"How Can We Be Church in Secular Society?" PART 2

"The world is changed, I feel it in the water, I feel it in the earth, I smell it in the air"
Galadriel LOTR The Fellowship of the Ring, who expressed not just knowledge of history but feelings, permeating the times.

Likewise Chris, who asked this question, knows it's true, but also sees and experiences the change. Change from several confident decades to a more complex and confused time.
[Leaving many with nostalgia for the 'good old days' or the way things used to be]
But if they were so 'good' where are all those people now?

The ground has shifted, what is the HUGE gap?
The GAP between the culture of the CHURCH and the culture of the SOCIETY/WORLD!!

I can't say I know the answer, but I know 'some things' and am grumpy enough to assert some of them. Things I have copped FLAK about for years!! BUT let's explore those together in this space and the table activity!!

The reading from Matt 9: 17 reminded us, no-one puts new wine in old winskins, they BURST!

There is a HUGE hunger for SPIRITUALITY, just not church
There is a need to REFRAME the ANCIENT message [in post modern forms]
e.g. the reframing of 'Fall at Your Feet' ballet clip with an activity of 'Confession' is a reframing or juxtaposition to experiment with the experience of the prayer...

We're called to be servants, to make a difference through practicing our faith in day to day ways,
AND it's NOT ALL DONE @ CHURCH!
i.e. Luke 14: 34
" salt is good, but if it no longer tastes like salt, how can it be made tasty again...?"

In "8 Track Church in a CD World" Nash offers [3] purposes of the church:
1. Offering the truth of God's grace and love to it's culture/context
2. Enhancing the spirituality of its members
3. Cultivating caring community [living out a world lived according to the values of God]

Those changes referred to:
#Spirituality as evidenced at least by TV: Ghost Whisperer, Greys Anatomy, Medium, LOST etc
Movies: Da Vinci Code/Angels & Demons, Seven Pounds etc

#Absolute truth is dismissed/refuted
#The Christian faith is marginailsed
#There are changed and changing patterns of community [choices]
#Multi-faith context e.g. note the change to disaster commemorations, Steve Irwin's Funeral
#Church no longer dominates the cultural scene
#Technology, globalisation, pluralism, privatisation, individualism

People express this in different ways e.g. "Raise the Alarm" The Living End

OK [a] to [z] UNRELIABLE HINTS> CHANGES> RESPONSES
Acknowledging thse need unpacking...

[a] We need to foster active faith development and increase spiritual vitality
[b] Move away from the battel between TRADITIONALS and PROGRESSIVES
[c] ASK
What kind of 'community' are people looking for in the 21st C?
What will people want, what does God expect?
[d] Change from the MODERNS appeal to REASON and SHIFT from the values of the inerrant
Bible, to HOW DOES YOUR BELIEF, give you MEANING?
[e] Worship needs to deal with real stuff
[f] 60s/70s re-evaluation of the world led us to the confusion of STYLE over SUBSTANCE
[g] Decrease focus on denominationalism where people are finding meaning in 'movements' and
especially those engaged in social action/community development
[It's a time of polarisation between those who narrow in on the Bible and those who open up]
[h] People want a new REALITY and to ASK,
WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES GOD ACTUALLY MAKE?

MORE FALLOUT
[i] 'THE GRAND NARRATIVE HAS BEEN FLATTENED' and we have competition
[j] Traditions/Programs are not the answer
[k] BEING a COMMUNITY of LOVE and GRACE means? move OUT of the ruins,
WATCH
LEARN
ASK

[l] The BIBLE ITSELF holds the answers, BUT by using it as a mirror, to ask who we are,
where do we locate ourselves, what STORY are we TELLING?
The challenge of MOVING to the MARGINS
[m] JESUS taught, hung out, shared hospitality, RECONCILING
PRACTICE the RADICAL INCLUSION OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD
clothe, feed, set free, LOVE ENEMIES [different clothes, words, values, culture, context]

HOW CAN THE HALL SPACE be that kind of SPACE?
Be people living out the values of God NOW!

[n] Rediscover the foolishness of the cross
GOD's story that cannot be EXPLAINED
[we can't explain the UNIVERSE]
GOD's STORY is the story out of which I LIVE MY LIFE!

[o] New definition of SPIRITUALITY [maybe the DANCE with GOD imagery works for you?]
It's a journey, not one point
Pre packed evangelism is dead [resuscitated by a vibrant faith community]
Some CHURCHES must and will DIE [making space]
[p] Live out PRACTICES of our faith in your journey
LIVE - PLAY - LEARN - GROW
[q] Get OUT of the CHURCH
[r] Less propositional truth, more EXPERIENCE of God
e.g. my crazy idea of Easter at the 'Bluesfest' at Byron Bay with a bunch of young adults
Engage in the biblical story exploring HOW peoples lives are TRANSFORMED
[s] ASK, HOW DO THE SACRED STORIES OF OUR FAITH, CHANGE MY LIFE?
[t] INSTEAD OF HOW DO I PROVE THEM, HOW DO I LIVE IN LIGHT OF THEM?
[u] Practice joyful worship
[v] Live out Faith - RISKS
Learn from other Christian traditions
Learn from history
Celebrate Communion
Observe 'sabbath'
focus on 'spiritual direction'
[w] Risk things like the 'EMERGENT MANIFESTO'
opt to be vulnerable
being taken advantage of
absorb pain and suffering
receive the gift of inconvenience
ask CREATIVE ?s vs Clever ?s
[x] Practice communal ethics
Focus on experiences
Develop narrative/missional theology
Practice relational leadership
Be aware of non-linear 'formation'
Be 'Community'
[y] and [z] Do your EXPLORING> PRAYING> THINKING> RESPONDING...

Background References:
"An 8 Track Church in a CD World" Nash [1997]
"An Energent Manifesto" Paggitt & Jones et al [2008]
Various bits of Loren Mead's work
"Shaping a Future" NCLS Kaldor et al