me that i get when i read all the other stuff i read. you can't get more subjective than that huh! he does raise the global issues that christianity in general will/is face/ing, and he acknowledges that

the further expansion of evangelicalism in the non-western world is likely to involve a further critique of implicit western assumptions within the movement (for example, its individualism) and the mergence of new froms of the movement, responsive to regional issues. By the end of the twentey-first century, evangelicalism will have changed, reflecting these new patterns of global action and reflection.

hope it happens well before then.

found the last chapter interseting: "the two nations: the disillusionment with academic theology" where he examines some of the problems with the way theology is (currently) done. ie the gulf between the academic community and the community of faith (= two nations), between theology and spirituality, and between western and non-western theologies. His solution (or 'strategy for recovery') is found in the 'organic theologian', a concept he has borrowed from a marxist theorist named Antonio Gramsci. The organic theologian is deeply committed to the community of faith even though s/he must critique the contemporary expressions of that tradition...

For Gramsci, such an individual is identified primarily with relation to her social function; that is, the role that she plays in supporting the worldview of her community, liberating it from the hegemony of the establishment, and projecting that worldview into the establishment, in order to gain a consensus which will lead to transformation...it is vital to appreciate the importance of popular culture. Gramsci's analysis indicates that it is at this level that ideas are shaped and values communicated.

i think the idea is a working relationship between academic and popular theology. As Karl Barth said (MacGrath quotes) "theology is a matter for the church"

the big search

2004-12-04T14:55:00.000+13:00

have begun the big online search for relevant material. there is so much...i've spent the last few hours just trawling through my favourites list (which is a digital representation of the rest of my 'academic' life - no real order of any sort). If i was more ordered/organized i suppose i'd have lots of little folders, instead i have a big pile.

found an interesting conversation following a post by andrew jones called 'when we stop emerging' and an article written from the perspective of 2044 by Eutychus Bailey. Perhaps i can speculate as well as anyone else about how an emerging church today might 'be' in 10 or 30 years time, but i feel as though saying 'this is what it might/will look like' is not quite the same as 'this is what it could look like'. which reminds me of a piece of art which served as the 'text' for church last sunday - Ecce Ancilla Domini (The Annunciation) 1849-50, Dante Gabriel Rossetti:
the woman who spoke (I can't remember her name) talked about how mary may have felt being 'pregnant', not just physically, but with something so much bigger than herself, something meaningful for the whole creation, significant beyond what she could imagine. and so for us, there's something important about being pregnant with god's hope's and visions for the future that we may not be able yet to fully articulate or imagine. there's something in the mixture of hope and expectation. and the waiting that intensifies it. i think that in itself represents an aspect of the churches i've been reading about that really resonates with so many people, the concept that we haven't quite arrived yet...that there is something more that is close enough that it feels like its just around the corner..............(like a row of dots)(like yanceys "rumours of another world")(like the 'already but not yet' of the kingdom of god)

on the other hand

2004-12-03T10:20:00.000+13:00

decided against posting dan's response, simply becuase I would love so many people i know to actually read the book. i've just given it to estelle (mum-in-law). she'll finish it in 2 days max (legendary reader)...who's next! i'm itching to read 'the story we find ourselves in' (part 2), however i do feel the pull to put some energy into the more academic aspects of this research paper...i.e. writing a research proposal for my wonderful supervisor Nicola Hoggard-Creegan.

felt convicted last night (probably doesn't happen as often as it should) about not having read anything by Lesslie Newbigin other than excerts for classes. Not very good for a missions major thinking about 'gospel+culture'. maybe i should read a bit of Polanyi too.

a new kind of christian

2004-12-02T17:04:00.000+13:00

having finished 'the church on the other side', i'm now onto a new kind of christian, also by Brian McLaren. it has the same feel as 'sophies world', kind of like what sophie's world is to philosophy is what this book is to christianity. Brian could have written this book like his other books, with chapters like 'the history of the universe', 'do non-christians go to heaven', 'what is postmodernity/postmodernism and is it a good or a bad thing for christianity' and so on. but he's written it in the form of a dialogue (or 'spiritual journey' as it says on the cover') between two friends. very hard to put down... here's a quote

"Maybe neither liberals nor conservatives take the Bible seriously enough."

I almost laughed. "That's a good one."

"No, I'm serious," Neo said. "One thing that both modern liberals and conservatives have in common is that they read the bible in very modern ways. Modern conservatives treat the Bible as if it were a modern book. They're used to reading modern history texts and modern encyclopedias and modern sciene articles and modern legal codes, and so they assume that the Bible will yield its resources if they approach it like one of those texts. But none of those categories even existed when the Bible was written. Sure, there was history, but not with all of the modern trimmings like a concern fro factual accuracy, corroborating evidence, or absolute objectivity. Sure there was law, but I'm not sure there is a one-to-one correspondence between an ancient Near Eastern concept of law and our modern concept. The conservatives seem somewhat blind to these kinds of differences, I think."

He continued, "the modern liberals seem to make a corresponding mistake. They acknowledge that the Bible is a different kind of text from our modern texts, but then they in a sense judge it by modern standards. If something doesn't fit in with a modern Western mind-set that reveres objectivity, science, democracy, individualism, that sort of thinking, it is dismissed as primitive and irrelevant.

"There's a third option neither of them takes, and that's the option I think we should take. Can you see what it is? I don't want to tell you, Dan. I want you to try to get it yourself."

maybe I'll post Dan's "getting it" tomorrow.

the big post below

2004-12-01T21:53:00.000+13:00

i posted my paper "let me tell you a story" below. its huge. but for those who wanted to read it, it saves me emailing the 969kb file to you (complete with pictures), you can read it here instead. obviously no footnotes here- although I've acknowledged most authors in the text body.

the purpose of this blog...

2004-11-30T16:48:00.000+13:00

the purpose of this blog is to record the process of a research paper i am embarking on. in this paper i'm going to explore the trajectory that emerging expressions church, faith and spirituality may be on. in other words...if we can identify them as emerging then what might they look like in 10 years time. i just recently completed a paper in which i developed a hypothetical 'strategy' (yuck) for presenting the gospel in 'postmodern (nz) culture'. this current project will be very much the 'next step' - perhaps using some standard sociological methods of research inorder to make some reasonable predictions (i'm not sure i believe this can be done) to compliment my (probably very) unreasonable hopes.

thanks to Cathy Ross for reading (and liking) the former paper and giving me the ideas for this paper.

am currently reading "The Church on the Other Side: Doing Ministry in the Postmodern Matrix" by Brian McLaren.

let me tell you a story

2004-11-29T15:09:00.000+13:00

The Gospel for Postmodern New Zealanders

A Primer: Postmodernity and New Zealand
Let me tell you a story. I have a missionary friend, from Holland, living in New Zealand. As a staff member for a discipleship training school, she has recently returned from taking a group of young people to Fiji on a very successful ‘outreach’. "What kind of outreach did you do" I asked, "door knocking" she replied, and described how the group were able to spend time with many families, sharing the gospel with them, simply by knocking on their door. How did they respond to the gospel? They readily accepted the validity of the message and wanted to know more about Jesus. How did these young evangelists prepare for this task? By knocking on New Zealand doors, an exercise which resulted in not one invitation to enter, and almost complete disinterest in the message they were bringing.

This story highlights some important questions. Why are New Zealanders not interested in hearing what a Christian has to say? What is so culturally different about New Zealanders that makes them less trusting of the message? What has caused New Zealand culture to change so much that evangelistic strategies that used to be successful are now a waste of time?

There may be many reasons why an individual person may choose to open or close the door to a gospel heralding stranger, reasons that may change from day to day. However, we cannot deny that even anecdotal evidence such as my story above reveals much about the state of the culture of New Zealand in general while also hinting at some of the changes that have occurred that have brought us here. This is perhaps the first step in understanding the importance of cultural anthropology for mission, recognizing how necessary an understanding of culture is if the gospel is to be communicated effectively.

Just over a year ago a well know New Zealand evangelist, after taking note of the book titles in my hands, whispered to me over a library table "you know what, I don’t think postmodernity exists". Being surprised with this assertion I didn’t quite know how to respond, and as he continued I found that he based this belief on the idea that people, regardless of age or context, will make decisions based on the logic and reason of an argument. He explained how evangelism should be an event that occurs when one presents the simple facts of the salvation formula to an unbeliever who is consequently put in the position of either accepting or rejecting the ‘gospel’.
This conversation disturbed me as I felt it reflected a common understanding among evangelical Christians in New Zealand. In the light of the amount that is being written, and can be observed, about the speed and nature of the changes that western culture, and particularly New Zealand culture, are undergoing, I believe that how we communicate the gospel needs to be radically rethought. Peter Stephenson shares my concerns, and writes:

"Missionaries working in non-Western cultures have long understood what it means to immerse themselves in, and adapt themselves to, the culture they are trying to reach (enculturation) and to present the gospel in a way that is meaningful to the hearers (contextualization). But we have generally not realized that our own Western culture is not what it was 30 years ago, and so needs a similar missionary engagement…the whole Western worldview has changed, and continues to change. Ways of perceiving reality, the understanding of what it means to be human, and religious belief systems have changed beyond recognition…we are witnessing the extinction of one culture/worldview and the emergence of a totally new one…we assume that the basic framework for understanding reality and human existence of young adults today is fundamentally the same as it was 30 years ago. Nothing could be further from the truth."

Stephenson has recognized that cultural research has been a tool of extreme value for missionaries, who were among the first to study and record the cultural aspects of different people groups. This discipline has been developed and refined, and now the science of Cultural Anthropology gives us the ability to appropriately present the gospel in any given cultural context. But as Stephenson points out, the significance of this endeavor is not exclusive to the realm of cross-cultural evangelism, but is vital in the task of contextualizing the gospel for our own people. Cultural Anthropology therefore also gives us the tools to understand our own culture more deeply so that the gospel we present makes is relevant, authentic and meaningful to those we engage with.

Cultural Anthropology is primarily a behavioural science, which means it is concerned with how people behave, or in other words what they ‘do’. The importance of observing what people do lies in what can be revealed about how they think, and therefore relationship between thinking and doing. However, Cultural Anthropologists do not attempt to theorize about what people ‘should’ be doing, but want to explore what people are actually doing and why they are doing what they are doing as they go about their everyday lives.

Cultural Anthropology has traditionally been the study of the behaviour of "others" (the non-western), and has thereby developed the concept of culture as being the common behaviour that is observed among "other" people groups. However, today Cultural Anthropology is a vital science in the understanding of all cultural and sub-cultural groups, and hence we are able to learn much about the very culture we are immersed in by utilizing anthropological tools.

Cultural Anthropology strives to be interdisciplinary in its approach to research in order to arrive at a holistic perspective of culture. This means taking the time to understand the environmental, social, psychological, spiritual, historical, political and biological (to name a few) implications of the context within which the group being studied is located. When the same process is applied to our own context, we equipped with the necessary analytical tools to be able to understand and interpret our own culture. We are given the ability to explore our own behaviour and the behaviour of those around us.

As mentioned before, Cultural Anthropology affords us a deeper understanding of culture by exploring the thinking that is associated with behaviour. An important aspect of Cultural Anthropology, termed epistemology, asks the question "how do we know what we know?" and seeks to explore the process different people groups use to interpret their experiences of reality. It is especially important that we grasp an understanding of epistemology because it is in this area that much of the difference between the modern and the postmodern worldview lies.

In his book "Anthropological Reflections on Missiological Issues" Paul G. Hiebert makes use of the following parable to illustrate various epistemological positions:

several umpires stood talking after a baseball game one day when a player asked them, "Why do you call a particular pitch a ‘strike’?"

to which each umpire gives a different answer demonstrating their understanding of the nature of knowledge and reality. Ravi Zacharias has borrowed this parable to show the shift in epistemology between the ages:

a premodern baseball umpire would have said something like this:
'There's balls, and there's strikes and I call 'em as they are.'
a modernist would have said,
'There's balls and there's strikes, and I call 'em as I see 'em.'
and the postmodernist umpire would say,
'They ain't nothing until I call 'em.'

This illustration helps us recognize one of the most important aspects of postmodernity, that in the postmodern world knowledge and reality is understood as being almost exclusively subject and context dependent.

The word ‘Postmodern’ has crept into our general vocabulary pool only recently but has been used in such a variety ways that it evades concrete definition. In this paper it is used in reference to culture, allowing it to become a more tangible idea with an underlying worldview as a fixed reference point. It must also be defined in light of the preceding ‘modern’ age and the worldview it is associated with. It is to this relationship that the term owes its existence, as the prefix ‘post’ suggests, and it is essential to understand some of the major aspects of modernity if we are to define postmodernity.

Peter Stephenson, in his article "Christian Mission in the Postmodern World" gives the following overview of modernity:

For several centuries, the governing worldview in the Western world was what has come to be known as "Modernism". In very simplistic terms, Modernism assumed that human reason was the only reliable way of making sense of the universe. Anything that could not be understood in scientific terms was either not true, or not worth knowing. Human beings, by means of scientific reason, could make sense of the world, and indeed, manipulate it for their benefit, with or without reference to God...This ability to understand and manipulate the natural world (i.e. the only part of the universe worth knowing about) held out the promise of unlimited progress. The world was recognized as being infested with problems (ill-health, poverty, suffering, war), but science would find the solutions sooner or later.

Stephenson has recognized that the cultural shift that has occurred within the western world has been due to an overall sense of distrust in the idealism of modernity. Apart from being a predominantly western phenomenon, postmodernity does not refer to the particular culture of one group of people but points to this common shift in worldview that is becoming prevalent within many (yet mostly western) cultures. Also, as "postmodern" culture cannot be described as belonging to one group of people, neither is it a movement which can be followed, or a destructive influence to be fought. It is more simply a term made necessary because of very real changes that are well documented and readily observed within the western worldview, and is used in this way to describe the emerging state of New Zealand culture. Hence, it is without surprise that "postmodern" culture is appropriately descriptive of the particular worldview that is emerging within our New Zealand.

The postmodern worldview does not accept that there is one way to define truth, or that the language and symbols we use represent an actual reality that exists "out there". This critique of modernity holds that reality is socially constructed and is interpreted and agreed upon by the community with whom and individual identifies, within the particular context that they find themselves in. Hence, all claims to truth are open to discussion, no one understanding is better than another and the postmodern catch phrase "You have your truth, I have my truth" is largely assumed.

As postmodernity can in many ways be defined as a critique of modernity, the table below is set out to show some of the major ways in which this has occurred:

Modern Culture
Postmodern culture
Metanarratives (the grand stories) of history, culture and national identity accepted. Myths of cultural and ethnic origin accepted as received.
Suspicion and rejection of metanarratives of history and culture result in identification with more local and contextual narratives and the deconstruction of metanarratives
Trust in the promise of progress through science and technology
Scepticism in the idea of progress
Belief in the existence of absolute truth "the real", truth is to be "known"
Disbelief in absolute truth, truth is subject dependant, truth is to be "experienced"
Faith in, and myths of, social and cultural unity, hierarchies of social-class and ethnic/national values, seemingly clear bases for unity.
Social and cultural pluralism, disunity, unclear bases for social/national/ ethnic unity.
Belief in the value of logic/reason, the inherent goodness of knowledge
Distrust in the logical, reasonable argument, knowledge is power and can be abused
Sense of unified, centered self; "individualism," unified identity.
Sense of fragmentation and decentered self; multiple, conflicting identities.
Idea of "the family" as central unit of social order: model of the middle-class, nuclear family. Heterosexual norms.
Alternative family units, alternatives to middle-class marriage model, multiple identities for couplings and childraising.
Hierarchy, order, centralized control.
Subverted order, loss of centralized control, fragmentation.
Mass culture, mass consumption, mass marketing.
Demassified culture; niche products and marketing, smaller group identities.
The Encyclopaedia
The internet
The human being is the source of meaning and value. Nature is valued only as useful to humans. The development of human potential is the highest goal of politics.
The human being is part of the whole created order. Nature is valuable in its own right. Humans are responsible for protection of nature.

Within the Church community Postmodernity is often regarded as a serious threat to Christianity. Recently, a fellow student asked me to comment on an essay he had written about postmodernity and its potentially destructive effect on Christianity. Having come to value parts of my own decidedly postmodern worldview, and yet am still regarded by most as distinctly "Christian", we discovered that while there was cause for debate on one level, to describe ‘postmodernity’ as good or bad is completely missing the point.

Cultural Anthropology requires us firstly to lay aside preconceptions about the legitimacy or illegitimacy of the Postmodern worldview and its influence on our culture. It instead asks us to first describe our culture in terms of what is observable – context and behaviour, and from there make conclusions about the worldview that underlies our culture. This paper seeks to go one step further by taking this analysis and applying it to how we communicate our faith to those we have observed. And this can only by done by contextualizing (making relevant and meaningful) the enduring truth and significance of the gospel for the postmodern mind.

Introduction
To ‘cut a long story short’, as we like to say here in a land of long stories and long clouds, there is a simple concept that I believe serves well the quest for authentic and effective evangelism to Postmodern New Zealanders. It is that "the medium is the message".

Amongst the wealth of information and insight that can be mined from the internet on this topic, the Rev. Scott J. Simmons presents an excellent summing up of this concept:

The first step to constructing a postmodern gospel presentation is to embrace the postmodern reality that "the medium is the message"—the medium by which we communicate also communicates our message (and sometimes contradicts and distracts from it)…What good is it to proclaim a thoroughly Biblical gospel only to have the message lost in modern rhetoric? What happens if we craft our medium, our method, for a postmodern audience only to proclaim plainly a message that still does not communicate to the plausibility structures of our society? All elements of evangelism ought to be thoroughly evaluated, both in terms of its medium and message, to ensure that we are communicating Biblical truth to a postmodern audience.

Like Colin McCahon’s "Crucifixion – the Apple Branch", which portrays the crucifixion of Christ against a landscape that is uniquely ‘New Zealand’, if the gospel is presented to Postmodern New Zealanders through medium that is familiar (distinctively ‘kiwi’ and postmodern), the significance of the message will be accorded its full weight for these people.

The Problem with Postmodernity is…
One of the most difficult hurdles one faces when seeking to present the gospel to those most influenced by postmodernity is in getting an "audience". The culture of consumerism has evolved to such a level that we are constantly bombarded with opportunities to ‘opt for’, buy, choose. Marketing strategies have become intensely invasive, subjecting the individual to a constant barrage of advertising that ranges from the "in your face", whole side of a ten story building variety, to the subtle, psychologically influencing forms that we often experience unconsciously. Postmoderns (those most influenced by postmodernity) have become acutely aware of these marketing ploys and have become incredibly discerning in the way they consume. With so much being offered to them on a daily basis, "no thanks" is the easiest and quickest answer given in most situations.

This has immediate implications for how faith and spirituality are presented. In the age of postmodernity the gospel stands in competition with a myriad of spiritual options. With the postmodern ideal that all expressions of truth are equal (relativism), when we continue to present the gospel as we have done in the past it more often than not becomes either part of a ‘pick and mix’ spirituality, or rejected in favour of other forms of belief.
My proposal is that in presenting the gospel to postmodern New Zealanders, both the message and the medium of the gospel must be relevant and meaningful, and resonate within the postmodern mind. This means that in being ‘contextual’ we must communicate holistically the essence of the gospel by understanding and addressing the questions that postmodern New Zealanders are asking. At the same time we must present an uncompromising, authentic spiritual reality.

Postmoderns are unlikely to choose an option based simply on the reasonableness of the information presented, or the logic with which a position is argued. A reasonable argument for the existence of God may not be disputed, but will probably be met with the response "so what". In the postmodern age, reality and truth are things that are experienced more than things that are proven. And yet, this is not something new. We need to remember that it was Jesus, who experienced life as a human, who said "I am the way, the truth, and the life" as an invitation to experience the gospel by experiencing him first hand. Postmoderns have become disillusioned with truth in the form of an objective reality which needs only to be known, but are attracted to a subjective, self-discovered truth which becomes real as it is experienced. Postmoderns are not averse to thinking deeply about their spirituality, but what and how they ‘feel’ will be the biggest influence on how they think.

There are many more issues regarding the postmodern worldview that present challenges to effective communication of the gospel, some of which will be expanded upon below. The aim of this paper is to propose a strategy for evangelism to postmoderns by communicating the gospel in an authentic and relevant way. It will be shaped by what I have learnt through observation of and research about postmodern culture, and will show the practical use of cultural anthropology in contextualizing the gospel for a specific group of people.

The Gospel
There is no one answer to the question "what is the gospel". No matter what context the question is asked in, the answer will always be complex and multifaceted. Sure, we can list a number of essential ingredients, for example the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and we must be careful not to put the message outside the reach of who desire a simple, straightforward message. However, the gospel cannot (especially in a postmodern context) be reduced to a set of propositional statements. It must exude the very ‘life’ that it communicates. It must take on the characteristics and traits that it endorses. It must be as much ‘now’ as it is a hope for the future. It must be "your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven".

The strategy that I will present here will seek to communicate the gospel in three ways, each using a different medium to convey a different aspect of the gospel, but combined will communicate a fuller sense of the gospel message. The three parts of the strategy are:

The gospel as restoration into community
In order for the gospel to be ‘real’ to the postmodern person, more than just an idea or concept, it must be enacted, lived, embodied by those who are telling it. As the opening quote urged us to understand, the ‘medium is the message’, in other words – the way in which we retell the gospel is the gospel. If the gospel is the enduring message of love, grace, mercy, freedom, salvation and life, and if it is a gospel which is not just promised for the future but is given to us here and now, surely our retelling of this gospel will communicate this message in a realistic way. Just as a missionaries in Africa will embody the gospel by providing medicine, food, clean water, and adequate housing for those who have great needs, so too must we allow our embodiment of the gospel to impact the great needs of the postmodern person.

There are two great needs that I believe every postmodern person is likely to have, they are to be accepted into and to identify with an authentic community and to hold a hope for the future. This is what Jill Hudson, a sociologist has said:

The encouraging news is that the postmodern culture does offer many new opportunities to witness to the gospel. Community is in short supply in contemporary life. More and more people are finding our world a frightening place in which to live and are looking for a safe haven. Individuals and families are seeking support for such problems as dealing with divorce, drugs and alcohol,

Postmodernity has rediscovered the value of community after becoming disillusioned with the individualistic endeavours of ‘modern’ life. The reality of postmodernity is that the lives of those who live within it have become increasingly fragmented. Because of the corrosion of trust in the metanarrative, the gospel, lived out by faithful believers, finds its most natural expression in and as community. The first invitation, and the one that will have long reaching effects, should be the invitation to join an open community, and to enter into meaningful relationships.

living::room
My strategy for communicating this aspect of the gospel would involve initiating the possibility of an authentic community by providing the means for it to develop in an informal yet semi-structured manner. The heart of this endeavour would involve establishing a not-for-profit café (perhaps called "living room" to continue with an emerging theme that has arisen in Sydney and Seattle) that would be a ‘space’ in which community could be facilitated. It is hoped, but not as assumed, that if it is successful a core group of individuals will regard the café as a place in which their primary community exists (or ‘happens’). This group will be somewhat transient, yet in its fluidity it will allow others to come in and experience being part of an authentic community.

First of all, good coffee is essential for this endeavour! If there is one way to ensure the loyalty of a postmodern New Zealander to your café, and thereby planting the seeds for a community, it is by using organic, ‘fair trade’ beans and a skilled ‘barista’, neither which are too hard to come by. It would also be essential to construct a team of Christians to staff the café who understand and are immersed in the culture of postmodernity. They must be willing to be ‘incarnational’ in their approach to sharing the gospel, willing to be Christ in the postmodern world in the way they live and in the way they relate to those they come in contact with.

The ethos of the café would include:
That the space would be created in a way which is ‘relevant’ and comfortable for the postmodern New Zealander, not the Christian New Zealander. This means being mindful to avoid the products of the modern Christian ‘super-culture’ being an influence or even a presence, not only to remove the possibility of the threat of organized religion, but to allow the space to take on the character and diversity of those who use it.

That the space is open and inclusive, welcoming to all, accepting of all, and that the freedom of expression is upheld and the diversity of expression is encouraged.

That it would be a place where relationships are formed, between host and patron, or between patrons, in a relaxed, neutral (i.e. not overtly Christian) and natural environment.

That the events, exhibitions and activities are designed to explore spirituality and to foster involvement by the existing local- and forming café-community.

That as a not-for-profit organization it would use profits to fund local projects to care for the less-fortunate, and to support other not-for-profit and missional enterprises.

I have found the words of Karen Ward, from living:room in Seattle, very helpful as has already embarked upon such an endeavour, and has this to say about her experiences and philosophy:

that is why living:room is not a christian cafe, but a real, regular, cafe. we don't play christian music or serve 'christian' tea. as apostles, we see our mission as, well, apostolic...the word apostolein mean to be 'sent out'. because of this, our primary orientation is not inward (towards church) but outward (towards kingdom). so we feel called by god, not to 'live' in the church (run a christian cafe...) but to live in the world (and run a regular cafe) and to 'be' church (carry within us christ and the kingdom) and express this in how we live. "the postmodern generations are looking for authenticity, reality, transparency and openness. to that extent, postmodernity is saying, "don't talk to me about what you believe - show me how you live.' it is entirely biblical- more so at times than the church it savagely critiques. as we serve tea, we don't preach at people about what we believe, but we do show them how we live... 'preaching' gospel in our deeply post-christian context is less about words spoken, and more about life lived 'in the way of jesus' which speaks louder than any words or tract

As mentioned above, the café would host a range of events and activities designed to both foster community/relationship building and explore spirituality, they would include:

A weekly story telling night, when patrons and one invited guest share stories from their own life experiences, or perhaps read.
A weekly open mic and DJ night, when stage is open for aspiring musicians (poets, comedians)
Perpetual art exhibitions: for local artists to display their work
Discussion nights when contemporary issues are addressed and thrashed out
Local and more well known professional bands and musicians when available, both Christian and non.
Board game and quiz events
Community ventures in which the profit from sales benefits the less fortunate in the local area

The gospel as the story of Yahweh/God
In Acts 17 we find Paul in Athens with some time on his hands as he waits for Silas and Timothy to join him. Naturally, Paul takes this opportunity to bring his message to the market place and talk with who ever comes his way, evangelist extraordinaire! But that’s not all he gets up to, he also spends his time observing the products of their culture in order to understand their worldview, which stands him in good stead for what transpires. It so happens that the spiritual imaginations of the Epicureans and Stoics he meets are sparked and he is invited to tell them more.

Michael L. Simpson has written a book on the topic of "Permission Evangelism" which outlines how we can move from the first part of this strategy to being able to talk about our faith. He believes that the willingness of a non-Christian to engage in meaningful conversation decreases the closer we get to approaching the subject of organized religion. But he suggests that by gauging the interest of each individual, we can embark on an ongoing conversation using the following process:

(nice little chart!)

The way in which Paul speaks to these Athenians provides a valuable model for presenting the gospel to postmoderns. Paul has received permission to bring his message and there is little doubt Paul would have been excited by the prospect of sharing the "good news" with these gentiles. Yet, instead of preaching to them from the scriptures and revealing Jesus as the "Messiah" – as he did with the Jewish Athenians – he takes a very different approach. He takes the next step and tells them the story of God.

Postmoderns, like these Athenians, do not have a worldview that accommodates ‘Jesus the saviour’. Themes such as ‘sin’ and ‘salvation’ are foreign, and the Christian Bible has no more authority than any other ancient or contemporary spiritual book. The first task is to recognize that despite this, postmoderns are indeed deeply spiritual, they are in many ways more ready than their parents were to explore this aspect of life. Hence, an appeal to the spiritual quest is like walking through an open door, even though the story of Yahweh will need to be presented and heard alongside the stories of other gods and faiths as the "Unknown God." Instead of condemning the Athenians for their idol worship, Paul takes the opportunity to commend them for their search and even quotes their own poets in order to show that they are on the right track. We would do well to follow Paul in paying respect to the search that postmoderns have embarked upon and taking note of the important discoveries they may have already made.

Paul starts from the very beginning with "the God who made the world and everything in it", brings his audience into the story, "he is not far from each one of us, for in him we live and move and have our being", and concludes by pointing to Jesus. In this way Paul has set the scene for those who have been drawn into the story to learn more. Don Carson has identified the enduring effectiveness of this principle for all cultures:

The policy with New Tribes Mission during the last 15 years has been that when they move into areas where there has been no previous knowledge of the gospel, they start by retelling the Bible's whole storyline. This is considered to be the most effective way of communicating the gospel to people of a different worldview.

There is a problem, however, with this divine/human narrative in that its claim to be ‘true for all people and for all times’ is unacceptable and deeply dissatisfying to the postmodern mind. Postmodernity allows the individual to tell and interpret their own personal and unique story within their own context and community. Fortunately, telling the story of God does not require a ‘one size fits all’ explanation of the universe and everything in it. Just as we have numerous contextual theologies throughout the world (black theology, feminist theology, Asian theologies), contextualizing the story of God for the postmodern New Zealander involves interpreting that story through our unique perspective.

creation::chronicles
One of the ways to do this is to recognize that Postmodern New Zealanders hold a unique and intensely contextual understanding of the nature and value of creation – the land, the sea, the air, and all that lives on and within it. This understanding is influenced by Maori mythology and history as well as the heritage passed down from our Pakeha ancestors who also came to treasure Aotearoa. This understanding is also influenced by the issues that New Zealanders are currently facing, such as: the foreshore and seabed debate and how the treaty of Waitangi is to be interpreted, the tension surrounding such issues as human cloning and the genetic modification of plants and animals, and ecological and environmental issues concerning out native species. I believe that the story of God’s creation of the heavens and the earth can be told in a way that is deeply meaningful to New Zealanders by connecting and identifying it with these ongoing discussions, and by incorporating the familiar images and language of the New Zealand context.

It is important that in introducing the biblical account of creation that we do so not in objection to science but as bringing the story of God into the picture, as bringing the why and who to bear upon the what, how and when. Keith Ward, Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford University, explains well how we can responsibly handle the retelling of the creation story alongside science and other stories of the origin of the world. He says:

The first creation story is primarily concerned with the ordering of the elements of the universe, as being with moral and rational awareness emerge from primal chaos. The second story focuses more specifically on human nature, as properly material and relational, and as finding its fulfillment in total dependence on God and in the self-giving wisdom of love. Together, these stories give great insight into the nature of humanity in a universe created by a wise and powerful God. They do not provide a scientific account, but are inspired stories conveying spiritual truths in narrative from. Modern scientific accounts of an evolutionary universe complement these narratives by sketching out the wider cosmic perspective into which their underlying teachings can be fitted. The fit is, I think, a natural one, so that the scientific view and the biblical view together provide an intellectually satisfying and spiritually illuminating account of creation.

The strategy that I would undertake would be to organize an semi-structured event that would be organized at the café in which speakers and artists from a range of sources and backgrounds (e.g. bioethics, earth science, Maori culture, Old Testament studies, musician, poet, painter) would address the topic of "creation". Each speaker/artist would, for 15 minutes, present their perspective as complementing the others, and each would be open for questions and discussion (perhaps with prepared discussion questions). At the completion of the presentations a time of response would be facilitated by inviting participants to express their understanding of the creation, and perhaps any spiritual responses to what they have heard and seen.

The gospel as the life/death/life of Jesus Christ
In the telling of the story of Jesus Christ, our popular evangelism has tended to reduce the significance of his life and death to a set of propositional statements. All of these statements have merit and contribute to the story, but on their own they only reveal, at the very most, one dimension of the story to the postmodern person. We have seen, especially in the second half of the 1900’s, evangelistic ‘tools’ that tell the story of Jesus in the form of propositional statements and large evangelistic ‘crusades’, both designed to elicit a reject or accept response. This effectiveness of this method was based largely on the fact that those living in the modern age were more likely to already hold a Judeo-Christian worldview in which these statements slotted nicely and relevantly into. This is not the case today, as was established in section 2, and our presentation of Jesus Christ must also be mindful of the journey/process that postmodern New Zealanders are on.

Most postmodern New Zealanders will have a certain level of respect for the historical Jesus, based on what they may have heard of his teachings and good deeds. These same people will generally have much less respect for the organized religion of Christianity, hence it becomes difficult to present Jesus in a non-threatening way and yet in being missional we must present this person as the centre of the story. Steve Taylor has discussed the idea of ‘festival spirituality’ as a way in which spirituality can be ‘tasted’ and ‘sampled’ in a ‘try before you buy’ environment, and has used this philosophy in much of his work at Graceway Baptist Church. I propose to take up this concept the final part of the strategy.

via::crucis
In order to reach and impact the postmodern with an authentic and meaningful message, the story of Jesus must be told in a multi-dimensional way. It needs to be told in a form that challenges all the senses and both sides of the brain! The advent of Easter gives a wonderful opportunity to do just this. An ancient form of pilgrimage known as Stations of the Cross (also Way of the Cross, via crucis or via dolorosa), uses a series of images (paintings, engravings, carvings, stained glass windows) at ‘stations’ or places designed to mark each of the events of the last week of Jesus' life. Presenting these events in such a way allows an individual to stop, observe, reflect and respond to each station/event. This ‘try before you buy’ festival type event is ideal for the postmodern person as it provides the opportunity to intimately interact with and experience the story of Jesus.

I propose using either the café space (if it is large enough) or a rented space (preferably a non-church building) in which to orchestrate this event. In order to capture this idea of pilgrimage, each station can be placed along a pathway as opposed to being presented side by side. A labyrinth is a great tool to use for this purpose. It is also an ancient spiritual practise, and it provides a pathway that takes the journeyer on a logical progression into its centre and out again. The actual act of following a labyrinth pathway facilitates spiritual experience, the diagram below is a model of a labyrinth that could be used for this purpose.

The stations can be placed along the labyrinth pathway as indicated by the numbers in the diagram below. Each station will represent the relevant event through a combination of:

Visual images such as a video loop, a painting, or a sculpture.
Music, sounds, or recorded spoken word.
The text referring to the event as well as another piece of text from the gospel such as a parable, a healing event, or part the sermon on the Mount.
Questions and ideas in order to facilitate reflection.
Prayers or liturgical responses.
Props that engage the other senses for example
Taste: salty ‘tears’, cool water, vinegar
Smell: incense burning, anointing oil
Touch: sand, wood, nails

(nice diagram of labyrinth)

The aim of this strategy is that it will encourage postmodern New Zealanders to explore the person of Jesus Christ in a non-threatening, ‘try before you buy’ environment, with the expectation that some, if not many, will be tempted to find out more.

Conclusion
The way in which I have proposed that the gospel could be presented to postmodern New Zealanders leaves one important aspect rather ambiguous – the point of conversion. This method of evangelizing does not require an articulated acceptance or rejection in order to have its impact measured, on the contrary – this method relies on the concept of ‘process evangelism’. This is the idea that conversion or acceptance of the gospel, and therefore ‘becoming a Christian’ is more of a journey than it is an event. It is the idea that commitment and discipleship is modelled by a community that provides the time and breathing room that is needed to explore the faith.

I believe that if we take seriously the challenge to understand the postmodern worldview and the deep needs of postmodern New Zealanders, we will be much better equipped to communicate the true essence of the gospel to these people. If we believe that the message of the gospel is as relevant to postmodern New Zealanders as it was to a first century Jew or even a 19th century New Zealander, then we have the responsibility to expose that relevance in a way that can be heard, understood and embraced.

Bibliography
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CD Rom
Cityside Baptist Church, Fractals: Alternative Resources for Worship in the Emerging Culture, 2004.

Web based articles:
Carson D. The Worldview Clash
www.focus.org.uk/carson.htm
Hudson J.M. The Church’s Challenge: The Church in the Postmodern world
www.alban.org/pdf/chapters/Chap2_AL279.pdf
Irvine, M. Approaches to Po-Mo, 2003
www.georgetown.edu/faculty/irvinem/theory/pomo.html.
Labyrinth
web.ukonline.co.uk./paradigm/discoverframe.html
Rowe N. Notes Toward a McCahon ABC
www.art-newzealand.com/Issues1to40/mccahon08nr.htm
Simmons, Rev. S.J. Postmodern Evangelism: Being Postmodern without Being Postmodernistic,
2002-2003
www.aplacefortruth.org/postmodern.evangelism.htm
Stephenson, P. Christian Mission in the Postmodern World June 1999 www.postmission.com/articles/pomisgen.pdf
Taylor S. Festival Spirituality: A New Way of Being Church, www.graceway.org.nz/festival.html
Ward, K. Church as Relational Space June 24, 2004
submerge.typepad.com
Internet sites
www.embody.co.uk Emberdays interactive spirituality website
www.cityside.org.nz Cityside Baptist Church
www.eastpoint.org Eastpoint Community Church
www.emergentvillage.com A Generative Friendship Among Missional Christians Around The World
www.emergingchurch.info A Touching Place for the Emerging Church
www.futurechurch.org.nz A platform for emerging spiritual communities, NZ site
www.graceway.org.nz Christian Spirituality in a new millennium, Graceway Baptist Church, NZ site
www.vintagefaith.com Exploring the emerging church and vintage Christianity
www.the-next-wave.org Church and culture
www.opensourcetheology.net To assist the development of a transparent, community-driven theology for the ‘emerging church’
solomonsporch.com/index.html A holistic, missional, Christian community
www.btmc.org.uk/altworship Alternative Worship Collective, creative worship in Bradford, UK
www.theooze.com Conversation for the journey
www.organicchurch.net A group of church planters/leaders seeking to discover what church might mean within the context of our emerging generation(s)
www.ebbflux.com/postmodern Everything Postmodern, containing links to over 1000 postmodern theory resources, sites, and journals
www.rejesus.com Rejesus is one of the best developed ecumenical websites worldwide specifically about Jesus
www.alternativeworship.org Alternative worship, UK
emergingminister.com Conversation and resources for the emerging church
web.ukonline.co.uk/paradigm/index.htm ‘Labyrinth’ is an interactive installation for spiritual journeys
www.vaux.net A faith community with strong contemporary liturgical style
www.ginkworld.net Ginkworld is a site dedicated to the advancement of the Christian Gospel in a postmodern age
www.livingroomseattle.org A non-profit tea bar, net lounge, art gallery and small performance space @ the center of the universe (in fremont), Seattle
www.livingroom.org.au Living Room >> A Space for Life, an emerging missional community in the inner north of Melbourne
www.perkatorycafe.com A non-profit cafe in Seattle, with a mission to provide great coffee and a community gathering space that is affordable for all
www.sevenmagazine.org ::seven:: seeks to engage the emerging culture and its interface with faith and life
www.anewkindofchristian.com Brian McLaren’s site
www.cultureby.com Culture by commotion (CxC) is dedicated to the idea that the anthropology of contemporary culture is too important to be left to anthropologists
www.pm4j.com Postmoderns for Jesus is designed to provide Christian resources and information about postmodern culture
www.e-vangelism.com News and views on technology, spirituality and Christianity
ship-of-fools.com The magazine of Christian unrest
www.postmission.com An international forum on mission in postmodernity
www.leonardsweet.com Leonard Sweet’s site
www.popcultures.com Sarah Zupko’s cultural studies centre
www.rzim.org Ravi Zacharias International Ministries
www.thematthewshouseproject.com The Matthew's House Project seeks to develop a place in which the intersections of faith and culture can be explored
homepages.ihug.co.nz/~mriddell Mike Riddell’s site
www.btinternet.com/~smallritual Small Ritual, alt. worship resources and weblog
www.jordoncooper.com/postmodern/index.htm Jordon Coopers links to postmodern sites, articles etc

Conversations/Blogs
submerge.typepad.com/submergence Karen Ward
www.jordoncooper.com Jordon Cooper
www.emergentkiwi.org.nz Steve Taylor
www.greenflame.org Stephen Garner
prodigal.typepad.com/prodigal_kiwi Paul Fromont
tallskinnykiwi.typepad.com/ Andrew Jones
jonnybaker.blogs.com Jonny Baker
www.maggidawn.blogspot.com/ Maggie Dawn, an Anglican priest thinking out loud about theology, life and faith