Australia Day

Australia and Christian faith!! Reflections for a Synchro Blog!!
It's long been my theory that not only are we struggling in this country, culture/s and context because of the massive shifts in the 1960s/70s giving rise to what is over exposed as the notion of the post modern era BUT in fact the way the Christian faith has been expressed since European settlement has an 'acidic' relationship with Australian culture/s.
In other words we are [and have for a long time been] up against it when it comes to explaining, living and sharing our faith and spirit in such a harsh, egalitarian, sun soaked, beer loving, authoritarian suspecting place... and the thing is our people have not always gotten that wrong...
So it is that we find ourselves attempting by and large to play catch up in being the people of God in the emerging culture/s. How will we reframe what is good news? how can we add liturgy, movement and celebration to life in rich and relevant relationship to our world and our local community? I could go on... but I've left my posting until late so I'll offer some thoughts on what I've experienced and feel I know or have hunches about:

1. We are still invited to join 'God's mission in the world' and don't always seem to remember
2. Relationships, relationships, relationships
Real friendship, regard or empathy
3. There is no divide between the sacred and the secular as God's creation.
We must access and be spoken to by the creative arts in our worship and lives.
4. Stories are powerful things!
And every person has a story worth hearing/telling
They define who we are, form communities, inform our living etc etc
5. Reconciliation is needed to heal this nations 'soul'
6. A middle class institutional church will not survive
7. Young adults must take responsibility for their own faith.
The rediscovery of spiritual disciplines is no accident
8. Leadership must be by gifts, vision and inspiration in 'giving people a go'
Seniority and having 'earned it' alone are the road to irrelevance
9. Indigenous worship efforts should be resourced, supported.
If they annoy people then they just might be doing something right.
10. If this is just a list of words and not actions then there's nothing new here!!

I've learnt all these things from rugby players, a homeless visitor and hundreds of young people I've met through my vocation as a Youth Worker. What keeps me awake at night is my sense of call to one day step out and attempt to build the kind of bridges with those I 'live near and with' to attempt to start a new faith community... until then I do my best to reinvent alongside other strugglers, to do innovative and creative things and to put together worship that speaks into and out of the everyday!!
Although I'm struggling to get positive responses one of my current projects is called 'Meaningful Soles' and is based on Paul Hobbs 'Holy Ground' where I have invited people [well known and not so] from all over the world and the country to contribute a pair of their shoes and to write an A4 page of their story and relate this through the shoes. It's meant to be an expression of their values, spirituality or faith and is not exclusively Christian in the list of invitees!!
The idea is to use these in 'spaces' set up for young people to encounter the space and the stories and to reflect, worship, engage with... whatever flows from the space and time spent!! I have shoes from Aussie cricketer Matthew Hayden, a few mates and lots of 'no thanks' or no response BUT I am going to keep trying. Paul Hobbs took 2 years so I'm only half way!!

OK so now I'm wandering and know I'll need to expand on my ten points etc in future posts because they're just words without stories to explain!! Happy Australia/Survival Day!!

Christianity In Australia synchroblog which a number of Australian Christians are participating in to celebrate Australia Day. For more on Christianity in Australia see:

Matt Stone at Journeys In Between
Andrew Hamilton at Backyard Missionary
Ben Thurley at Ben's Blog
Rodney Olsen at RodneyOlsen.net
Geoff Pengilly at The Healing Project
Andy Porteous at Not Yet Finished
Paul Robotham at A Christian's Blog
Chris Summerfield at A Churchless Faith
Christina Aitken at Sojourn
Heather at A Deconstructed Christian
Geoff Matheson at Amateur Theology
Deborah Taggart at The Bright Side