Deep Church

I’ve often heard the claim, of how the evangelical church is captive to modernity, and how in a post-modern world it needs to change. Well this Autumn, for the first chapter of my PhD I am going to spend the best part of 6 months reading a brace of books that chart the history of evangelicalism in order to better understand how that may or may not be the case.

I’m sure like any form of the church in history, it will be a mixed bag, of good and bad. But I’m excited to dig deeper into the history of my church background and tradition, and not rely on sound bite reductions, of how complicit the church has been with modernity and capitalism. I’ll let you know some of what I find out as I get into it.

We’ve tried to make space here for the topic of animal welfare, often neglected and ignored in discussions on church. In particular Ben DeVries has written for us and led some discussions.

Ben will be back here in August writing for us again. Meantime, a heads up on Andrew Linzey’s new book, ‘Why Animal Suffering Matters’.

Here is an overview of what Andrew is trying to do in this important book:
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So with the outline in my previous post, I’m starting the series on Ancient Worship, Anglican Future and the intersections with Emerging Church today.

These days there seems to be a deep suspicion of all organisations, and in particular any structure, hierarchy and a basic resistance to anything that is an ‘institution’. And I for one, am convinced that institutions are the enemy of good practice (if I may paraphrase Alasdair MacIntyre badly).

By this, I mean that any institution that people form in order to deliver good practice will always wrestle with it becoming so bureaucratic and concerned for itself that it undermines the very thing it seeks to deliver in the first place.

We see this today with hospitals. Places dedicated to providing medical care to human beings can become so caught up in politics and management conflicts that the medical care they are supposed to provide becomes undermined and, in many cases, people suffer. We see the same with the church. The organisation of the church to facilitate the incarnation of the gospel quickly becomes an obstacle to the very nature and purpose of the church in the first place, and people are harmed more than helped.

Often, in reaction, we think that, in having no programmes, no hierarchy, the removal of the institution will solve the problem. After all, if the institution is getting in the way of the purpose, get rid of the institution. This response is increasingly ingrained in us, such that even using the word ‘institution’ is anathema to those seeking new ways of doing and being church. But I think how ever well intentioned, this approach is naive and inadequate to the task of being Church.
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Friday morning next week I’m flying to Belfast, to speak at Summer Madness. It’s a pretty large event with about 5,000 in attendance, and my first visit.

I’ve been asked by John Kee and his team to do a seminar each day for three days, and one main stage talk. In terms of titles/themes I’ve been asked to speak on, they’ve been advertised as:

Seminar 1
GOD AT WORK
Career and job choice are not just questions facing school leavers. Most people change career and job many times. How do I choose? Is God interested? Jason shares his thoughts and experiences – from a background in City of London trading/investment broking – to pastoring a Church.

Seminar 2
I SHOP THEREFORE I AM
How does the church – all of us – face up to the challenge of living life in a world where ‘purchase power’ is everything and the culture of defining who we are by what we own, and wear, and drive…and know – is all pervasive.

Seminar 3
GOD ON FACEBOOK
if Jesus came back today, how would the Internet influence his ministry? What would he think of the idea of ‘Facebook’ friends who connect in cyberspace without ever meeting face-to-face? What are the new ‘online realities’, what is happening online and how can it extend or undermine our formation.

MAINSTAGE TALK – SATURDAY PM
“Finding Myself: In the last place I might look”

Now I just need to get on and prepare them! Brian McLaren will be there, I’m looking forward to catching up with him, and my oldest friend and best friend, Andy Hickford who introduced me to Jesus just over 23 years ago.

So I am beginning my series here on the Ancient Worship Anglican Futures conference, as promised.

In this series, I’ll be including:

1. Presentation: A summary of my presentation that opened the conference, within which I gave some of the issues that I think some of the emerging church has to face, where might be stuck/struggling and why. Also presenting these areas with regards to how the great tradition of the church might resource those issues. In other words given my location and limited experience planting a church and being involved in emerging church, what are some of the biggest challenges within that, that the conference focus be able to might resource.

2. Resources/Responses: Then having done that, I’ll be posting my thoughts from the conference, the speakers and input they gave, in terms of how some of what they brought to us at the event, might relate to those issues, and help, connect.

3. Book Chapter: This will also be an outline of the chapter I am writing for the book that will be a product of the event.

4. #AWAF: In keeping with the hash tag we used to twitter during the event, all my posts in this series will included the tag #awaf, and be cross linked/posted to facebook and twitter, for the #awaf archive/group.