It is Friday evening and as I begin to write my reflection I honestly can’t believe a whole week has passed. It has gone so quickly, and I feel I have learnt so much. I do believe the work begins now, as I go back into my regular ministry setting, seeking to grapple and wrestle with the theory and practices we have engaged with this last week. The following are my reflections on the week, areas of growth and a picture into the future.
I have grown up in the post modern world, adapting to our changing world like a fish in water. As we watched the two versions of Romeo and Juliet, I sat there understanding the changes and being completed gripped by the fast pace and the stimulus variation of the 1996 version. However, my church upbringing was in a large, pragmatic church which was very much led by a top down approach. In some ways my church upbringing didn’t value diversity and I felt like I grew up trying to live in two tensions – in the changing world and in the staying church, with the two not really meeting. This week has given me space to name this and also be reminded, like we were with Leanne, to listen and this has been an incredibly helpful process for me.
Over the last week I do believe this week my ‘operating box’ of using the bible has been enlarged. As a trained PE/ Science teacher, I understood all of this theory from an educational perspective. I have been experimenting for about the last four years with some of these practices at church and had an intuitive hunch this was the best practice to engage people and foster growth. But with Steve bringing a theological framework to this process and providing us with copious examples and case studies, I feel like my hunch has been validated and also grounded in the text.
From a personal (John 1:1) perspective I have grown and been challenged by DJing and sampling. This gospel/ culture mix is so important and I feel I have grasped this concept and am really looking forward to trying it out next time it is appropriate when I speak. Seeing the contemporary example of Bono and U2 made this concept of sampling come alive to me and I am keen and committed to using juxtapositions, subvertions or amplifications into the future.
From an image based (Colossians 1:15) perspective I have been challenged how I ‘bring colour’ to the text. I have always been big on pictures, images, film clips and other forms of media, but I never really thought about how there was colour in the text. We bring more than our ears to church and I have been challenged in this area in how I present the text – to myself and others. I found the Kell’s book and the 40 CD reflection particularly helpful in showing me how powerful images can be. I am keen to spend time in the text, dwelling in it from an image perspective and seeing how God uses this process for me personally but also when I share the text with others. I am mindful of when Steve shared that we (the speakers/ facilitators) need to ‘open people up and not shut people down’ through this process.
From a community (Colossians 4:16) and a conversation (dialegomai) perspectives I feel that I have grown a lot in my understanding of connecting others with the living text. Jesus case study from Luke 24 really confirmed in me the importance of community and hospitality – I had never realised before how the disciples didn’t understand the ‘sermon’ on the road, but the insight occurred during an act of ‘hospitality’. This truth really confirmed in me to keep seeking to find ways to weave God’s truth through a variety of different methods and practices. I really enjoyed being exposed to Dwelling in the Word, Lectio Divina, Godly play, and other reflective practices – some which were new, others I already practice in but it was good to do this with others. I am looking forward to especially using Godly play with my youth leaders and seeing where this goes from a youth ministry perspective.
The concept of our culture being an ‘experience economy’ resonated with me and how we live in a ‘hands on’ culture. Entry points, take aways – both gathered and scattered are awesome – I do this a bit already, but I was thoroughly stimulated by the last session where we shared our ‘class projects’ and also by seeing some of Steve’s take away postcards from Opawa.
Perhaps the most engaging part of the week for me was the session on storytelling. The case study of ‘Vantage Point’ really unlocked something in my mind. I never thought of this before and it was like a light went on for me. So I really look forward to doing some work around this and telling stories along side other stories – bringing in different voices, especially those whose voice isn’t always easily heard. As a part of this I found the preaching helps good, but to be honest I was more interested in how Steve manages his time and gets the job done.
Some overarching growth points I experienced this week are: In the words of Winston Churchill – ‘never give up’. I am convinced God wants me to start working on these muscles he has identified this week and like I said at the beginning the work for me really starts now; I need to gather some like minded people around me to help the creativity and biblical framework conviction grow; taking appropriate risks at the right time for the right reasons is important; I need to take time – in preparation for a message so that I can have the space to develop the areas I have spoken about in this reflection.
So there you have it, my reflections on this last week. I look forward to engaging with you all and learning together
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7 comments:
Gudonya mike. I really enjoyed the U2 clip as well. I was also excited by the piglet clip. Hey why not use kids stuff if gets the message over. Overall it was a great week. Keep on risking.
Don George
Hi Mike. How did your daughter's tonsillectomy go?
Chris McLeod.
P.S. I'll post a response to your vision statement a.s.a.p once I work out exactly what it is we are meant to be doing!
Mike, I really enjoyed and appreciated your reflection. I was particularly taken by how there didn’t seem to be any ‘threat’ to you, or your faith, in the course material. It says to me that for you post-modernism is your home territory. You seem to really embrace the challenges being put before us – good on you! A couple of insights that come to me as I read your statement.
As you say the ‘gospel/culture mix’ is important one. Many people do not have our/your church background and many others are not able to live in ‘two worlds’: so you are perfectly placed to do some Dj-ing and sampling. Steve’s insight that ‘gospel and culture lie at the core of the emerging Chruch’1) is one that will give you some confidence – you are not alone.
The other thing that came to me was your desire to listen to the other voices in the ‘text’ and world. The other voices, of course, include those who form your community of interpretation who will ‘help the creativity and biblical frame work’. Perhaps, there lies the answer to time management. Others will bring their gifts, which will supplement yours and free you up from having to do it all. The homiletical table provides for a myriad of voices from the tradition, contemporary culture and conversation partners 2).
1) Taylor, S 2005, The Out of bounds Church, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, P.138
2) McSpadden, C 2003, ‘Preaching Scripture Faithfully in a Postmodern Age’. The Art of reading Scripture, Davis, E.F & Hays R.B eds, Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, MI, P. 139
G’day Mike,
Your reflections were a good read and a good summary of all that our intensive entailed. I especially liked your comments about education theory regarding multiple intelligences and learning styles and the like, that the church has been experimenting with for some time, finally being grounded and validated through the biblical text. Like you, the box that I had kept my understanding of how to engage the promise, hope, passion and life of the Bible has enlarged with a greater understanding and application of the word ; personally, in image, in community and as a dialogue.
There has been so much to imbibe, and it is obvious by reading the comments of others that we have all made connections from our own perspectives and with our own contexts. By exposing us to different techniques like godly play and Lectio Divina, Steve has helped me see how it is possible for the sermon to not only an act of proclamation, but an act of pastoral care which allows the word of God to engage the people and bring forth a theology from below.
McSpadden (2003) refers to the sermon as the single most impactful tool available to pastoral care in the life of the church. However, her definition of pastoral care is much broader than the contemporary understanding used in churches, but rather “all activities that cultivate growth of the heart and enable healing and wholeness of body, soul, mind and soul” (McSpadden 2003:132). I find this definition both challenging and freeing, because pastoral visits are not my primary gifting. Yet, in spending time with people, listening to their stories and engaging their stories with the biblical narrative, a theology arises that is both practical and incarnational.
Our application of John 1, the personalised living word, is also the basis for the understanding of incarnation – verses 14 states the word became flesh and dwelt among us. Christ the living word participates in the mission dei in the world, not just in the church (Cochrane 2006). Therefore, the church’s mission is to follow Christ into the world, to engage with culture and allow the transformational power of the living text to connect with the stories of life of all humanity. However, this is only possible as we begin to break free from our operating box and allow these renewed encounters to lead us out with a greater commitment to fulfil the commission to go and make disciples of nations.
I hope that you mind find these thoughts helpful.
Bless you,
Tim Winslade
References
Cochrane, L (Maj) 2006 Salvation Army: Australian Southern Territory Sports Ministry Handbook, Salvation Army, Melbourne. Accessed at www.salvationarmy.org on 25..6.08
McSpadden, C. “Preaching Scripture Faithfully in a Post-Modern Age.” In The Art of Reading Scripture, edited by Davis, E., & Hays, R. Eerdmans Grand Rapids, MI 2003.
Gardiner, H., “Intelligence Reframed”(1999) in Pedder, R.A “Starting Well – preparing the environment, A teacher’s guide to sowing seeds in prepared ground”, YWAM International DTS centre, 2006 at www.ywam.dtscentre.com accessed 6//11/2007
You mentioned you like using multi media and look forward to telling stories that bring in different voices, especially those not easily heard. Reading Tex Sample’s (1994) book, he discusses the fact that most of society operate out of a ‘traditional orality’. By that he means that they can read and write – though some can not- ‘but whose appropriation and engagement with life is oral’ (p6) that is to say they relate more with proverbs, stories and one-liner wisdom. In a practical sense in terms of Christian ministry, it means that for most they do not relate to deep theological discourses and arguments. When it comes to the issue of faith, they have a ‘faith language of the heart’ (p83). When we communicate the Gospel our words may actually be narcotic, or destructive. Multimedia is the indigenous form of communication and is based on ‘orality’, and therefore most of our congregations relate to it (Sample 1994). We need to minister in a way that is sensitive to this reality. Tex proposes that this will require that clergy and laity cooperate together in order to reach the diverse people in our congregations and communities. We will need all voices to come together, to share stories, to listen to experiences and to reach out to the lost.
References:
Sample, T 1994, Ministry in an Oral Culture - Living with Will Rogers, Uncle Remus, & Minnie Pearl, Westminster/John Knox Press, Louisville, Kentucky.
I loved your phrase that you ‘felt like I grew up trying to live in two tensions – in the changing world and in the staying church, with the two not really meeting.’ Damien, a Gen X-er like you, made similar observation from a different perspective. It seems that there are many people in church, including in leadership positions, who have grappled with similar tensions. I wonder what holds back a change? Is it a rejection of ‘new things’ by congregations? Has it been a not knowing how we need to change or even what needs changing? Or is it fears of falling into error, as expressed by Peter, Daniel and others? In his thought provoking book, Anderson compares and contrasts the church in Jerusalem and the church in Antioch, I think the Church as we live it today is a Jerusalem church, a staying church, when we need to become an Antioch church - one that engages with a world very different from the one in which our churches were planted. I don’t think any one attending the Intensive doubts that some of the practical concepts presented by Steve can help us in the task of engaging with the post-modern culture while maintaining faithfulness to the text. I identified with your comments about understanding Steve’s theory from an educational perspective and, now that I’ve seen how educational theories such as multiple intelligences and learning styles can be incorporated into ‘churching’ (Michael Frost’s expression), I long to see it happen!
Bless you, LesleyH
RS Anderson 2007, An emergent theology for emerging churches: theological
perspectives for a new generation of leaders, InterVarsity Press, Downers
Grove, Il.
Hi Mike,
I really appreciated reading through your reflection and resonating with so many of the issues you raise.
I firstly identify with the tension you so artfully describe as existing between the 'changing world and the staying church'. To me, postmodernity is no different to modernity in the fact that the church needs to respond to changing ideoligies and philisophical paradigms. McSpadden notes that the dynamics of a post-Christendom church didn't actually begin with "post-modernity", but with its reasoned predecessor in the eighteenth century (1). To me this affirms the value of postmodernity's indictment on the church in terms of challenging it to keep pace - because of its radical ideas and its notion of 'doing things differently', it has succeeded where modernism did not in challenging a stagnant church to get off its backside and engage with its contemporary culture.
I'm really excited to hear your passion for doing things a different way, Mike. To have courage to employ some DJing, takeaways and godly play will bring great blessing to you and those you serve. It's an encouragement to me that postmodernity for you is not seen as a threat, but an incredible and I believe God ordained opportunity to preach his gospel afresh. May the Spirit continue guiding you as you work these things out.
God Bless,
Josh
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1. McSpadden, C 2003. "Preaching Scripture Faithfully in a Postmodern Age" in The art of reading Scripture ed. Davis, E.F & Hays, R.B. Eerdmans.
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