a Knights tale

Bishops: day five: finale

2009-12-04T06:54:00.002Z

We drew the prayer week to a close today with the usual sense of sadness, joy and a slight hint of relief!! It cannot be said enough, it is always upsetting to leave things like this.

Today was the busiest day. Great to have Nai's help today. all told we probably did 12 sessions, including one for the local press and even the conservative MP candidate came in – he loved it – and came up with a very challenging thought:

“This is just great!” he said, quite sincerely. Then he said “This should be in the workplace too!”…well, haven’t thought of that before!

Anyway, once again the day was great fun with the students. Michelle bought a notebook for one of the students who was asking where the prayer book had gone from the previous prayer week we’d done. So, she gave her one so she could have one of her own to use as a prayer journal. We agree with the schools that we won’t proselytise; faith is made available not forced. But if students ask questions, we don’t hide from what we believe. So, it gets interesting when a few friends start talking about what the gospel is, about what the think salvation is and what and why Jesus did what he did on the cross. And then they invite you to be a part of the conversation. It gets very interesting indeed. Well, that’s what happened today. Michelle talked for almost an hour with a group of girls talking about what Christians believe; it was a pretty productive lesson anyway!

We had a lad get shouted down by some friends today when he asked the brilliant question “if God is real why doesn’t he show himself?” H gained an indignant reply from his friends “he has man, read the bible! You should read john 3:16!!”…they were a lot of fun.

At the end of school, we invited the staff over for mince pies and hot spiced berry cordial. In the midst of the party atmosphere, we still had teachers going round the room, intent on adding their gift to the hundreds of other prayers piled high in the centre of the room. They were all still there finishing off the mince pies as we left, and the plan is to leave the room as it is for the remainder of the year.

So, its been a special week, lots of laughs, lessons – too many to write down here. Great prayers questions and conversations. A massive thank you to everyone involved. Immense effort alround. Its been wonderful to grow the relationship here at Bishops College, but the heart for seeing prayer rooms in other schools has grown as well. I look forward to the next one.

As for Bishops, prayer week may be over but the prayers carry on for their big challenges and the ongoing work with the students here, which makes such an awesome impact. A big Amen to all the prayers spoken this week and may the Lord hear the prayers that are to come. May the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus come in this place, and may his will be done – one earth, in this school, as it is in heaven.

Bishops: day four:

2009-12-03T06:53:00.001Z

We said good bye to Ella this morning, after she'd spent loads of time helping us out during her stay! You're brilliant Ella! Look forward to giving you a more peaceful and restful stay next time - hopefully!!

The highlight of today was a conversation I had with two lads. In the ‘be still’ area, feeling God was up to something I went over and sat down with them as they threw excited questions at me about what being still meant as they jumped all over the cushions. I pulled some words together and then heard myself say that sometimes we worry, and sometimes we worry about family members, especially if they aren’t very well. I emphasised the latter, trying to put a caring but straight face on. I prayed silently as I spoke and hoped I was saying something that would hit the mark somehow.

“yeah, my dad’s in hospital today” the one lad replied. I tried to keep my face still as I lept inside with a ‘God you are amazing’ thought it my head. We talked. And we talked some more. Another friend joined and we talked some more. They asked questions, I did my best to answer them. I threw out questions, and their answers amazed me. How can God give peace? What does it mean for God to give us peace? Do we need to pray to be Christians? What does it mean to be friends with God? They were honest and open, “we all need peace” declared one of them, then thoughtfully “even God needs peace” he replied.

And you know, in some ways, I think he may be right.

I’m reminded of the classic worship song that cries out “break my heart for what breaks yours”, and I always try and pray – God if you’re heart is broken, how can I help mend it?

If God needs peace, then how might we bring peace to God?

Bishops: day three:

2009-12-02T06:50:00.001Z

Michelle and Chris took the first lesson today. Having spent a couple of hours with Quoakle I made my way to the school, feeling slightly apprehensive of the day ahead. My head was full of thoughts and questions, and scrambled prayers.

The evening before, the school hosted a ‘community consultation’ for the Local Authority, all about the future of the school. I went along, got thoroughly confused and bewildered by the enormity of the whole situation, but also became absorbed in the plight of the school. This is a very interesting case study working itself out right in front of our eyes for social justice amongst our school system in the UK. And the issue it big. Amazingly, some of the parents and a member from the Local Authority went along to the prayer room later. Michelle had a great conversation with some parents finding it hard to undo the paper clips joined together at our forgiveness station. Instead of adding them to their box, they took them home, in the hope that God would help them forgive in due time.

Wednesday turned out to be very chilled though. The big lesson of the day was learning that sometimes you don’t have to talk. We’ve been keen to approach the students and help them understand the stations, or to see what they make of all the stuff in the room. But today I learnt the art of letting go. Talking sometimes would spoil many special moments of the day...the classes were a lot smaller, which helped a lot. Students walked around on their own, sometimes talking to each other and asking questions. They discussed the cross, the Lord’s prayer and much more amongst themselves. God seemed to be talking to them without the need for us to say anything. We chipped in here and there, but today held a sense of intimacy and peace which didn’t need interrupting all that much.

After school, a small group of staff plodded on over to create and offer their box as a gift of their prayers. These times are always very special. Especially when the group often is made of up non Christians getting well into what we’re doing. It blows me away. I’m struck at how prayer rooms, especially the ones in schools appear to be engaging people of faith and no faith, with the very blatant message of Hope in Jesus Christ through these simple yet profound ways.

God is at work in this place.

Bishops: day two..

2009-12-01T17:24:00.002Z

Today has been full on. We finished our lessons by lunch time, having done 8 fun, but gruelling sessions in the prayer room.

We started the day with a staff service at 8AM, then moved on to do an all school assembly. Both went well and all of sudden they were over and we were running back to get ready for Lesson 1.

Again, just under 100 people, again the room evoked tears for some. God seems to dwell in this space.

Some of the classes get split into two groups, so once the arrive, we only have a short time to go through some key pointers, turn the music on and then let them get on with it. In some ways this is hard work but overall it seems to be working well. It’s quite amazing seeing how people have been stirred by the room and some of the prayer stations, especially in such a short space of time.

The gifts we’ve made for everyone are going well. Each of them has ‘your prayer has been heard’ printed in there, with a random bible verse too. Oh, and also a lolly – very important!

One student left his on the desk, so Kim went up to him with it. He didn’t seem to want it and she pointed out his name – ‘this is for you’. He responded ‘its not fair that you’ve spent money on it when I haven’t done anything to deserve it’. ‘you don’t have to deserve it, we want to give it to you because you’re special’. He welled up, and eventually held out his hand and took it…

I thought people find it hard to give their prayers as gifts, I hadn’t thought some would find it hard to receive.

We prayed that God would put the right verses in the right people’s gifts, and it seems like that has been happening. Some of the students were like ‘hey check that out – can you believe it says that?!’…another told his teacher later that during his time in the prayer room he had noticed a bible verse on the wall. It had really struck him, then he ended up getting the same verse in his gift. One student was telling us he thought he was cursed; Kim (who probably gets the prize for best conversations today, and has worked majorly hard making literally thousands of items) had a good chat with him about it. He ended up receiving the verse “if the Son sets you free, then you are free indeed”…

One member of staff told us that whenever their job situation has been insecure during their working life, that friends often give them a particular verse. And, with all that’s going in the school they had been praying about this, and upon receiving their gift, they had been given the same verse!

And, just to finish – again upon receiving gifts, one student declared:

“These isn’t just a lolly, this is God’s lolly - to me”…

2nd prayer week at Bishops - Day One

2009-12-01T17:19:00.002Z

I’m writing day one on day two of our second prayer week at Bishops College. Already we’re quite exhausted but also amazed. This time, lessons are coming into the prayer room instead of us just opening during break and lunch times.

Day one was an interesting beginning. We rushed to finish off the prayer room and mend the dark blue sheets that had already started to fall down from the ceiling!! On top of the sheets we’d attached hundreds of fairy lights that shone through like stars in the night sky. Below, about 20 objects were dotted around the room, to be used as reflections for the different focal points stuck on walls and tables.

By the end of the day we’d had 99 students and staff come through the prayer room. Each received a small box that they carried with them around the room, responding to the stations by filling the box with the objects that spoke to them. Wrapping it up, they then offered it as a gift to the Lord. The story we’re using is of Zechariah going into the ‘holy of holies’ to offer incense – incense was a gift to God that represented the prayers of the people. So that’s what we’re doing. Making gifts that represent our prayers and ourselves, then offering them to God as gifts. This links in nicely with Christmas, thinking about God giving himself as the ultimate gift to mankind.

With Zachariah, an angel came to him and announced – “Your prayer has been heard”. As each person has been handing their gift to us, we’ve been saying this to them and then giving them a gift of their own with a hand written name tag on.

Saying this over and over again has been quite powerful, for those giving and also for us speaking it out. By the end of yesterday we’d already had tears as well as laughter, amazement as well as confusion at times. I’ve been surprised how many students this has had an impact on as well.

Bishops is in an important stage of its life, being threatened with closure at the end of the year. Staff and students are unsure and worried of what’s ahead, and it’s not an easy road. Some performance indicators place the school in the bottom 20 schools in the nation, whereas ‘value added’ indicators place the school in the top 3 (this might be top 3%)! These are bewildering times; especially when authorities choose to just publish the negative facts, omitting the positive.

So, once again, this is an important time to pray. And giving gifts as well as receiving them is fun, but also profound. Especially when the gift is you and your prayers.

Some of day one’s things to remember were:

- the humbling act of helping students with no idea of how to wrap their box.
- the sad fact of students not looking forward to Christmas - we expected this, but not for reasons such as their caravans being too cold.
- as one student entered the room “wow – its magical”, “it’s so peaceful here”
- the challenge of explaining big things quickly and simply e.g. having to explain the cross to someone, and explaining why people wanted to kill to Jesus.
- welcoming Patricia from the Church of England, and her conversation with a student when they asked “Why do we have to die?”

leaky prayer room...

2009-11-24T12:33:00.002Z

I haven’t blogged too much about our recent days of prayer. not sure why. They definitely seem to come and then go. A brief pause in the middle of hectic lives. we’ve been doing 24hrs of prayer once a month for a few months now, and last Saturday was the last of 2009, before we kick off again in January.

Strange, it seems like the break will do some good. to me anyways. We’ve already (helpfully, and maybe not so helpfully) found our little patches – a sequence of events takes place and we step into our roles each time to plan, prepare and participate in the day of prayer. these have been wonderful times, but its also interesting to see traditions arising. Not that that’s bad, of course, and good rhythms and ways of working are good and helpful. However, I never want this to become so easy that we forget what we’re doing, and why we’re doing it, and that the ‘how’ should remain changeable.

But Saturday was especially unusual. I got a text at 5pm “I’ve put out 7 catching implements. The leaks seem to be multiplying, which is very Godly of them!”…the roof, or windows had fallen victim to the constant barrage of wind and pouring rain. The eye of the storm, our little prayer room was getting wet, and our prayer wall was dripping, making our prayers look like they were crying tears.

Clearly up later on, I wandered, and felt challenged – will our leaky prayer room crack and let our prayers go streaming out? After all, the verse we'd put up as people left was God’s call to Elijah to leave the cave and ‘go…in the presence of the Lord’. How can our prayers in the prayer room be embodied elsewhere?

I prayed, ‘God don’t let our prayers stay in this place, but let our prayers leak out of here, in drips, in streams, in rivers.’

remembering...

2009-11-18T18:09:00.004Z

(the first of todays post is further down the page - 'refresh kicks off')
So, thirdly…

I had to say something particular about the ordinands’ evening on communion. One thing is for sure, that this is a subject that you cannot ever begin to really understand. This was summed up brilliantly by a guy from Sweden, who said at the end that it was the mystery of the Lord’s supper that makes it such an important thing to do – it brings forth the need for faith in the Lord, and not a need to have all the answers…

Communion in symbolic. But not only symbolic, but it is one of the things that when done with a sincere heart of faith, it is actually a moment of encounter with God. Something spiritual happens. This is why Anglicans call the act of taking Communion a ‘Sacrament’ – a physical symbol of a spiritual reality. This is also why baptism is a Sacrament too.

Now, this is a contentious subject for many. But I was blown away at everyone’s willingness to not only be open with their own thoughts, but also open to others – not in a kind of ‘everything goes’ attitude either – but a genuine searching and seeking to find God in this ‘gift’, as some described it.

So we questioned why we do it at all, why our churches do it, what’s needed for communion to take place e.g. do we need a priest? do we need bread and wine? is it just a meal for the ‘baptised’?

Some interesting points made were: we don’t really need a priest, but you do need priesthood (of all believers). The importance of intention, when a priest does ‘preside’ – firstly, its good because someone needs to steward this who is not off they're rocker (assuming they're not!), plus - they are there to be a symbol of the community, and to serve community in order that they may all meet Christ (not, as many evangelicals would accuse, there as symbols of Christ himself), the potential for all meals to be ‘eucharistic’, and the difference of memorial and remembering.

Now, there’s much to be said, but this last one struck me and has stuck with me. I don't know if it's because this time of year is full of remembrance, or what, but...One lady said she felt it was important to not only remember Jesus (his death, resurrection and our justification) as a memorial, but also to remember as a verb – a doing word – to use communion as an opportunity to re-member ourselves to Christ. to recognise that we sometimes walk away, and we need to come again and re-member ourselves to Jesus, and also to become members again of his body (the importance of making good with the averse brother). I loved this. It moved me profoundly.

I need to process it all a lot more. But it was fascinating, and although I was tired from a long drive, I could have stayed and explored for hours longer.

more tea, vicar?

2009-11-18T18:08:00.000Z

Secondly, an update on my exploration of ordination…

We met with our vicar (our vicar? That sounds weird!) last week and had a big long discussion about how I could get involved with the life of St Pauls & St Stephens. As the weeks have gone by, we’ve been challenged, blessed and intrigued at some of the things and style of the worship there. We’ve been there (not every week) for about 6 weeks, and people are becoming familiar to us, and we consistently get invited for lunch. It’s not bad at all…

This is a ‘tradition’ of church that I’m not used to at all, and there are many things I admire. There are also things that bemuse me completely, so our time at St Pauls is going to important as I continue to explore Ordination. However, exploring ordination is one thing, but exploring pioneer ministry is another. And, although a stint at a fairly traditional church like St Pauls may seem a little odd, its actually proving insightful, and encouraging.

So, what was the result of the meeting? Well, because I’m so new to it all, we thought it would be best if I get a taste of as much as possible, rather than focussing on few small bits. Scarily, this means going to see almost everything that the vicar does, which by the way – is a lot! Funeral visits, the funerals themselves, baptisms, weddings, services at care homes, hanging out at the primary school, early morning prayer, preaching, leading intercessions, giving communion (have to get special permission, yay!), and getting involved with worship.

If I thought I was busy already, things are gonna change.

Last Sunday (after an awesome birthday time with my nephew – woop!) I managed to make it in time to an evening for local ordinands, in the same awesome place where I had the vocations day in Tewkesbury.

It was great to meet people in the same boat as me, and even better to know Dan already. We spent the entire time questioning, challenging and mulling over what we thought about ‘Holy Communion’. And, as I’m sure you can imagine, it was a fascinating evening.

re:fresh kicks off again...

2009-11-18T18:07:00.000Z

Haven’t had much chance to blog recently, although there’s been a fair bit to blog about and think about.

Firstly, an update on re:fresh…

re:fresh exists to “grow and nurture a sense of community amongst Christian young people in Gloucester”…”so they can change the world”…I’ve been writing this down a lot recently, as I’ve been sending many emails around the group, reminding them and letting them know what re:fresh is about. In fact, I need to do this a whole lot more. Anyway, one reason for this was that we experimented a little and invited everyone to a new ‘open space’ – inviting youth leaders / workers together for a big meal. No catch, no organising, no agenda; except being together and growing friendships. We have to model what we long to see in the young people themselves.

We used the wonderful space at Beauchamp House. About 9 of us came together, ate and drank and hung out with each other for the evening, with a bit of prayer later on. It was a good time, and something we’ll probably do once a term or so.

In the background a looped a powerpoint summarising the values of re:fresh, which are worth posting (again):

R elational
E very day
F un
R evealing Christ
E xperimental
S incere
H oly

The following Saturday, we hosted our first re:fresh worship gathering of the new academic year. This was an exciting time. again, small in number, but big in vision and heart. Awesome time of worship and togetherness. We’re spending the whole year looking at ‘who is this Jesus’, inspired by Michael Green’s book – finding out who Jesus is, what he was like, what he did, what he claimed, what about today?

Young people are ace sometimes – we asked them to put their ideas on a big piece of paper, and we got some extraordinary answers, drawings, and even a rap!!

Really looking forward to seeing this develop.

flicker: oct '09

2009-11-02T13:26:00.005Z

last week was busy. really busy. My diary was packed mostly with planning for flicker, which was less than a week away. I'd gone through a whole load of different options. Even cancelling. Most people who'd been in touch had let me know they weren't coming. Was it worth it at all?

Well, on the encouragement: 'at least prayer is happening in the cathedral', I decided to go for it. And, two days after flicker itself, I don't regret it at all.

It miraculously came together during the last week, with a lovely thread of 'loving God, loving each other and taking the gospel to the world'...we set up various stations in the chapels dotted around the cathedral, focussing on different expressions of prayer, ranging from creative, traditional, contemporary, praying in groups, interactive and a chilled out café to finish.

And, people actually came! Volunteers included, we had 70 people. And I know it's not about numbers, but numbers help when you're trying to 'make an opportunity for young people in the whole county to come to their cathedral and pray'...in fact, had we had any more, it would have been hard to cope. Especially for the interactive zone - a brilliant prayer installation called 'breathe'.

We hired 'Breathe' from our friends in Worcester. And I highly recommend it. It's a massive parachute type matt thing, split into 12 sections. Each section is somewhere to stop, think and interact with something hands on or visually. Each person gets an ipod shuffle, and the tracks talk you round different sections of the parachute, getting you to think about how you relate to and think about - yourself, others, the world, and your relationship with God.

Highly recommended. And overall, the atmosphere of peace and God's presence, on such a night as Oct 31st, was quite incredible. I'm so full of gratitude also to everyone who came and helped on the night - Ben and Nai were especially awesome, but everyone just being there was such a blessing. It was a very special time.

meeting Bishop Cray over lunch

2009-10-27T13:00:00.000Z

(I'm posting this and back-dating it so that it fits nicely in the archive)

Last Saturday, Bishop Graham Cray visited Gloucester to talk to the local synod, then, before returning home he met for lunch with a small group of 'pioneers' and people interested in fresh expressions. strangely, I found myself with an invite, so I strolled on down in through the hazy rain towards the cathedral. meeting Dan outside, we jogged eagerly up the stairs to the awesome Parliament Rooms.

Slowly, others joined us, helping themselves to drinks. And before long, the room was bussling with around 20 people all in mini conversations, finding out why on earth they were there. For me, it was good to put some faces to names and hear about so many people wanting to rebirth their expression of church. Most people were very anglican, in that they had been anglicans for most of their Christian lives, so that gave it's own flavour for me, who felt slightly on the edge of things.

(not that denominations all of a sudden matter, its just that they're more obvious, especially when you're in a room of just one)

As lunch came to an end, we sat in a circle in the ancient significant space and introduced ourselves to the whole group. "I'm exploring 24/7 and am looking at the potential of setting up a boiler room in Gloucester" I announced, and upon realising that not everyone understood, and seeing others frowning as if they were thinking 'we're not here to talk about central heating you know', I opened my mouth to explain what I meant before feeling i was wasting my time. Feeling stupid I said "you'll just have to take my word for it"...again, I realised that I'd made a fool of myself and had sounded really rude, so, with a big forced grin on my face, I turned to the person sat next to me, 'over to you'... oh well.

Anyway, apart from that, it was great. Bishop G was said some great stuff - one highlight being "fresh expressions isn't about getting permission to do what you want, where you want because you're bored of church - there is a theological term for it, it's called 'self indulgance..." awesome!

I was chuffed to get introduced to him and have a quick chat about what we're doing. He's gonna help with some research I've been doing as well. Over all, it was a good time and I left with a an enthused skip in my step.

i saw the Queen...

2009-10-23T12:07:00.005Z

I strolled down to the docks this morning, and was joined by thousands of others who waited patiently for just a glimpse of the Queen of England. This was a big deal for me, as well as Gloucester. I'm in full support of our English heritage and royalty. Anyway, she sailed gracefully into the docks and back for a tour of Gloucestershire College and the new Quays development. There's lots of good bargains down there.

The Queens visit to the city makes sense of something I saw yesterday. Having dropped off my car at the garage, I walked along the canal into town. On the other side, I noticed this guy propping up a ladder and starting to paint a large wooden wall that made up some kind of derelict warehouse. The whole area is still being developed, and it puzzled me that he was painting something that is going to be pulled down sometime soon, as it wasn't really that bad a condition.

Amongst the crowds today I heard someone saying that there's been a lot of painting going on to make good what has been a little neglected, because the Queen was coming. This made me think - Jesus - the King of kings, will come again. And is, in many ways, already here. we have to present to him even the things that are a working progress. Sometimes we neglect things in our lives, because we know they need a complete overhaul. But, just like the old warehouse, if royalty is coming, it can't be ignored. We have to offer all to Jesus, openly and humbly. We come to our to him just as we are. It also made me realise that sometimes simple and boring tasks are still worthwhile. They help make us fit for our King. They make way for his coming.

On my way home, I walked the same route. There the guy was just about to finish the last bit, having been there the whole entire day. I took the picture below. I admired his perseverance and commitment to the task. But, I didn't realise that he was preparing the way for the Queen to come in. And, it's not the first slogan you'd give the image is it?! Interesting...

he parted the heavens...

2009-10-19T13:27:00.005Z

You can check out Psalm 18 for its immenseness. But as the sun appeared to tear the sky with blinding rays of light this morning, I remembered the awesome phrase "He parted the heavens, and came down"...

'For who is God, besides the LORD? and who is the Rock except our God?'

Lord, break free and shine your light through me. Amen.

24/7 prayer in Gloucester...shire?

2009-10-13T10:29:00.006Z

I walked around the city this morning, meandering my way through the little streets. round the cathedral, circling the docks. the low and sparkling sunshine danced across the water, warming my face and battling against the crisp fresh air chilling my nose. i took my time. as I walked i tried to pray; just as the sun had burnt off the mist covering the city like a blanket early in the morning, i was praying that God shine his light and would clear my head, bringing clarity and a crisp vision. I tried to surrender to him my thoughts, ideas, many as they are. Especially after yesterday afternoon...

Thankfully, my memory isn't as bad as it could be. Although driving along the winding country lanes as I left the city, I made a few fortunate guesses to bring me in good time to Bishop John's house.

The gathering brought together many of the paid youth workers in the Diocese of Gloucester. Just less than 20 people were there, and I'd been invited to go along and say a little something of 24/7. Strangely, the national youth advisor to Archbishops Council was there too. wow. everyone seemed chilled. but, this was a big deal. he spoke a little about what was happening nationally, then Ben Lillie spoke about 'the rock' - an awesome project in cheltenham that deserves its own post sometime, then it was me.

I spoke about what we've been up to - prayer, community, the weekly prayer café and prayer in schools. I finished thinking that I rambled on too long, and because I'd probably made a mess of it, I asked if anyone wanted to ask questions...and the response was immense! everyone seemed wowed by it all, really encouraging stuff, and I left with a couple of schools to add to my list for prayer weeks, plus some other interesting (big) possibilities and opportunities that could spread what we're doing to other parts of the county - maybe all over it. I'm slightly in a daze. Hence my walk this morning.

But watching the mist disappear gave me hope. God will make his way clear. Good ideas are good, but they are a poison if they don't match what God is doing.

Have your way God. Have your way. Amen.

vocation vocation...

2009-10-13T10:14:00.002Z

Although, already it seems a long time ago, when I get the chance, I'm still trying to reflect on the past weekend. After making some fairly big decisions to 'once and for all' go for ordination in pioneer ministry, on Saturday I drove along to Tewkesbury for a day on 'exploring your vocation'.

Settled in the beautiful abbey grounds, about 30 people came together and learnt what the Church of England had to offer. But more importantly than that, we spent time thinking about vocation - which comes from the latin verb 'to call'...we were challenged and inspired to think about God's calling on our lives, and what he might be leading us to. One thing that stood out during the day, was someone sharing about her own vocation as though "it felt like coming home"...I liked that what is it for you that feels 'like coming home' when you serve the Lord?

Sunday saw us walk around the corner to our parish church, to begin a 'placement' (of sorts) at St Pauls. Good times. It's very different (as you might expect) from what we've been doing for the past few years - but actually, in some strange ways, no different at all. There's much to learn, not least becoming fluent in following the liturgy (!), which is confusing at times, but at others, quite beautiful and moving. I'm looking forward to getting to know the lovely people there and to see what God is doing with them...Or 'us', should I say?

play time and puddings.

2009-10-09T15:43:00.003Z

Just a quick post to say that one of the biggest prayer requests of our community has been answered...

Last night we all gathered round Ben and Nai's place yesterday for a momentous evening, and played...a nintendo wii !

Amazingly, it came free with a phone deal, and its something we've all thought would help profoundly build community amongst us in deep and beautiful ways. And indeed, last night was a special time. Tiramisu, waffles, chocolate fondu and the wii - what a brilliant idea!

An all round excellent evening.

bus with wifi, return journey

2009-10-05T20:02:00.001Z

Walking through the hazy refreshing rain, myself and Jack (who was amazing and let me stay over at his student flat) walked to the bus and then to the tube. The rain helped me wake up a little as I made my way across a very busy Monday morning in central London. Eventually I wound up in the London Centre of Spirituality, for the Day on new monasticism.

Gathered in a small room we learned, discussed and dreamed a little.

As the title suggests, a new kind of monasticism is emerging. But, it became apparent quite quickly that even that label doesn’t do justice to what’s actually happening. When it gets down to it, God appears to be calling his people into a deeper and authentically Christ-like discipleship in community with one another, expressing itself – expressing Jesus – to the world in mission and hospitality…

Full of stories, discussion and meeting some very solid people (was awesome to catch up with the legendary Michael Volland amongst others), the day has been tiring but inspiring. I scribbled notes all over 18 pages of my notepad, and am praying that God sifts the load of information gathered today and leaves me with his divine words.

Lots of good. Lots of questions. Lots of unknowns. Lots of experiments. And lots of lots of prayer to be done.

On a personal note, it was a little weird letting people know that in recent weeks I’ve decided to explore the possibility of becoming an Ordained Pioneer Minister – for real this time. This was my final defining moment of the weekend, as we made the hard decision to leave our small home church (sent out like missionaries) to take the next (big) step on this journey.

As I sit on the bus along this bumpy road and contemplate the day that’s just past and the inevitably bumpy road ahead of me, I feel intrigued, excited, maybe a little dubious at some points and also fairly bewildered at the prospect of being more involved with this. Though I draw great comfort from conclusions like ‘it’s all about Jesus and it’s all for Jesus’.

If we get too bogged down with reflection and dreaming, it would be easy to take our eyes of the big picture. The big picture of Jesus and his will, his plans, and his coming kingdom.

I’ll leave with quite a funny but poignant story from an awesomely joyful Nun. She was probing some questions on the sustainability of our communities, and told the story of fellow Sister who had sadly died last week. She had been a nun for over 60 years, and past away peacefully just one day before turning 100 years old! She died quite satisfied though, believing she had actually celebrated her birthday the week before!!

on a bus with wifi...

2009-10-04T19:28:00.002Z

I’m sitting quite uncomfortably with my laptop aptly on my lap, trudging along the Motorway on a National Express Bus on my way to London.

This weekend has been filled with some defining moments for my life. First, our day of prayer was quite special. These times could become very special. ‘ why on earth are we doing this non-stop, and including these crazy hours’ I asked myself as I walked bewildered over to the ‘living room’ at 4.20am. But upon arriving, I knew why. and by the end of my time, I didn’t want to leave. I walked into town as the new day dawned and the sun rose. Awesome.

i was about to complain at how slow our bus has been for the past hour. But we just passed a bad crash, no, make that two. Its kinda humbling. Until this morning I was going to drive here.

This is a my second defining moment. I’m on my way to a day at the ‘centre of spirituality’ on New Monasticism. 30 people gathering to, as the blurb says; “explore new monasticism as a model of church for building mission-centred forms of church for our changing cultures in the UK. This gathering will seek to explore the strengths & weaknesses of this model theologically, missiologically and socio-culturally.”

I've never actually been to something like this, especially to travel to London on my own for it. I feel quite out of my depth. I also have no idea how I ended up with an invite! But am looking forward to listening and learning lots.

We just entered London. My final defining moment, and quite a hefty one, will have to wait for another post sorry. My thoughts are still with those people in the crash. It looked under control. ‘Jesus’ the guy said next to me. ‘yep’, I muttered in reply.

so many leaves falling,

2009-10-01T13:14:00.011Z

On further reflection on the story of the prodigal son, I've written the following poem. It's still a draft really, but I hope you like it...

So many leaves falling,
I see them
As I’m waiting,
Watching,
Wishing.

I remember them falling,
I remember,
Again
And again.
They always fall this time of year.

I keep looking,
But you’ve been gone a long time.
Come home my son,
Come home.

Then,
I saw you far away
You left with everything,
Yet return with nothing.
I will come to you,
I am coming.

So many leaves falling,
You stand in the midst of them.
Waiting,
Watching,
Wishing.

I remember telling you;
'All I have is yours',
Again,
And again,
But you run from my embrace.

You are always with me,
But you’ve been gone a long time
Come home my son,
Come home.

Then,
I saw you far away.
You left with everything,
Yet believe you have nothing.
I will come to you, my son,
I am coming.
Come home,
Come home to me.
I am coming.
So many leaves falling.
Will they come back again?

i saw you far away...

2009-09-29T10:08:00.005Z

The Big Day Out was a hit for young people that came from across the county for much fun and laughter on Saturday. The day was filled with various challenges, around a theme of ‘finding our way’. In the morning I encouraged everyone to say yes to Jesus’ invitation to ‘come follow me’, and we set out to embarrass ourselves by challenges including: putting as many members of the public in telephone boxes, getting photo taken in the back of police cars and randomly directing tourists to the nearest toilets, to name but a few.

Even though I was a leader, I got heartily stuck in to Lazer Tag and became strangely competitive. Made it to 3rd on one game, whereas Steve Bullock remained the champion at 1st for all three games – that guy is a legend!

I’ve just ordered a large poster of the return of the prodigal son. I love this painting of Rembrandt's, and I love it all the more because of Henri Nouwen’s book ‘the return of the prodigal son – a story of homecoming’. The challenge that both the younger and elder son are both lost, and the Father goes out to both of them, welcoming them back home. And that we too are meant to become like the Father 'to only do what we see him doing'... Incredible...

If it comes through in time, we’ll hopefully whack it up on a wall for our next 24hrs of prayer coming up this weekend. It’s funny how pictures can speak of God profoundly. A lot more so than words sometimes. Using different and creative ways to communicate is an interesting exploration, especially when putting together prayer rooms.

I’m reminded of Punk Monk’s chapter on ‘creativity’, about how being creative is worship because it is a response to the Creator. He created out of nothing, yet we can only be creative out of created things. Awesome.

There’s that joke too – the one with the scientists who claim they can do what God has achieved. God puts them to the test and challenges them to create Man. They get straight to work, going and finding some soil and bringing it back to the lab. God interrupts. “eh hem, you find your own soil”…!

recent prayer...

2009-09-24T10:22:00.007Z

Great to start the day prayer walking with Chris.

This week is speeding by with lots to do and lots of meetings. Had an awesome time in the lake district on holiday last week. That place is beyond what words can describe at times. Breath-taking. Climbed Helvellyn, 3rd highest mountain in England - awesome!

Before going away we hosted our first ‘proper’ 24hrs of prayer in the ‘living room’. It was brilliant. And not long enough. But an exciting and somewhat intriguing start to something that we’re hoping to do every month or so from now on. if you’re in the area and want to pray, get in touch and I’ll give you some upcoming dates.

Also, the next Saturday we played a small part in the ‘Linden Park Gig’. I’ve written about these events before, but we haven’t been able to take part as a community yet, and since it was local, we thought we’d give it a go as a kinda missional public prayer thing.

So, we bought a big bed sheet and laid it on the ground. Hoisted a trestle table to its feet and squirted lots of brightly coloured paints into trays. We wrote on a piece of paper in big writing ‘GOD LOVES LINDEN’, then invited as many people as we could to paint their hand and make their mark on the sheet…

We’d prepared the sheet with loads of masking tape linked together to make a map of the area, and people laid hands on the areas where they lived, or where they went to school, or just on an empty space. Our message was that everyone is unique, God thinks you’re special. No one else has the same hand print as you, and that without you Linden wouldn’t be the place it is. I think it went down well. At the end, we peeled off the masking tape leaving us with this crazy piece of artwork, but an interesting map of our area too.

i am not, but i know i am...

2009-09-10T10:22:00.002Z

I like this from asbojesus:

branding...

2009-09-07T09:15:00.002Z

I was thinking, does God want a church with a new brand, or does he want an expression of church that is brand new?

By brand new church I don’t necessarily mean a church plant. What I mean is the process of transformation instigated by God that makes the people new. A new, or renewed community of believers.

I think a problem arises immediately with the idea of the word ‘brand’. The church ‘with’ a new brand. The brand of the church is always attached to the people; they stand with, or alongside the brand. It is not, and does not become an intrinsic part of who the people are. Though it may flow throughout all areas of the community, it is more like an administrative badge. At best it is worn like clothes, but rarely becomes part of the key identity of the believers in the community; it rather provides an identity for them to embrace.

The brand becomes a signpost of how to follow Christ. From the brand come the objectives, the mission statement, the values, the style of worship, the method of evangelism. The brand defines the community.

From the church with a new brand, three groups of people emerge…those who own the brand like a possession; they are passionate for its cause and use it to pursue their goals. Those who are attached to the brand, it comforts them and reminds them they belong to something. And finally, there are those who are under the brand and feel squashed by it, they are reminded that they can only express their faith within the confines of the brand.

However, an expression of church that is brand new somehow embodies its vision at its conception. The vision is usually simple, it is usually (or should be) centred on Jesus.

Its mission and purpose, its identity are intrinsically a part of the community and it’s life. It does not have a brand to conform to, but gives birth to its own style, mode, its own way of life as it follows Christ. Its values are worn in the hearts of those who are part of the community. The values are worked out within the relationships and lives of those in the community, through prayer, day in day out. The members have a sense of belonging because they know they belong to each other. They are free to explore because they trust each other.

The brand new expression of church is brand neutral. Whilst labels and language are helpful, they do not define the community, but rather describe the community.

So, what do you think? Any comments welcome.

More on language and labels - visit this interesting post by Steve Hollinghurst here.

prayer works...

2009-09-02T08:10:00.005Z

Plans to put a large 'sex club' in Gloucester, hosting all kinds of immoral stuff have been miraculously rejected by the council yesterday!!!

Praise the Lord!!

We heard about this a while ago, and I'd sent round lots of emails around the churches and people were praying, some were acting. I was shocked to hear last week though that they had received only 3 objections!! It was hard because they couldn't receive objections that were based on moral grounds, which is pretty wrong in my opinion.

Anyway, that was the state of play. During our prayer walks we had walked round this place and prayed, but it was looking more likely that it could go ahead - especially when the head of planning voiced his support of it in the local press.

We tried again, emails were sent, people were praying - I set up a facebook group and we found the link where people could object online. And, incredibly, they received 42 late objections, tipping the opinions of some and the proposals were eventually rejected 6 votes to 5 !!!

A close one, but isn't that amazing!!! When it looked so certain that we had lost this one, God turned it around and I'm sure his will was done!! So, so incredible! What an awesome God!

And I've just heard, Chris was interviewed on the street yesterday and they played his soundbite on the radio this morning! Of all the people to choose, they chose someone who'd be prayer walking the streets of Gloucester for the past two weeks, seeking God for His will to be done, and His kingdom to come wherever we placed our feet. Prayer works! What a glorious day!

pray, and keep praying...

2009-09-01T11:22:00.003Z

Two articles in the bbc news caught my attention today.

One reveals 'a third of young teenage girls suffer sexual abuse from their boyfriends and a quarter suffer violent abuse.'

A completely unrelated article states teenage girls in the UK are 'more likely to get drunk than anywhere else in the industrial world'...

Is there a link?

Whether there is or there isn't - this is not right. This has to change.

This has especially caught my interest today, as I've been planning some of the ideas and next steps with our prayer rooms in schools stuff.. lots of exciting stuff to come. amazing, and scary. But the need is great...

We have to pray, and pray and pray some more.