the "church"

Recently I have been reading a number of posts on why they left the church (see these two - by Rachel Held Evans & Kim Van Brunt).

I have been struck by these posts, as my experience of church has been different. I suspect that it is the community which has made my experience different. A community of people who are walking the same journey, who are sharing life's joys and struggles, and who are willing to wrestle with you to understand what God's word means for us and our world. 

It is a shame but this is not everyone's experience and we need to listen to those who leave 'the church' and find out what we can learn from their experience, recognising that they are not necessarily going to walk back through the door, as the 'damage has been done'. 

I think there is also something in the claim that the church is more concerned about what happens in our bedrooms; than who is living on our streets. In the political sphere, there also appears to be an unwritten rule that Christians should vote Liberal, not Labour (and definitely not Green - which I do kind of understand). It has certainly given me pause to reconsider my politics. As an aside, I am also disappointed with Federal Labour. (Aside: I think we also need to learn how to disagree with each other & make our case to the world)

A few other good books to read to explore why people leave church (and some of the lessons we should take) are:

• A churchless faith: faith journeys beyond Evangelical, Pentecostal & charismatic churches - Alan Jamieson (mainly looks at NZ)
• The Market Driven Church - Udo Middelmann (on how the church is adapting some behaviours of the market & popular culture).
• Quitting church: why the faithful are fleeing and what to do about it - Julia Dunn (from the US).

And one I haven't read which sounds good is You Lost Me: Young Christians are leaving Church and Rethinking faith. There are some stats about Australia's churched and unchurched here. I am also excited by the prospect of reading some of Rachel's thoughts if she decides to write a book on this topic. 

Economic benefit of the churches

Here's a fascinating article about a study trying to understand the economic benefit of the church, from The Inquirer (Philadelphia). I would like to read the full report, if there is one.

Thieves in the temple

Fascinating op-ed in the New York Times (more on clergy burnout here), in central point of the article is that there's fundamental problem [for clergy] that no amount of rest and relaxation can help solve: congregational pressure to forsake one's highest calling. Church goers want pastors to soothe and entertain them rather than change them to live their confession.

Here this conclusion:

Ministry is a profession in which the greatest rewards include meaningfulness and integrity. When those fade under pressure from churchgoers who don't want to be challenged or edified, pastors become candidates for stress and depression. 

Clergy need parishioners who understand that the church exists, as it always has, to save souls by elevating people's values and desires. They need churchgoers to ask for personal challenges, in areas like daily devotions and outreach ministries.

[Read more on G. Jeffrey MacDonald's website here].

Weekend recap

Been a great weekend, after a wet week we made the most of our Saturday and spent the day in the Blue Mountains. On the agenda was a little walk to the Bridal Veil Falls at Blackheath, and just a little
bit of window-shopping. Today, I went to the special Survive Past Five service at Barneys which aimed to celebrate, raise awareness and pray for mothers and children particularly those around the world whose expectations are vastly different to ours. It was a really challenging morning. Read more about the Millennium Development Goals here; and here.

Since then, I've just been watching the Swan's win against the Bombers (quite an exciting game -19 lead changes), and catching up on a bit of reading. Here's a couple of pieces which have been sitting on my web-browser for a while. In the first of these David Brooks writes about the limit of policy, given cultural differences. The second is about umpires and "errors". I'm all for keeping the human element in sport; and not going down the path of replays for everything. With the World Cup now only 6 days away - here's a piece on the experience many in Australia will have, over the next month or so.

The Apple Isle...

Cradle Mountain

Been a while since that I've written a newsy blog entry. I probrably write more that link to other people's thoughts, which seems quite easy to do. But given I've got a little bit this afternoon I thought I would take some time to write down what's been happening. I should note that during March this year, we celebrated 20 years in Australia. In some ways now, it feels like I've always been here. But yes, I still support the Kiwi's. :-)

In March, Tasmania was added to the list of Australian States we've been to. We did the traditional circuit: Hobart > Strahan > Cradle Mountain > Launceston > Freycinet > Hobart. I think my favourite stop was Cradle Mountain. The drive in seemed so out of this world. We did a few great walks - up to Crater Lake, around Dove Lake. Along with great weather, we also were blessed with the opportunity to see Tasmanian Devils (both in a wildlife park, and outside of one) up close. It was also surprising to wallk around the corner and see a Wombat.

I found it quite like NZ in that you'd drive for a couple of hours, along widing roads, and watch the countryside change a few times. The two drives which stood out was the drive from Hobart to Strahan, which though a little bit hairy in parts (like heading towards Queenstown) was great. It gave you an impression about how isolated the West Coast is. The drive from Launceston to Coles Bay and then to Hobart was beautiful as you drive through the forest, down the pass and the along the coast

In other news ... Barneys, now not only has a DA approval for the new building, a demolition contract for the old building; and we are working on getting builders. Our prayer, is that we'll be home for Christmas next year (2011). Please pray for us and that God would lead us to our new Pastor.

Since we got back from Tasmania, we went down to Canberra for Easter. It was lovely to spend time with Fi's family. While we were in Canberra we went and saw The Last Station, which though it took a little bit of time to get going, it showed me a little bit more of Leo Tolstoy's life. I've added his books to my reading list, and with that I'll say goodbye, for now. 

Church and state

There was an interesting article in The Australian today about politicians and faith. The article was in response to the question of whether politcians need to 'leave their faith at the door of parliament once they are elected'.

I'm not sure that it is a realistic request - in the sense that what we believe is a significant part of our character, and our view of things. Perhaps theres something in Rawls argument of public reason, that arguments should be made which would appeal to those who are religious and those who are not. But is governing and legislating morality something the church should be concerned with.

On Barneys...

It is hard to believe, but a little over three years ago St Barnabas Broadway burned down. Since then the church has been working towards our plans for the site, and last week we were told that the development application for the new building was approved by Sydney Council (read the SMH Report here).

I have to say that whenever I think about the rebuilding of the building, my mind goes to how well are we building our people (the church) (and I think of the warnings in the of Haggai). Though I also believe that the new building will be a great servant to the Church of St Barnabas.

the religious in politics

I often wonder about the role of the religious in politics, and with the election of Obama in the US, some now see the influence as good as gone - as detailed in an article in the Washington Post. It seems to me that there are lessons we can learn too from this here.

The article comments that the heart of Christianity is the family unit, the home, and it is in and through these units the church influences society, and not in the "shrill and nagging manner" we often seem to do.

I also like this quote that if we do want to see influence in our culture and society, then we should start following the commands of Jesus and people will be so amazed that they will be attracted to Him".

Gospel Growth

With a lot of talk about church growth recently, I've been thinking about implications of growth. One of the implications is we are going to need to raise up more leaders, for both the ordained (or vocational) ministry, and for ministry in general. Leaders who will tend and nurture both the new believers and core members of the church. Other implications might be how growth groups leaders are trained for this dual task; how they are supported and encouraged, how our pastors are encouraged, and protected from burnout.

We do not seek numbers, for the sake of numbers; but growth is so that those who are estranged from God, become believers; those who believe grow to love their saviour, and move to serve him.

Therefore while our focus is on the lost, we also nurture and strengthen our brothers and sisters. Alongside plans for new facilities and ministries, are plans to encourage, and minister to those who minister. Alongside visions for church growth, visions to strengthen and equip congregation members to serve. Alongside prayer for evangelistic hearts, hearts yearning to be more like Christ. Fundamental and foundational to the above, is dynamic, faithful, expectant prayer, and Christ-focused, Cross-centred practical preaching.

So … its spring, time for a new post

It has been a while since I wrote an update; so I thought that I’d take some time to do let you know what’s been going on.
We began August with a lovely week in Noosa, which was so nice and relaxing. It was great to see parts of Australia that I hadn’t before, and we also had bits of time, to sit and read. We also had a lovely time in Melbourne, to celebrate Fi’s Grandparents 60th Wedding Anniversary.

The following week, we saw The Frames at the Metro. Is it just me, or do all of the best bands come from the UK or Ireland? I'll write more about the concert later.

The Network Weekend Away (Barney’s ‘workers’ ministry) was also in August. It provided me with quite a few challenges in how I think about work - for example, what does it mean to work in my job, as if I was working for the Lord.

Also on church, we now have a few conceptual designs for the ‘new-building’ for the Broadway site. My mind can’t help but wander the book of Haggai, as I think about our plans for a new building.

Since then, we’ve been to Springfield (that is we saw The Simpson’s Movie). Which I thought was funny (in parts), but not brilliant. I think I just felt that I had seen more memorable or better scripted episodes.

On the horizon is Silverfinger (Which I like better than Powderchair). We are quite looking forward to it too.

Anyway, might leave it here for now, but I do hope to post again soon. :-)

… a time to rebuild …

As I am sure most of my readers are aware, in the early hours of May 10 this year, St Barnabas Broadway was gutted by fire, as you may not be aware, our community had what was called a ‘Search Conference’. The conference was an opportunity for our church family to have their thoughts, and feelings heard. It seems a big ask, but it was an amazing two days, both in terms of the process, and the results.

Saturday morning was spent talking about where we came from, the history of the community of believers at Barneys. The afternoon more or less centered on who we are, focusing on our community, our ministry areas, our finances, and our opportunities, and Sunday worked towards presenting a number of briefs that could be given to an architect.

Largely because of my history background, I found the session to be amazing. Especially hearing about the ministry of Barneys, its struggles, its growth, the challenges they faced, the context we now find ourselves, but above all how God has remain constant and faithful in spite of the ebbs and flows of life.

The afternoon session we were taken through an amazing array of information, looking at the demographics of the church, the community, the usage of the building, as we did this our eyes were opened to opportunities we could pursue as we began to understand the area in which our community is located.

It is clear to me that we were blessed on Sunday, as we talked through options, opportunities, and though we came out with different options, the same purpose and principles ran through them all.

Sunday, began where I wish each and every day of my life began, at the God’s feet, in prayer, and worship. We then placed ourselves on a line according to what we thought we should do – from (1) rebuilding the building on its footprint; to (5) significant alternations, and (10) a radically new Barneys, once we had done this, we broke into groups, and spoke about where on this continuum we were, why, and what we would like to do. Each of the groups then reported back on the discussions, and we then had a list of what each point of the continuum looked like, and we could clearly see similarities in viewpoints and where our focus should be.

We had a break here, and then we had to put ourselves on the same continuum again – but while before the people seemed to be spread evenly, we had seemed to gravitate to the upper end of the scale. After this, we created groups of 12, and then worked toward creating a brief (for architects), we got to look at each of these proposals, and vote (not committing ourselves, nor making a firm decision, but an indication to the parish council where the mindset of the group was on that day).

It was a tiring, but fulfilling process, and gave me more to think about than simply what happens to the land where our rain-shelter was, but who we are as a community, and the opportunities we have to serve our God together, and I look forward to seeing where our Awesome God will take us.

Been a long time..

Sorry, it does seem that activity on this blog has gone close a record low. So, let me quickly let you in on something. Fiona and I have set a date and will be getting married at St. Matthias Anglican Church Paddington on the the 2nd of December. In relation to the Wedding, the details are coming together quite nicely, and relatively stressfree.

Last night Fi and I went to a Music Appreciation night which Karen organised, the details are posted here, and we had a fun evening, and I was quite interested to hear more from some of the artists people chose.

Tonight it is off to the rain-soaked SCG to watch the Swans play the Bombers. It’s only the second game I’ve seen this year, I’m going with N. and my flatmates. It should be a good, even if a little cold and wet, night.

Another of the recent highlights was spending a weekend down in Canberra. I am actually beginning to think that I could quite easily live there – its close enough to Sydney to be able to go for the weekend, and at the same time the pace seems a touch or so slower than Sydney. The other highlight of our time there was the opportunity to catch up with Deb, and Fiona’s family and friends. It was quite a shame the weekend was as short as it was.

August will be quite a busy month for us – we have our church weekend away – we will hear a talks on leadership, which will be quite interesting. In a few weeks our church has a Search Conference, which will discuss our plans for our church. It should be quite an interesting meeting, and one that I am looking forward to.

Finally, I have to admit that I’m quite stoked that I will see U2 on my birthday with Fi and Lynley. :-)

Cinema …

My bible study group went and saw The Da Vinci Code recently. I want my money back. I have not seen any benefit coming from having gone to see it. Indeed I recall very little of both the book and movie. Not suprisingly my workmates do not seem too interested in the film; and have not read the book.

I still wonder if the churches response to the book is not a touch misguided. Has anyone been convinced to be a Christian simply through our ability to win the argument about DVC.

Am I better prepared for conversations I might have with my friends? Well, I still have to explain the fact I went and saw the film.

Equipping Men

Karen wondered if I had any reflections from being at Equip, or general comments about Men’s conventions I had been too. I found it slighty strange that a men’s day would be held the same day as Equip. But that’s another story.

The singing at men’s convention is often focused on, and I think there is something special about a large group of men singing (with or without musical accompaniment). Men don’t often sing (the obvious exception is at the football). In terms of musicians on stage, I think we are about the same, three singers; a couple of guitars; a drummer and a keyboard player. (I do like how at KCC the singers are off to the side, and the lectern is in the middle).

I think I have a must also have a unique (or perhaps novel or sensitive) sense of humour, because I don’t understand a number of jokes made by one of the speakers at Men’s Convention last year, jokes which often get a good reception.

I prefer the structure of EQUIP above that of the men’s conferences I’ve been too, but I guess that is partly because the Men’s conferences that I have been to are of sizes that make electives impractical. I can’t speak for the material obviously, but I will say that I like the idea of having electives. The topics seemed interesting and relevant.

Though the biggest thing I’d like to see change with Men’s conference, is thinking through ways we can have smaller interactive groups, and time for prayer, perhaps with the guys you came up with, or perhaps run something similar to EQUIP run in the City, once or twice a year.

I wonder if a series of between 4 and 6 talks held over Friday / Saturday is possibly the best way to reach, or disciple men for Christ. I’m not really sure I have a solution, but I know it is hard to focus and concentrate for that long. I know that I’m often finding it hard going by early afternoon Sunday.

From the Ashes...

Yesterday morning fire gutted our church, St. Barnabas (on Broadway). Please pray for our leaders, that God will give wisdom as they explore options for the future, and arrange the services for the short-term, and pray that God will work through this, unite us as a congregation, and through all we do we might bring glory to God’s Name.

SMH
Sydney Anglican

Lots of little randomness

It has been a long time between posts, maybe too long. There’s a lot to catch up on, but I think both you and I would be thankful that it is not my desire to recap the last six weeks or so in full and send you all to sleep but just bullet a few things.

Today Fi, LJ and I were to be at U2’s second Sydney show, though I can understand why they've postponed. April is a good month for concerts with Sigur Ros and James Blunt to look forward to (and further off is Belle and Sebastian). Fi bought me B&S’s The Life Pursuit, and I’ve been listening to that and The Whitlam’s Little Cloud (with The Apple's Eye), and enjoying them both.

It is great to say that I am settling into Barneys. Fi and I are attending a bible study on Wednesday nights; one that is surprisingly close to Kensington/Kingsford given that church is in Broadway. We both feel that we are getting to know people, and I find the preaching challenging faithful, and the service familiar. It will be great to be going to what feels like our church on Good Friday.

This feels like its turning to into quite list of blessings – but I enjoyed catching up with Guan and Karen at Matthias Media on Monday, and last night I was able to see my brothers and sisters from St Augustines who I hadn’t seen for a too long, and and I’m looking forward to catching up with Joe and Carly this week.

The list of movies to see continues to grow, I'm really looking forward to seeing March of the Penguins and V for Vendetta.

The AFL season started this weekend, and I'll be interested to see how the Swans go.

A place to belong

I’ve been thinking about church over the past few weeks, mainly thinking about what it means to be part of a community of believers. I think we need to pour as much energy into making our churches communities as we spend in teaching and exhorting people to evangelism.

Here are a few questions that have been on my mind.

:: As we see our brothers and sisters struggle with issues in their faith, how well do we encourage, support and equip them to answer the questions they may have of their faith.

:: As I think of those who come to church for the first time, how do nourish their faith, and integrate them into our churches.

:: As we look at our pastors I wonder how well we equip and encourage them in their own walk with Christ, and as the minister to each of us, each Sunday.

It seems to me this is where we need to work the hardest. While we always seem to have people joining our congregations, I’m equally sure that some of these people, find a back door to leave, perhaps without anyone noticing. While we are encouraged by the fact that many more people are coming into our churches, we need to learn how to be a community of believers.

I think for me I need to begin where I can, in me, I think it is about seeking or striving to be open. Sure it might be a two-way street – but it begins with me. It begins with a heart willing and able to serve however, and wherever it is needed, none of this is to say that it is easy - it is hard work, it is a struggle for me, but it will be worth it.

2005: What Made the Year that Was

Well, now that we have got a little more accustomed to 2006, I will post a bit more of some personal reflections of 2005. In summary, after quite a shaky start with work 2005 turned into a great year.

During 2005 I was struck by better nature of humanity – evident in the generosity of people responding to the Tsunami, and before Christmas I was struck by the Herald’s readers who paid for Jess Maulder, another potential, but unlikely, Australian of the Year, to go back to Thailand (where she was last Christmas) for the memorial. The earthquake in Kashmir resulted in Indian and Pakistani cooperation. But at the same time the darkside was all to easy to see.

2005 also reminded us that we are unable to control our world- the Tsunami, the Hurricane season in the Gulf of Mexico and the earthquake in Kashmir, being a few examples.

While I was rereading my diary for the year, I came across a list of what I was looking forward to in 2005, on that list (along with a concert or two) was my Gran’s 90th birthday, seeing my sister, and joining Community Bible Church, and no surprise that these were high on the list of highlights for 2005.

It was great to be able to go down to New Zealand and join with my family in celebrating her birthday. I always find these family gatherings quite hard, because we do not see our cousins all that often, but I always enjoy catching up with them, and great seeing how they have grown.

I think it was in March, Lynley and I decided that we would across to the US together, and our holiday was a high point of the year, as was her coming home just before Christmas. Having Christmas together as a family was fantastic.

I had resolved myself during the year to read through the entire bible each year, I did not achieve this. My bible reading has not been great this year, which is one thing that I am seeking to change in 2006.

I found it really great met up with three Korean guys from the morning congregation, we spent our time looking through the book of Philippians, which was quite rewarding for me.

Community Bible Church, was a great group of Godly Christian’s to be involved with, and I found the preaching to be quite challenging and confronting, but at the same time quite comforting, and encouraging. It is with a touch of sadness that I leave Unichurch and move to Barneys on Broadway. (F. and I will definitely miss the Graduate Bible Fellowship – and our bible study group at A+B’s)

The highlight of the year was one that this time last year I hadn’t expected, but the last 9 months or so with F. has been great. It is a blessing being able to spend time with each other and seeing our relationship grow. :)

So what does 2006 hold, I am not one really for resolutions, but I think looking ahead I would like to see my life reflect my faith my clearly, particularly in my relationships, with my family, my flatmates, and Fiona. I am looking forward to getting to know more of my brother’s and sisters at Barney’s and being able to encourage and minister to them, and I would like to read the bible once in the next 18 months, (or twice in three years), and more generally I would like to read and write more often. I intend to speak to people at University about the possibilities for my Masters so watch this space.

In 2006 I also am looking forward to the Australian Open Tennis, the World Cup (Australia’s first in 32 years); a few more concerts, and I am sure there will be other pleasant surprises through the course the year as well.

that's all stuff and nonsense

Yeah, I hate thinking about titles for these posts, so a line from a song will have to do. Anyway, just thought I'd do one of those entries where I actualy speak about what's happening.

It has been a lovely few days, was great to all be together for Christmas. We went to Matt's church on Christmas Eve which was great - the lesson focused on a few of the Old Testament prophecies about the coming Christ. (Hosea 11:1-4, Micah 5:1-5a, Isaiah 7:13-17 and Jeremiah 31:15-17). I've always been amazed (and comforted) about how many Old Testaments prophecies there are about Christ.

Boxing Day we went and saw The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, which we liked to varying degrees. As for me, I quite liked it, and am looking forward to going to seeing it and reading it with Fiona. She came down yesterday(which is great), and is staying with us until I have to go back to work on the 3rd. It will be great just having time to do very little.

I've also decided to start going to Barneys next year, which will be great. Over the past few months I have enjoyed the preaching and look forward to serving our God there.

It's been a while ...

Star Wars – Revenge of the Sith

It’s now very close; the last of the Star Wars movies is out tonight, or tomorrow morning, following our bible studies wandering the wilderness of Exodus we will (minus a few members) head to the Ritz to be among the first to see Revenge of the Sith. I recalled there were murmurings of an outcry that the new Star Wars film will get a M15+ rating (For the record it got a M13+ in the US), leading some to complain, that "my kids love these films, why are you making one they can’t see". I’ll hold my verdict, suffice to say, that I commend Lucas of holding to the spirit of the film, or as he is quoted as saying:

I have to tell a story. I'm not making these, oddly enough, to be giant, successful blockbusters. I'm making them because I'm telling a story, and I have to tell the story I intended.

In terms of the film I’m apprehensively nervous, as the arc of the story is one that holds immense appeal for me, and runs counter to the plot-lines of most films. And for this reason the film is needs to be dark; darker than the Empire Strikes Back (which is the best of the franchise).

Anyway, this film could be a work of art, or sadly like TPM or AOTC, it could be terrible (in dialogue and action), In spite of the nervous apprehension I am viewing the film with, it will be a great night, largely due to the athmosphere. (The only film that could rival Star Wars for audience interaction, in a cinema was the Lord of The Rings trilogy, especially Fellowship of the Ring, and Return of the King – but even then, no-one dressed up for them).

Anyway, expect a review later this month.

A few other updates about what has been happening follow:

Last week we had a bible study dinner and in honour of our bible studies link missionaries we ate Slovenian cuisine. (Courtesy of this website)

It's also coming up to ten days that my parents have been away. They are heading away to see parts of Itay, the UK, and spend quality time with their daughter (and my sister) And, it does seem strange to say, but the next time I see my parents, we'll be in New Zealand (celebrating my Gran's 90th Birthday with family).

Its been a while since I've mentioned my beloved Swans whose last two starts amounted to two wins. :) (It would help if they kicked straighter - less nailbiting action ;) This week puts them in a peculiar away game at home against the Western Bulldogs, and their former mentor, coach Rodney Eade, so it should be quite an interesting game.

Haoran's post on storytelling reminded me of a few clippings I've cut, talking about storytelling, and Star Wars, I'll try and post some excerpts in the next little while.

I want to add that Karen's post about a writers retreat sounds like a great idea. :)

Last weekend I spent at my new churches House Party. It was great to get away (in spite of initial reluctance), and spend a weekend getting to know my brothers and sisters at my new church better.