futurechurchconference

Thursday, October 13, 2005

FRIDAY

7.30 PM Strange bedfellows? Evangelicals and progressive christians. Kevin Ward, Susan Jones, Rosemary Neave facilitates this conversation

posted by futurechurchconference at 9:02 AM

1 Comments:

  • Futurechurch Conference Friday by Bruce

    The task we had set ourselves may have been too hard. We had wanted to go beyond just talking to ourselves and to really explore connecting with non-church people. There was some feeling of going around in circles, frustration.

    Throughout Friday we kept breaking into animated groups of 2 or 3 and maybe 4 or 5, sharing experiences. It was as though we had seen the church go through the fields doing its harvest and then all these “Ruths” had gone through the field gleaning gems left behind. Will they now like conference so seeds of inspiration?

    Rosemary emerged, its not hard for Rosemary to emerge, as a key networker of gleaners and gems. Her ability to identify and value a gleaner or a gem was to me outstanding and I’m full of gratitude. What a wonderful personality. God sure got that one right, or was it the school of hard knocks Rosemary?

    It turns out many of the gleaners found their gems in the school of hard knocks (I just can’t shake the metaphors.). For many, conference’s priority on Friday was to note down the variety of activities, the wonderful initiatives the gleaners had taken as they had moved to the fringe of what we uncomfortably call ‘church’. Gems went from e- church (emailing), surfing the web, and blogging (My computer always underlines blogging in red. It must be an important word.), to Focus on the Sacred and Silent Groups or Walk, talk and meditate meetings, the Garden Group, and the two guys who bought a pub to have their ‘church’ there.

    On Friday it was clear we wanted a ‘bank’ of ‘being church’ ideas. It was suggested we blog them. But so many of us don’t know how to blog – and we feel illiterate. Anyway, you need a computer. More than once I heard it said, “I suppose I’ll just have to get a computer.”

    Is church becoming something done monthly or quarterly and between times we blog and have café church or casual meetings? Has church as we’ve structured it been too demanding? What about ‘specialist church’ like choirs and project groups - Surely they need to meet weekly and have a reason to meet weekly? Is the church tail
    wagging the church dog?

    But Friday didn’t stop there. We found it was important because of our life experience that evangelicals and progressives should go to bed together J and well neither should get fundamental about it so I won’t but I’m tempted to use my imagination because I’m still metaphoring.

    Friday ended with a moving moment of enriched contemplation. Can you just imagine
    if you weren’t there, walking through the door like through the wardrobe into another world. Through the door you stepped into the darkened sanctuary from which primal sounds rose. The circuit before you calls and you follow and find the traditional sacraments of the church and life summed up and centred into this moment. It was about contemplation and it wasn’t all happy by any means. Even as I write this I’m crying and crying, letting go to go home, yes, but also in blessing and in wonder at our heritage in Jesus.

    By Anonymous Bruce Tasker, at 4:32 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home