guerrilla worship - trick 64

in the comments on the via luminosa post nic was toasting the new itinerants, the new walkers, the new turn in the organism formerly known as alt worship that is seeing it wandering in public spaces.

well on that tip dream held a geurrilla worship flash mob. they have a video of the event and describe it as follows:

We began scattered among the shoppers. At the signal, we all stopped and took off our shoes ... an ancient sign that this is "holy ground". God lives in shopping malls as well as churches!
We then made out way to the park at the centre of the mall where we sat together to form a cross ... and prayed silently for a few minutes. We remembered Easter and the cross. We prayed for the current economic situation ... for those who have lost jobs ... and for God's blessing on our city ... we prayed for hope.

i don't know what you call this turn or trend but i am going to make guerrilla worship (it was called spontaneous worship at greenbelt) a worship trick - no 64 series 3.

Comments

[Mark Rodel]

I'm loving this. I think it could work in Pompey. Maybe I'll send out a viral invitation for this Pentecost day. We could all bring a candle and pass the flame from one to another. I wonder what laws one might fall foul of?...

BTW: check out Mark Berry's latest blog post, because I (ever so slightly) dis' Proost in my comment. (Talk about biting the hand that feeds!) But you're a grown up and will welcome some edgy discussion, I'm sure.

_peace
_Mark

[jonny]

no problem... have you read the gift by lewis hyde? best conversation on art and the economy and selling out vs keeping your artistic vision alive. we try to be true and circulate and communicate in a generous and open way. but the waters are always muddied.

[Andy Dodwell]

very cool. Like this a lot. i think we're maybe a bit too slow moving in North Devon to do anything 'flash'...it takes us a while to get moving, but we get there, eventually.
Managed to get 200 people on Barnstaple High Street on Good Friday, but it took about a month to prepare- hardly spontaneous!

i particularly like the idea of claiming shared space as holy- its not miles away from using coffee bars for emergent church meetings.

[Colin Darling]

Hi

When I clicked the above link
dream held a guerilla worship flash mob

as in
"well on that tip dream held a geurrilla worship flash mob. they have a video of the event and describe it as follows:"

my anti-virus gave a warning of a trojan attack.
same deal with the index page on the main site.

It would be a shame if the site has been attacked. Do you know the people involved? Can you give us an update.

Maybe a health warning on this worship trick ...?

Cheers,

Colin

[richard]

Thanks Colin we'll check out the site asap

[Rob]

Yes, minor glitch with some of the script - now working fine.
Jonny - Sorry for turning your comments section into Dream site diagnostics ;-)

[Rob]

Here's a link to the video if you're having problems accessing the site: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-ghnXBWP4E

[Mark Rodel]

Thanks for the response to my comment, Jonny. I think Mark (B) has made a valuable distinction on his blog between gathering resources, trying out ideas for one-offs and buying into a meta programme. It's a good point, well made.

I haven't read the Hyde book. Rowan Williams in Grace and Necessity says (I think!) that when an artist upholds the integrity of their work it opens up the possibility of others encountering an 'overflow of being' that connects us with God - whatever the form or content of the work.

[Phil Green]

Hi Colin

Just to give you a bit of an indication of the people involved - you have already heard from Richard and Rob who were two of the guys from the Dream network up here in Liverpool, headed up by Richard White, a Pioneer Minister here in Liverpool. The idea was born during an evening where ideas were being kicked around and, (thanks to Richard and Rob mainly) it just took off from there, and if we are honest the first event exceeded our expectations and we had a really profound sense that God was in this.

Mark from Portsmouth - I'd just encourage you to go for it and see what transpires! My younger brother lives in Portsmouth (well, Lovedean to be exact)It's a good place.

Jonny: Just returned from the latest Re:Source transforming communities weekend in Leeds. It was really good..I was a bit of an impostor in that everyone else had done the previous two weekends but I found it really valuable and inspiring. Shared a room with a friend of yours, Chris Hughes from the CMS Missional Centre in Oxford and we got on really well.