Greenbelt.UK.US Trip continued

Tiredness and thoughtfulness dominated my trip out of Cheltenham! I was a little lonely I think... in a crowd like most classic introverts. We travelled to Stratford Upon Avon [the birthplace of Shakespeare... and a lovely if touristy village. The laundromat and a stroll through town were a welcome distraction...
I continue to think about the nature of leadership, my own faith community connections and ideas and the cost of trying to reinvent an institution scarcely able to grasp its dilemas.
I still have three options in mind i. a new faith community project at home around say a Saturday monthly experience or ii. contributing to the Adamstown Dungeon congregation more regularly or iii. focusing on helping a few places more long term in my work than fleeting connections with lots....
Its about actual experience rather than consultancy... where helping others with ideas is not inherently flawed but it has to be more effective, powerful and informed to be actually engaged with your own local community in this way. I suspect I feel the disconnect a lot more since stepping back from rugby and not yet being able to give full attention to Lucy's school or other neighbourhood aspects while living and working at dustance.
We spent time at the 'local' talking about highlights and it was good to hear other peoples stories...

For me this included:
Remembering the first afternoon 'Panel' at GBelt and the affirmations
Conversations with people beyond the superficial including Meags, Collard, 'Sarah' and Jen!!
The diversity of the Greenbelt program

We explored 'Ironbridge' the location of the beginning of the industrial revolution with hints of the smoke and heat which would have been present. The 1797 built bridge was amazing and we heard about how it still had dovetailed joints like timber because when you think about it how would they have known any different being the first one.

We met with Mark Berry over a meal and began to hear about:

The story of moving to Telford to pursue a new faith community and missional connection

A sketch of the path into 'pioneer ministry' as part of the 'fresh expressions.'

This is where a flexible pathway is offered to leadership/formation/ordination. I began to reflect on the poor record in the UCA of moving to such 'flexible pathways' and it's my view that our existing system and to some extent Faculty would be incapable of moving to this change on their own. There is a huge barrier in evidence from previous history mixed in with stories of great insight, wisdom and care. But essentially students are often treated as anything but adult learners, MEC guidelines are scapegoated for being sticklers to the rules, requests for exemption due to past experience are treated as 'trying to get out of something' and youth ministry is clearly not understood and regarded as a lesser discipline.

People will be surprised by the capability of those who transition to ordination via a recent decision of our Assembly. The experience in pastoral care, planning and things like Funerals will surprise.

On Wednesday 27th we spent time exploring the centre of Telford [a town since the early 60s] and then the evening with the 'Safespace' community at Mark and Lou's home...

The 'town centre' concept reminded me of Rouse Hill in Sydney where the Courts, Police, Shopping Centre and Park are somehow envisaged as the 'heart of the community.' In this case more than one local from Safespace confirmed that they would have preferred one village being developed for this and that they don't like to shop there... While the sheer number of us made space tricky it was still a good night of conversation and it was clear once the locals found space amongst us that they were really good at relating and showed the benefits of being authentically connected with each other and their activity. I had a great time chatting to Ian who found the group online and still can't quite believe his less than satisfactory exploration of conservative Christian books has given way to being part of this amazing group... he lives 3 mins away....

I like Mark's story about connecting with the Telford football club over anything from sweeping the grandstand, being asked to join the Board and writing a history of the Club and how its handled adversity and a few damaging experiences.

This is 'servant leadership' giving away power as transparent as possible connected, available, NOT church.

MEDITATION not worship

Broadly consensus in planning

Mark would listen to feedback about his role but is 'in charge' of his own time and agenda!!

Mark shares others concerns about the term 'mixed ceconomy'. Pete Rollins talked about the risks of the church 'domesticating' activity from it's edge and Mark worries about the consumerism of 'mixed economy.' There just are unintended consequences of this otherwise inclusive term.

On Thursday 28th I had time for scones and coffee and to reflect on two aspects of Mark's sharing:

ONE: THE FIVE MARKS OF MISSION

Excerpt from documents....

"Mission goes out from God. Mission is God's way of loving and saving the world...”
(Lambeth Conference 1998, Section II p121).
As Christians we follow Jesus who said “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” (John 20.21). We are called to serve God's mission by living and proclaiming the good news.“It’s not the church of God that has a mission, but the God of mission who has a church”.
For Anglican Christians God’s mission is about transformation – transforming individual lives, transforming communities and transforming the world. As we follow Jesus Christ, we believe that God’s mission is revealed to us by the Holy Spirit in three ways: through the Bible, through the tradition and life of the Church, and through our own listening, praying, thinking and sharing as we respond to our own context.
Five marks of mission
In 1984 the Anglican Consultative Council (http://www.anglicancommunion.org/) began to develop a “mission statement” for the worldwide Anglican communion, and the bishops of the Lambeth Conference adopted these “Five Marks Of Mission” in 1988. They were then adopted by the General Synod of the Church of England in 1996.

To proclaim the good news of the Kingdom
To teach, baptise and nurture new believers
To respond to human need by loving service
To seek to transform unjust structures of society
To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and to sustain the life of the earth

The Anglican Consultative Council notes,
“The first mark of mission… is really a summary of what all mission is about, because it is based on Jesus' own summary of his mission (Matthew 4:17, Mark 1:14-15, Luke 4:18, Luke 7:22; cf. John 3:14-17). Instead of being just one of five distinct activities, this should be the key statement about everything we do in mission.”

TWO: NEW MONASTICISM

or 'all of life' balance... integrating faith, life, justice and mirroring the writing of Tom Sine and others [Mustard Seed writings] and rising to prominence with people like Shane Claiborne who seem to be able to make 'living simply' simple!!