i have finally added photos from ireland as a photo album.
they include a few pics from coordinates - ikon's exhibition currently at the waterfront in belfast of which i had a sneak preview. i absolutely loved this heresy board game. the instructions are in another pic in the album.
love how this photo came out. in ireland we had some amazing foggy and frosty mornings. this was down by the river bann. this one taken at the same time is also pretty neat.
sat in the airport waiting to head back to london from belfast. lots of cheers coming from the bar so i guess ireland are winning the rugby?...
the soliton sessions are simply a chance for people to get together and share ideas, stories and conversations about faith, spirituality and mission. it's very relaxed and conversational in style. 50-60 people gathered from ireland, n.ireland, the us, canada, england, scotland. the sessions were spread across one day in belfast and then the weekend in kellys, the (in)famous night club in port rush on the north atlantic coast.
as always at these things the best thing was the relationships - catching up with friends and meeting new people. it was great to see si johnston again - miss him being in london. between him and gareth higgins they hosted the time. i led a couple of worship reflections - reworking some of the stuff from grace when we were rethinking who we were - see this service in the archive if you want the liturgy and this blog post for info on the video . and a couple of conversations. one that i hadn't anticipated i'd lead in advance but seemed to be worth talking about was about helping families and children in communities. i think the challenge here is that often these newer/emerging churches are focused on mission amongst a young adult crowd and not geared up to help families but it doesn't take long before people in the community start to have some! whilst the traditional sunday school approach isn't what people are looking for it's good to talk about expectations and ideas to help support families helping their childrens' faith be nurtured.
juliet turner and aaron espe (i think that was the name) performed a very intimate acoustic concert saturday night. the weather was amazing all weeekend with incredible misty mornings and heavy frosts. the north atlantic beaches are stunning with great surf. sadly we never made it to a distillery but we did help si get through plenty of his whisky...
i stayed with jonny and susan from ikon when i was in belfast (thanks guys). jonny has started a blog posting what he is on his easel in the studio at the time. he also gave me a quick demo of ableton live which was cool might have to try it out. ikon have their first service tonight in their new venue - the black box. it's a wonderful space and of course couldn't be a more apt name. the visit also co-incided with an ikon art exhibition at the waterfront - co:ordinates exploring the co-ordinates of ikon. it officially opens tuesday evening but i was around when it was being put up so got a sneak preview. amazing to have a community with so much artistic talent - loved the heresy monopoly game created by michael.
while i was in belfast i also caught up with spike at cms ireland. good to exchange ideas. they are working on creating a course called discover for churches in ireland in three 6 week blocks. should be one to watch out for in 2008...
i will add some pics to flickr later this week when i get a moment (enjoyed meeting gail who is a photographer).
si johnston is hosting the celtic soliton sessions dangerous living in february in northern ireland. i'm looking forward to going over and taking part. info about dangerous living is here. click on the two images below to see a larger flier.
spent monday exchanging ideas with cms ireland in belfast. then in the evening headed down to the opening of one colour red at the waterfront. this has been commissioned for multicultural week in belfast. the installation is a series of small cards of images and quotes representing facets of different cultures all unified through the colour red. cards have been spread through the building - i suspect some may be found weeks later. the idea is that you can take a card (or as many as you like) so the installation gradually disappears as pieces of the one colour red disperse around the city. the blurb on the poster says
this installation is designed so that you can take a piece of it home so please do. we hope that by taking home an idea from another culture thousands of our customers will show an acceptance of those cultures and perhaps even gain a greater understanding of them.
if you like the poster image there is a limited 200 edition print run of those posters being sold at five pounds each.
was great to catch up with jonny, susan, jane, carrie, kyle, pete, gareth and others from ikon. in true ikon fashion they are running an athiests for lent course - give up god and explore the works of freud, nietche, and marx (i think it was those three). i loved the sound of the monthly last suppers as well where 12 people gather with an invited guest. over a three course meal in a cafe the speaker presents material, it's discussed around the meal table and then explored further with the speaker.
was also good to see david brown from CIYD (church of ireland youth dept), spike and others from cms, mark and heather houston, dave from echo... i didn't see a lot of belfast as it rained most of the time.
Technorati Tags: ikon, multicultural
i am in belfast monday for a cms meeting. i've struck lucky in that monday night sees the opening of one colour red - an installation by ikon. be good to see it and them...
si has posted his thoughts on ireland and mission
(as well as a few words on ikon CD DUBH)
alternative worship and emerging church seem newer on the agenda in ireland than england. at least that's the impression i'm left with as i'm sat typing this at dublin airport. i may be wrong of course (not the first time) but there seems more fear and less permission to reimagine church in the light of the cultural changes in the western world. i realise that the church's mind has been preoccupied with other issues for many years at least in the north. but i hope the emerge day helped spark a bit of thinking about mission, church and worship in the emerging culture and look forward to seeing what emerges in the next decade or so. brad has blogged a few thoughts. i think this is a conversation that is likely to grow in ireland. for people interested, a couple of future events i picked up news of - brian maclaren is booked in to do something in 2006 though i don't know details and i noticed stuart murray is booked at an event in november.
i was really impressed with 3rock and greg fromholz who have been doing stuff in dublin and the surrounding area for several years, as well as david brown and the church of ireland youth department.
pete rollins from ikon popped down from belfast on saturday. good to catch up over a beer in temple bar and exciting to hear about his forthcoming book (out next year). not many of the people on the emerge day had heard of ikon or their CD DUBH so i gave that a big plug. i.m.h.o. ireland should be proud of such a creative home grown alternative worship community...
it was also good to meet john hebenton from new zealand. he is the national youth network facilitator for the anglican church there and blogs at colourful dreamer. he was over on a sabbatical.
had a good day with ordinands at the church of ireland theological college discussing cultural change and the church, leadership, mission and all that.
got to see the book of kells in dublin which was a treat. the level of detail and care in the handwritten manuscripts and intricate images is amazing. here are some good scans of the book of kells.
looking forward to heading to dublin this weekend. i have been invited by 3rock youth to do a day's training on emerging church and alt worship as part of emerge:rising - training for young leaders. david brown then invited me to take part with him in teaching for third year ordinands in the church of ireland on the friday. am planning to teach on cultural change, emerging culture, and leadership using whale rider and probes. it will be my first ever visit to ireland having made my first visit to northern ireland earlier this year. looking forward to it...
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