Calvert argues that the way forward for the church is to engage with the broken parts of our societies and in doing so show that Christianity is not simply about sterile dogma and truth issues but it is about living these dogmas out in a practical way so that we reconstruct the Kingdom not simply through grand words but through postive actions that change the hearts and lives of communities. Well that’s how I’ve interpreted his contribution.

The dogma of secularity can be and often is overtaken by the pragmatic approach of secularists and Christians alike, who seek to subvert those who want to promote stereotypes when it comes to faith based organisations. The picture of the bread and the wine on the street is a subversive and converting idea. Offering communion on the street was enacting out in a powerful way the truth that Christ is reconciling the world to himself.

I believe the church has always been in a unique position to be the changemaker in our local communities. Surely, that is what the church was established by Jesus to do. Calvert points out that secularism is the result of the “Death of God Theology” As many of you know this kind of thinking can find its roots back to the philosophy of Emmanuel Kant. He sees us humans as disengaged,estranged from one another without relationship, he sees us humans as unwilling to except any law but our own, certainly no external laws from an external and eternal God.

Kant has had an enormous influence in the way that the modern world sees itself. There is little doubt that his philosophy has influenced the thinking behind social science and our religious studies, especially here in Europe. It means that human beings think they can find the answer from within themselves. This kind of thinking is prone to believe that the individual will always seek to establish himself or herself over against community. It is very Darwinian, the strongest always survives. Yet the paradox is that people are drawn to community yet feel and think community will always rob them of their freedom and perhaps their survival.

Now the Gospel of Christ proclaims a belief that you can only be totally free when you are in community and engaging in communion. The one and the many need not be mutually exclusive. The teaching of Jesus highlighted in John’s gospel is all about unity. The one and the many in Christ. Paul further explores this idea in Corinthians 12 when he speaks of the freedom of the different parts of the body within the unity of the one body.

It is this teaching that is at the heart of a new emerging church that I can see developing and making interesting subversive inroads into our secular society of the 21st century. Robert Calvert alludes to the fact that Orthdox Christians are now working in partnership with Christians from more Independent style churches. For me the miracle is that many more of the Independent Charasmatic churches are engaging with the more traditional or mainline churches. I was speaking to an Indian pastor who was staying with me last month from a small Independent church in Chemmai, he confirmed to me that many of the mainline churches in India are being influenced by the Indpendents and vice versa. This coming together to engage in acts of charity are all to my mind signs of the Kingdom. Often from this flows an exchange of worship styles and also the breaking down of barriers and walls that Paul speaks of in Ephesians.

It is not only a partnership with other churches that can change communities, it is also partnerships with local governments and other charitable agencies. The church can be truly ’salt and light’ when we work alongside others of good heart who want to bring about justice in the world. I can only talk for the UK but I am encouraged by the number of statuatary agencies and Charitable Foundations that are open and willing to help fund work of a social nature that is carried out by fgaith communities.

Firgive me referencing my own congregation but it acts as an example of engaging with the secualar world. We run four social outreach programmes out of our congregation here in Bo’ness as well as our international development work. A greater proportion of our funding comes from what we might call secular agencies. The BBC Children In Need fund our “Bounce Higher Programme, this is a programme that seeks to connect with children and families and offer them support and encouragement at various points in their lives where they might be feeling a bit vulnerable. Our programme supporting elderly people who suffer from dementia is partial funded by the Social Work Department, and our Christian Counselling programme is run out of the local Medical Centre. Our youth programme has developed and grown and has a not insignificant role to play in the local High School. Finally our not for profit media company is engaging with all kinds of projects and commissions both Christian and secular, including developing n online emerging church programme.

All this makes me aware of the great opportunities that are available to churches and Christian communities who want to begin to engage with the issues of our day. We may not start with handing out tracts and singing gospel songs but the reality is that sooner or later the topics of forgiveness and injustice guilt and truthfulness raise their heads and in the context of authentic relationship the gospel can be explored and received. Yes the Christian church needs to critically engage with the secular world and be shining examples of integrity and resourceful creativity. I am convinced that we need to reflect more upon what it means to be free in Christ and live for each other in community. To love God and serve the world and to also serve God and love the world. It has been my experience that very often it is Gospel and Communion that breaks open Dogma and Diversity. Communion holds diversity in unity and I think that’s not a bad piece of dogma.

Check out Robert Calvert’s Article

There is something about summer that makes us all feel just perhaps that little bit more optimistic. Is it the weather? Is it the fact that we get time off to go on holiday? Is it that we can get into the garden and enjoy a summer evening with friends? What ever it is I just know that most people like Summer.

For me one of the most inspiring phrases about summer comes from C.S. Lewis in Chronicles of Narnia. Aslan speaking to the children says: “. . . you are – as you use to call it in the Shadow Land – dead. The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning.”

I think there is something quite liberating about the above phrase. I can still recall the amazing sentiments of joy bubbling up within me as a child knowing the school term was over and the holidays had begun. Walking away from school was a truly spiritual experience. For me it was like a huge cloud had been lifted. It was summer, time to play.

It was just fantastic getting ready for holidays as a child. It was so exciting in our family. The big case would get packed, my dad would have on his ‘sports clothes’ as he called them, a tweed jacket and cavalry twills. Then it would be off to Ireland for two weeks with the big case on his shoulder and us children following behind and my mother keeping us all together as we walked up the gangway.

Those were exciting times for a boy who lived in the city. The chance to ride a tractor, the opportunity to sit in a big milk lorry. I can still recall the smell of the milk lorry cabin with the torn leather seats and the petrol and oil mixing together in the atmosphere to create a smell that for me says ‘all is well’. Those were happy days without a care in the world. Can you just imagine how wonderful that feeling is for a child?

C.S. Lewis uses that experience of ‘end of term’ to help look forward with expectation to the time when we will find ourselves released from the term of this life and we will be facing eternity. Death then is nothing to fear, it simply is the gateway into the light and the peace of God’s presence. I think this phrase of Lewis’ reminds us that living for many of us is just existing in the Shadowlands, indeed that phrase describes all of us.

Deep down in our souls we know there is more something quite wonderful to look forward to even better than any Summer holiday. I’ve come to the conclusion Summer is almost like a foretaste of heaven. It gives us a chance to think in a different way about life. The cold wind of the winter is over and the fresh warmth of the Summer days beacons us to think positively about life and also about life after death.
So why not kick your shoes off this Summer and get ready to enjoy your holidays. Yeah the dream has ended – let us make this day the first morning of the rest of our lives. If God is for us who can be against us?

Finding ways to connect with people is at the heart of the Gospel and of course the biggest connection of all is when a man or a woman discover the presence of God all around them. The thing is when this happens its “a God incident” its not something we can generate it happens in God’s time. I also think it happens when the Church is practicing what it means to be an everyday church. The truth is the church has to be an everyday church because its all about people living their everyday lives. Too often we still think of church as the building as a set of programmesas an organised identity. Church is not really like that at all. I think its a lot more messy than we’d like to believe. Jesus in his parables iis continually surprising people who want things to fall into a neat solution. he tells stories and parables that stretch our ideas of fairness and justice. He tells stories that often put the people who ae on the outside of religion more at the centre of true religion than those who are at the centre of religious organisations. It might even be that some of the organisations and structures and trappings of past religious experience may have to wither on the vine to allow the new branches the new grapes to begin to grow.

I’m becoming more convinced that God is working where he has always been working in the hearts and lives of individual people drawing them together by his Spirit to fulful his purposes in the world. Those of us who are used to thinking of church being church in a set way, we need to change if we are going to be part of the church of the 21st century.

Look into our building these weeks when the young people are off school and you’d think it was building site. There are just so many bits and pieces lying around the place. I’m ever thankful for our long suffering church cleaner who takes is all in her stride. Its also a parable the people and relationships are there to bring glory to God. the building has to be made to fit round the needs of the people not the people fitting around the building. Now that is our problem. We have an old building no longer fit for an everyday church. So here is the question what does a building being used by an everyday church look like? Do we need one building, do we need many buildings, do we need to use more technology? What is the 21st century church building to look like? let me hear your comments

So get listening to my show its on air every day at 9.00am except Saturdays and Sundays. So if your reading this get listening to italker on air. I’ve a great show lined up for today.

The great thing is that it did go well. It looks like we had around 198 people looking in on the internet and it would appear around 130 were using ipads or iphones. This evening the viewing number also increase to around 34 normally on a Sunday evening we don’t get many more than 18. This means that we more than doubled our physical congregation because of those who were looking in on the internet. I think we also owe a big thank you to tye BBC for taking up our story and publishing it o the web. Check out http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_east_and_fife/10302210.stm

At different times today we have received text messages and emails from those who were watching expressing their apprciation. One person even mentioned that they engaged with the act of communion this morning using a ‘Big Mac’ burger bun. I notice also that Iain down in Largs has left a message on my last post to say that he had engaged with the act of Communion over cyber-space.

I know we need to be careful that we don’t in any way trivialise the act of Communion. Yet there seems to me something very theologically interesting going on when people can feel caught up in an act of devotion using the intimacy of the internet. I believe there is so much for us to explore and develop in this whole area of technology. For me the problem is that people often see this kind of innovation as a bit off the wall or a little bit whacky. When in fact it has all the potential of allowing us to develop community.

However the truth is we have never seen our live streaming of worship as a gimmick it is a genuine attempt to connect with people who are disconnected from the normal church attendance. Its just as much for the honest seeker as for the believers who find they can’t attend church any longer for a variety of reasons. In the words of one couple “St Andrew’s Bo’ness has given us our Sunday back again,” they go on to explain, if you are housebound one day is as much the same as the next. However having a regular appointment to watch the Sunday services, gives them the structure for their week.

Anyway we think it is another groundbreaking move that will allow people to follow worship live in nursing homes, public transport and even on the golf course and why not? When streaming live onto the iPad everything is available at the click of a button the golf course might be a bit far fetched but the bus and the nursing home is a real possibility

Recently we’ve been developing within our services the opportunity for worshippers to contribute to worship using the text facility on their phones. Its actually a fantastic way to let people contribute to the prayers of intercession. It is also an interesting way to engage with the congregation interactively through preaching from the text. Only the text is the text message that has appeared on the screen in the sanctuary.

I believe there is an interesting opportunity for ministers to begin to explore how we can best utilise technology. Changing worshippers from consumers to producers is what worship is all about. Its about thinking about what I bring to church not what I get from church. I’m sure we will have an intetresting debate on the issue. Some will think what I’m talking about is a gimmick, but its not its a real opportunity to empower the worshippers. Its about engaging liturgy into everyday life. Its actually very Orthodox to talk of liturgy in this way.

Neil tried out the technology last weekend, and he was able to sit in his car on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh and watch the morning service live. This also means that if he had wanted he could have sent his contribution for prayer via the iphone and it would have appeared on the screen at the front of the church. He tells me to make it clear he was not drivng at the time.

For those of the congregation and friends who don’t have iphones or ipads I believe Neil also plans to try streaming services live onto Blackberries, Google Androids and Nokia phones in the not too distant future so watch this space.

One other thing most of you guys know that I’m a bit of a U2 fan well I think its about time we had a U2charist here in Scotland. This is a Communion Service that uses U2 songs as part of the worship and praise. I believe these worship events have been taking place now for a few years all around the world but from what I can gather non in Scotland. So I thought we could develop a really cool service using U2 tunes using iphones and ipads then podcast it on itunes.

So what do you guys think. I’ve come across a web page worth looking at which gives all kinds of hints and ideas to help organise such an event. Have a look at U2charist resources I’d love to hear what some of you think. We could perhaps start our next Sanctuary First with a U2Charist or should we aim to put on a bigger event in one of the Cathedrals? I waiting on a text or an email but at least a comment

This was one of the themes picked up by Archbishop John Sentamu as he issued a reminder at the closing worship service of “Edinburgh 2010” in the Church of Scotland Assembly Hall. Alluding to the gospel account of Peter’s denial of Christ, Sentamu added: “Jesus today is on trial in the court of the world by our lips and lives. Jesus and his gospel are being judged.” Sentamu continued, “Human activity only begets human activity. The prophetic Word and the Spirit make us live.” His voice echoed with an evangelising passion that recalled preachers of the past who spoke in the same space. It was also reminicent of his recent visit to the CWW National Gathering in Edinburgh in 2008 when I had the privelege of introducing him to the 8,000 audience gathered at Ingliston. Archbishop Sentamu has been such an inspiration to many of us in Scotland and he was the ideal peron to bring the conference to a close.

PRAISE GATHERING 2010
All the good things were not just happening in Edinburgh, through in Glasgow, the Praise Gathering, under the leadership of Ian Watson was packing in thousands to the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall over a three night stint. I had the privelege of attending on the Saturday evening. It turned out to be a fantastic evening. What I like about the Praise Gathering is it lterally does what it says on the tin. Its about praise to Almighty God, and its not about celebrities. in many ways it seeks to pick up the theme of Hope and Humility.

The Director and Conductor Ian Watson has been a wonderful friend to all of us involved with Church Without Walls events. Over the last few years in Aviemore. His inspirational leadership in worship was quite outstanding. Ian has put together an extensive programme of praise music, for the Praise Gathering, in doing so he seems to be able to find the balance between a participatory element to allow his audience to engage with praise themeselves allowing them to become producers of praise, while at the same time offering everyone the opportunity to become a consumer listening to an amazing 400 voice choir sing a variety of pieces ranging from traditional gospel to more contemporary songs.

For me the highlight of the evening was an arrangement of the well known hymn “How Great Thou Art.” How they did it I don’t know but they moved from a lyrical ballad to a rockous gospel sound in less than a minute, greatly assisted by Gamu.

Now I said there were no celebrities but there was one outstanding star! Once again for me the evening highlight was the young Glasgow singer Gamucharai Nhengu (aka Gamu). She is a seriously talented young woman. The truth is the she brought the whole Concert Hall to life. She has amazing stage presence and for someone so slight one wonders from where does the voice come? To hear Gamu sing again it would be worth any Glaswegian brave the elements and venture east and attend the next Praise Gathering which takes place in the Usher halls Edinburgh on Saturday 19 June.

Over the past few weeks I’ve been talking to a number of people about Norman’s lecture. Helping people see the “Magic” is an important aspect of mentoring and encouraging leaders and even friends.

I know we don’t always succeed but I’m sure we all agrree that it is so important to try to bring out the best in the people we work alongside. Its so easy to be negative but there is a real joy that comes from connecting people to the “Magic” that Norman Drummond talks about. Encouraging people to rise to their real potential. I also liked one of Norman’s memoralble phrases when he spoke of our culture that is so often all about “valuing targets rather than targeting values.”

Norman’s theme was of special interest to two young teachers with whom i met up with last week. We had arranged a meeting to talk about ways in which we can help contribute as a Church, to the Curriculum for Excellence in our local Secondary School.

Both of the teachers were really passionate about what they were trying to deliver in their classrooms. They were also enthusiastic about the opportunities Curriculum For Ecellence will bring them giving them the freedom to create much of their own material.

It was good to work along side Lilias our Youth Worker as together we were able to make a contribution to the way christianity will be taught in the school. We’re hoping to use the Jesus Manifesto as reported by Luke at the end of Chapter 3 and the beginning of Chapter 4 as the starting point from which to introduce Christianity to all the first years.

I think its going to work. It will also allow the RE Department to engage with all kinds of links across the curriculum and also the community. While we were talking about all this the ‘Magic” appeared and it wasn’t long before we could also see the wisdom we wanted to share appear.

Using the words of Isaiah, Jesus tells his listeners, in the Gospel of Luke, that he has fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah. He suggests to them he will “bind up the broken hearted, set prisoner free, heal the sick, and give sight to the blind.”

Using this quotation from the Gospel, we will be able to make links for the school to the local prison, and connect the children with our various Church Outreach programmes, which are all connected in some way with healing.

In the school there are lots of connections with other subjects that can be formed. The history of Art, will allow the Art teachers if they so desire to see the importance of the parables of Jesus as retold by many of the classic painters. What I’m realising is that there are many opportunities available to share the gospel in schools through these creative educational opportunities.

Written as a contribution to the Lausanne Conversation on Preaching Part 3

Does preaching still have a role to play in the emerging church? In fact does preaching still have a role to play in all of our churches.? While our communication revolution invites us to continue to reflect upon the way we participate and respond to God’s Word . I want to suggest that preaching has a unique place in the communication of the gospel . Words and the power of rhetoric still seem to be able to touch a post modern world. Many believe that Obama won the American Presidential Election because of his great skills as an orator. While preaching must not be seen as mere oratory, it demonstrates that people are still engaged by the power of the human voice to communicate an inspirational message. It could be further argued that Jesus instituted the idea of preaching in Matthew 28 when he commissioned the disciples to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel”.

Preaching undoubtedly, has a special role to play in the worshipping community and it involves much more than an individual performing from a script. It requires the interaction of congregation and preacher as they engage with the scripture. This interaction is only effective when the Holy Spirit constitutes the words of the preacher. Thus it can be said that Jesus the Son instituted the preacher, and it is the Holy Spirit who consitutes the preacher.

Let’s begin to analyse the role that each participant plays in the process of preaching, beginning with the preacher, then the congregation and ending with the scriptures. The order is not important because I believe the process of preaching is a circular one. Regardless where you start the Spirit will lead you to the other. In this post i’m going to concentrate on the role of the preacher.

It is always the role of the Holy Spirit to constitute that which has been instituted in Scripture. In the words of Jesus “The Spirit will take what is mine and make it known to you.” (John 16. 5-15) Christ institutes that which is truth and is non negotiable. It is the Spirit that constitutes and contextualises the truth thus bringing together that which has been instituted or given, in order that we might discover a process of revelation. This revelation points always to God’s redemptive acts in history enabling us to see that God is seeking to renew his world and he uses people like you and me to make it happen.

The preacher has to come to this process in complete humility, submitting to the Word. The interaction is not that of equals but that of pupil and teacher. The Word and words themselves shape everything around us even the visual revolution of technology. It is important that we do not deface or debase the Word in the light of the power of the visual language.

Listening To Self in the Spirit.

In the Reformed tradition the preacher, has to learn to listen in two distinct ways. Firstly to listen to self in order to understand the human condition and simultaneously to listen for the Word that comes from beyond yet is revealed to us in the words of scripture. It is the listening that is the gift of the Spirit .

Indeed this kind of listening is relevant to everyone of us. We need to recognise that the voice of self, is too often the voice of many. In Mark Chapter 5. 9 Jesus is confronted with the man who was ‘beside himself‘ Our Lord asks him, “What is your name?” “My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” Out of the demon possessed man came a profound truth about all of us. We are all people who have been influenced by many voices throughout history. It is almost as though there is ‘a legion ‘within all of us, reflecting the confusion sin has brought into all of our lives. We are constrained as preachers to listen for the one voice of Scripture above the noise of culture. Of course we also carry the voices of our own personal encounters in our heads from the past and even the present seeking to influence and confuse us.

It is as we listen to these voices we become more aware of our need, our longing to hear the one true voice that of the Good Shepherd so clearly explained in John 10. Such a voice comes to us often in the place of silence. It is the voice of God through scripture, that addresses our confusion and shame reducing the other voices to silence asking like it first did to Adam, “ Where are you?

Silence and the Self

Carlo Maria Martini writing about ‘ Communicating Christ to the World ‘ says,

‘Every authentic communication is born in silence… Every true communication requires silent recollected space. To communicate well does not require many words. A few sincere words born of contemplative detachment are worth more than many words heaped up without reflecting.’

It is essential for the preacher to be in touch with the inner self or else she/he will never truly be able to speak or hear the Word of God. Murray McCheyne, the famous Scottish divine, is accredited with the phrase “ What a man is on his knees that he is and no more.” Prayer brings us to the place where we begin to see ourselves as God sees us. Listening to the many voices contrains us to listen for the one true voice. The one we know, the one we have always known.

Our listening and our hearing is all part of our reformed spirituality. Summarising this section, what I am saying is listening is not just a discipline it is a gift of the Spirit. When we listen to the self we will be confronted with many voices that seek to rule our hearts. Deep within each of us there is the experience of the tower of Babel. We are all people locked within ourselves, people who are confused by the noise and anger of non-communication. Paul echoes this idea in Romans 8 when he talks of the Spirit interceding for us because we do not know how to express how we feel.

Martini is also right when he points the confused and silent individual to Jesus the one who opens the ears and the mouth of the deaf mute causing him to decode the confusion and silence of the soul. It seems to me that this type of listening to self is also the work of the Holy Spirit, allowing the preacher to discover his/her poverty, the poverty of a noisy bell and clanging cymbal inviting us to become personal benefactors of the grace of God in order that we might be like a watchman blowing a clear note on the trumpet.

Only When He Speaks your Name

The preacher has to be addressed by the Word of the gospel personally. This experience of the Word of God has been the distinguishing feature of biblical leadership. Throughout the New Testament there are references to Christians as the called ones, or those who are called. When the preacher has heard the gospel and realises that he /she has been addressed not by human words but by God himself, then there is an overwhelming conviction that turns oratory into revelation. It is because the preacher is first and foremost a benefactor that she/he can share the gospel with those who are needy.

It is this type of encounter that permits the preacher to also reveal part of his self and vulnerability before God as he shares his lack of confidence. It is also this encounter that establishes the authority of the preacher. She is no longer speaking of self but sharing an encounter with the living Word. It is this word that first transforms the person of the preacher.

For me the first wonderful example of this is Mary in the Resurrection Garden. She doesn’t recognise the risen Christ until he calls her by her name then everything is revealed. Mary becomes the first disciple to communicate the good news. All of this makes it imperative that the preacher recognises their role as the one who bears the message but cannot change or reinterpret the message to his or his hearers liking. This is the great danger that Paul warned Timothy about. It is the peer pressure that many in our church today find themselves seeking to work through.

As we talk of ‘Emerging Church’ we need to be careful that we do not begin to emerge the Gospel into the culture and political beliefs of our governments and opinion informers.