discipleship | mission | practical theology

I was with David, the vicar, this morning talking through the diary for the next two weeks considering the fixed points and what I might be able to attend and get involved in. As an aside David tells me a little about the administrator. Quite apart from who she is, her name is Kim, the amazing job she does, and David’s appreciation of her, the point that grabbed my attention was that the post of administrator had become a priority appointment for the PCC.

In my own experience it is very easy to fill the diary with things that need to be done and leave the things that should be done for another day. Anecdotally, there are plenty of parishes where the priest has become lost behind a sea of paperwork, co-ordination needs and the computer screen. Another aside perhaps tells it all. In the interview process for David’s appointment here, he tells of a moment when an older chap from the town came up to him and without so much as an introduction says something of the likes of this; “What we need here is a Vicar who comes out from behind his computer screen.” When later asked about his computer skills David, without distorting the truth, declared himself to be a bit of a dinosaur in this area!

Hiding behind the computer screen is something I have been guilty of more often than I would care to confess. Some words of advice from the Senior Pastor of a previous church have often come to mind. “Given the choice of sitting in the study and getting it done yourself and leaving it to go out visiting, you should go out visiting every time. It is in visiting that you are more likely to find the help you might need. It is in staying at home that you withhold the help they might need.”

Part of my hope about the blessings that two years training bring, is the chance to break old habits. Hiding behind the computer screen is one of those habits. But here comes the practical reality, finding administrative help becomes a priority. Kim says that her main role is to do the things that need to be done but that do not need a vicar to do them, thus enabling the vicar to be the vicar. With larger parishes and benefices, more forms and paperwork and ever increasing communication needs, this need will only get bigger and therefore perhaps more important.

On our week long holiday in Devon [more to follow] Anna [daughter,7] and I had 45 mins together as we walked along the top of the gorge at Lydford Gorge.
As we walked along the top we occassionaly caught glimpses of the river below and became more excited about seeing the waterfall that was the goal of our walk and the rendezvous with the rest of the family.
On one stop we noticed that all we could hear were God noises: noises from things God had made and not humans. The river, the wind, the rustling trees, our breathing… it was a lovely moment and one that reminded me that I don’t get as many of these as I would like.

Long time no blog – but essay is in and interviews for MPhil and RDP successfully negotiated.

For both my interviews (with Andrew Walker for place on MPhil/PhD at King’s, and Judith Maltby for Ministry Division permission and money for said MPhil) I was sure that I would be asked: how would you describe yourself now in terms of church-person-ship? [my changes]. So after a little pondering I came up with these descriptions of my journey.

Charismatic Baptist Evangelical describes where on the spectrum I was converted into. 1992-1994
Doctrinally Disillusioned Evangelical is how I felt when I realised you needed to go to bible college to discover who Jesus is and the resultant belief-melt-down that follows. 1994-1996
Post Post Evangelical is how I described myself at the public debate with Dave Tomlinson after seeing how scattered and in some places obvious his arguments were. 1997-1998
‘Edge of the World’ Evangelical as opposed to Open Evangelical. That place where you are at the edge of the ‘flat’ world, since flat is how the doctrine felt, and wanting to take a step to get off or out, and yet finding nothing to step on to or in to. 1999-2001
New Kind of Evangelical after reading book of similar title and seeing that it might just be degrees of perspective and there might yet be some life left in the old girl yet! 2001-2004
Cosmopolitan Evangelical since God’s call to Anglican Ordination; being neither Anglican or thinking about ordination up until that point. Cosmo because I know where I come from and don’t want to desert or abandon that past, despite trying to previously. But also wanting to be not just comfortable but actually at home in foreign places; to be able to encounter God, minister, lead, teach and live in a culture that is not my home. “To be ready to find God in the unexpected places.” To quote my selection application papers.

So there we are I am a cosmo evangelical ordinand still having culture shock episodes in a college with liberal catholic history and tendencies.

Picture btw is just dreaming!

So not yet a formal proposal! For the Research Degrees Panel I only need a ‘rationale for the proposed research’ and I am just about there. I have put the pdf to the right but here is the main flow:

There is little doubt that something is happening in the evangelical wing of the church.  Recent publications and events have both revealed and catalysed this: Post Evangelical; New Kind of Christian (trilogy); Lost Message of Jesus.  Despite a lot of activity there is a sense of conversations going round in circles.

This diversification within a relatively homogenous wing of the church provokes interesting questions concerning the current extent and depth of this diversity; is it just around particular issues like vocabulary of atonement and truth or is it broader than that, around issues of crucicentrism and biblicism? Is the resurgence of mission a redefining of evangelical activity or a rediscovery of bygone years and biblical perspectives? To what extent has the evangelical cornerstone of conversion being watered down by metaphors of journey and discovery?

Besides the usual catalogue of texts, articles and books, this research project proposes that by hearing and digesting evangelical conversion narratives it may enable the emergence of a clearer picture of late-modern evangelicalism and thus be part of charting its potential metamorphism. As well as offering insights into how a large homogenous group is dealing with issues of historical unity and growing contemporary diversity.

If this project gets any confirmation from Ministry Division then I will be looking for people from the last 20 years or so to tell me how they became a Christian.

I would welcome any comments

I was walking past the cinema this morning and glancing at the film posters. There was not a particular poster that struck me but it caused me to reflect on my need to watch film. We do not have a TV in the house but watch DVD’s on the trusty Mac. It seems that every so often there is an irresistible urge to watch some action hero movie where the winner wins and the loser loses, preferably with some eye-candy.
I wondered then whether this urge has its root in my desensitisation to the normal? Have years of TV in the formative years and the constant drip-drip of Hollywood type movies since then actually put the normal into the boring bracket? Previously in the car on the way to Oxford where the said cinema is, we had being verbally anticipating the seasonally early hot-cross buns that would be waiting for us at Regent’s MCR; the simple pleasures in life was the finishing comment.
Buns aside, the simplicity of just being in the same space as my wife is a long way from the tension and excitement that Mr & Mrs Smith share. My life is full for ordinary and simple moments with people I love; sharing a glass of wine with Kate; rolling around on the floor with my kids. Ordinary encounters with friends and even strangers. Recognising and even craving the joy of the simple moments in life is something that I need to fight to keep and in some cases regain!
It is something that I see in my kids and which I often overlook. The simple pleasures of an empty box! Anna, my 6 year old, wrote an amazing letter to Father Christmas (at the encouragement of the school I hasten to add, just in case you think I would promote such activity!?!?!) In 5 sentences or so she outlined her requests surrounded by the expected pleases and thank yous. But the sum total of this list would have cost us no more than £5. A week or so later she added: ‘and if it would be possible, please could I stay up late on Fridays.’ Perhaps the simplicity of this letter is down to not having a TV and so she is not aware of what is out there and what could have gone on the list. But perhaps it is because she has not yet been desensitised to the joy of the ordinary and simple. I envy her!
But maybe I am way off! Surely film is just story telling and if we need to label film like this then we would need to do the same for books and audio. Being able to enter a story, travelling along with the characters and feeling their emotions has been part of human culture and history since the beginning. Indeed is that not part of reason we read scripture, celebrate Eucharist and enter Holy Week with 40 days preparation. Yes! So where has the desensitisation of the normal come from?
The classics in this area are of course the debate over screen violence and how Hollywood romance affects expectations in real life romance. I wonder whether it goes deeper… any comments.