Pioneers

Just back at the weekend from The Pioneer Network of Churches Annual Leader's Conference in Southampton. Here are just a few snaps of the event. Lots of exuberant and enthusiastic worship in all the sessions, led by a couple of bands, including Godfrey Birtill (this isn't him!) and The Psalm Drummers.Lynda checks out the conference programme while Jonathan and Baz discuss something very important.
Bren gets an opportunity to talk about her experiences taking part in and winning 'The Singing Pensioner' competition on The Alan Titchmarsh Show....
During the last session an amazing banquet table was prepared for all delegates to take communion together. A fantastic finale to a brilliant conference!

Sheffield

The third in a Trio of Travels saw me set off on Friday afternoon for Steel City. I was in the company of Lia and John, with Lia driving and 'Jane' manning the SatNav. The occasion was the gathering of Northern Forum, a collection of folk from a number of churches in the Pioneer Network, of which Bren and me are a part. Last minute grandson duties meant that Bren missed out on the trip though.Baz and Lynda had pulled out all the stops in terms of welcome and hospitality, and we were soon around a table creaking under the weight of Chinese food and bottles of wine. These 24 hour gatherings are a good opportunity for leaders of churches in the network and others, to get together and encourage, pray and support one another. The stories flowed as well as the wine and the good conversation continued the next morning, along with with a number of issues discussed and resolved along the way. They say good friends are hard to find... and these are surely among the best. Here's to the next time!

Communitas - discovering future church and mission

Albert Einstein once said that insanity is “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”.

Doesn’t church feel like that sometimes?

We do church like we have always done it; we expect revival but wonder why it never happens.

Maybe it’s time to look a fresh at what it means to be church in twenty first century Britain; to consider again how to be a witness for Jesus in a culture that increasingly considers our faith irrelevant.

Interested?

Then come and join the conversation at the Communitas conference taking place on Saturday 12 March 2011 at Storey Park Community Centre in Morpeth.
Its purpose is to question the status quo and explore what church could and maybe needs to look like in the future in order to survive and thrive, and transform our communities for Jesus.

Confirmed speakers on the day will be Roy Searle (Northumbria Community), Phil Togwell (24/7 Prayer) and Peter Farmer (UK Simple Church Network).

Come along and explore newer expressions of church and communities of faith with an emphasis on prayer and mission.
Invites are by word of mouth. If you are interested then come along. If you know someone who you think would want to come with you then invite them as well.

Everything kicks off at 10 AM - finishing by 5 PM latest. Bring something for lunch that you can share.
Unfortunately, space restrictions at the venue mean that we are not able to provide child care.

The cost for attending the event will be £10 per person. Let us know if you are coming, and pay in advance if you want to - but paying on the day is fine with us.
If you want to know more then ring Martin Luff on 0773 8866679 or Tim Sokell on 0794 0388610

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Pioneers...

Yesterday I attended the Pioneer National Churches Forum at Harpenden. Bren and me have been part of Pioneer since the early nineties, and the church I led was then and still is part of the network. We haven't been around many of the network events for a few years, but I decided I wanted to go to the NCF as there have been some changes made recently, and it was a good opportunity to catch up with those changes and meet up with friends old and new. I travelled down to Leeds and enjoyed a good conversational journey with Toby, who did the driving.

Billy & Caroline Kennedy are the new leaders of the network. They have helped Pioneer through a three year period of transition following Gerald Coates pioneering and inspirational leadership from the early eighties. Billy guided us through the days proceedings with grace and sensitivity.

It was great to meet up with old friends John and Christine Noble (to the right). Both now in their seventies, they are father and mother figures in what has become the 'new church' (formerly 'house church') movement. Bren and me met them in the seventies and were impacted greatly by their friendship and vision. Amazing people.



Everywhere I looked in the room there were people who have and are going quietly about the business of being change-agents in their world. Adrian and Pauline are champions of foster care and building church across ethnic groupings. Dave is a stellar singer-songwriter.

Tony is a teacher par excellence... Pete has set up and is running one of the top year-out training facilities for young people in the UK. It was smashing to see them all again.

Kinnon on sheep

I've been reading about sheep (in relation to mega churches) on Bill Kinnon's blog this morning. He makes some interesting points, including the following, which I hope he won't mind me borrowing...

One of the key words too often used by mega church leaders to describe those in the pews is "sheep." And they, of course, are the shepherd(s). They claim the term as scriptural (it is) but practice eisegesis in its interpretation rather than exegesis. Certain mega-ego pastors have done videos complaining about sheep stealing - from their eisegetical position, of course.

Sheep lack intelligence (I'm being charitable), are obstinate and don't smell particularly good. Shepherds know the lay of the land - where the best grazing is, where the fewest predators are, where they can best guard and care for their flock. And, they know their sheep.

Jesus, when he speaks of himself as the good shepherd in John 10, says the shepherd knows the name of his sheep and they know the shepherd's voice. There is an intimacy that exists between the shepherd and the sheep - they live together. An average shepherd when Jesus spoke these words, was responsible for around 100 sheep. Yes, these shepherds would often combine their flocks with those of other shepherds - yet they still knew their own sheep - they were still responsible for their 100.

Too many pastors (pastor being the latin word for shepherd), create a profound distancing between sheep and shepherd. Sheep are stupid, must be lead, need constant discipline and, apparently, are the property of the shepherd. These hireling shepherds sound an awful lot like the shepherds the Lord describes in Ezekiel 34.

Nice one Bill. Baaaaaaaaa!

The dissenting voice

Backyard Missionary submits a strong, yet interesting piece about 'revival' in his Australia Day post. Here's a taster...

"I am tired of this revival talk and these false prophets, because in the 30 years I have been old enough to understand the concept I have actually observed the church (overall) in decline. And I haven’t seen any of the revivals that have been predicted ever actually happen. (I do know there have been movements of this ilk among aboriginal people - but these weren’t ‘prophesied’ - and of course because they are not white we don’t count them…)

Do I sound a tad cynical?…

The next time someone prophesies massive revival in your church tell them they are full of crap. Ok… maybe that’s a bit strong… Maybe just politely inquire when the revival will be, what will happen, how you will know it has happened and then bet them a carton of crownies it won’t happen. (Easy way to get free beer…)

No… on second thoughts I was right the first time."

God bless the dissenting voice I say! Go here for the full article.