Heavenly Sanctuary, a Christian conference organisation focusing on the character of God, have stirred public opinion with a set of posters showing Jesus washing the feet of international leaders.
In the poster Jesus kneels at the feet of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, former English Prime Minister Tony Blair, former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, US president George W Bush, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and Jiang Zemin, former president of China.
The poster was designed by Lars Justinen from the Justinen Creative Group for use on posters advertising the conference. Different versions of the posters had captions such as “Follow the Leader,” “God IS Great,” and “Jesus - Still Too Radical?” Heavenly Sanctuary had the posters in several Seattle malls but had to take them down after complaints from the public about the inclusion of Osama Bin Laden in the line up.
Greg Boyd
Greg Boyd reflects on the negative reactions to the poster by suggesting that many Christians have tragically allowed their patriotism to co-opt their faith.
“They have allowed their American citizenship to take priority over their Kingdom citizenship, despite the New Testament’s instruction for disciples to consider themselves “foreigners” and “exiles” wherever they happen to live (Heb. 11:13; I Pet 1:17, 2:11) and to consider their real citizenship “in heaven” (Phil 3:20). Many American Christians seem to want a Jesus who will defend their country and hate their national enemies as much as they do. Many want the Jesus of the Middle Ages whom Crusaders called on to help them slaughter, not serve, their Islamic enemies. Many seem to want to reduce Jesus to just another version of the tribal gods that have been called on for centuries to bless tribal battles. Most wars throughout history have been fought under the banner of some god or another.”
Greg goes on to write about the real Jesus who wrapped a towel around his waist and washed the dirty, smelly feet of people he knew would deny and betray him in a couple of hours.
Kofi Annan
What I find interesting is that Jesus is actually washing Kofi Annan’s feet. The guy who’s been responsible for challenging, rebuking, negotiating, supporting and resourcing world leaders, is the first to have his shoes off and treated to a foot bath by the one many would consider to be the ultimate expression of God’s character in the flesh. The others know that they’re possibly next in line for this treatment. They’re being taught a valuable lesson in leadership and character, a radical alternative to the survival-focused model of rule or be ruled.
I’ve written a summary of the presentation by Alan Roxburgh at the seminar held recently in Brisbane. His comments are certainly challenging to consultants, church leaders, speakers and authors.
I wrote the summary first for the benefit of my colleagues in the Uniting Church Queensland Synod Mission Resources Network Team. The Mission Resources Network team is the name given to the growing collaboration occuring between Gary Adsett and Scott Guyatt (Property and Resources Strategies), Graham Beattie (Mission Consultant - Leadership and Congregational Growth), Michael Jeffrey (Youth and Childrens Ministry Unit), Andrew Johnson (Justice and International Mission), Ann Warren (Human Relations), myself (Vision for Mission) and Jenny Tymms (General Secretary).
Mark Driscoll, pastor at Mars Hill Church in Seattle, has hit the emerging church blogosphere this week, with a video clip he provided for the National New Church Conference Church Planting conference in Miami last week. Mark wasn’t able to get to the conference and so sent a videotape of him speaking.
Mark focuses on 2 Timothy 2, the passage in which church planter Timothy is encouraged to be focused, hardworking and able to endure hardship.
“You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others. Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs�he wants to please his commanding officer. Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor’s crown unless he competes according to the rules. The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this.”
Mark delivers his rant from a military cemetery, with a video closeup to the firm-wristed gun-toting soldier statue. He paints the church planting scene in terms of battleground and body count. He believes that selecting the ‘right man’ is critical to the success of a church plant. He suggests that the core mission is to find men to serve, put them through boot camp, instruct them, and through God’s grace force them to be people who will live as God’s people. “If you want to win a war you have to get the men.” The message, Driscoll says, is Jesus the warrior, king and hero who has fulfilled his mission: leaving his throne in heaven to live a life without sin, dying for our sin, rising from the dead triumphant over Satan, sin and death, and ascending into heaven. The message, Driscoll says, is not about some marginalised Gallilean peasant hippie in a dress rocking out to the Spice Girls in a cabriolet hoping to meet nice people to do aromatherapy with while drinking herbal tea. The snapshot from John in Revelation is of Jesus in his glory returned home as a triumphant warrior and victor.
Interestingly Mark’s video was just before Bill Hybels presented the closing address for the conference. Hybels simply suggested that church planting needed women in leadership before proceeding on to his talk.
Clearly the soldier image does it for some men. And some women. However the writer of 2 Timothy goes on to use the image of athlete and farmer as well. The early church would have had a healthy percentage of pacifists for whom the military connotations would have been repugnant.
I don’t agree with Mark’s commitment to use only men in church leadership roles. But I can sympathise with his efforts to develop a concept of church that will equip and inspire people with the Y chromosome. So are there models and metaphors that provide the sense of challenge and focus needed by men today?
Denny Weaver, in his book, Nonviolent Atonement, works with the Christus Victor concept in a way that clearly portrays Jesus as an alternative to the stereotypes of ‘macho marine’ and ‘gay hippie’. I’ve written a brief review of his Nonviolent Atonement at GodPost this week.
If we want to talk about being focused, hard working and enduring hardship we can learn from sportswear companies like Adidas. I’m aware of the questionable work practices of these companies, but we can learn from their advertising agencies!
Adidas, in its latest ‘Impossible is Nothing’ campaign, invites sports and adventure role models to talk about the toughest times of their lives, using art, animation and gritty honesty. They’ve interviewed women and men, young and old, and enabled each to cross the artificial boundary between creativity and gutsiness. Adidas doesn’t need to ignore women to attract male customers.
Forge Mission Training Network held its second national Australian summit this last weekend.
I flew in to Melbourne from Brisbane on Friday night, so only got into The Factory (Mitcham Baptist) in time to hear Sons of Korah performing. I missed Alan Hirsch introducing the conference and Mike Frost’s keynote address on dirt and soil. Alan and Deb are off to the western coast of the United States for a few years, sponsored by CRM to resource the missional church scene there.
More on Mike’s book, Exiles, and Alan’s book, The Forgotten Ways, in later posts…
Brian McLaren provided an inspiring and gracious challenge to the churches of the 21st Century, helping us recognise the key narratives found in humanity, such as domination, victim, shame, economic bargaining and withdrawal. Each of these approaches, Brian explained, can be found in the setting in which Jesus operated. So what does the alternative look like? Brian gave us the beautiful story of an outdoor jazz concert in Sydney in which a young boy is joined by others as they celebrate life in music.
I was able to attend sessions led by Wolfgang Simson (hyperbolic metaphoric storyteller enthusiastic about small and effective missional communities), and Geoff Westlake (community developer in WA focusing on the concept of ‘ecclesia’ as community development council).
I enjoyed the session on theological issues for the ‘emerging church’ led by Stephen Said and Randy Edwards.
Stephen Said provided a challenging analysis of the theological strengths and flaws found in the renewal of missional church in Australia. Key themes (strengths) coming through are the connection of Missio Dei (the other-focused nature of God) with the local context, bridging the secular and sacred, recovery of kingdom ecclesiology, and the reminder that mission is integral to Christian community. Holes identified by Steven were in some ways about the same themes. We can too easily separate missional and incarnational. With our ‘can-do’ focus on method we’re still missing out on the Spirit’s role in mission. The Holy Spirit’s work was rediscovered by many churches during the charismatic renewal days but for many there’s not much awareness of the Holy Spirit working outside the worship service. We’re still separating evangelism from social justice. In Australia we tend to have a suspicion of philosophy. We’re too easily caught up in the prevailing consumerist metanarrative of our time - addiction to the collection of experiences.
Another helpful observation in the theology elective, made by Randy Edwards I think, was that we have been over-valuing leadership. It’s almost as if everyone must be in a leadership position of some sort. “You’re not fulfilling your potential unless you’re influencing someone else.”
Here’s another quote from Randy Edwards that stuck with me…. “Protestants don’t know how to give. They only know how to invest”. This was in response to the observation that experimental groups are jettisoned when it appears as though they are not producing high numbers of church members. Permission to achieve is not the same as permission to try and fail.
I attended an all-too-brief interactive panel focusing on consumerism and faith. We could have spent the whole weekend unpacking this subject. Unfortunately we had less than an hour. I was reminded by Dave Andrews (earthy radical discipleship sage) that bold claims to be bucking the trend are revealed as posturing when we compare our incomes and lifestyles with those living in the seventy percent of the world’s population.
Darryl Gardiner, fellow Kiwi bald guy from Wellington, lightened up the atmosphere with his humorous but gritty introduction of the “Dirty Christ”, the one who was born in an earthy stable. Darryl’s carrying on the tradition of Barry Crump, NZ author, with his exploration of “bastards I have met”.
Saturday evening finished with the delightful comedic and insightful poetry of Cameron Semmens, the author of 26 Tales from the Testaments - alliterated Bible passages in every letter of the alphabet.
I must admit I spent most of Sunday in conversation with various people, missing many of the sessions and workshops. I did get to Brian McLaren’s reflections on what we can learn from Emerging Church movement in the United States. This wasn’t one of those “it’s all happening in America” workshops. It was helpful to hear about what other people are learning through trial and error, bitter criticism and collaboration across denominations.
It’s always interesting to hear the the Presbyterian, Methodist, Episcopalian and United Church of Christ described as the ‘liberal’ denominations. I heard one of the presenters at Forge introduce himself as the pastor of an “Evangelical Uniting” church. Clearly for some it is really important to be known and regarded as “Evangelical”. It helps people know what you believe, I guess. The problem is that people who see things differently just become “liberal”. I think we need to upskill in our capacity to relate to Christians who come from different places.
I must say it was refreshing to be part of, and on the edge of, a movement that is morphing. Social justice, concern for the environment, and an honest re-exploration of the Christian gospel, were all included in an agenda in which there was room for ranters, story tellers, poets, evangelists, coffee-makers, conversationalists, multi-media artists and musicians. Forge, like the rest of the Australian church, continues to struggle with the gender balance of its speakers and facilitators. Speaking of facilitators, we could have done with less content and more time to process in small groups.
As with the first Forge Dangerous Stories summit, we didn’t start each session with a time of ‘praise and worship’. I wasn’t sorry about that, though I do enjoy the occasional bit of God-focused “Christian karaoke”. I’d like to see the re-emergence of corporate singing in this kind of environment, modelling some of the broad missional themes being explored by Forge. Another time, another place…
Pacific Parks Uniting began with a group of people who were keen to explore an alternative to the hectic pace of a church addicted to excellent performance. We’d been in churches that measured effectiveness by the number of people attending Sunday worship and midweek on-campus programs. We’d also been in churches with a focus on correctness, in which newcomers were carefully tested for right belief and respectable lifestyles.
We were committed to exploring an alternative approach to church that would equip its members to live out radical discipleship largely in the context of everyday relationships. Our gatherings would need to inspire and support people to engage with real life, seven days a week.
To summarise this approach, we started describing ourselves as “Relaxed Church”.
We come together in a welcoming, warm, encouraging and inclusive way.
The primary doctrine that we affirm here is the doctrine of grace.
Serene Jones describes a similar connection between the doctrine of grace and the ryhthms of a church’s life in her article, “Graced Practices: Excellence and Freedom in the Christian Life”, found in Practicing Theology: Beliefs and Practices in Christian Life, edited by Mirsolav Volf and Dorothy Bass, 2002. Jones is a theologian with membership in a United Church of Christ congregation in New Haven.
Serene Jones describes the ambitious vision-casting process developed by a ‘Millennial committee’. As they presented their plans to the congregations they found people becoming tired, overwhelmed and without enthusiasm. In response, the committee went back and explored the benefits of the good news of Jesus Christ. They unpacked what it meant to live out of justification and sanctification. They revisited the Scriptures and found there the narrative of God’s grace, from creation through to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. The congregation’s leaders then began to explore what it would mean to develop gatherings that would be good news to their participants. Practicing the sabbath, grounded in the freedom of justification, became a gift to people already exhausted by hectic lifestyles.
So what would living in the grace of God look like for a new network of house churches? Pacific Parks began with the grace-imbued practices of Sabbath and hospitality. Instead of beginning with running worship services, we started with leadership meetings on Sunday mornings in each others homes, over a barbecue. We moved to public parks and started inviting friends and family. Our first purchase as a church was a large catering barbecue. We followed that up with sports equipment.
At first some of us felt a little anxious, perhaps guilty, about missing out on Sunday morning worship. We weren’t busy ‘running Church’. There were no rosters to fill. There were no offerings to take up and count as we had already made arrangements for direct debit giving. There was no ‘order of service’ and no post-event evaluation. It was strange for people who had spent all their lives ‘doing church’.
We discovered that our energy was now available to focus on expressing the hospitality of God to those around us. God brought into our circles people who would not have fitted neatly into a church committed to excellence. Like the woman with only one outfit for wearing in public who was anxious that her grandson was sipping on a drink during a worship time. We pointed out that most of us had a cup of coffee in our hands. The couple who were living together who joined one of our house churches, later holding their wedding in one of our homes and regularly bringing their extended family and network of friends. The young people who struggled with multiple addictions, who time and time again found themselves responding to God’s grace.
We seek to be flexible, accepting and authentic, creatively responding to others.
As in the relational approach to Church, our relaxed approach is connected with our perception of how God dynamically relates to the world. We believe that God interacts with the world as it is, continually helping creation respond in tune with God’s call. We don’t believe that God has a blueprint that we must discover and follow slavishly. In the life of Jesus we see constant examples of responding to people as they are, in the settings in which they live, using the elements of each scenario.
Earlier this month I met with a family network for a baptism in the park. When the parents of the boy being baptised asked if we had to hold the service in church on Sunday I explained that the Uniting in Worship regulations did specificy that baptism should be held after a sermon during a Sunday worship service. But because Pacific Parks was committed to developing flexible and creative approaches to church, we could say yes to Saturday morning in the local park. Besides, we didn’t have a church service on Sunday. Neither did we have a church building to hold it in!
So where’s the doctrine here? The Uniting Church in Australia does have well developed doctrine around the connection between word and sacrament, designed to ensure that baptism is a corporate experience of the wider Church and not just an individual rite of passage. In planning the baptism service one of my first priorities was to ascertain who the congregation of the faithful would be in this case. I had two couples from Pacific Parks Uniting who would be affirming a commitment to nurture faith in the child and his family. The parents themselves were keen to express their own emerging faith. His parents, sister and brother-in-law were Catholics and were able to participate meaningfully. For others it was a case of being welcome, included and encouraged to explore faith for themselves.
We have deliberately sought to delineate between primary doctrines of Christian faith and more practical doctrines that are not essential in these settings. For the sake of authenticity and consistency we seek to develop shared experiences of faith that are consistent with the Uniting Church services of baptism and communion. However, we sense no obligation to maintain the traditional or even contemporary ‘order of service’ for worship. For example, we rarely sing together. In our earlier days together we did. We bought a keyboard and practiced hard for our corporate gatherings. But as we moved into separate house churches we discovered that not everyone finds singing helpful in connecting with God. We came to see singing as a practice of faith that would be used when appropriate.
We have struggled with issues of sexuality and how they apply to doctrine. The Uniting Church Assembly in 2003 clarified that each Presbytery had the capacity to ordain people on a case by case basis. As a local leadership team we found it impossible to develop a shared understanding of how that related to doctrine. Was the Church’s traditional doctrine relating to homosexuality a primary affirmation, requiring a Christian to be heterosexual or live a lifetime of celibacy? Or was it possible that God was more flexible and welcoming than the Church had allowed for over time?
The next post will focus on doctrine in relation to being ‘Relevant Church’.
I spent last night at the Uniting Church’s national Assembly, held at University of Queensland in Brisbane. I was part of a team presenting a report and proposal relating to ’specified ministries’ in the future of the Uniting Church in Australia. We proposed that we simplify the ways in which we appoint people to non-ordained ministries in the Uniting Church. Instead of having lay pastors, community ministers, youth workers, lay assistants, and many other non-recognised positions, we suggested that we have just one category, ‘pastor’, alongside the ordained minister of the Word and deacon.
We’re suggesting that we lower the bar for people entering the ministry of ‘pastor’, rather than requiring a year of discernment before someone can be commissioned. At the same time, we’re suggesting raising the bar on competence so that people grow in character and skill during their time working with the Church.
We began our report with a video role play in which Ennis and I presented the scenarios of Helen and Gary in 2012. Here’s the script…
Helen
Hi. I’m Helen, and it’s the year 2012. I’ve been a pastor with the Uniting Church for four years now.
It all started when I applied for a position working with a regional church, focusing on youth, children and families.
When I was interviewed for the position I was able to demonstrate the skills I brought to the job. I had some experience in the field from my time working as a teacher aid and school chaplain.
In the first month I attended a course on ethics run by the Presbytery. I followed that up in a small group working through Uniting Church ethos and the Basis of Union.
The good thing is the church is helping me with a training program and a budget to match. We’ve put together a performance development plan using competencies designed for my kind of position. Each year we’ve identified skills I can work on, like keeping up to date on family systems, risk management and Biblical studies. This year I trained as a coach so I could support volunteers.
My supervisor’s a deacon working in a community family centre, and she’s helping me explore my sense of long term call to the wider church. In fact this week the Presbytery signed me up to begin a period of discernment, looking at ordination.
It’s been four years of growth for me and the church. I’ve appreciated being recognised and supported by the Presbytery. And it has been good having colleagues with whom I can be accountable for ministry.
Gary
Gidday I’m Gary, in the year 2012. I’ve been a Pastor here at Warambah Uniting Church since I left my job as draughtsman three years ago.
I do a fair bit of preaching, leading of worship, looking after community funerals. I’m supporting local leaders as they carry out their week-to-week ministry. After some training through Coolamon College I was accredited to lead communion and baptism.
A lot of my time is spent connecting the church with the local community. We’ve had conversations with the local mining companies and we’re looking at the possibility of me spending a day a week providing support for mining families.
The good thing about being appointed as a Pastor is the support from the Presbytery. Just last week my supervisor helped me identify the skills I’ll need to develop for working in the mining environment. I’m doing a bit of reading and attending a couple of courses in August.
I’m part of a support group of other people in ministry, though most of our meetings are held on the phone. I keep in touch with the Resource minister for our area. Having a broadband internet connection has opened up new possibilities for coaching.
Being a Pastor has been a positive experience. I’ve appreciated being recognised and supported by the Presbytery. And it has been good having colleagues with whom I can be accountable for ministry.
I’ve just discovered Rowland Croucher’s blog, Victoria Concordia Crescit, one more site among several developed by the pastor, teacher, writer, used-to-be academic based in Melbourne. Rowland’s main site is John Mark Ministries, an incredible collection of articles on ministry, mission, recovery, spirituality, personality. Rowland used to be the editor of World Vision’s GRID leadership letter that was sent out to a high proportion of Christian leaders in Australia.
Recent articles at Rowland’s blog I found helpful:
Judy Potter, from SA Great, providing us with a case study of business, government and not-for-profit partnership in the Bank SA connection with the Adelaide Fringe Festival. The festival is part of the State’s strategy for improving its creative capacity and attracting young blood. Bank SA has gone beyond the typical sponsorship deal and has entered into proactive encouragement of the event. Buying tickets in the shows of artists and giving them to staff and clients, for example.
Jim Cavaye, from Cavaye Community Development, took us on a whirlwind tour of communities around Australia who have engaged in a collaborative development of vibrant community. This is more than infrastructure, services, jobs, business, economic development, planning, policy and amenity. We looked at the role of individuals and organisations in developing enthusiastic people, functional organisations, rethinking and redefining assets, strong networks and good decision making. We explored the role of gateway people (rather than gatekeepers) in forming community hubs.
Peter Quarmby, from Community Sector Banking, told the story of a bank formed by a collective of twenty one community-focused organisations. As government, business and not-for-profit organisations work together for the benefit of the community we see the ‘fourth sector’ emerging.
This morning we heard from Kate Carnell, CEO of the Australian Divisions of General Practice, formerly chief minister in ACT. We looked at lobbying government from the perspective of an association as well as from the perspective of a government minister. Quote for the morning: “We need win-win solutions, not approaches that involve ‘bagging the buggers’.
Jennifer Hodgeman from the Commonwealth Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, presented strategy for trust and growth in the online environment, including work on broadband for nonprofit organisations, ‘clever networks’, mobile connection, access in the west, and indigenous ability and access.
AUSAE doesn’t usually have delegates from the churches, but I’ve found most people fascinated with the possibility of collaboration for the benefit of the community. Associations share similar issues to the churches, including the need for capital investment and openings by local, state and federal government.
Willow Creek USA has just released the speaker list for the Global Leadership Summit (GLS). This will be held in eight sites across Australia during October 2006. This just confirmed list includes:
Wayne Cordeiro - Senior Pastor, New Hope Christian Fellowship in Honolulu
Patrick Lencioni - Founder & President of The Table Group, Inc.
James Meeks - Senior Pastor, Salem Baptist Church in Chicago
Ashish Nanda - Associate Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School
Jim Collins - Management Expert and Best-Selling Author of ‘Good to Great’
Peg Neuhauser - President, PCN Associates
Andy Stanley - Senior Pastor, North Point Community Church in Atlanta
Bono - Lead Singer of the rock group U2 and TIME Magazine’s 2005 Person of the Year in an exclusive, video-taped interview with Bill Hybels
For more details on each speaker, or the GLS 2006 location closest to you, click on www.willowcreek.org.au and follow the links.
On Saturday the Organic Church Planters’ Greenhouse focused on discipleship. One of Neil Cole’s key contributions to the emerging church would be the life transformation group. Life transformation groups are groups of two or three who meet once a week for approximately one hour. There is no curriculum, workbook or training involved. There is no leader needed in the group. The group is gender-specific.
Only three tasks are to be accomplished in an LTG:
1. Sin is confessed in mutual accountability
2. Scripture is read repetitively in context and in community
3. People are prayed for strategically, specifically and continuously.
Add one person to the Life Transformation Group of three and it becomes two groups of two people.
Neil has written up the LTG concept in his book, Cultivating a Life for God, published by ChurchSmart Resources in 1999.
My first look at the Life Transformation Group concept was in the context of Gateway Baptist Church in Melbourne, during a conference on leadership farms. GGG FM (Gateway Growth Groups For Maturity) are offered in four levels, each raising the bar of discipleship in terms of relationship. At the first level Christians are asked to read Every Day with Jesus for New Christians and/or one chapter of the Gospels each day. They gather to talk through eight questions:
What have you learned about faith in Jesus?
How have you celebrated life?
Who did you meet new at Gateway? What did you learn about them?
How did you deal with the challenges you are facing in life at the moment?
Who have you encouraged?
Has there been a sin that you have had trouble dealing with? (e.g. lust, jealousy, unforgiveness, pride, anger, fear, addiction, gossip)
What one point did you get from last Sunday’s message in church?
Did you finish the reading? Do you have any questions about it?
Duncan Macleod posts on life, faith and culture in Australia, drawing from his involvement in the creative industry, the Uniting Church, the blogosphere, generational research, the emerging church and life on the Gold Coast.
I flew in to Melbourne from Brisbane on Friday night, so only got into The Factory (
, edited by Mirsolav Volf and Dorothy Bass, 2002. Jones is a theologian with membership in a United Church of Christ congregation in New Haven.
I’ve just discovered Rowland Croucher’s blog, 
On Saturday the Organic Church Planters’ Greenhouse focused on discipleship. One of Neil Cole’s key contributions to the emerging church would be the life transformation group. Life transformation groups are groups of two or three who meet once a week for approximately one hour. There is no curriculum, workbook or training involved. There is no leader needed in the group. The group is gender-specific.
