jonnybaker

justice - changing britain is still simple really!

i don't generally blog about economics but the occupy movement was such a breath of fresh air with it's dream that another world is possible, and trying to create spaces for conversation about how. well i guess it's a year on or something from that and we still badly need that conversation to keep happening, the dream to be kept alive, and for that dream to shift into some political will and decision making.

my completely naive opinion on how to change the country's economics last november was to put a cap on wages at around £150,000 (i don't care that much actually what the figure is). that's it - simple. sure tweak it around and enable those generating big money to have a say on surplus earnings in its investment in education, arts, charity, social entrepreneurship or whatever if it helps. if they don't like it let them move to another country...

while it's not sophisticated economics the point is that the issue is what we do about the ridiculous wealth in the top few percent of earners rather than focus on the bottom end. i am sick of the government's targetting of those on welfare, benefits, the poor. what the hell is their problem?! most people i know working in charities are struggling to raise enough funds at the same time more help is being needed in our society. the so called big society is one huge joke. it's a small indicator but there was a programme on food shortages and food banks last night - i think 5 of our pioneers at cms are involved in some way in food banks which is brilliant (the church is always on the front edge of this sort of thing) - but how has it got to this?

in today's guardian there are two pieces on this that are really worth a read. 

the first is a roll call of corporate rogues who are milking the country - the taxation avoidance of big companies has to be addressed politically so that is simply not legal - end of story. this alone would more than cover the cuts in the year. in this article it's pointed out that the richest 1000 people have seen their wealth increase by £155bn in the crisis. 

the second is an editorial that one of the best financiers in the country is saying that occupy were right and should be paid attention to - the biggest problem is still growing inequality. it concludes by asking when we will get a political solution to this?!

so i am happy to nuance my initial top salary view of economics with a second policy - companies must be enforced to pay tax on business in our lands. change the laws that enable avoidance and come down hard on fraud. this is also very simple to understand!

i actually have a third idea but it would be a lot more complicated - build in the equivalent of the biblical year of jubilee where every 50 years land and wealth is redistributed so no one can accumulate in the way that we see happening. but i can't see anyone taking that on any time right now...

how do we generate the political will for this? 

now is the time you ADVENTurous bargain hunters

ADVENTurous is an event not to miss - greenbelt comes to London for a day in the winter! but the cheap ticket price deal ends at the end of october so get yourself over to the web site and get yourself a ticket!!!!

movements moving on

alternative worship was a name given to a movement that began in the uk with the nine o clock service and the late late service 20 years back. grace was born in that era. it was an attempt to make worship out of the stuff of every day life and popular culture rather than live in two worlds. it involved a turning back to tradition remixing it with postmodern culture. i experienced it as a homecoming and it has shaped my instincts to faith and mission ever since - the theologising done then was so helpful. however things change and move on and steve collins who was one of the people publishing stories and photos and ideas that captured the movement has announced he is pausing the web site alternativeworship.org as the movement has moved on into other things. interestingly the same is true of emergingchurch.info which captured a later moment... both are still really good sites, but movements by definition are always moving on!

a big thanks to steve who put so much into reflecting on alternative worship. smallfire is an amazing record and it looks as though that is being kept live...

two prayers

two prayers from karlie...

for fools and dreamers

within the bounds of grace

[i'm adding them to the worship tricks - no 31, series 4]

portal

creative worship and breaking 'the rules'

there are a couple of pieces this week on fresh expressions about worship and liturgy that are really interesting.

one is a movie of about 10 minutes - i am one of four people interviewed in it.

the second is a written reflection from kim hartshorne (one of our pioneers on the cms course) on liturgy and finding a different voice. this is a really good piece and it's a very interesting conversation beginning in the comments. go join in...

missional communities - something's going on!

something really interesting continues to bubble up in the church in the uk - small missional communities.

yesterday there was a gathering in london diocese of around 30 groups like this and church plants. and well done the diocese for encouraging such a gathering! i don't want to create a glossary or anything but a church plant is generally someone starting a new church and the language of plant means it often takes something of the character of what it's planted from and usually looks like a church - people gathering, worshipping, reaching out, making disciples, giving money and eventually embedding into the wider structures of the church. it used to be quite something to be able to get permission to plant a church but now certainly in london there is a lot of activity in this area which is great.

but what was so interesting yesterday was that most of the people in the room were doing something else, often a bit looser, harder to pin down and perhaps harder to see, more missional. most were a small community that had moved into a particular area (often one with a lot of deprivation and poverty), meeting together in a bar or home or allotment, seeking to follow christ but their focus is simply helping transform their community - in arts, environment, in social needs, with youth and so on. they are not that focused on growing big - but more like the yeast of the kingdom that jesus talked about infecting the wider batch of dough. a couple of people spoke of the challenge of weaning members off their addiction to consumer approaches to church where they get their fix of worship and teaching and meeting with friends before they could properly engage in this more local, outward focused community approach (maybe we need a 12 step detox programme for leaving consumner church!?). what was also interesting is that many of these described a positive relationship with their local churches - they were not competing for punters - far from it. but they brought a mission energy to the area that could really help a local church or do things a local church was not able to do. on the basis of what was shared, if i was a parish priest (which isn't going to happen) i'd be on the lookout to see if i could encourage a mission community or two in my area. for those up with mission thinking this is a great example of what missiologist ralph winter termed sodal and modal expressions of church working well together (see also this follow up thinking from george lings). the challenge of his paper is that our language has so bought into the local church as what church is that we easily forget it is actually langauge that describes both structures.

anyway if you are interested in missional communities ian adams gets interviewed about starting them here, there is a list of 20 tips for getting started here, cms has a facebook page for mission projects and communities here, along with a growing network of small missional communities some of whom are developing a stronger relationship with cms by being rooted and connected (contact ian adams or mark berry if you want to know more). something's going on and i like it!

mission entrepreneurship week coming up

mission entrepreneurship week 11-16 november

contemplation and being human

i think this address by rowan williams is amazing. it needs a few reads, and chewing over. he was addressing the synod of catholic bishops (which in itself is quite an invite) last week and the main focus of it is contemplation as a means to recovering what it means to be human. i think he is particularly insightful about how this kind of posture challenges us to move beyond self-fulfilment to seeing others and the world as they are. this is a huge challenge when we are all so shaped by consumer culture to satisfy our desires...

dangerous ground - inevitably a worship trick!

the terra periculosa grace last night was really wonderful! the words mean dangerous ground. in the service we were reflecting on one of our grace ethos words 'engage' by looking at the book of acts. it looked amazing with a box in the centre that was opened out later in the service, barrier tape and maps everywhere. the service outline and relevant bits and pieces are appearing and will appear in the grace archive here. it feels like we'll be chewing over this service for quite a while and it was a great follow on from last month where we were also thinking about engaging.

in acts the holy spirit comes and there's a verse that talks about the ripple effect from jerusalem, judea, samaria, ends of the earth that will happen when she does. but it's clear that for the disciples it took quite a while to catch on that god might have come for all flesh and not just the jewish converts in jerusalem. we explored 5 passages that were rippling out points and tried to reflect on what the equivalent challenges might be for us. indeed what is the spirit saying to us in grace?

(if you are interested in this idea or theme i cannot recommend highly enough a book by asian theologian amos yong who is the holy spirit. it's an easy read and is quite brilliant. it looks at acts and luke and unpacks the radical nature of the holy spirit. add that together with prophetic jesus prophetic church by luke johnson and you will get excited i guarantee.)

part of my contribution to it was this communion prayer riffing on this rippling out when the spirit comes. i am making the whole terra periculosa a worship trick - no 30 series 4.

Opening sentences
John baptized with water but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.
I will pour out my Spirit on all people - your sons and daughters will prophesy.
The Jewish believers were amazed that the Holy Spirit had been poured out on Gentiles too.

God is Here
His Spirit is with us

Thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit of Jesus
Who was there at Pentecost
Poured out on the disciples

Voice 1
Poured out in Jerusalem
in the upper room with power
with the Jews from every nation hearing in their own languages,
Peter preaching the resurrection of Jesus from the dead,
healing the lame man,
confronting the powers of empire and domination.

Voice 2
Poured out in Judea
birthing a new community in mission gathering in homes,
rippling outwards into the surrounding areas,
living a new life of praise, joy and generosity,
sharing possessions and following the way of the upside down Kingdom of God.

Voice 3
Poured out in Samaria
in a wave of persecution provoked by Stephen
on Philip the Greek Jew who took the risk of going to Samaria
who sensed God might be at work in the despised heretics
on the excluded Eunuch reading Isaiah the prophet

Voice 4
Poured out to the ends of the earth
On Peter as he dared break the rules to eat with Cornelius and saw you fill the Gentiles
With Paul dazzled by your resurrection appearance called to the outsiders
With Simeon, Lydia, the Philippian jailer, Priscilla and Aquila and the women and men leading the new communities of the Spirit multiplying out along the trade routes of the Empire
- the emerging global community of the Way!

So we join the song of heaven, saying
Holy holy holy
Lord God Almighty
Heaven and earth are full of your glory
Hosanna in the highest

At the heart of this new community of the Spirit was a gathering round a meal
sharing bread and wine,
sharing stories,
sharing possessions,
remembering the life death and resurrection of Jesus.
We break this bread to remember the body of Christ of which we are part.
We drink this cup to share in the new relationship with God made possible by Jesus’ death on the cross.

Pour out your Holy Spirit on these gifts of bread and wine
that they may be for us the body and blood of Christ.

Pour out your Comforter on us
to lead us out of comfort into terra periculosa
to people and places beyond our horizons
to cross borders and boundaries
to lead us to the least and the outsider.

This Spirit is poured out on all flesh
and testifies with our spirit that

Christ has died
Christ is risen
Christ will come again

So come to the table
with the disciples in Acts,
with disciples in Christian communities down the ages,
with disciples in homes, houses and churches
in cultures, contexts and countries round the world.

Break bread and eat together,
Enjoy fellowship,
Devote yourself to the apostles teaching,
Share all that you have with one another
and with those who are needy,
Praise God,
And do so with joy and generosity!

terra periculosa - grace this saturday explores dangerous ground

this saturday it's grace and it's got the enigmatic title of terra periculosa - this comes from the description on old maps simply meaning dangerous ground. we'll be looking at the book of acts and the spirit's call to move into terra periculosa...

happy man

i really enjoyed tim and vanessa's wedding on saturday. they were so happy - it was wonderful! i took a few snaps (not many as i was too busy chatting) and this one captures the relaxed and joyful nature of the day. the procession out of the church was quite something - a choreographed dance out by the bridal party to a gospel tune.

tim and vanessa are members of moot in london. and it was also really exciting to see their dream of a café being realised as it's now installed. the café is called host - do call in if you are anywhere near mansion house tube - it's at st mary's aldermary. i really admire ian mobsby's patience, tenacity and vision - he has been dreaming of this for probably 15-20 years now! (it was great to have ian in at cms yesterday teaching a day as part of the pioneer training).

i love this photo of saint joel with his new look now his hair of two years growth has been cut

the morning always comes

for nic, a friend who died yesterday. this was a track he listened to and a phrase he took to heart. make sure you listen through to the jesse jackson samples

corsham reformed

well following yesterday's blog post of paul hobbs exhibition coming up in london it turns out another artist friend, iain cotton, who i knew in bath at the same time as paul is exhibiting in london at the same time in corsham reformed. 

the heart of things

paul hobbs has an exhibition in london in a couple of weeks time...

we are all unequal

jeremy woodham, a friend and colleague at cms, is also a bit of a wordsmith and poet. he is a member of the lounge, a small christian community in ealing, and was a member of vaux back in the day. he let slip yesterday that he has been quietly starting a blog - take back the poetry. there are already some wonderful pieces on there. it really is good! i love this piece we are all unequal and am adding it to the worship tricks series - no 30 series 4, but do go and have a scout round and add it to your reader. i'll definitely be revisiting. try supper stories and lord's prayer for example...

We come together

because things are not right
because we don’t know what to make of the world
because we are bewildered
because we need shelter

We come together

because peace has not come
because your kingdom is a long time coming
because your will is hardly clear
and yet brutally clear
because we are threatened on all sides
because we have lost our way

We come together

because we notice the gap
between who we know we are
and who we want to be
and we feel giddy on its edge

We come together

because Jesus said, Come to me and I will give you rest
I will give you living water for your soul
I am the bread of life
because Jesus turned on the crowds
and had compassion on them
that wanted to be fed

We come together

to set the stage
to act as if it might be true
that we are loved
to love each other
to treat each other fairly
to see each other for who we really are
to allow others to see who we really are
with no shame and no fear

for we are all unequal
we are all disabled
we are all addicted
we are all dying

We come to pretend

that what we dream for tomorrow is true for today
that we live in a strange kingdom
where nobody is standard
nobody is predictable
nobody is average
nobody is unacceptable
nobody is judged
and nobody is judging themselves

where advertising does not standardise our dreams*
where our view is only filtered through God’s eyes

where instead of punishing each other for our own failings
we act with justice
love with mercy
and walk humbly with each other
and with our God