jonnybaker

the corridor of uncertainty

i have jotted down below a few quotes from the annual LIP lecture the night before last given by paul hill. he was one of the people who inspired LIP with what he calls a personal approach to photography. this is probably a lot more commonplace now but i got the impression that it was pretty innovative at the time. he showed some of his current work, the corridor of uncertainty, which was a pretty raw exploration of grief in response to the death of his wife from cancer two years ago.

i like the term corridor of uncertainty which comes from sport - the area a ball is crossed into just out of reach of the goalkeeper, or the area in cricket which makes a batsmen unsure whether to leave or play the ball. it's a great metaphor for lots of things - i wonder what the corridor of uncertainty might be in relation to mission?... but maybe that's a thought for another post sometime. anyway a few of my jottings are below

it's extraordinary what you find in the most ordinary places if you are interested

learn how to see

being in the everyday - it's a series of small adventures, a quest that never ceases to excite and interest me

we don't spend enough time looking thinking and responding to the visual world around us

always move on

learn by doing

when you are local you pick up on things that are transitory

our photos hold a mirror up to ourselves

your photographs are your greatest teachers

objects can become something other than what they are - which is a metaphor for all photography

moving on in scotland

this weekend i am taking part in the church without walls national gathering in scotland. i have been invited to lead an hour on sunday evening which blends worship and challenge/teaching around the theme of moving on, as well as a seminar sunday afternoon. it's at the royal highland centre so if you are anywhere near edinburgh then come along...

scooterworks

my photo gets used on a business card, originally uploaded by jonnybaker.

i guess everyone has their favourite places in a city. scooterworks is definitely one of mine in london. was great to have an excuse to meet people there last week...

i was also pleased to see that a photo i took of the coffee machine a while back is the one that scooterworks have used for their business cards (they did ask permission)...

Technorati Tags: scooterworks

proost article

becky garrison has kindly written an article on proost for the emergent village blog. if you are thinking of subscribing there's a code there to get ten percent off...

blue fortress

it's been a very strange season for chelsea so far with morinho leaving, injuries, grant and so on... but today beating man united 2-1 is a very sweet result and it sounds like it was deserved. i missed it as i was doing a training day for the diocese of bath and wells but will look forward to match of the day tonight! so level on points but needing man u to drop some points because of goal difference...

following on from the convincing draw with liverpool (well it was about time the luck went the other way ;-) ), it's part two on wednesday night to see if we can also make it to a champions league final which would be amazing...

things coming up

stories with significance - training days in storytelling from schoolswork.co.uk

mike frost is in the uk in the autumn doing a series of speaking dates including oct 9 at cms oxford

there's a day on new monasticism on may 3 that looks really interesting

RUN have a conference in june (which i'll be at for a day)

and don't forget brian walsh and sylvia keesmaat days in manchester, oxford and birmingham in june

things coming up

stories with significance - training days in storytelling from schoolswork.co.uk

mike frost is in the uk in the autumn doing a series of speaking dates including oct 9 at cms oxford

there's a day on new monasticism on may 3 that looks really interesting

RUN have a conference in june (which i'll be at for a day)

and don't forget brian walsh and sylvia keesmaat days in manchester, oxford and birmingham in june

jesus' empire of the mustard seed - tom sine is back in classic fashion

the word conspirator apparently comes from con-spiritus which means to go with the spirit, at least according to karen ward's endorsement of tom sine's new book the new conspirators: creating the future one seed at a time. so being a new consiprator sounds like a good thing!

it's a great book - i really enjoyed it. it's vintage sine really combining all his passions that have woven through his writing over the years -

• a love for mission and new stuff especially the edges of what younger leaders are creating,
• powerful critique of the western dream of the good life,
• a stunning ability to think out of an alternative imagination as to how christians might dream and live out a dream of a different kind of good life shaped by the kingdom of god,
• an ability to read the times and future with a global perspective,
• a love for the poor and broken,
• a passion for great parties,
• and a wonderful vision of the future healing of creation when christ returns,
• and plenty of ideas and encouragements for how to join in practically one mustard seed at a time

how can you go wrong with those themes? i have tracked tom through the original mustard seed conspiracy, wild hope, living life on purpose and other writings, as well as catching him and christine speak at greenbelt, blah... and other places over the years. i have no idea how old tom is - maybe in his seventies now? but what an inspiration. i really hope i can be that full of energy and passion and love for the new things god is doing and offer a bit of wisdom when i hit those mature years...

so what's new? well tom maps the current new things happening with a mapping of four movements whose edges are blurred and overlap - emerging, mosaic, new monastic, and missional and he is enthusiastic about them all (i agreed with shaine clayborne's hesitation in the foreword that the book runs the risk of making some of us young tykes look too good, better than the reality - but what a refreshing change!) weaving stories he has gleaned into the mix. he does carefully issue a few challenges on the way - for example he loves the creativity in emerging church but wonders why it tends to get focused on worship and church rather than taken outside the walls. he also wonders if those of us who like the postmodern world haven't got our imaginations too shaped by the consumer dream of cool - these are great challenges and need to be responded to.

he follows the opening section mapping the new conspirators with conversations about culture and what the future challenges might be. woven into this is a view of god's future that is wonderfully inspiring. in much the same way as i enthused about tom wright's book a while back, this book also lays out a vision of a future for the earth that is healed when god's kingdom comes. one of the things i have always found challenging and inspiring about tom and christine is their imagination. in the face of the consumer culture and the busyness and drain on resources so many of us face they suggest communal responses in relation to housing, resources, and neighbourhood. it takes courage to take these on board, but this is precisely the kind of imagining christian communities should engage in. in fact the last section of the book, taking our imaginations seriously, was definitely my favourite - story after story and idea after idea are laid out so that you can't help feeling that as tom puts it all of life is a design opportunity to be co-creators with god. at the end of it, because the whole approach is inspired by jesus' story of the mustard seed where something grows from a tiny seed, you think that even i could do something really really small and see what happens...

i actually hope groups of people read this book and talk about it because i feel the real challenge of working out how to live out of a different dream to the consumer one is something that is just so difficult to tackle on your own...

if you are in the US you can get the book for only 10 dollars in april from the mustard seed associates website. tom and christine are in the UK in the autumn doing a few gigs - nearer the time i'll blog about them once they are finalised. but they are definitely booked to do something at cms in oxford on 25 september which i'm looking forward to.

i'll end with the paragraph from the book that for me captured the essence of sine and i am going to be using the phrase the empire of the mustard seed i suspect as a result...

when jesus began teaching he made it clear that his new empire would be unlike any empire the world had ever seen. it came on a donkey's back. it's imperial council was comprised of a handful of unemployed fishermen, a couple of IRS agents, a prostitute and some hangers on. jesus demontsrated how to wield his imperial power by washing feet, telling stories and playing with kids. jesus' empire is based on the absurd values that the last should be first, losers are winners, and the most influential in the empire should clean the toilets. members of the empire are instructed to love their enemies, forgive their friends, always give twice as much as people ask of them and never pursue power or position. jesus insisted that those who are part of his empire shouldn't worry about finances, but simply trust god. the resources to run this empire were basins, towels, and leftover lunches. this empire also developed a reputaion for constant partying - almost always with the wrong kind of people.

seriously is this any way to run an empire? imagine what would happen if you ran a political, economic or religious institution with these bizarre values. clearly it wouldn't have much of a future. these values might even get the leader assassinated...

clanfield morning

clanfield, originally uploaded by jonnybaker.

a week or so back we had an overnight team meeting in clanfield near oxford. it was an incredibly foggy morning (yes more fog i'm afraid) so of course i had to get up and take some photos. the set is here - clanfield morning. i don't know what it is about this photo but is definitely my favourite - the simplicity maybe...

vaux

vaux seem to be threatening to rise from the ashes...

if you haven't come across vaux check out their archive, greyspace and pictures on smallfire

dirty mother

if you are anywhere near manchester check out dirty mother, a month of festival with art, film, music, spirituality, and talks focusing on climate change co-sponsored/organised by sanctus 1, nexus and christian aid...

programme here

whack on the side of the head 25th anniversary

imagine writing a book and twenty five years later it's still as good as ever and selling! well that's the case with roger von oech's whack on the side of the head. the 25th anniversary edition is about to be released (this week i think) revised and updated. i have a real soft spot for this book. i read it at a time when i was just getting going in youth work and had relied on a friend's creative ideas. but he was due to move on so we couldn't rely on him and had to get our creative juices flowing. whack provided the inspiration, so much so that we got known for our creative approach. and i have loved creative thinking ever since. i have actually given awaay or mislaid or leant my first copy so was really pleased to get hold of it again.

it's an easy book to read - oech outlines 10 mental locks to creativity and illustrates with lots of stories, puzzles and illustrations how each of those locks can be unlocked. the locks are things such as 'play is frivolous' or 'the right answer' or 'that's not logical', things that we have in the back of our minds that stop us being creative. we all think in patterns, and make assumptions that mean we see and think in particular tracks. we need a whack to knock us out of that particular groove.

creativity and imagination are wonderful things. and they are particularly important when in a season where we have got in a rut, or stuck and need to change. that's why i think that the current challenge the church faces of change in a postmodern culture is one which needs plenty of creative thinking encouraged. church planters, leaders, missionaries and so on should get training in creativity and improvisation. i got to know roger via his blog a couple of years back and we have exchanged to and fro since. i was interviewed on his blog in dec 2006 and in answer to the question what i do, my answer was that my job is to give the church a whack on the side of the head! i follow his blog in my reader - he often comes up with gems. i liked his thoughts recently on when you get ideas i could relate to the feedback that pressure/necessity is one way people get creative (i know a deadline focuses my mind) but equally so is playing around. so as roger puts it necessity may be the mother of invention but play is certainly the father.

i also have the creative whack pack - a series of cards  with creative strategies. i have used them on my own sometimes when i'm in an ideas  phase. and i have used them with groups. they are also really worth getting.

the last lock in the book is 'i'm not creative' - this is perhaps the most subtle but powerful. so many people tell themselves that they are not a creative person, or don't have that gift - but it's precisely beieving that that makes it a self fulfilling prophecy. if you think you are creative you will be. you'd better believe it...

1 giant leap tv series on channel 4

starting this week on april 23on channel 4 is a series of 7 tv programmes from 1 giant leap . their first album and dvd was brilliant - a window into world music and global culture but whilst still remianing contemporary. looks like an album and feature film is also to follow...

[update: you can watch the episodes here]

stepping out into the light

stepping out into the light, originally uploaded by jonnybaker.

ealing photo blog

some of my snow pics have been added to april in the ealing LIP photo blog

emerging or emergent

tony jones has blogged that the distinction between emerging and emergent is pointless line drawing. i couldn't help commenting...

there are three distinctions and that's the problem.

agreed emergent and emerging are great words that capture the sense of what is happening as a bottom up organic grassroots movement.

the third term though is Emergent with a capital E. i know you guys don't like this and maybe i'm one of the people who you see drawing lines in the sand. but E is a brand, a publishing company, organising big tours, has spokespeople, is american, fundraises, employs people. so when you sit elsewhere and people use the word emergent you have to qualify whether you are talking about the movement or the organisation. it's not that i don't like the organisation btw - i think you guys are doing great stuff. but i have to make the distinction in certain contexts i am in where Emergent's take may alienate people who might be into the emergent stuff.

i am not trying to be difficult here - it is a real issue.

the best looking blog...

bruce stanley is someone whose creative abilities inspire me - he is a genius. i love pretty much everything he does. well true to form he has revamped embody completely and it looks amazing. in fact i think it's the most unique looking blog i have seen for quite some time. and i am thoroughly envious...

face book is boring as hell

facebook is boring as hell - i wouldn't know as i am still resisting joining! but i couldn't resist posting this for all you facebookites...

[update: as an aside bob carlton sent me a link to this article on the future of social networking ]

the good news of post modernism for the church - or what would jesus deconstruct?

every so often i look at the pile of books i have been sent and think i must review them for the blog. occasionally i actually buy a book!

by far the most stimulating book i have read on mission in postmodern times for quite some time is john caputo's what would jesus deconstruct? and yes, i paid good money for it...

there are a couple of things that struck me about the book. the first is that he knows what he is talking about. i don't mean this flippantly. it made me think that this book is the result of years of work - it has a mature feel about it, which isn't the case with all the books around in this area. it made me think that if i were to try and write a weighty kind of book i should wait at least another 10 years!! (by the way i'm not so don't worry). the second is that it is so refreshing to have such a positive engagement with postmodern theory. so many people are so suspicious and critical of it and i suspect a lot of those people haven't even read the likes of derrida but tend to just refer to the well known soundbites (and yes that is exactly what i do too!). third it made me realise how influential caputo (and derrida?) is on pete rollins!

the book is part of series, the church and postmodern culture, published by baker academic and edited by jamie smith. the aim of the series is to feature high profile theorists in philosophy and theology but getting them to write for a non-specialist broad audience interested in the impact of postmodern theory on the faith and practice of the church. this book does that perfectly - it has real weight and depth but is very readable, in fact delightful to read, and is accessible whlst not being too dumbed down. the first book in the series also did this very well.

the crux of caputo's argument is that deconstruction is the hermeneutics of the kingdom of god, i.e it helps us get at the prophetic spirit of jesus. invariably jesus radical vision of the kingdom of god gets domesticated by the church, by us, by politicians, by leaders. after all which of us can cope with the sermon on the mount really? but encountering jesus in the scriptures invariably calls us to a vision beyond what we have - i.e. it deconstructs in order to pursue the vision of the kingdom which is bigger and more radical. jamie smith suggests in his intro

the church doesn't need jacques derrida in order to be deconstructed because it's got jesus!

caputo kicks off by playfully engaging with the book in his steps from which the question (and bumper stickers) wwjd - what would jesus do? emerged. he does suggest that the first thing jesus would deconstruct is WWJD itself, the whole money making enterprise! but the interesting stuff is when he gets into jesus and deconstruction. i don't know what you know or think about deconstruction but here are a few samples of the choice ways in which caputo talks about it and its themes...

deconstruction is a theory of truth in which truth spells trouble. as jesus does. the truth will make you free but it does so by turnng your life upside down.

deconstruction is memory... it helps us sketch a portrait of an alternative Christianity, one that is as ancient as it is new, one in which the dangerous memory of Jesus is still alive, deconstruction being as i conceive it a work of memory and imagination, of dangerous memories as well as daring ways to imagine the future, and as such good news for the church.

among the many names under which deconstruction travels I number justice, the gift, forgiveness, hospitality as the most important of our present purposes.

he weaves elaborately with words so it's quite hard to just pull out quotes, but it gives a flavour. the church is always going to be deconstructed because it is a construct and the kingdom of god beckons us to move beyond it, to remake it where we have domesticated jesus and his message. caputo doesn't quite say this but the current shifts around emerging church and so on at best are part of this beckoning to  recover truth and the dangerous memory of jesus (i hope).

one further thing to mention that i love and need to mull over a bit more is the way caputo describes the scriptures. he wants to get away from systematics or dogmatics as a way of reading. so he suggests that the new testament is an archive, a deposit of memories, which presents a certain way to be. this is a "poetics of the kingdom" which then calls us to translate it into reality. i think this is a very rich way of thinking about how scriptures can function as a fund for imagination (to use a brueggemann phrase). and to give caputo credit he does (as becky garrison described it to me recently) land the plane - i.e. he tackles directly some issues head on - abortion, homosexuality, racism and power so this does get earthed. it won't surprise you to know that the christian right in the US are not going to like this book!!! but it is an absolute gem, deilghtful, as the subtitle of the book says - the good news of postmodernism for the church.

if you are really keen and can cope with long blog posts (something i confess i'm not good at - somehow the internet doesn't suit as a medium long pieces or maybe i don't have enough time or attention?) churchandpomo had a whole series of engagements with the book including a very long response from caputo -

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | response

btw these are the other books on my pile that i hope to review/mention in the next few weeks/months -
the primal vision - john taylor
mission in the 21st century: exploring the 5 marks of mission - cathy ross et al
the fidelity of betrayal - pete rollins
the new conspirators - tom sine
ancient future worship - webber
a christlike ministry - steve griffiths
mission shaped questions - steve croft et al
a whack on the side of the head 25th anniversary edition - roger von oech
the new spirituality - gordon lynch
a community called atonement - mcknight
enough - john naish
exilio - mike frost's missional course based on exiles
and i think tony jones new christians is on its way...

green entrepreneur evening

the next NET evening on the HMS President is focusing on green issues with james swanston of golow transport and andrew dyckhoff of greenaction. these evenings are free and in a great location...

details are here on the network of entrepreneurial talent website