jonnybaker

off to princeton

heading off to the USA today to princeton via new york. looking forward to it a lot... there's a three day conversation between theological educators, people from emergent, and practitioners of emerging churches. part of the focus as i understand it is what mainline denominations can learn from the emerging church. i have been invited to present a paper on mission shaped church and how the church of england is responding to the challenges of mission in the emerging context. looking forward to seeing kenda, tony, adam, doug, karen, brian and others... having never been to new york i am stopping there to be a tourist en route which i am also really looking forward to...

fun

sodaplay | rathergood
(thanks clare)

U2 latest
(thanks youthmultimedia group)

ibelieve

ibelieve (thanks bob and moot for the link)

urban confusion

if you like your music chilled/urban then check out urban confusion - a radio show hosted by alexia briassouli on weft community radio. she posts the two hour show online as an mp3 and the last year's shows are all available to download - obviously the are pretty big files. includes gems like cantoma, boozoo bajou, sister gertrude remixed by king britt and plenty of stuff you've probably never heard of. the compression is at 80kbps. hours of listening... (thanks again jonny m)

christ of the indian road 2 - the concrete christ

at gracelet on sunday night i read a whole chapter from the christ of the indian road. the chapter is called the concrete christ. It begins...

India is the land of mysticism. You feel it in the very air. Jesus was the supreme mystic. The Unseen was real to him. He spent all night in prayer and communion with the Father. He lived in God and God lived in him. When he said 'I and the Father are one' you feel it is so. Jesus the mystic appeals to India, the land of mysticism. But Jesus the mystic was amazingly concrete and practical. Into an atmosphere filled with speculation and wordy disputation where men are often drunk with the wine of their own wordiness he brings the refreshing sense of practical reality.

and then Jones launches into an inspiring telling of the story of Jesus from birth to resurrection reflecting on his teaching, life, miracles, death, resurrection. he lists one inspiring thing after another. it reminds me of the sermon of a good black preacher who reels off one item after another to build the sermon to a climax and work the crowd. he concludes...

There is no deeper need in India and the world today than just this practical mysticism that Jesus brings to bear upon the problems of life. 'No man is strong who does not bear within himself antithesis strongly marked' The merely mystical man is weak and the merely practical man is weak, but Jesus the practical Mystic, glowing with God and yet stooping in loving service to men, is Strength Incarnate.It is no wonder that India, tired of speculation, turns unconsciously toward him, the mystic Servant of all.

when i read a book i often either underline bits i like or write them out - it helps me chew over them again. so i have written this chapter out for my own benefit. if you are interested in the whole thing download concrete christ [pdf] or buy the book.

Technorati Tags: india, mission, grace

one faith one baptism two wives

one faith, one baptism, two wives - classic mission dilemma about polygamy

gracelet tonight

gracelet 8pm st mary's ealing tonight

journal focusing on emerging church

international journal for the study of the christian church has a special issue focusing on emerging church edited by john drane. you can order it here - thanks steve

Technorati Tags: emerging church, theology

sister gertrude

be uplifted by sister gertrude (thanks jonny m!)

uncanny

uncanny - this is a brilliant follow up to worship trick 40!

Blah... Re-enchanted Nov 16

info on the next blah... in london

Re-Enchanted?
A mission journey into the Mind Body Spirit Festival

What are auras, past-life regression, ascended masters, tarot and the Jesus deck? For the past three years Ben Edson has led a team of people at Manchester’s annual Mind Body Spirit fair, a three-day festival of contemporary spirituality that attracts over 11,000 people. We are delighted that Ben is able to join us for Blah... where he will share stories from this intriguing mission journey of the past few years. It will be a great opportunity to glimpse into the phenomena of the ‘Mind, Body, Spirit Festival’, and reflect on mission amongst spiritual seekers in our culture.

Ben established and leads Sanctus1 - an emerging church in the city centre of Manchester. He also facilitates Blah... Manchester. Ben blogs, with other members of Sanctus1, at http://www.sanctus1.co.uk/blog/

This is the first of two Blah... gatherings in London this autumn. The date of the second one for your diaries is December 7. Blah... is a series of conversations hosted by CMS on mission, worship, church and Christianity in today’s rapidly changing culture.

Wednesday 16 November | 6:30-8:30pm | Drinks and refreshments provided | Admission free

Venue:  CMS partnership house, 157 waterloo road
[Nearest tube Waterloo - follow signs from station to Old Vic. Go past Old Vic and Partnership House is on the same side opposite the ambulance station]

It would help to know numbers in advance so if you're coming please e-mail elizabeth

Technorati Tags: blah, spirituality, mind body spirit

Re:source new course starts Jan 2006

download a pdf of the brochure

re:source begins a second course in january 2006. i am on the core group for the course and am excited about it. the first time we ran the course it went really well. this time it will be even better as we have learned from the first year and hopefully improved on it.

if you are involved in leading an emerging church/fresh expression of church/church plant or are thinking about starting one this could be a great course to sign up for. it is aimed at people who are doing it i.e. practitioners.

it consists of 5 weekends through the year, each in a different location, on the themes of mission, culture, leadership, church and transformation. like all these kinds of courses as well as some teaching, discussion, reflection, coaching and so on, one of the huge benefits is meeting a bunch of other people on similar journeys round the country to learn from each other. mentoring and assignments are also part of the course.

the stated aims/aspirations of the course are that by the end of it you will:
• be equipped to create church in emerging culture
• develop mission strategies for your specific context
• explore and apply skills in leadership and discipleship
• develop your capacity for spiritual and personal growth

full details are in the brochure. if you would like a brochure sent to you e-mail beth who now works part time to make re:source happen and is doing a fab job and she will send you one. you can also download a pdf of the brochure here (approx 500k). one of the challenges with all of this emerging stuff is that it is often tucked away so if you know anyone you think would be interested please pass on the info/pdf - these kinds of things spread best by word of mouth and we haven't got a huge advertising budget anyway. the course is pretty good value i think at £420 (plus £200 if you want us to provide accomodation).

there is a re:source web site but it is in the process of being updated so look back there in a week or two.

CMS are one of the partners helping run the course, hopefully offering some nous and experience about mission into the mix. i am intending to be at all/most of the weekends so maybe see you there?...

Technorati Tags: emerging church, theological education, resource

mission 21 - church planting conference

mission 21 is a conflab on church planting/fresh expressions of church in the uk. looks set to be quite a gathering... i hope it's good as i'm going to go. details here. download booking form (pdf) here

worship trick 40 update

i have updated the stations of the cross worship trick below. but in case you don't notice, jonbirch has kindly added still images of his illustrations of stations of the cross so that you can grab them as a download and do your own thing rather than just using the flash animation. what a nice man! make sure you go and say hi or thanks or something if you use his pics...

Technorati Tags: stations of the cross, worship tricks, alternative worship

C3

C3 - latest story on emerginghcurch.info

banksy crude oils

we dropped in to banksy's crude oils exhibition today. it's in a small shop on westbourne grove and live rats (one of banksy's iconic trademarks) are allowed to roam freely among the exhibits! a few people at a time were allowed in so there was quite a queue on the street. it was mainly a selection of oil canvases edited by banksy. i have added a couple of pics to my art pics album. my favourite was this madonna and child. wonder what the mother of god playlist is?

Technorati Tags: banksy, art

blah...manchester 20 october

kester brewin is speaking at blah... manchester on thursday 20 october:

Only Connect... Why God’s future is urban. A guided discussion on city spaces, networks and the spirituality of the urban exoskeleton.

details here

Technorati Tags: blah, emerging church

we have decided not to die - worship trick 44

we have decided not to die is a stunning short film. i have been on the lookout for it for a while since being tipped off about it by andrew pickering. anyway to my delight when i got the latest onedotzero dvd (which are always wonderful) i discovered that the film is on it. it's produced by dan askill who made the unkle reign video which i blogged about as a worship trick not long ago. if you want to see a preview of we have decided not to die look under films on the collider web site.

[update: josh has left a comment saying that you can see the whole thing at zed - type we have decided not to die in the search and you'll find it - thanks josh. i have added this in because i know not everyone follows the comments.]

the film is about 11 minutes long and follows three rituals - birth, between, and rebirth. the first is a woman breaking through the surface of a swimming pool (very bill viola like), the second is a man in the wilderness between two cars about to collide, the third is a man running through a window of a high rise office. these three themes pretty much summarise the process we have been going through in grace - currently we are still in the 'between' or liminal place.

it is a stunning film and has received a lot of critical acclaim. in terms of how you use it, just show it - it raises so many thoughts and questions (at least it did for me).

this is an image from the third ritual...

Technorati Tags: video, worship tricks, alternative worship

disciples and citizens

graham cray starts a series of four lectures at licc tonight

banksy exhibition for 12 days

banksy exhibition for 12 days from tomorrow (friday) for 12 days at 100 westbourne grove 11am-8pm - details here