There are more questions than answers

Was it Bill Withers who sang it? I know I am sitting here in the internet and I could check but I can’t really be arsed, if any of you readers either know or check then please let me know.

So why is that the title of today’s blog? Well we just had a big weekend at Edgeley Road URC, not a big brew in the big deal stylee that a lot of churches did, ours was much more a big weekend for us and our own. Way back in the depths of winter when we were wrestling with our church’s future I had the idea of having a big summer party to celebrate our time in this place. We would have a bbq in the garden then worship in the church and, finally, a party in the hall. In that way we would be spending time in all the significant areas of the buildings and grounds.

With months to go it seemed like we had forever to write to people that used to come and to contact people with some sort of association with the place. As the weeks went by the plans became more detailed and letters were sent out but the response was somewhat muted. To be perfectly honest with 2 weeks to go I was ready to throw in the towel and accept that no one really wanted to do this and I was deluding myself to think that we could have any such celebration.

But then in the last 10 days it started to shape up a bit. We had a working party to clean up the grounds that was really well attended, then we power washed the patio area and things started to come together. People started to commit to the venture and by the time the day of the party dawned we were expecting 60 of them to turn up.

The day itself started dull with the promise of rain later but by the time we turned up to get things going the sun came out. The grounds were looking good, we laid out the gazebo and the ‘barrow barbie’ and the chairs and the tables and it was starting to look like it might turn out to be the sort of day I had dreamt of.

Without going in to too much detail I have to tell you that the whole thing was an unmitigated success. People came that hadn’t seen the church in ages and people came who had never seen the church.

The worship section was perfect (more so than the lamb burgers) tying everything together.

So what does it mean and how has it left me feeling… well whereas I was convinced that we had to move to the Methodists to realise our vision for the redevelopment of the site I have probably come full circle and now think that we need to stay to achieve that.

There was a spirit about the place that we risk losing by moving too soon. There was a spirit about the place that I thought had gone. There IS a spirit at Edgeley Road that we would have great difficulty in finding again or replacing if it were to make the wrong move.

So what of the future, I wish I could quote another Bill Withers song here and claim that ‘I can see clearly now the rain has gone’ and that ‘it’s going to be a lovely daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay’.

All I can say is that we did have a lovely day on Saturday and my outlook for the future has gone from changeable to bright with sunny intervals and the occasional cloud.

Sounds good but then we all know how reliable the weather forecast can be don‘t we.

Better keep my brolly handy, just in case……

 

Definition still emerging

We had someone from BC in LC yesterday. Interestingly his comment on his experience was that he probably wouldn't come back because he felt that it would have been different had he not been there and that he had somehow changed it.

I could have gone to virtually any traditional service yesterday and, assuming I wasn't the only one there, would have had no impact on the proceedings whatsoever.

So in answer to this newbies comment I was say a very emphatic YES, yes he did affect what we did, we all do. That's what happens. That's the difference

Dads Army

It’sFathers Day tomorrow. I am very lucky, I am a Father and I still have my Father around. If you are in the position where neither of the above applies to you then I will be thinking of you tomorrow. I appreciate that for some either condition might be something of a relief but for those for which it is the source of pain then my heart goes out to you.

I have been thinking a lot about my dad lately. I keep playing the Streets song, ‘never went to church’ and the Verve song ‘The drugs don’t work’. Both songs are about these men’s relationships with their dads, specifically at the point of their deaths or their iminent deaths.

Well I don’t want to lament my Fathers death just yet (I am sure he will be relieved to hear that:-) so I am going to start celebrating his life. I am going to give our relationship some long overdue time and space. I do not want to be writing a poem/song/play/blog about how precious our time was and how I didn’t appreciate him while he was around.

What better day to start that than tomorrow. 

Let us pray

This month at BCLC we are looking at prayer. Brilliant session last week exploring what we all thought prayer was and when or whether we should do it. I have always been a bit abivallent towards prayer, I now think that it is the essential thing you need to maintain your relationships with yourself, everyone else and, of course, God.

We can get rid of hymn singing and all the rest but prayer must be promoted above everything.

Tomorrow we are going to try loads of different ways to pray. Can't wait. 

What’s emerging?

I had an interesting exchange last week with some other church types when planning some stuff for the WOW conference this year. We were all asked to consider life in the desert as a model for how church currently is in the west. We were then asked to think about our own vision for the church of the future. Some people had one, some didn't. I shared my experience with BCLC and our plans for its future and suggested that this was my vision. Someone commented that they thought the emerging church was more exclusive than that from which it was emerging. This is a peculiar view in my opinion as the emerging church, as I see it, currently has a number of manifestations grouped together only in that they are not 'traditional' church. How can something that is diverse and 'undefined' possibly exclude anyone? If you feel excluded you do something else, something emerges that brings people into contact with God in a way they haven't been able to before.

Or am I missing something? Has someone somewhere defined what the emerging church is and how it is structured and who the leaders are and how much training they need and which hymn book we sing or don't sing hymns from? Can you send me the url?

This is a worrying thing, if people think that the emerging church is a defined something then the message isn't getting across.

If we're not careful we may go from emerging to established then we are back to square one. 

Unethhical Moi?

pssstttt, I am whispering this one, don't tell any of my ethical chums but this week I find myself in the world's most environmentally unfriendly country. No I'm not in America I am un Dubai, UAE. That's right the place that is so hot everything has to be air conditioned. The place that is really a desert but isn't, it is the new playground of the rich and famous and I have been on a plane to 7 hours to get here to do a couple of days work then turn round and fly back.

How will I ever sleep.

This place is amazing though. I went to the shopping mall (you know the one with the ski slope in it!!) and I could have been anywhere in the world, until I stepped outside again. Why do the rich and famous do this? They could go virtually anywhere in the World and see anything but instead they go to another hot place and shop. It must be like they wake up and think where am I?  Well it's hot so that rules out the UK (most of the time) Everyone speaks english so that doesn't help much either, ah yes there's minarets on Harvey Nicks so I must be in Dubai.

Be glad to be home I can tell you. 

Big Brother

Well I can resist no longer the tempatation to put finger to keyboard in mention of this years BB. Of course we have something of a connection to the programme with our name being cleverly derived from Big Brother’s Little Brother.

I don’t know if any of you are fans of the programme, I find myself watching it despite my better judgement, but over the years it has changed quite a lot. In the early days it was very much about putting 10-12 young people in a house together and seeing what happened. The weekly evictions ensured that people made friendships and strategic alliances that they might not have done in the general course of events. There was the occassional bust up and the odd liaison but overall it was fairly low key and they could only usually find 30 minutes of footage in every 24 hours that was worth watching. I say worth watching, it generally consisted of the housemates sunbathing or eating or sleeping, although they did allow a guitar or two into the early series so there was some entertainment to be had.

I am sure that those early contestants learned a lot about themselves and each other, I think one couple are actually married as a result of meeting on the show. One of them went onto mini-stardom working on a DIY show but overall they seemed (or seem looking back) relatively normal people trying to find something more about themselves.

Contrast that with the housemates of 2006 and the difference is quite startling. For a start the programme itself has become much bigger than it was and consequently, in order to fill all the programmes they now show around the main one they have to ensure that things happen. By that I mean people pairing up or squaring up. It would seem that to keep us viewers watching it there has to be the suggestion of sex or an almighty row. Without them we would switch off.

But as well as the programme changing it seems to me that the contestants are all a little more in your face than they were in the early days. They are probably all now trying to find some level of celebrity rather than something about themselves but instead are discovering some home truths and maybe not liking or being able to handle what they find.

I have talked before in this forum about the lack of connectedness that afflicts us today. Here is a programme that could allow people to make connections with themselves and with each other and they are forced instead to fight or flirt their way through the weeks in the house. For some this is too much and they leave early, for others, they lie and cheat their way to a hoped, nay yearned, for victory. Some though can rise above it all.

The people really making a connection with the audience and being seen as potential winners this year are the ones that are being themselves and developing as a result of their experience. You might not like the way Nikki seems spoilt and pouty but I have no doubt that she would be exactly the same if you met her outside the house. Glynn is finding new things about himself all the time (cooking – well making toast, and washing his clothes for the first time) and obviously enjoying the experience. As for Pete, he is getting acceptance where he once would have been ridiculed, again he is connecting with everyone as a result and will, in my humble opinion, win.

Shhhhhh

Not had a lot to say recently, well I have but I have either said it, that’s right out loud using my mouth, or I haven’t had time t blog it due to the pressure of work. I did pepare quite an excellent article on Big Brother which I will finish and publish one day very soon.

Since my last word we have had an elders meeting and a church meeting but didn’t have the scheduled meeting with the Methodists largely because of what went on at the fist two meetings.

I did get my LL job description approved by the church which is quite exciting. I am really looking forward to getting stuck into this work. Pete has agreed to take on the leadership of weekenders so I can give it some proper attention. Give what some proper attention did someone say? Glad you asked…

Well as per my description I want to move the church away from its traditional time and place and get people in the comminuity more actively engaged with matter of their spirits. I think the two aims compliment each other nicely. I am looking forward to WOW this year so that I can get some good ideas and make some new contacts.

That’s all I have time for, I will put in the BB article soon and will elucidate more on what is going on in my head, in Edgeley Road and in wider Edgeley community just as soon as I am able.

til then…