Taking it easy

Since last Wednesday, we've been having an amazing and relaxing time with our friends Tony and Carol Cooper and their daughter Claire who live in a beautiful old Victorian farm house, just outside the charming village of South Nutfield in Surrey.

We met Tony and Carol two years ago in Bermuda. They are a wonderful Christian couple and fantastic hosts.

This morning we took the train into London and attended Holy Trinity Brompton Church, known around the world as the home of the Alpha course. They have four services -- 9:30, 11:30, 5 and 7. We opted for 9:30. We arrived just after 9 on a glorious summer day and we warmly welcomed by several very young people who were part of a hospitality team who provided me with my first cup of coffee.

We discovered that this was the family service that most of the young children attend. The church soon filled up with young families. There were 300-400 in attendance. Nicky Gumbel, the vicar and inspiration behind the Alpha course, welcomed everyone and prayed and then the most high energy service I've been at for a long time commenced. It was clearly geared to holding the interest of children, but with a message that parents and other adults could relate to. Nicky returned at the end to bless us on our way, and we were done in just under an hour.

Here we are with Nicky Gumbel.

Today was the start of something called Big Summer Sunday. The old church yard (cemetery) has been turned into a beautiful green space. They had bouncy castles and pedal cars and food and drinks set up for the community to come and enjoy. People from the church brought picnics and were sitting together eating.

We were recognized by a couple who sat in front of us in church. They invited us to join them. They lead a "pastorate" which is kind of a cluster group -- bigger than a small group -- of which there are several at HTB. They told us a few things that we didn't know about HTB.

As long ago as 1985, HTB began the practice of sending out teams of people to other Anglican churches that have either closed or are on the verge of closing to revitalize them. One nearby church is St. Paul's Onslow Square which is now part of a two-congregation parish with HTB. The services between the two are staggered by 30 minutes -- 9 at St. Paul's, 9:30 at HTB, etc. Nicky starts and ends each service and rides his bike back and forth between the two!!

We also learned that each service has a different focus. The 9 a.m. service at St. Paul's is quite traditional with organ and choir, in recognition of the fact that there are still many people for whom traditional worship is very nourishing. Transitioning churches need to remember that. The 7 p.m. service is where many (not all) of the younger adults attend.

HTB is now launching another revitalization initiative at a church in Brighton that seats 900+ and has about 20 in attendance. A group from HTB is committing themselves to going in and reestablishing an energetic ministry in that place.

HTB has become a kind of centre of spiritual energy through the phenomenon of the Alpha course and the other ministries that have spun off from it. There are a lot of people in my own denomination who are really suspicious of Alpha because it doesn't fit into a particular "inclusivity" ethos. But so many of the churches we've visited are infectiously welcoming because they have a passion for the Gospel of Christ who was radically welcoming. I also know that the Alpha course brought the faith of several people in my church to life. It was the first time they encountered faith as a life-transforming power and it's made a huge difference in our congregation.

Some REALLY new stuff

We were supposed to have lunch with Rev. Bonnie Appleton, who is responsible for Parish Development and Evangelism for the Diocese of Guildford, but it didn't work out. But Bonnie was good enough to send us a really helpful email about things that are going on in Guildford, plus some of her thoughts on where the Church ought to be going. Here's what she wrote (pay particular attention to the second last paragraph in bold type):

We have several really interesting fresh expressions happening in Guildford. You can see most of them on the diocesan website www.cofeguildford.org.uk (put Fresh Expressions into the search part and the list should come up.) You may want to look at some particular websites. More out of the ordinary ones are 'rezurgence' - www.rezurgence.com - more than just a website but web based and BMX bikers log in to find the next BMX competition where they meet up to pray, support and worship together. This work is now developing further with a van than is equipped with tools and leaders go round helping kids mend their bikes and do evangelism whilst they are doing this.

Songs of Rage www.songsofrage.co.uk - outreach to the music community that is turning into a Fresh Expression.

Very new is a kind of community arts and worship centre in Ash Vale where the Vicar of the local Anglican church is very arty. There's been a combination of things happening - he arrived about 18 months ago; the local Methodist Church closed and they didn't know what to do with the building and they asked Neil. He's now in the process of engaging with the community and they are putting on films for different groups - e.g. black and white old films for the elderly washed down with a cup of tea and cake, more modern stuff in the evening for the youngsters etc. They are about to start some worship there but the main concern is to engage with the wider community who love the idea. Eventually they hope to have artists in residence who will engage with the community and with worship - all very alternative! No website as yet - it's too new and the vicar is about to go on a 10 day motorbike tour with some local bikers to Uganda. They're going to film the trip and bring it back to show the community and hopefully make links.

There are a couple of café churches but they're quite different. One is basically a relaxed evening service sitting around tables with nuts and crisps on the table and the other offers food, alternative opportunities to engage with Jesus, some worship for those who want it, challenges and opportunities to pray.

There are lots of Messy Churches springing up - but they all seem very different. I had hoped to get to the Messy Church baptism at Lightwater on Sunday but just couldn't do it in the end - same problem as you - trying to get myself into too many places at once!

I still feel that too many churchgoers are in a 'church bubble'. Many think the Church is the centre of the universe and haven't realised that most people in our country think of the Church as dying or dead and certainly on the margins of what's going on! Irrelevant - is what most would say. But trying to get long-committed Christians to recognise this and to do something about it is very very difficult. Our churches have few children and young people and we're very sparse when it comes to those in their 20s and 30s or even 40s! Those churches doing really well tend to have a lot of transfer growth (Christians from other churches) but not many conversions. I think most conversions come from the smaller churches some of whom are much more aware that they need to do evangelism - but it's too little too late. If we do evangelism at all well it is with those who used to come to church as children and dropped away. The fact that we have so few children in our churches now means that the church community now is the poorer because people tend to become more inward and backward looking without children ('the good old days' syndrome.)I wrote a dissertation last year on the importance of children to our churches now and in the future. In 1900 55% of the children in Great Britain attended a church, by 2000 only 4% of children attended a church. If we only do evangelism with those who used to come to church then in 20 or 30 years the Church in England will be on its last legs or even deceased! Dramatic I know, and I hope it won't get to that stage, but it might!What we need to learn to do in this country is engage with those who know nothing about God. This is where some of the Fresh Expressions are working out of the box.

We need to do more of this.I hope that this gives you a flavour of what's going on. Do also read my essay on the difference between a real Fresh Expression and an outreach project in an inherited church. You'll find it on the website. You'll find out what I really think from that.I hope the rest of your trip goes well.

Every blessingBonnie

Bible Reading Fellowship

I can't think of a more traditional, old-fashioned sounding title than BRF -- Bible Reading Fellowship. This organization started in 1922 to promote the reading of Scripture in British Churches. They still publish Bible reading notes and devotional resources that look a lot like the Upper Room.

We attended a presentation put on by the BRF at the 12th century abbey in the village of Dorchester-on-Thames. Just being in this 700 year old church was thrilling enough. But we were really blown away to hear all the things that this organization is up to.

Until 1991, the BRF was entirely self-supporting through the sales of its printed resources. But they have realized the importance of developing resources in other media, and also of providing personal support and encouragement to individuals

and congregations that are engaged in spiritual growth and mission.

Each of the staff people at BRF had a chance to describe his or her area of work. So, we heard about the range of fantastic children's resources that they publish under the brand name Barnabus, and the creative presentations they do in schools. (Churches still have access to schools in Britain to an extent that no longer exists in Canada.) For example, there are 400 Year 6 kids coming to Wells Cathedral every day this week to take part in creative learning activities and workshops about the Christian faith.

We also heard about the wide range of books BRF publishe

s that help people deepen their spiritual lives.

The most exciting thing was Foundations 21 which is an adult discipleship resource that is entirely web-based. Participants have a choice of entering 12 different "rooms" that each deal with a different aspect of Christian faith. They can access video clips of people talking about the spiritual life, both "heavy hitters" like N. T. Wright and Elaine Storkey, but also "ordinary Christians." I can't wait to have a look at it.

BRF has taken over the development and promotion of Messy Church resources as well. Lucy Moore (pictured below with Colin Fletcher, the Bishop of Dorchester) is now employed full time by BRF to develop Messy Church. (Sorry for the rather jaundiced tinge in the picture. I turned my flash off and it was getting dark.)

Cross Cultural Mission

We met Paul Thaxter on Saturday at the Fresh Expressions vision day. I attended his workshop on how to interpret cultural contexts. Paul spent quite a few years in Pakistan as a missionary where he learned to engage culture and offer the Gospel to people in a challenging context.

Paul works for the Church Mission Society, one of these parachurch organizations that we've been finding out about in Britain that are doing amazing and creative things. The Church Mission Society had its origins in the Clapham Sect, the network of evangelical social reformers in the 19th century that were formed to work for the abolition of slavery. Paul's title is "Transcultural Mission Director" and the "foreign cultures" he deals with are often not in other countries but in the vast realms of British society that are completely untouched by the Christian message.

We had already planned to go to Oxford for a couple of days and realized to our delight that the CMS (Church Mission Society) offices are in Oxford. We agreed to meet Paul for lunch.

He's a really engaging guy, with a deep instinct for connecting with people who speak different "languages" and live and work in different places. He had said at the workshop on Saturday that Jesus was the greatest cross-cultural missionary of all time because he bridged the gap between the "culture of heaven" and the "culture of earth."

He told the following story that describes what he's about. Shortly after returning from Pakistan, he was on a train where he met three younger women. They struck up a conversation. "What do you do?" they asked. He wasn't sure how to answer because he knew that "missionary," "minister" or any other church-related descriptor would probably produce a polite response, but close the doors to genuine dialogue. So, he replied, "I help people navigate their spiritual journeys."

"That is so interesting," one of them said, and they embarked on an intense discussion of some really deep issues. When they got off the train, one of the young women said to another, "You know, we've been friends since we were 7 years old, and I've never heard you tell that story."

People are desperately hungry to explore spiritual questions and issues but the language we want to use to frame the discussion effectively closes so many doors. This was an illustration of how to use language to open doors.

What are the most important things about being missional, we asked. "It's who you will eat with," Paul replied. So much of what we've been hearing focuses on the crucial importance of table fellowship. Eating with people has implications that are evangelical (who we regard as important), ecclesiological (how we define our communities) and eschatological (prefiguring the Kingdom of God.)

It's also about who we are willing to pray with -- not just pray for but pray with. The church's prayers are often patronizing because while we're quite willing to pray for the poor and the marginalized, we're often not so willing to pray with them, to invite them into the task of prayer.

It's all pretty simple, he said. Jesus is the "handshake of God." As Christian leaders, we just need to do our job -- to begin with prayer, to steward the Gospel, to do what we've been called to do. Conversations like the one we had with Paul Thaxter have reinforced for me just how much we do in the church actually interferes with the Gospel. We just need to do what we've been called to to do.

Messy Church

Something we had heard about and were really anxious to see was Messy Church. It's an approach to family ministry that started in Portsmouth and has spread widely in England.

Messy Church takes place outside Sunday morning. It includes people of all ages. Most churches have it on weekdays, usually once or twice a month. They begin with crafts and other activities, followed by a time of worship for all ages and then a meal. It centres around hospitality, creativity and celebration. Typically, Messy Church will start around 4 p.m. and end by 6-6:30.

We attended Messy Church on June 21 at All Saints Lightwater, west of London. Ruth Kidd coordinates the childrens' ministry at All Saints. We arrived in time to help her with set-up. The Scripture story they were using was Philip and the Ethiopian (tactfully avoiding the inevitable question: "What's a eunuch.") So, there were long sheets of paper and plastic bins with water soluble paint the kids could step in and make footprints, an inflatable pool with water for baptism, candle making, making a chariot out of a paper cup, decorating a paper tie for Father's Day, colouring she

ets and a few other activities.

It so happened that there was a baptism on Sunday of an 8 year old boy named Jack. Martin Sheldon, the vicar, told us they'd never done a baptism at Messy Church, so didn't quite know what to expect. I think he was preparing us for the possibility that it might be, well, messy.

By the time we started at 4 p.m. there were about 40 people present, including some family members who were there for the baptism. Kids and parents/grandparents dove into the activities enthusiastically. At 5 we went into the church for the wildest baptism service I'd ever been part of. Martin did a great job adapting the liturgy so that it was family friendly, and Ruth told the story of Philip and the Ethiopian with impromptu help from kids acting out not only their roles, but the horse pulling the chariot. It was super high energy worship.

Then back to the hall for a wonderful meal of curried chicken.

Lucy Moore, the originator of Messy Church stresses that it's about mission. Messy Church has had great success in drawing in families who would not normally be at the regular Sunday service. It's for people "at the messy edges of the church," she says, "and the messy edges of life -- people the church has often overlooked."

Fresh Expressions

Fresh Expressions is the name given to a joint undertaking by the Church of England and the Methodist Church to encourage new forms of church, especially with groups not currently involved in church. It's really a coming together of about 25 years of emerging experiments in the midst of the passing of the traditional church in Britain.

The Fresh Expressions website was one of our main sources of information as we planned this trip. It both inspired us and gave us ideas of where to go and what to see.

Yesterday we went to Basingstoke, about 45 minutes west of London, for a Fresh Expressions Vision Day, put on by the Diocese of Winchester. The day was led by Zoe Hart and Steve Pittis who are both employed by the Diocese in the area of mission.

One of the things that struck us first is how vibrant evangelical Christianity still is in the Church of England. The opening worship was heart-felt and focused on the Holy Spirit. But it's evangelicalism in the warm and expansive British sense, not in the least sectarian or closed.

Too much to put into one blog posting, but here are a few highlights.

Fresh Expressions is NOT a strategy to manage the church in decline, they said, but an attempt to "catch up" to what the HOly Spirit is already doing in the church. This was illustrated by some local stories, such as "The Living Room," a church for students in Southhampton, or Legacy XS, a church for skate-boarders, or "The Tube Station," an outreach to surfers in Cornwall.

Fresh Expressions initiatives have a strong missional focus. In other words, they aren't meant to simply service the needs and wants of current members, but to reach people "off the church's radar." At the same time, Fresh Expressions values the continuing traditional forms of church in a kind of "mixed economy" approach, to quote Rowan Williams.

We were impressed by the theological grounding. Fresh Expressions reimagines church in differing cultural forms because God takes culture seriously. A key text is Eugene Peterson's translation of John 1:14: "The Word became flesh and moved into the neighbourhood."

Church has three basic orientations in our culture. First, attractional -- "Come and join us." This still works for some, but fewer all the time.

Second is "Engaged" -- "Go and then come." Go out and build relationships with people who can then be drawn into the church.

Third is "Emerging" -- "Go and stay." This is the cutting edge of Fresh Expression, developing church in places and among people who are currently beyond the bounds of any discernable church.

Steve described 7 Core Values that undergird Fresh Expressions:
* They are mission shaped communities.
* They involve creative experimentation and overcoming fear of failure and risk.
* They are culturally relevant and culturally engaged.
* They bring about transformation in people.
* They make disciples.
* They require sacrifice.
* They promote unity in the midst of diversity.

It's estimated that about a third of Anglican Churches in Britian have begun some kind of fresh expression, and there are around 160 Fresh Expression initiatives in the Methodist Church.

One of the real blessings of this trip is the number of amazing people we have met, people who are passionate for the Gospel, many of them in denominational positions of leadership. I had a fantastic conversation with Paul Thaxter who is the Transcultural Mission Director for the Church Mission Society. He knows an amazing amount about how to engage with different cutlures. We're going to have lunch with him on Monday in Oxford.

Sabbatical comes from Sabbath

Several people have reminded us that the word "sabbatical" comes from "sabbath" which, as Eugene Peterson says, means "stop," "quit", "rest" "take a break."

"So when are you going to take time to rest on this frenetic trip you've planned for yourselves?" our new friend Anne Maclaurin asked us -- or words to that effect.

So, last night we went to see Oliver with Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean) in the role of Fagin.

The Sanctuary

I found a community called The Sanctuary that meets in the Methodist Central Hall -- right across the road from Westminster Abbey, actually -- on Thursdays, which was our good fortune. The Methodist Central Hall is this massive domed structure, built in 1912, quite obviously to demonstrate to the Church of England that they weren't the only show in town.


The Sanctuary, though, is a group of mostly 20s and 30s that meet in the chapel of this building.

When we go there, we were welcomed by a young lady called Matilda and a young man called James. There was tea, coffee and light snacks. Jonathan Green, the pastor, wasn't there tonight because his wife Felicity was going into labour with their first child. But James filled us in on the origins of The Sanctuary.

Jonathan came to work with the congregation that meets at the Central Hall, with responsibility for youth and young adults. He started The Sanctuary a few years ago with, I'm told, Felicity and one other person. Today, there's a community of over 100 young adults who come and go, with an average of 30 showing up each week for worship. This night I counted 25 including us.

The worship was not what you'd call experimental. We sang some standard worship songs -- Blessed Be Your Name, As the Deer -- with a grand piano and flute accompaniment. Jonathan didn't know till the last minute that he wasn't going to be there, so a member of the community read his sermon, which was part of a series on rest and recreation. It was really thoughtful, starting with a reference to Abraham Joshua Heschel's work on the Sabbath. The point was that as Christians we need to develop the spiritual discipline of rest and leisure, and learn to see our "holidays" as "holy days."

There was some good discussion afterwards about the challenge of living a balanced life of work, rest and prayer in our culture. Many young people come to The Sanctuary directly from work where they are immersed in the frantic pace of central London.

As I said, there was absolutely nothing glitzy or gimmicky about the gathering, but we came away with a feeling of authentic community.

One interesting feature of The Sanctuary is that there are about 25 people who participate in leadership -- music, setting up, hospitality, Power Point, praying, preaching. Every time someone does something, they are given points. Ordinarily, you would think this was some kind of competition to see who could accumulate the most. In fact, it's just the opposite. When you get to 6 points, you have to take a break from leading for at least a week.

This was quite a contrast to evensong at Westminster Abbey, but another fascinating expression of church in the heart of the city.

Westminster Abbey

We were going to tour Westminster Abbey, but it costs 15 quid. However, we noticed a sign for Evensong at 5 p.m., after the paid tours finish.

We showed up at 4:30 and were directed to stand with a crowd in the nave, waiting to go in. I was really surprised at how many people were there. I'm sure some were just tourists, but once everyone was seated there had to be 300 people.

Thankfully, it was a choral evensong. The choir began to sing with that ethereal, almost otherworldly sound that is so characteristic of English cathedral music. It sent tingles up our spines.

I don't think I could be an Anglican, but I do find Anglican liturgy, well done, one of the most beautiful things in the world. And this was truly beautiful.

I've been reading a book by Bob Hopkins and Mike Breen on clusters. They make the point that a lot of churches take the cathedral-inspired service as the norm. But whereas places like Westminster Abbey can do it REALLY, REALLY well, most churches can't. They have a choir and try to sing anthems by Purcell or Mendelssohn, but it's nothing but a shadow of what it ought to be.

Same thing for churches like Willow Creek. How many churches have tried to emulate Willow Creek, but done it really badly?

Bob and Mike's advice is that churches shouldn't try to be what they're not, or to take something that requires enormous resources which they will never have as the standard. What churches of any size can do is to be communities of disciples, and they shouldn't divert resources from those essential tasks into trying to put on a Sunday "event" that is beyond their capacity.

Three REALLY different experiences

We spent the day in London today. We took the city bus tour to get oriented. The first place we went back to was Trafalgar Square, where we went to St. Martin-in-the-Fields Church, made famous for world-class classical music by Sir Neville Marriner. When we arrived, there was a baroque ensemble rehearsing for a Friday night concert -- Handel, I think -- a guy playing the recorder faster than I thought it could be played.

But we got a sense of the ministry of that church too. First, music. There's a fantastic round of concerts. But they are also really involved in ministry with the homeless.

After sitting for a while, Diane said, "I'd really like a cup of tea." We were going to look for someplace to go, when we noticed the sign for the Cafe in the crypt. Now, the crypt in an old church is where they used to bury people. It's under the church, and St. Martin's have created this fabulous cafe with really tasty food and drink. It was quite crowded when we ventured down there about 3 p.m., so I can't imagine what it's like at lunch time.

This church has developed a vibrant and multi-faceted ministry in the heart of the city which includes music, social witness and provision of a place where people from all over can meet.

Teen and Parent Mentoring

We spent an hour with Ruth Gookey, an energetic young mom who works part-time at Stopsley directing their Teen and Parent Mentoring program. Ruth recruits mentors from the church, but also from the wider community, screens them and leads them through a six week training course.

Teens are referred to the program often through the local high school. But Stopsley also provides mentoring for young parents and they are often pointed to the program by midwives, social workers and health visits. Ruth connects those referred with a mentor who stays with them for a period of time, supporting and encouraging them.

What really impressed us is the the funding for the program comes from the local Council who have recognized Stopsley's commitment to the community. That's a level of trust that has been built up over a long period of time.

Ruth made an interesting comment. She said that church people get to exercise their gifts in many ways, but those outside the church often have a yearning to do something significant but have no way to let it out. The mentoring program provides that for them, in addition to the benefit to the clients.

Morning at the Oasis

Leaving Paul behind to read, our host Brian Jose took me to the Oasis, drop in centre. Staffed by volunteers from local churches and funded with donations, the Oasis is a women only haven for those of South Asian origin. Jill heads up Oasis, a rented house with a sitting room, a playroom, emergency overnight housing and a prayer/counselling room. The Muslim women who come face a variety of challenges: social isolation, lack of experience in accessing services, family pressure. The south Asian community here has an unusually high occurence of special needs in children. (Perhaps due to the very closed nature of the community) This puts extra pressure on the mums. Oasis is a great, safe place for a chat, a cup of tea, internet access, encouragement and prayer. A list was being circulated to sign up for a coach trip to a seaside resort and Jill was encouraging one young woman who was a little tentative about going a couple of hours away from home without her husband. There are scripture verses, in English and Arabic, in posters up on the wall. The Oasis is very clear that this is a Christian ministry and looks for ways to open doors to Jesus for the women who come. For example, if a woman wants to use the prayer room upstairs for her five times a day prayer time, she is accompanied by an Oasis volunteer who prays for her as she prays. Often, she will ask: what were you doing when I was praying? And the answer is "I was praying for you." So, a conversation opens about prayer, meaning of, purposes of, to whom, and so on. Oasis, like many Christian ministries, operates on the shoe string. Keep it in your prayers.

Open to the Community

I'm sitting in the spacious (and today, at least, sun-drenched!) atrium of Stopsley Baptist Church in Luton, north of London. It's set up with plenty of room for gathering and welcoming. There's the Lounge Cafe where you can buy snacks, drinks and light lunches. To my right is a large children's centre where parents and tots gather on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for "Hullabaloo" -- a play group staffed by volunteers. Today there is also a well baby clinic being held in the church.

What's striking me is just the level of activity and energy on a Tuesday morning. Toddlers and babies are laughing and crying, parents are coming and going, people are sitting on the comfortable couches and around tables in the cafe area, sharing conversation and cup of tea.

We spent some time this morning with Dave Shaw who is the pastoral care pastor at Stopsley. A social worker by training, Dave is responsible for nurturing and encouraging people from cradle to grave. He coordinates parenting courses, pre-marriage and marriage enrichment, as well as care for the elderly and dying. "I have the best job in the world," he told us.

Stopsley has built a reputation in Luton as a community that can be trusted to do high quality work with people of all ages. But that's clearly no accident. I'm getting a sense of a congregation that has very intentionally turned itself out towards towards the community, with a genuine care for people regardless of whether they ever show up at church.

House Church

So, I wondered, what actually happens at a house church? We found out on Sunday morning. The group was gathering at Jonathan and Karen's, so it was really nice not to have to go anywhere for church! Just before 11, one couple, Derek and Naomi, arrived with their three children. Rebecca, a single woman, was there as well. Robert and Mary, and their two children, Ben and Caroline, arrived a little later. So, when all were present and accounted for, there were 9 adults and 8 children.

The kids started off outside playing (since the weather was nice) and Jonathan asked us to tell everybody what we were doing. As we talked, people in the group began to share some of their journeys, their frustrations with traditional church, and their desire for authentic Christian community. We shared for over half an hour, then the kids came back in, we sang a couple of songs, accompanied by Derek's violin, and then they asked if they could pray for us. Surrounded by our new friends in Christ, we received prayers for our trip and our ministry. There were a couple of prophetic words offered and several of the children prayed. Sometime after noon, we went to the dining room to share the food that everybody had brought. We were still there at 3:00!

Karen warned us that it could be a little bit chaotic, and it was. But there was a tremendous spirit of authenticity and community present in that living room. The group were really open about their struggles. They wonder constantly whether they're doing what God wants them to do, and whether they should be doing more to reach out to new Christians. But what really struck me is in a group like this, there's nowhere to hide. People have to take each other as they are and relate to each other with love and forgiveness.

When we told Robert about being at St. Thomas, he said, "Wow, that's going from the sublime to the 'Cor Blimey!'" (about as English an expression as you could imagine.) But we felt really privileged to be invited into this circle of Christians on the way.

Beeston Festival

When we decided to visit Leeds, our friend Karen Gray sent out some emails to people she knows who are doing different things. Very quickly we got an email back from Ed Carlisle, asking if we'd like to volunteer at the Beeston Festival. "Sure," we said, not having any idea what the Beeston Festival is.

Beeston is a community in south west Leeds that has a high level of economic and social deprivation and is very multicultural. It become notorious in 2005 as the home of one of the London subway bombers, a reputation that has been very painful for the local Muslim community. Recently, students and other socially conscious people have been moving into the community and starting to invest in it. The Festival is one result.




We arrived on Saturday at Cross Flats Park, which is this stunning green space in the middle of the city with enormous mature trees nourished on English rain. Vendors and displayers were setting up their stalls, and we were given the task of registering people who were entering the art and craft show. People brought everything from hand made jewelry to radishes. Their names had to be entered into a book and assigned a number for the judges.


After our job was done we had a chance to wander through the festival, looking at the wares that people were displaying, or the displays that local agencies had set up.





It was an absolutely beautiful day -- sunny and warm, in an English sort of way, with just a hint of coolness in the air. I had to admit that I was feeling ambivalent about being put to work at an event we knew nothing about, but we ended up having a fabulous time.

The Beeston Festival is a tremendous example of community building, spear-headed by people who live and incarnational life of faith. It's multicultural and multi-religious, but the impetus has really come from people like Ed who see their commitment to restoration of community as an expression of their faith.

Who needs congregations?

A growing number of people in the UK consider themselves committed Christians but are not part of any congregation. It's not just because they can't find one they like, but because they believe that traditional congregational life actually impedes faithfulness.

We had lunch with Mike Love and Tim Jones who both work for the Leeds Christian Community Trust -- a non-profit organization that provides seed funding to new initiatives, some Christian, some not. Mike was once a pastor, but became convinced that 99% of what was happening in his church had very little to do with the Kingdom of God or with forming disciples. British churches launched a "Decade of Evangelism" in the 199os, the the result was that church attendance delcined from 14% to less than 10%. In other words, the church as it has existed for so long has lost the ability to connect with people -- in fact, is a barrier to people hearing and living the Gospel. So, he basically shut his church down and released his congregation to live lives of dispersed faithfulness. Both he and Tim see their Christian witness in almost entirely incarnational terms, being expressed through the relationships they form and the groups they are a part of. Neither "goes to church," but both regard themselves as committed Christians.

I have to admit I was challenged by their radical vision of Christianity. But we both had some misgivings. We've observed that the "post-congregational" people we've met have all been shaped and formed in a congregational setting. They have picked up the narratives, practices, core beliefs and "ethos" of Christianity. The question is, without a gathered, discipling, teaching church, how with the NEXT generation even know what the Gospel is?

Rowan Williams has coined the phrase "mixed economy" to describe what is going on in the church today -- traditional forms and fresh expressions co-existing side-by-side and each influencing the other. That's what we're spending a lot of time reflecting on -- what that "mixed economy" will look like in this time of great ferment and transition.

Off to the next place!

On Thursday, we took a one hour train journey to Leeds where we're staying with Karen and Jonathan Gray and their three lovely children, Joel, Rebecca and Benjamin. I met Karen in April when I was visiting the Northumbria Community in northern England.

They are part of a home-based Christian community that meets on Sundays. It's flexible, informal and multi-generational. We're looking forward to meeting people who are seeking alternative ways of living out their faith.

Workplace Ministry

We were invited to the home of Chris and Sharon Atkins for dinner on Wednesday evening. They live directly across the road from Anne's house, where we stayed in Sheffield. They are a lovely, youthful couple (who, we discovered, are about the same age as us) who live in a lovely, but modest house.

As we got to know each other over dinner, I asked them what they did. "I'm a medical doctor" Chris said, and Sharon works in his practice. My first thought is that they don't have the kind of lifestyle I'd associate with a physician.

Chris has been released by the church to develop a ministry in his own medical practice. He takes time with each patient to talk to them about how they are doing, about the pain in their hearts as well as the pain their bodies. He waits for God to open doors of opportunity and inner healing as he develops relationships with his patients. He pursues a holistic model of healing.

He also has a chaplain in his practice who is available for a deeper level of listening and counselling.

Chris and Sharon have relinquished their leadership roles in the life of the congregation to devote their energy to developing this workplace ministry. It's a new model that St. Thomas is pursuing of encouraging people to see their workplace as the location of their mission. People spend 75% of their waking hours at work, so it makes sense for Christians to see work as the place where they live out their faith.

We also found out that Chris and Sharon have a daughter named Miriam!

Putting it All Together

We've been to a lot of conferences in our time, but these four days in Sheffield have pulled it all together. St. Thomas is grounded in such a clear sense of mission and church, a vision that is shared and repeated constantly.

There are a few really key ideas that have stuck with us. They read the whole Bible through the twin themes of Covenant and Kingdom. God desires to enter into relationship with us, and to participate in God's mission in the world.

Covenant and Kingdom are proclaimed as Invitation and Challenge. People are invited to enter into a relationship with the living God -- but, here's the difference from most traditional churches -- they are challenged to follow the mission God has for each individual. Many churches are high on invitation (covenant) but low on challenge (kingdom.) This produces what Mike Breen calls "Cozy Church."

Organizationally, St. Thomas follows the principle of "low control, high accountability." People are always being released into ministry, the result being that there is an explosion of growth in new missional communities with youth, families, the marginalized, and other groups that you don't see very often in churches. Leaders are all in accountability relationships that keep them focused on what they have undertaken.

By contrast, the traditional church is into "high control, low accountability." There are lots of layers of permission-giving and permission-withholding, lots of micromanaging, but no one is really accountable for their actions, except paid staff.

I'm glad I'm not coming straight home and back to work. I think I need to let the Holy Spirit work in me for the next few weeks to digest what I experienced and guide me in how to respond.

Computers --Arghhh!

Monday evening I was writing on of the previous postings when my computer died. I mean died. Dead as a doornail. I'm pretty sure it's the power cord. Some really helpful staff at the church went out and found what was supposed to be a universal cord with about a dozen different connectors that can be plugged into the wire. But none of them worked. So, we have a laptop right now that we can't use. I'm relying on borrowed laptops. That means that I wont' be posting pictures until I can get mine up and running. Please pray that somebody in England has a power cord for a Toshiba.

On the streets of Sheffield

The teaching at St. Thomas is so clear and so powerful. Mike Breen is the former vicar who now lives in South Carolina and works with pastors and church leaders. He does a kind of devotional in the morning. On Tuesday, he summed up 28 years of my life in a single sentence. St. Thomas' ministry is built around the twin themes of Covenant (relationship) and Kingdom (action.) Mike was saying that Jesus came to make disciples and calls his disciples to make disciples. That's what the church is for. 'We can't make disciples if what we're doing is trying to build a church. But make disciples and you will have a church.' It hit me square between the eyes -- I've spent 28 years trying to build the church. What I need to begin doing is discipling people -- which is a whole new territory.

In the afternoon, we went out with some of the leaders who are engaged in building mission in the neighborhoods of Sheffield. Diane went with Danny Wilson who was on the streets at one time himself and ministers with the really marginalized. They went to the city centre and were sent out to meet people and talk to people.

I went to the Fir Vale area where people from St. Thomas have planted a church for Roma (gypsy) migrants from Slovakia. We are sent out in 3's and 4's and told to simply find people to talk to. We met a really bizarre guy, an Englishman who has converted to Sufi Islam. He talked our ear off for about 30 minutes.

St Thomas has three levels of church -- the gathered church which is their Sunday services (about 700 at each campus), the missional church, about 90 mid-sized groups who support each other and engage in mission together, and the emerging church, which are communities with marginalized and alienated groups, such as street youth.

What an Amazing Church

We're always hearing how the church in England is deader than a doornail. You'd be hard-pressed to make that case after visiting St. Thomas Church in Sheffield. St. Thomas is actually two closely related but separate congregations -- St. Thomas Crookes Anglican and St Thomas Philadelphia.



We're attending the Pilgrimage Conference which the two churches offer in order to share their vision of mission and ministry. Today we met at the Philadelphia site which is a campus of about six separate buildings that were once industrial buildings in the city centre. The main building is a big ware-housey structure with lots of room for everything.


We arrived last night in time for their evening service. It's the "smaller" of their gatherings, but by 6:30 there were at least 250 people, 90% under 30. It's pretty charismatic -- lots of hand-raising. The music was really good praise and worship style, led by a highly accomplished band.



Anne McLaurin is an Anglican vicar and our host for our four days in Sheffield. She preached. Her sermon was thoughtful, clear and actually kind of low-key. She was preaching on John 3, and the necessity of being "born from above."



Today's conference sessions were meant to introduce us to the theology and missional vision that undergirds their work. Their twin theological watch-words are Covenant and Kingdom. Covenant refers to "who we are," our identity as people in relationship with the living God. Kingdom is "what we do" -- and they take that really seriously.



St. Thomas has an incredible diversity of ministries in the city with all kinds of groups at the margins of the church -- and in some cases, the margins of society. What seemed like a never-ending group of young adults talked about their work with street people, with disaffected teens, with Roma migrants, with students, with people in the workplace. It's all about incarnating the love of God which they have experienced in touching others.



This is missional church like it's supposed to be.

OK, Listen Carefully

Many years ago, Roger Hides from England and his family did a clergy exchange with Orville James, who was minister at Central United Church in Port Colborne. After Orv left Central in 1996, Roger came back to be the minister there for 8 years. While he was in Port Colborne, his church put on Godspell. In 2005, Kathy Dahmer and some others organized a Godspell reunion and arranged to take it on the road -- really on the road, all the way to England. Diane and two of our kids, Aidan and Miriam, were part of the group who spent 10 days in England in August, 2005. Among the families they met were the Turtons. That's who we're staying with right now. And tomorrow, one of us is preaching at St. Andrew's Methodist Church in Sedgley.

Our formation into Christian faith has so much to do with the connections we form with people, those seemingly chance encounters that radiate out in an ever widening circle of relationships. To paraphrase James McLendon, theology (and faith) is biography.

Sanctus

Wednesday evenings at 7:30, a group of people gather at the Nexus Art Cafe in Manchester for a community time called Sanctus. Last night there were about 15 people, everybody except us in their 20s or 30s. Cris Acher, a Methodist minister and one of the staff, started with a candle lighting and prayer. There was food provided and everybody was asked to sit in tables of four. The theme was based on an exhibition of photographs about the plight of African migrants in France. The tables were asked to discuss some questions around immigration and how Christians should respond to situations like that illustrated in the pictures.

At my table (Paul's) were Claire who works for a Christian marketing company, Lynn an accountant and Steven, who I think is a teacher. They talked about British government policy on immigration and the popular impression that immigrants are taking British jobs and sponging off British social services and how unfair that is.

Everybody at my table had come out of either a mainline or evangelical church experience but found it irrelevant and un-nurturing. They all liked Sanctus because of the freedom to be themselves and say what they think.

I was really surprised when it came to the feedback time. There was no simplistic falling in line with a radical "no borders" attitude towards immigration. One man argued forcefully that it's not only unfair to Britain but also to immigrants when communities are flooded with newcomers who overwhelm the infrastructure of services.

I threw in my two cents worth, that Christianity has been regrounding itself in the reality of Jesus who was a refugee, a stranger, a wanderer and who was killed as a political offender. Whatever response we have to the strangers in our midst has to start with this astonishing fact -- the our faith is in someone who took this form of existence.

We closed by reading a prayer for justice -- and then went off to a local pub.

Personally, I think I would need more intentional Christian formation than was offered at Sanctus. But those who were there really felt that it was offering them a place to express their Christian faith that traditional church life just didn't offer.

Heading for England We left right on time for London Heathrow, on Monday, June 1.

Arrived at 6:30 a.m. A couple of hours wait, then 30 minutes to Manchester.

We spent our first night in a somewhat dodgy, but very cheap hotel near the train station. What can I say, it was a bed, which is all we were looking for.

Tuesday night we met with Ben Edson who is one of the two staff people at something called Nexus, a joint venture of the Anglican and Methodist Churches. By day it's a neighborhood coffee shop and art gallery, offering a place to go for younger adults who live in the city centre of Manchester. But it's also an attempt to create indigenous community in the name of Jesus for those who have (and likely won't have) any connection to the traditional insitutional church. Wednesday evenings, they have worship gatherings called Sanctus. We'll be joining them this evening. What we need to get used to, I suppose, is that the dividing lines between church/society, sacred/secular, or any of those other dichotomies, have to become a lot more permeable. Nexus is really trying to avoid setting up barriers that will mark off insiders from outsiders. It's a place where food and coffee are used to create connections and to bless the neighborhood. A lot of people have trouble identifying it as "church" but for those involved, it's the way of the future.

Check out this ministry at www.sanctus1.co.uk.

Here's Diane and Ben Edson at a popular watering hole in downtown Manchester.