Tuesday 31 January 2012

Rules, Rules, Rules!!

I met up with Ray this Wednesday to chat about where we both were in our thinking about the pub monastery vision. We met in the leafy area of Clifton, Bristol and mused together while admiring the breathtaking view from Clifton Downs (Who knew that was there? I always said the Bristol wasn't too bad for an English city). The conversation soon settled on discussing the monastic concept of 'rule of life'.

The idea of a rule of life is simple: it is a basic set of ideas and concepts that define a monastic community and provide a framework within which its members must conduct their lives. The classic Benedictine rule of life, established by the legendary Saint Benedict himself in the sixth century, consists of three vows that the initiate monk must make: the vow of obedience, the vow of poverty and the vow of chastity. Most traditional monstic orders follow a similar rule of life, but some of the new monsatic communities are coming up with their own innovative rules, based on what is appropriate for their own contexts (a great example is the Northumbria Community's rule of 'availability and vulnerability' - see  http://www.northumbriacommunity.org/who-we-are/the-rule-briefly)


So, Ray and I were stood there overlooking this dramatic vista, silently hoping that decades of weather erosion weren't going to finally catch up on the precarious cliff ledge we were perched on, and began thinking about what a rule of life might look like for a community of faith - or a network or communities of faith - that met in a bar (or bars). After much deliberation, we came up with the following three aspects:

1 - Love wins. This is the bottom line of all understanding of God and how he acts in the world. Jesus came to show that when all is said and done, love does and will ultimately win. Our imitation of Christ must be understood in this light.
2 - Jesus can and does change lives. This is the source of all our hope and is why no one and no situation is ever written off.
3 - Incarnation. We are called to be 'out there' blessing the world in any and every way, not stuck behind church walls in our little cliques of holiness.

 Hmm...definitely room for further extrapolation, exploration, exaggeration and examination, but it's a start!

Thursday 19 January 2012

Culture Club

I've been thinking about culture recently. By this I don't mean that I've been ruminating over the latest exhibition at the Tate Modern or been immersing myself in Marlovian tragedies at the Barbican, but more from a theological perspective - to what extent should contemporary culture influence the church?

At this point many good evangelicals (and probably high-churchers for that matter) would begin to cry 'heresy!' at the top of their voices while reaching for their pitchforks, but it's a serious question. For those not au fait with Christian understandings of the church's relationship with contemporary culture, for many it's very simple - we've got it right, they've got it wrong. We should try to influence culture, but we can NEVER let culture influence us.

From the start there are some obvious problems with this position, the main one being that it's rubbish. Most of those much loved bulwarks of 'church life' that many don't want to get rid of (e.g. hymn singing, pews, preaching, flower rotas etc) were at one point in time culturally relevant, and that is why they were introduced (William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, once famously said in regard to contemporising church music, 'why should the devil have all the best tunes?'). It goes back even further though. In the Bible we have examples of St. Paul unapologetically using contemporary Greek mythology to explain about Jesus at the Areopagus (place where philosophers came to discuss stuff in Athens), and even some of our most treasured traditions (Christmas/Easter) are based on ancient pagan birth/death/rebirth rituals.

Now I'm not saying that the Church does not have something unique and incredible important to show the world because it does, but as a wise woman once said let's keep the main thing the main thing! We don't need to be afraid of culture or in some way protect God from it, as though he can't look after himself. Christianity is about a gospel of hope, redemption and forgiveness and has always been most powerful when enriched by the culture in which it finds itself. Churches cannot keep Jesus locked up in a comfortable box of Victorian ecclesiology. Let's find ways of doing church that are authentic and honest to the place where God has put us.

Monday 16 January 2012

The Hard Lessons

It's a funny thing, hindsight. The things we look back on that seem so obvious to us now were so completely unfathomable at the time. It's often the lessons learnt from hindsight though that are the most useful - and painful - for stepping into the future. As I think about the 'pub monastery' vision, it would be inadvisable bordering on  irresponsible not to consider the lessons I myself have learnt.

Concepts and ideas can be addictive and when I first came upon the idea of a pub-church, I was hooked. I say came upon, because it was not my idea in the first place. Back in 2003 (I think) I found myself one Sunday evening in a bar in Cardiff City Centre being run by a group called Bar None. I can't remember how I came upon these guys, but it was my experience on that fateful night that introduced me to the idea of pub church. It was a debate evening, and the topic under discussion was 'is there such a thing as just war'. The open, inclusive, non-judgemental attitude they had towards everyone, no matter their opinion, blew me away. The atmosphere was safe, welcoming, as though you wouldn't be thrown out no matter how outrageous your beliefs or shady your past. I remember thinking, 'this is what church should be like'.

When we launched our version of pub church, Solace, it was this concept that I doggedly clung to. I wanted to recreate this amazing atmosphere for other people to be blown away by. However, this approach, in hindsight, was one of the problems. Here was a concept that I was determined to make work. It was as though the idea itself was this new brand of revolutionary washing powder, fresh off the production line, which I was hell-bent on selling. When we launched Solace we even had an opening night to which around a hundred people came, including press! This was my idea (even though it wasn't), my baby, and I was going to make it work. 'I', 'me', 'mine'. The idea had become for me the focus.
Pride is an insidious sin. You don't even know it's there until your neck deep in it.

What to learn? Well, it seems as though Jesus' approach to things was about as opposite to mine as is possible. "Go and make disciples" he said, "I will build my church". We make the disciples, he builds the church. It's not about creating a new brand, but about obeying him.

Trust God. Keep focus. Relinquish control. Learn to enjoy the taste of humble pie. If I get another chance I'll try doing things His way next time, not my own.