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Another great week of posts this week from my Fuller classmates…
check out the post by Eric P.
Eric, I appreciated your reflections on Taylor’s book, especially because you come from a similar background as myself…an age group specific ministry within a larger church…
as your community is trying to find its identity as it is being “birthed” by your mother church, and the resulting messiness and pain because of the apprehension of what new life will look like…i find this quote interesting…
As I reflect on our own community, I am struck with the realization that we have not been given room to be birthed… How many communities are like ours, having been conceived within the boundaries of a larger church, and while sensing the urgency of labor pangs, there is no midwife to help with delivery. The mother (if you will) is scared, terrified of the expected pain and unsure whether she is prepared to be responsible for a new life. In the moment it can seem so much easier to stall the inevitable, but severe consequences beg the process onward.
I am not sure our community will be birthed healthily. Perhaps a cesarean will be necessary. The problem is that one way or another, for the new life to emerge, the mother must have part in the process.
As I am in a similar situation as yourself, how do you see your church (the mother) playing a part in the process? Are they willing? Do they want to work through the pain? Or would they rather turn their heads away and offer your new community up for adoption?
check out the post by Kyle
Kyle…I’m intrigued to hear how your church is incorporating children into the worship…i agree that we have failed at intergenerational worship and I was encouraged to see that VC places such a high value on it.
As a high school pastor, I am trying to process how I can incorporate the high school students into the larger church body…what are some of the key elements in making it happen at your church?
Check out Maria’s post here…
I am intrigued by your community…you say it is relevant, authentic, missional, and incarnational…awesome…
I know that you have addressed most of the other aspects in previous posts…but what are some examples of how your community is being missional? I know that many are part of the Fuller community but are there some that have been drawn into the community who are outside the Fuller community? In being missional, have there been some outside of the Fuller community who have been drawn into the community?
You all are great and I am stoked to be going through all of this with you!
Just finished reading an interesting book by Steve Taylor called The Out of Bounds Church?
As a 25 year old raised on pop culture, MTV, magazines, and the Internet, I initially appreciated the visual layout of Taylor’s book…and then as I dove deeper, i realized their was a theological reason for this as well.
Each chapter begins with a postcard that sets the scene for various conversations throughout the book…and as the chapters unfold, there are margins on each side of the page where various people have been asked to make comments, disagreements, provide examples, or alternative views…it looks like a magazine in some ways…in fact, Taylor tells readers at the outset,
You can read this book much like a magazine, browsing each postcard as it catches your eye. You can read either down or across. If you read down you will strike a more ordered, coherent textual reflection. If you read across you will find a less structured grouping of material: music you could play while you read a particular section, visual material, spiriutal rituals, quotes, websites, practices from the emerging church, and comments from various voices.
Visually, I loved it because I connected with it…
Theologically, I soon realized why I loved it and Taylor explained why he communicated it in that way…by understanding my language and cultural influences, Taylor was able to release nuggets of information to me in a way that I could connect and wrestle with. Taylor elaborated on this point by illustrating the two film versions of Romeo and Juliet…one by Franco Zeffarelli in 1968 and the other by Baz Luhrmann in 1996 with Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes. Taylor juxtaposed two clips between the two movies…they are, in fact, the opening scenes of each.
In Zeffarelli’s 60-second opening, there is one, long camera pan that spans the entire city while a lone, male voice provides the introduction. However, in the 1996 version, Baz Luhrmann opens with a 125-second montage of short clips, passing images, helicopters, police around a body, statues of Jesus…all over an explosive soundtrack…
Two clips representing two sides of a culture shift…and as we look around us, we can see which side of the shift we are on…movies, music, and commercials are completely different than they were 30 years ago…fast-paced information exchange has trained us to think a 60-second wide angle camera shot is boring…constant updates has caused us to think longevity is boring…quick check, how many of you think your cell phone is already out of date? Your computer in need of updating?
Taylor says that in 1968 the average soundbite was 40 seconds…in 1996 it had been reduced to 8 seconds…yet why do we think a 3 point sermon is still as effective in today’s day and age? It’s not about changing the message so that culture will accept it…it’s about setting a timeless message free by using the language of a culture.
Gerard Kelly, quoted by Taylor, says this:
Luhrmann’s film deeply affected me. I’ve watched it, on separate occasion, with each of my three teenagers. It fills me with hope becuase Luhrmann understands what so many Christians don’t-that you don’t have to change the story, only its setting. When you have a story about riches and rivalry; love and lust; friendship, fights, and faith; about young people making their way in a confusing world-what do you need to change to make it relevant? Luhrmann doesn’t add to Shakespeare, he sets him free. It’s the same for ourt story-all the power is there in teh ancient texts; we just have to learn to set it free.
So, how is my faith community setting free the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Which side of the cultural shift are we on…one that is closer to Zeffarelli’s or Luhrmann’s? One that is cultural irrelevant or one that is engaging?
I see hues of both as I step back and look at the brushstrokes of our church…on one hand 3 point sermons are the norm with notes to follow along in seats filling the multi-level auditorium…very modern…very linear…and very orchestrated in the (this-is-going-to-be-the-order-of-service-and-don’t-stray-from-it-kind-of-service). On the other hand there are moments where the stories of the congregants are interwoven into the story, recognizable movie clips or songs are used to illustrate points, and pop culture seeps through the doors of the church…but I still believe we are about 10 years behind the times.
Hmmm….I wonder where we will be 10 years from now…
Fantastic reviews this week from my Fuller pals as we dove into Michael Frost’s book on ecclesiology entitled The Shaping of Things to Come.
Read Kyle’s post here
Kyle i saw that you said,
Recently I have become aware of just how difficult it is for me to critique VC because they are doing a lot of things right.
Question: Has this always been so…is it in your communities DNA to be missional or has it been a journey to reach that point?
Read Jen’s post here
Jen, it is encouraging to see you say
I have also noticed that the vast majority of the members of the coffee church community are not engaged in Christian ministry inside the church (as one might expect of seminary students). But they are engaged in ministry elsewhere—in their world, in their sphere of influence. Their ministry has moved outside the church walls to the classroom as teachers, to social service agencies, to the community at large.
Question: Do the majority of people in your community naturally have a missional mindset or is it something that many of them have had to learn once they joined the community? Were there missional people that came together to form community or was it a community that eventually became missional?
Trying to figure out how to change a well-estbalished culture that is definitely not missional to one that is and would love your input.
Read Eric’s post here
I particularly enjoyed this reflection that you made
It is interesting to me that God’s first house was a mobile home. The people of Israel were a people on the move, but I don’t think God chose a mobile home so he could follow them around. Remember, it says they followed the cloud! That means God was on the move and the people of Israel followed him. In order to provide a ‘house’ for God meant it needed versatility and mobility, one that could be set up wherever the cloud of God happened to venture. In this way, the people could enjoy the presence of God no matter their location. Since God was on the move, and his people were on the move, the only ‘house of God’ that makes sense is a mobile home! Now that’s an interesting image to compare with many of our contemporary ‘houses of God.”
So true!!! My grandparents lived in a mobile home and they knew how to be in community with those around them. They would laugh together, cry together, travel together, share meals, they shared…it was amazing everytime I would visit them. Now, we have homes within gated communities and occasionally we will be “hospitable” and invite people over. In the midst of it we have gotten extremely focused on ourselves and our own comfort.
So sad that the Western Church has stopped asking, “God…how can we follow you? How can we join you in what you are already doing in the community?”
Loved your analogy Eric!
Just finished another fascinating read for my Emerging Church in the 21st Century class at Fuller Seminary entitled The Shaping of Things to Come. The authors, Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch begin the book of with stating that they,
Hope to reawaken the latent apostolic imagination at the heart of the biblical faith and to exhort God’s people to courageous missional engagement for our time-living out the gospel within its cultural context rather than perpetuating and institutional commitment apart from its cultural context.
Furthermore, the authors say that theirs is not a popular message as,
In writing this book we are advocating a wholesale change in the way Christians are doing and being the church.
“What is this change?” you might ask. Frost and Hirsch spend the next 223 pages unpacking how to go from an institutional church that defines itself as a place where outsiders must come in order to receive a certain product, namely, the gospel and all its associated benefits to a missional church that defines itself as a community that takes the gospel to and incarnates the gospel within a specific cultural context.
One of the most moving examples in the book that explains the difference between an institutional and missional church mentality involved the story of two pubs in England.
The first pub, called the Hamilton Hotel, was purchased by a Baptist congregation. They gutted the place out, created a play area for the kids, the dance area became a chapel, and the one time bar now was an alcohol-free building that served coffee. The congregation was proud that they transformed the secular place into a sacred one. However, not all were happy. Many of the long-time regulars of the Hamilton Hotel were saddened as their community had been broken up. Much like the Cheers theme, “where everybody knows your name,” the Hamilton Hotel regulars that once had a place to call home were now excluded from the new Baptist community. They were invited to the church but felt out of place.
On the other hand, another pub called Cock & Bottle was managed by a Christian man and his wife whom lived above the pub. All the employees were Christians and they set about to create a “loving, welcoming environment, where locals are cared for, listened to, and ministered to.” The bar owner says that many are not willing to listen to you talk about Jesus at first…however, after maybe ten or twenty times of just listening to them…many will eventually ask, “Can you pray for me?” This is when the owner says amazing things start to happen.
The first example is one of an institutional mentality that says “come to us” whereas the second example is one of a missional mentality that says “let me come to you.” The missional church always thinks of the long haul rather than the short fix.
One of the most vivid quotes from this book that sets the bar for us as church leaders is this:
What is needed is the abandonment of the strict lines of demarcation between the sacred and profane spaces in our world and the recognition that people today are searching for relational communities that offer belonging, empowerment, and redemption.
So how does my community stand up to this book? I would say that we have elements of both. We are definitely a community that seeks to attract people from the community to come to our services, events, and classes. Much of our goal setting revolves around drawing the crowd in. However, there is also a huge missional focus as well. “Beyond the Walls” is a fantastic ministry within our church that does just as its name implies…it is a community of believers who seek to be Christ’s hands and feet in a hurting world by stepping outside the comforts of the church campus and into the messy lives of those in our community.
I would love to see an even greater focus however, on shifting towards a more missional way of being the church. In fact, this would even return our large, mega-church back to its roots. As a community that started in a local restaurant over 25 years ago.
Oh that we may fully begin to be the church “beyond the walls.”
As I read Jamieson’s book, others in my small group did as well…here are some of their thoughts in regards to their community in light of A Churchless Faith.
Jen B. wrote,
Because the core of coffee church attenders are seminary students, it seems that most are actively pursuing their own faith journey. It seems most are in somewhat of a transitory period, one in which they are looking for a place where their faith can be nurtured and stretched. At coffee church, all levels of faith formation are welcomed; all are expressed in a safe environment. There are no expectations of where another ought to be. All are simply journeying on this pathway of faith. Coffee church views this process of faith formation as one that is inter-dependent. Open dialogue exists as to individual faith journey, as well as what is going on in each individual’s church. Relationships are valued more than being a part of a greater institution. Coffee church has made a shift from the church being community to community being a church.
Interesting to see how Jen noticed the transitionary period of the seminary students within her community. I wonder where thier faith journey will lead them as they graduate? If they continue to focusing on “a community being a church” rather than a “church being a community,” I can imagine they will continue to head in the right direction.
Eric P. wrote,
Because we are ‘college-age’ group in a larger church context, many in our community are under no obligation to join our ‘gatherings.’ For this reason, we have many who made a habit of coming only when they felt ‘up to it.’ Some of them even created their own splinter groups as they shared their frustrations with friends about how our gatherings weren’t meeting particular needs.
As I find myself a high school pastor, I can resonate with shaping a community within a larger church context. I am still trying to navigate through this, but how possible is it to create an emerging community, in the shape that our class has described, while still being intimately connected with the larger church body? Any thoughts Eric? What has your experience been so far? Finally, Kyle wrote,
VC has been deliberately sensitive to those that wish to explore these questions in new contexts and new ways. They understand their lives as journeys with God and others and that they never ‘arrive.” They attempt to provide resources to anyone who wishes them or needs them. They have values but allow for theological explorations down other roads and provide an open ambience for others to work out their understandings.
Sounds like a community that gets it Kyle. One question, how do you allow for “theological explorations down other roads” without the church becoming Universalist/Unitarian in nature…where all theological worldviews are affirmed and encouraged? I completely agree with you but was asked this question recently and would love to hear your thoughts…
thanks… 
A Churchless Faith and CCC
Just got done reading Alan Jamieson’s A Churchless Faith. A very interesting read as it explored why people leave mainline denominational churches and find themselves on a faith journey that goes beyond the walls of the church. As I read Jamieson’s book and reflect on the words spoken of those who have left the church…I can hear the same underlying tone that some of my friend’s have been voicing as they too have become increasingly disillusioned by the church. Many of them are still in the church but as I look at Jamieson’s description of the four stages of the leaving process, I can identify which steps clearly reflect the stage of the journey a handful of my friends are on. These four steps were developed by an American sociologist and ex-nun, Helen Ebaugh.
These four steps, according to Ebaugh and quoted by Jamieson are:
- First Doubts
- Seeking and weighing alternatives
- Negotiating turning points
- Developing a new sense of identity
Jamieson describes “first doubts” coming from some people do to organizational changes, burnout, or disappointment or changes in relationships and events. Looking back onto some of the “first doubts” of some of my friends, I can see that this began during a time of widespread organization change within my church. As the senior pastor said during this transition of leadership, “some very large trees needs to be uprooted and moved around to create a healthier situation…however, uprooting a large tree can be a very disturbing process until it is replanted in fresh soil.” These “first doubts” really began during the “tree uprooting season.”
The next step is “seeking alternatives.” I have also seen this in a handful of friends who will occasionally come to church but primarily have decided to meet at homes instead for worship, fellowship, and bible study. Though they are still connected to the church, they are testing what life would be like outside the walls of the church in regards to spirituality. They don’t feel like they fit into the church…however, they still consider themselves a part of the church because they haven’t fully withdrawn yet.
The third step of Ebaugh’s leaving process involves “negotiating turning points.” These turning points could be:
a) a specific event that causes them to leave
b) a last straw event that tips someone over the edge
c) time-related factors such as age and stage
d) excuses such as a fight with a key leader
e) either/or alternatives where a person must choose.
According to Jamieson, these “turning points serve to mobilize the internal resources needed within the individual to finally leave. They act as final markers and announce the decision to leave.”
As I look at these “turning points” I see that the most influential within my church community has definitely been specific events of certain leaders deciding to leave the church. When they see key leaders leave, they decide to leave with them.
Finally, Jamieson describes the process of “developing a new sense of identity” by those who have decided to leave. They seek other arenas where there spirituality can flourish.
But the problem is, says Jamieson, churches need these people who have left. When they leave they take their children, family, resources, and gifts with them. They might tell others who might have considered joining the church to beware.
So, Jamieson says we need go from being “seeker-sensitive” churches to “leaver-sensitive” churches. Instead of letting leavers go there own way and forget about them, why not engage with them in dialogue and see where the church has failed for them? Instead of focusing 100% of our energy at the front door where people walk in, why don’t we start to put some time and energy into sitting at the backdoor and engaging with those who are on their way out? No doubt we could learn a lot about our community…but more importantly we will be able to be a community that disagrees yet still decides to be in community despite their disagreement because relationships are formed.
Great classes over the last two days…
in the midst of our class discussions, stories, laments, and laughter, we continued to grow closer as a sort of quasi-community that finds itself together for 3 hours every day.
Some of the most notable quotes have been…primarily from Bolger and Gibbs:
If we really believe that we are the Body of Christ and we believe that we are all gifted and that no gifts are more important than others but are essential parts of the whole…why do we only pay pastors or at least pay them the most?
It’s not about grabbing the right tools…it is about completely changing your way of life and ministry…
Don’t do worship for “them” because the “them” don’t get it. You don’t go into Uganda and do worship for them in the form of what we would do in the US…we exegete their understanding of worship and contextualize the gospel to it.
Be true to your zipcode…
We have front-ended the atonement in our evangelization…for many people, they don’t need new information…they just need to make a decision on the information they already have. However, now that we live in a post-Christian society…we can’t assume that people know the whole story…we can’t front-end our evangelization with talking about the Atonement…we should start with “you were created in the image of God.”
Greg Russinger, pastor of The Bridge Communities in Ventura, California showed up to class today and shared from his heart regarding the journey he is currently on as a follower of Christ and doing ministry in his cultural context.
He is tightly connected to the Soliton Network…which is a “global network of cultural creatives, missionaries, activists, church planters and Kingdom entrepreneurs, in dialogue about 21st century mission, justice, and the church.”
I was fascinated as he described the network which is named “Soliton” after a phenomena that was first discovered and translated mathematically by John Scott Russel.
One of the interesting discoveries that he made was that if you drop a pebble into a glass of water…there will be a ripple effect…(yes, we have all heard this before and it has been an illustration in many sermons)…but Russel was more fascinated at what happened under-water…under the surface…and he was able to mathematically describe a phenomena that carried even greater energy under the surface…thus the goal of the Soliton Network…effecting a holistic change in people’s lives in the 21st century…not just on the surface…interesting stuff.
A majority of the class was devoted to interacting with each other…including many rants about the Seeker-Sensitive Movement within the Church…though there are too many to post…this joke was by far the most well-received:
A guy in a grocery store walks up behind a girl and says, “I think you go to my church, can you turn around so I can introduce myself?”
ouch…
and the conversation begins…
Just got done joining Eddie Gibbs, Ryan Bolger, and 40 other students at Fuller Seminary as we engage on a two week journey together to explore the realities, struggles, and advances made in creating Christian community within postmodern cultures.
I have been looking forward to this class for weeks because:
a) I loved Gibbs’ and Bolger’s book, Emerging Churches and value their insight
b) I really want to follow Jesus’ model of Incarnational ministry and step outside of our my comfort zone to enter into the lives of the those I am called to love.
c) I am hoping to gain some valuable “take home nuggets” to rethink the way I am doing high school ministry at my church.
Alright, so over the next 2 weeks I will be meeting with this eclectic group of people everyday in Pasadena. It was fascinating hearing the different backgrounds and stories of each of the students on the first day of class…those fascinated with the church, others disenchanted, some loving Jesus but disliking Christians, different social and ethnic backgrounds…it really is going to be interesting as the dialogue unfolds over the next couple of weeks.
I would love to include all of you into the conversation as well and will be blogging on one valuable theme each day and would love to hear some dialogue on each of them. Alright, here we go:
Gibbs started off by reading this passage from 1 Corinthians 6:9-11:
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
And then he turned the tables on us and asked…
Could we read this passage to our congregation and believe it applied to them?
Or have we removed ourselves so far from culture that adulterers, prostitutes, sexual offenders, thieves, and drunkards don’t show up at our churches because we have never taken the time to reach out to them?
Silence…seems to be a recurring theme in my classes this quarter…
Gibbs and Bolger then lamented the American churches inability to follow Jesus’ model of entering into the lives of those whom most needed his transforming and redeeming love. Our inability to be incarnational ministers. Our inability to go beyond just trying to attract people to our church and actually try to enter into their lives. Its this inability that will soon make the American church as it is practiced now obsolete…we’ve seen it in Europe so it can very well happen if we don’t learn from previous mistakes.
So, I begin to think…alright, I’m a high school pastor in southern california…how can I enter into the lives of the high school students in the area? What is their culture…where do they hang out?
And then it hit me…
almost every single high schooler at my church is on MySpace…52 million around the world on it…even if you dog it for being a bad influence, yes murders and rapes have been linked to MySpace interactions, and there is a lot of racy profiles out there…the reality is, that this the kind of area Jesus would be hanging out in…
And if we truly believe that Jesus is present here and now…the question becomes…
How can I follow Jesus and join him in the work that he is already doing through the relationships on MySpace?
We know that MySpace is filling a huge void in society that people crave – community…however, the community offered through MySpace is just a shadow of what is really yearned for by 52 million people…
What if we offered MySpace users real, authentic, transforming community…by stepping outside our comfort zone and going to them?
What if…
Really looking forward to taking Ryan’s and Eddie Gibbs’ class at Fuller Theological Seminary in two weeks…
