More details on my new blog focus
3 Oct 2008
So I’ve explained why I have moved my blogging to www.deepchurch.org.uk, whilst developing www.jasonclark.ws as my social media portal. I’ve also explained here, the shift in focus with regards to my ongoing emerging church relationship.
I thought in this post I’d explain more about the kinds of things I’ll be posting and when, so in no particular order:
1. Emerging Church: Emerging, missional, will still be a locus for conversation but given the re-focus I have mentioned in the links above.
2. Reflective Practice: Elements of theological reflection on the nature of church, and christians life as well as stories from church.
3. Church Planting: Whilst I have referenced events and issues from my church community, I’m planning in putting more in here in terms of the life, practices and challenges of church planting.
4. Personal: Whilst from time to time I have included personal items (such as my depression and mental health within emerging church conversations), I’m going to be putting a lot more of me, my life, reflections, and items into the posts.
5. Guest Authors: I see the value and need for single author blogs and enjoy many of them (I’ve found it slightly ironic that some people who decry churches as places for megalomaniacs who stifle participation, then use blogs to broadcast a single voice and not even interact with others in the comments), but this site will have multiple authors, although I’ll remain the main writer.
For our site here, given it’s nature and focus, we’ll continue to develop the guest authors we have been having. This includes authors of books who can have a chance to interact with others, allows for regular bloggers to post and interact here without the pressure of having their own blog, offers unknown bloggers an opportunity to be connected and have others find a route back to their blogs, and gives us breadth and participation around the theme of this site.
6. Deep Church: Of course we’ll be mapping and exploring all things Deep Church.
7. Irenic: This is more a value and practice, that of generous and gracious interactions, aimed at understanding. Disagreement is expected, with vigorous interactions, but through the asking of questions for clarification, and referring to what is written and said, not just emotional reaction.
There are enough polarizing and antagonistic blogs, and we hope this one maintains a different atmosphere. So comments are moderated, we want this to be a safe place and space.
So those are most of the things I hope this site will have going forward.
9 comments
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Comment by rodney neill
11.23 am on 3 Oct 2008
Sounds good Jason – I like the idea of including some stuff about yourself.
I only hope you get a good number of readers (a general impression but there seems to be a decline in the number of people reading theology/spirituality blogs within Christian tradition judged by how few leave comments)
Comment by rodney neill
11.26 am on 3 Oct 2008
Jason
I reread the above comment and it sounds a bit more negative that I intended it to be – I meant I hope your blog draws a wide readership as I think it is good
Rodney
Comment by Jason
7.24 am on 4 Oct 2008
Jason
Comment by Paul
9.38 am on 4 Oct 2008
sounds top banana to me
Comment by Katharine Moody
3.11 pm on 4 Oct 2008
Quick query (might not be quite so quick to answer!):
I was wondering how your shift in focus is impacting your facilitation of Emergent-UK?
Katharine x
Comment by Jason
10.45 am on 6 Oct 2008
Good question
In some ways none, it summarizes what Emergent UK has always been about. We calling Deep Church a project of Emergent UK, something that has emerged out of that, and other things may emerge too
Comment by James Prescott
9.40 pm on 4 Oct 2008
All sounds good Jase, looking forward to reading more on the topics you mention and learning more.
James.
Comment by Jason
10.45 am on 6 Oct 2008
Tnx James
Comment by Solvej
8.10 pm on 10 Oct 2008
Deep church, sounds interesting … a lot of this terminology doesn’t even phase us out here in the far field where we just have our noses deep in the furrows…
The other night we, the Pastors of a small Vineyard plant in Denmark, had a bunch of people from our church over for dinner. One had to leave early for a parent-teacher meeting, two went into the basement to paint a cloth mural for the church back wall and a handful of us were left to have small group… and I thought “This is church”, sort of like a family where we ate together and then did different things that had to be done…stuff happening in all corners of my big house, just the way I like it
That reminds me that years ago I heard that a Vineyard somewhere (was it in UK or the States?) had bought an old monastary and were keeping a lot of the scheduled prayers and other ancient routines … some from the church were living there and others just popped by occasionally… does that still exist and do they have a website? I find those type of communities fascinating, I know a lot of American towns started out that way, as communities of Almighty God, but alas at some point almighty dollar or almighty flesh took over…. nonetheless, if something went wrong something was probably done right at some point…. do you know anything about such communities within the Vineyard movement or with others, Jason?
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