in the belly of the big fish

lighting fires for Imbolc and Candlemas

2012-02-01T10:04:00.001-01:00

here's my latest post for Communities of the Mystic Christ...

Time to light a candle, time to light a fire.

'Imbolc' (pronounced 'im-olk') means 'in the belly' and as a Celtic mid-winter festival it celebrated the possibility of new life being formed in the earth, still unseen. Rituals would accompany this key turning point in the year, seeking food and shelter for the tough months ahead until the late summer harvest. One of those rituals was the lighting of fires - symbolizing warmth for the rest of winter, and signaling the coming light of spring.

The Christian Church took this and merged it into its own celebration of other events full of promise. Now known as Candlemas, on this date the Church celebrates the Purification of Mary following the birth of Jesus, and the Presentation of her child into God's care and service in the temple in Jerusalem. In a powerful scene described in the Gospel of Luke, two wise (and probably elderly) mystics called Simeon and Anna recognize in the holy child the coming of something extraordinary. Anna speaks of the child as bringing hope to the Holy City. Simeon holds Jesus in his arms and, sensing a wider significance, declares that this child is 'a light for the whole world'.

In Christian practice these mid-winter moments of light and hope are now marked by the making and lighting of candles. And so the streams flow together. The lighting of fires in the Pagan tradition, the lighting of candles in the Christ-following tradition.

There's something mysterious about fire. Whether in candle, wood-stove or bonfire, fire calls for our attention. Potentially dangerous but also life-enabling. Fragile at times, unstoppable at others. All of human existence held in the flicker of flame. Perhaps that's why we can find a fire so entrancing.

Whatever we face at this time, however deep our own winters may seem, the rituals of Imbolc and Candlemas remind us that there is still hope, and coming light.

Time to light a candle, time to light a fire.

text and photo © Ian Adams

January 2012

grave and womb

2012-01-10T06:02:00.000-01:00

Into Epiphany - the season of revealing what has been unnoticed: the Christ, Light for all the world. In morning bell we are meditating on this icon of the Baptism of Christ. The water is both our grave and womb, death and life, the past and the future...

joy

2011-09-20T05:12:00.001-01:00

This is such a joyful piece by Hepworth. From its beginning the community of the Christ at its best has been known for joy in tough times. So here's to being surprised by joy today...

pic by Gail Adams @ Barbara Hepworth Studio and Garden in St Ives

solid and fluid

2011-09-19T05:21:00.001-01:00

Another great Hepworth sculpture from the Trewyn studio garden, picture taken on visit in March this year. The shapes are both solid and fluid, for me an insight into the nature of all existence and the life of God, what theologians describe as the Holy Trinity. This may be an icon for me today...
..

reflect Light

2011-09-16T04:26:00.000-01:00

I love the simplicity and clarity of this piece by Barbara Hepworth. My meditation on it led to today's morning bell: let the Light fall on you, reflect the Light...

my photo at Trewyn Studio garden, St Ives

transparent

2011-09-15T04:41:00.001-01:00

The photo is another I took on a recent visit to Barbara Hepworth's studio and garden in St Ives. It inspired today's morning bell: let's live this day transparent, clear and 'pure in heart'...

standing in solidarity

2011-09-14T05:21:00.000-01:00

musing for today's morning bell: in the spirit of Jesus the Christ who will I stand in solidarity with today? my photo of Barbara Hepworth figures at Trewyn St Ives

circle and centring

2011-09-13T04:53:00.000-01:00

I try to begin each day with a centring practice - and to re-enter the experience during the day. For me at this time my practice goes like this: sitting with an icon and candle, short prayer of my words (so that I may get out of the way), Gospel and wisdom reading, morning bell, into stillness and simple yoga, concluding with a blessing for the day. I like the circles that continually surface in Barbara Hepworth's sculptures, a reminder to me of the call and need to be centred...

sunlight, stone, tools and door

2011-09-12T05:20:00.001-01:00

In this week's morning bell I'm working with ideas that came from visits I've made to the Barbara Hepworth Trewyn Studio and Sculpture Garden in St Ives. I'll be posting a photo and idea each day. This is my picture of her studio. I liked the interplay of sunlight and the door with the stone block and the tools. It seemed very earthy, even ordinary, but full of possibility...

Mary the mother of Jesus

2011-08-15T11:02:00.000-01:00

may the faith, courage and presence of Mary the mother of Jesus shape us today...

for more on Mary see Luke 1.26-56
photo by Misako

where to be on Holy Island?

2011-08-10T12:28:00.000-01:00

I've just been asked where to go and what to do on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne. Here's what I suggested. If you know the island what might you add?

• go to morning eucharist in the island parish church
• spend time in the parish church with the wooden statue of Cuthbert's monks carrying his coffin
• visit St Cuthbert's island at low tide (below the parish church)
• walk round the east/northeast shore of the island
• spend time bird-watching from the hide at the lake on the east side
• visit the book shop at the Open Gate retreat (Community of Aidan and Hilda)
• be in the garden for prayer near to Open Gate (see pic)
• and give attention to the small things…

Transfiguration: you are full of light...

2011-08-05T22:17:00.005-01:00

The feast of the Transfiguration. This is a great day. There's a lot going on in this event - here's some brief reflections from my journey with it...

In a dazzling moment on the mountain God is revealed as Trinity: the Father's voice, Jesus the Son transfigured, the Spirit presence in the cloud.

Jesus is revealed as the Christ - the 'Small Epiphany' after the great Epiphany of the Baptism of Jesus. He is still human, earthy, one of us - but he is also revealed to be divine, limitless, full of light and love. And so too Transfiguration - deep change towards light and love - is revealed as a possibility in us and in the world.

But this is not just about us changing for the better (as important as that is). The Transfiguration reveals our true reality and destiny. For a moment our own humanity is broken open, and we glimpse our at-oneness with God, what theologians call our 'deification' and what St Peter described as 'an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading.' (2 Peter 1.4). You and I are full of divine light and love...

Transfiguration icon written by Jyrki Pouta /

Transfiguration Gospel accounts: Matthew 17. 1-13 Mark 9. 2-8 Luke 9. 28-36

more Cave Refectory Road events

2011-07-28T14:14:00.000-01:00

More opportunities coming up to engage with me around themes and ideas from Cave Refectory Road. I look forward to seeing you somewhere on the road...

• Saturday 27 August @Greenbelt festival CHELTENHAM
• Thursday 8 September @St Ethelwold’s spirituality centre ABINGDON
• Wednesday-Friday 21-23 September @Pioneer Breakout conference HODDESDON
• Monday-Friday 17-21 October @Lee Abbey missional community conference LYNTON
• Saturday 5 November @StillPoint day - Harbour House KINGSBRIDGE

• Monday 21 November @Diocese Of Bath & Wells chaplains day WELLS
• Saturday 18 February @New Monasticisms Ireland day conference DUBLIN

morning bell with Rublev's icon of the Holy Trinity

2011-06-20T05:20:00.000-01:00

morning bell this week is in the company of Andrei Rublev's icon of the Holy Trinity:

let the beautiful stillness of the life of G_d become beautiful stillness in you today...

how to follow/receive morning bell:
twitter: twitter.com/morningbell2u
facebook: facebook.com/themorningbell
email or SMS txt: ian@thestillpoint.org.uk

repentance pilgrimage

2011-06-16T04:25:00.000-01:00

Peace and all good to Symon Hill starting his repentance for homophobia pilgrimage today. Symon's website is here and you can follow him on twitter and facebook.

engage with me - latest events

2011-05-31T10:41:00.000-01:00

Here's the latest list of events coming up where you can engage with me in patterns, poems and practices from 'Cave Refectory Road'...

weekend 3-5 June DORSET: weekend retreat - Othona Community Dorset
weekend 24-26 June WISTON, SCOTLAND: Solas festival

Saturday 16 July OXFORD: Diocese of Oxford and BRF Festival of Prayer - Ripon College, Cuddesdon

weekend 26-28 August CHELTENHAM: Greenbelt festival

Thursday 8 September ABINGDON: retreat day at St Ethelwold's House

Saturday 5 November KINGSBRIDGE, DEVON: Harbour House

Hope to see you somewhere on the road...

one hundred million seeds

2011-04-21T06:25:00.001-01:00

I'm still working on this poem but I think it needs to be out there right now, hopefully a small part of a bigger movement....

Ian Adams events - Cave Refectory Road on the road latest

2011-04-11T16:55:00.000-01:00

Here's the latest list of events coming up where you can engage with me in patterns, poems and practices from 'Cave Refectory Road'...

Wednesday 20 April ONLINE: i-church online conversation

Saturday 30 April OXFORD: StillPoint day - Friends Meeting House Oxford

Monday 2 May MANCHESTER: Spirit of Life day - Manchester Cathedral

Monday 16 May LONDON: Fresh Expressions Contemplative Communities day - London Centre for Spirituality

weekend 3-5 June DORSET: weekend retreat - Othona Community Dorset

Saturday 16 July OXFORD: Diocese of Oxford and BRF Festival of Prayer - Ripon College, Cuddesdon

weekend 26-28 August CHELTENHAM: Greenbelt festival
Thursday 8 September ABINGDON: retreat day at St Ethelwold's House

Hope to see you somewhere on the road...

Ian Adams events - Cave Refectory Road on the road

2011-03-03T14:38:00.002-01:00

Here's a list of new events coming up where you can engage with me in patterns, poems and practices from 'Cave Refectory Road'...

Wednesday 20 April ONLINE: i-church online conversation

Saturday 30 April OXFORD: StillPoint day - Friends Meeting House Oxford

Monday 2 May MANCHESTER: Spirit of Life day - Manchester Cathedral

Monday 16 May LONDON: Fresh Expressions Contemplative Communities day - London Centre for Spirituality

weekend 3-5 June DORSET: weekend retreat - Othona Community Dorset

Saturday 16 July OXFORD: Diocese of Oxford and BRF Festival of Prayer - Ripon College, Cuddesdon

weekend 26-28 August CHELTENHAM: Greenbelt festival

Hope to see you somewhere on the road...

into the wilderness

2011-02-28T17:29:00.000-01:00

this looks good - well worth a visit if you are near Sheffield - organised by Ric Stott at i ask for wonder

ice circles

2011-02-11T12:39:00.000-01:00

enjoying these circles of ice and air - I took the pics on the estuary - see more on my flickr - thinking of of using them in my art work for the next StillPoint exhibition where I'm creating something around meekness [humility]

South Devon winter

2010-12-22T09:13:00.003-01:00

It's a hard winter all over the UK. Unusually for this part of the world we have snow, ice and persistent sub-zero temperatures. Here's a pic of the estuary...

ways into small missional community [20] light up the sky

2010-12-22T06:22:00.002-01:00

here's my latest post in the 'ways into' series for the CMS Small Missional communities project...

This post grows from the ideas in posts [18] encountering Christ, being Christ and [19] change through community projects. It comes out of my experience that for community projects to bring good to our wider communities in Christ’s name, they need to emerge from and be sustained by people who have a passion for them.

So this post is about giving space and encouragement to people to have a go themselves, trusting that we each have within us a God-inspired impetus to make the world a better place and ideas and resources for doing that. If our idea is good, if it is somehow tapping into the flow of the mysterious and always-at-work Holy Spirit, it may flourish. People will encourage it, talk about it, and some, even all, will participate in it.

What might this look like on the ground? Hopefully the community has a regular space for conversation, stillness and prayer where it tries to understand how it may bring good to the world in the way of the Christ. As part of this conversation invite each other to imagine and describe the sort of change that each person would like to be involved in.

It’s really important to emphasize that this is not a reality TV talent show. There is not one winner. Some, many, even all the ideas offered may find encouragement to go ahead. The key is that the person offering their idea is committed to it and involved in taking it forward.

St Paul memorably called on the early Christian community in Philippi to shine like stars. May the people in the community/project you are involved in – and the God-inspired ideas they have within them for bringing change for good - light up the sky where you are…

St Ives in winter

2010-12-10T21:56:00.003-01:00

great to spend a few days with Matt last week at his place in St Ives working on StillPoint stuff

the light still shines

2010-10-01T18:51:00.002-01:00

Just last week we were sea-swimming, but now Autumn has arrived in the South Hams, leaves flying, rain beating in from all angles, early evening darkness. So here's a pic to remind me that the light still shines - this was last weekend at North Sands.

Cave Refectory Road is published

2010-09-27T10:21:00.000-01:00

my book Cave Refectory Road: monastic rhythms for contemporary living is out today!
it's available from Amazon and from CanterburyPress

people are saying nice things about it....

This book is a gem. For those seeking to follow in the way of Christ today, Ian opens up the gifts and insights of religious communities in a very imaginative fashion. He manages the difficult art of writing in a way that has real depth but is still accessible and easy to grasp. It's heartfelt and inspired.
- Jonny Baker author, blogger, CMS pioneer trainer

If you know someone (perhaps yourself) who is spiritual but not religious I strongly suggest giving them this book. Ian Adams has beautifully and unabashedly mined the Christian monastic tradition and found gold for our spiritually impoverished time. You can find no better guide.
- Nadia Bolz-Weber, founding pastor of House for all Sinners and Saints, a Lutheran mission church in Denver Colorado and author of Salvation on the Small Screen? 24 Hours of Christian Television (Seabury 2008).

morning bell is 600

2010-09-24T10:24:00.000-01:00

wow morning bell is number 600 today. It's amazing to know that each day people across the UK and around the world are receiving it, pondering it, praying it and passing it on. Of course it's shaping me as much as anyone as I prepare and create it - or perhaps find it being created in me...

Greenbelt 2010

2010-09-03T07:38:00.001-01:00

Greenbelt festival 2010 - inspiring, provocative and nourishing. See more of my pics from the festival here: pace bene - Ian's flickr pics

Stillpoint: in Abide venue

go Jonsi

2010-09-03T07:22:00.000-01:00

loved the Jonsi gig in Bristol. really like this pic by kirstiecat

conversation about community @Greenbelt

2010-08-22T06:31:00.000-01:00

Looking forward to hosting this conversation at Greenbelt about the possibilities of community. The conversation-makers are Cara Heafey from mayBe, Fiona Lingard from Third Space, Abbot Stuart Burns OSB from Mucknell Abbey, and Peter Macdonald, leader of the Iona Community. Some wonderful experience of community from a great mix of settings.
Monday 2pm @ Winged Ox.

descent and ascent... @Greenbelt

2010-08-21T17:58:00.002-01:00

mm... have recently had rather more experience of the descent and ascent process than I bargained for when way back I suggested doing this session at Greenbelt [next weekend]

spiritual practices for disturbing times @Greenbelt

2010-08-20T05:58:00.001-01:00

looking forward very much to doing this session at Greenbelt with Gail - 8pm Friday in Soulspace - and I have begun writing a book on this theme

next see:change workshops

2010-08-18T11:38:00.001-01:00

rooted in earth, formed in water: Stillpoint at Greenbelt

2010-08-17T18:17:00.000-01:00

Matt and I are looking forward to offering 'rooted in earth' and 'formed in water': prayer and meditation practises rooted in our relationship to the planet with Stillpoint at Greenbelt's new eco-themed venue Abide

ways into small missional community [17] a community liturgy

2010-07-29T14:59:00.001-01:00

Here's the latest in my series of posts for small missional communities about creating and sustaining community:

This next post in the ‘ways into small missional community’ series starts with the observation that some mix of shared ritual, words and images seem to be vital for a sustained sense of community. The gestures we make, the words we say, and the songs we sing shape us. I only get to see the football team I support very occasionally now but when I do get there it’s as much participating in the ritual of the support as seeing what happens on the pitch that makes feel that I belong. [The famous but now precariously placed Sheffield Wednesday, if you’re asking.]

I’m currently working with Nightchurch at Exeter cathedral. One of the projects we are working on is the idea of creating a Nightchurch night prayer. The idea is to create something simple that we can use regularly as community, and get to know so well that it becomes part of us, keeping us to our calling and focussing us not on ourselves but on the Jesus that we seek. If you sense that creating a community liturgy [liturgy = public work] might be a good idea for you, here’s a few pointers...

It’s important that any liturgy or ritual invites participation, that it reflects your calling and your place of belonging. Try to create something that is 'in tune with' the space that you use. Make it simple, and not too wordy. Don’t reinvent the wheel - draw perhaps on some of the patterns in the liturgies that you already have in your tradition. But also look to create something new that reflects the experiences, the language and the culture of the people in the community and in your wider setting. It must make sense here and now.

Create this together. Of course there will be a few who have particular skills in this area - perhaps get them to shape something after an initial session together - and then get everyone involved again in a re-shaping. Don’t be afraid to let it evolve as you use it. And create space for stillness. It’s vital that we keep coming back to that point where our words cease, our actions stop, and we allow the great liturgy-maker to do something unexpected, something beyond our expectations, something truly ‘marvelous in our eyes’ [Psalm 118.23]

peace to you
Ian

Third Space

2010-07-24T07:49:00.000-01:00

Very good to be with Third Space in Matlock this week. If you want to meet some of the TS people come to the conversation on community 2pm Monday @Greenbelt as they'll have a participant in that along with Abbot Stuart Burns OSB, Cara from mayBe in Oxford and one or two others tbc! peace Ian

with Richard Long

2010-07-18T20:39:00.000-01:00

Enjoyed hearing artist Richard Long today at Dartington Ways with Words Festival. Richard has been and will go on being a real inspiration to us. He's not a natural at public speaking, but coped well, particularly when a woman said that she was seeing the emporer's new clothes, and asked him how he had managed to convince people that what he does is art. The pics are some of the pieces that mayBe created at a weekend away, inspired in part by him. Keep on walking in a straight line Richard.

Harrier and Jaguar: compelling and disturbing

2010-07-16T07:43:00.002-01:00

On the way back yesterday from a [very good] FX meeting in London I called in to Tate Britain to see the Harrier and Jaguar commission by Fiona Banner. The Sea Harrier is hung from the roof, nose less than a metre from the ground. The Jaguar, coated in stunning silver, lies belly up on the floor. They look stunning, even beautiful, and of course powerful. But perhaps there's a resistance to their power in the way they have been displayed, hung like a dead bird, beached like a dead whale. This is well worth seeing. [PS although photography is not usually allowed in Tate Britain they seem to be making an exception for this work]

ways into small missional community [16] befriend a traditional community

2010-06-10T13:11:00.000-01:00

here's the latest in my series of posts for the small missional community project - make friends with nuns, monks and friars!

It was really good to be able to host and participate in a conversation between traditional and emerging communities last month. Over 70 people from a variety of traditional and emerging backgrounds and traditions got together to share stories, insights, questions, imaginings and possibilities around the idea and practice of religious community in mission.

The interest and enthusiasm that I saw reinforced my instinct that the making of small missional community is a shared journey. Others have taken this path before, others will go this way in the future. There will be some constants and similarities, and because we live in ever-changing cultures, there will be differences that we cannot imagine right now.

My suggestion in this latest post in the series is to seek out another community [or communities] to befriend. Particularly one that is from a different place on the journey. So if yours is a contemporary take on community you might find it really insightful to make friends with a traditional community of nuns, monks or friars. There is great wisdom and learning about community in the traditional religious orders. In my experience they also very good questions of those of us doing a newer thing - and at the same time are enormously inspiring. They are also encouraged to find their ancient ways being reinterpreted and reshaped by the emergers.

If you want to look into the possibility of making friends with a traditional religious community in your area and don’t where to start, please get in touch. I’d be very happy to try to suggest some possibilities.

pics from the conversation

2010-06-05T18:28:00.000-01:00

some more pics from last week's communities conversation - thanks to Seth Crewe for this...

friars, monks, nuns and emergers

2010-05-31T07:11:00.000-01:00

The small missional communities conversation about religious community went really well - over 70 people from a wide variety of settings conversing together about the possibilities. Big thanks Jonny Baker for these pics. If you want to be involved in ongoing conversation get in touch.

see:change 'into stillness' workshop

2010-05-26T09:37:00.001-01:00

Our first see:change workshop into stillness is open for booking!
• Discover the practice and benefits of being still.
• See how stillness can sustain us in uncertain times and help us to regain equilibrium.
• Learn how stillness enables us to be at one with ourselves
• Create patterns for stillness that work for you.

stillness at Glastonbury

2010-05-14T06:32:00.000-01:00

This Saturday I'm involved in another event at Glastonbury - stillness in the ancient jesus tradition - with Pauline Warner from Soul Clinics and Simon Small. If you are in that part of the world it would be great to see you. It's at St Margaret's chapel throughout the day, with new events beginning on the hour.

an emerging politics

2010-05-12T08:48:00.001-01:00

I've been involved for a long time with what's often been called 'emerging church.' The new situation in UK politics feels like it might signal an exciting change towards partnership and consensus - an 'emerging politics'. I've just been reading some research my daughter Rachel has been doing into decline in traditional religious practice. One of her findings is that people have rejected religion that feels 'conforming, controlling, and adversarial'. Now doesn't that sound rather like much of the politics that we have been subjected to?

There's another interesting aspect to all this. The media is so entrenched in the whole adversarial approach, constantly pitching people, ideas and parties against each other, that it may struggle to cope with an 'emerging politics'. Very few commentators will have experience of working in cross-party partnership, and there will be a lot of scepticism around. It won't be easy. Time, I suggest for the peace-makers, the consensus-builders, the big-hearted and the open-handed to step forward...

launch of see:change

2010-05-06T07:50:00.000-01:00

Really pleased to let you know about the launch of the see:change project that Gail and I are doing together.

The launch is at the Old Bakery in Kingsbridge on Tuesday 18 May and will be a fun and informative evening outlining what we and see:change are all about.

If you'd like to come please let me know
Pax Ian

painting for day 50 exhibition

2010-04-28T09:10:00.000-01:00

Here's how my painting for the CMS day 50 exhibition is looking. In this piece I wanted to explore the idea in the Jesus tradition that God's activity cannot be contained by our imagination but is a dynamic dance that embraces all life, all places and all times.

James' birthday at the Oyster Shack

2010-04-11T09:23:00.001-01:00

happy times!

chaos and hope

2010-04-01T13:04:00.002-01:00

Here's the painting I did for the StillPoint Stations of the Cross exhibition - I called it 'chaos and hope' - and here's the text that goes with it: There’s an important tradition that in the chaos of his violent and sudden death Jesus somehow holds into himself all the chaos and violence of humanity. In so doing he makes clear that despite their power, our chaos and violence will never be the final word. In the storm of his death there appears a fragile but compelling trace of hope for humanity and for the cosmos.

Stations exhibition - opening night Friday

2010-03-24T09:15:00.001-01:00

Looking forward v much to the StillPoint Stations of the Cross exhibition - opening night Friday from 8pm @the the Jam Factory Oxford.

the resurrection - in Leeds

2010-03-22T13:28:00.000-01:00

Images 1-13 of the Resurrection Stations project that I am doing with Si Smith have been published by CPAS. Si does the brilliant pics and I add the text for reflection, with Rory Keegan editing. Here's the last picture which Si has just finished and which will be published for next year. Good to see the project getting some publicity too - here's a link to a story in Christian Today.

Oscar Romero

2010-03-21T17:35:00.000-01:00

This week as we enter the season of the Passion of Jesus, the Church around the world remembers the life and martyrdom of Oscar Romero, Archbishop of San Salvador. He stood up for the people of El Salvador against the repressive government, and was assassinated by a death squad on 24 March 1980. His own words and passiontide in the name of Jesus will be the inspiration this week for morning bell.

stations exhibition - work in progress

2010-03-10T11:44:00.004-01:00

Great to see works in progress pics for the upcoming StillPoint stations of the cross exhibition at the Jam Factory in Oxford March 26 - April 20. These by artists Ali Berrett, Rachel Yates, Nicholas Mynheer and Sharon Boothroyd.

ways into small missional community [14] love your roots

2010-02-28T08:57:00.000-01:00

Here's the latest in my series of posts seeking ways to start and sustain new small missional communities of the Christ, shaped by and for our settings and cultures:

This may be obvious but perhaps worth saying. Every new community or project emerges from somewhere and evolves from something that has gone before. One of the most encouraging things about almost all the emerging/evolving projects that I know is that there seems to be a real desire to find ways to keep on belonging to the places and people from which the new thing has come.

I think that it’s really important to love your roots. There’s a vital mix of strength and humility in recognising that we are part of something bigger - part of the Christ-following community down the centuries and around the world - and part of that bigger body both locally and globally. It’s also helpful to recognise that both new thing and institution are part of each other’s learning. The institution needs the new thing to help it to continually reshape itself for the changing culture. The new thing needs to receive the long-broad view of the tradition.

That’s not to say that it will always be easy to work with the organisation that you are part of. Sooner or later most projects seem to face difficult moments in this relationship. It’s almost inevitable that the innovations of the new thing will feel like criticism to the institution [a critique that may be needed of course]. And at times the new thing will feel constrained or misunderstood by the processes of the institution [processes that also may be needed sometimes].

It seems important to me that we need to avoid watered down compromises. We need to find ways to let the new thing be courageously new, in relationship with an institution that carries the best of the tradition with devotion, both following their callings with confidence and humility.

What can we do to love our roots again today?

peace to you
Ian

the disturbing time

2010-02-27T18:08:00.000-01:00

For me one of the important subtexts of Lent is that it is a time of disturbance. I think of the season as 'the disturbing time'. As we continue through Lent morning bell is going to work with some of the scriptures of disturbance that Jesus would have known from the Tanakh [the Jewish scriptures]. We can imagine him returning to these scriptures during his wilderness trial, perhaps finding there some reflection of his experience. So may we disturbed and encouraged. The pic is of the tidal road near our home, looking very bare at this time of the year.

creation spirituality

2010-02-24T06:48:00.001-01:00

The first StillPoint creation spirituality course tonight in Oxford, led by Matt. It's going to be good! Places still available. Free but you need to register with StillPoint

traditional and emerging religious communities in conversation

2010-02-20T11:59:00.001-01:00

Here's a flier for a day conversation that I'm organising in Oxford in May between traditional and emerging religious communities. Should be good - getting some 'real' monks and nuns together with people doing new community stuff. Please get in touch with me if you are interested in coming.

support the Robin Hood tax

2010-02-10T12:59:00.003-01:00

I support the Robin Hood tax - please think about doing the same!

simple clothing day

2010-02-07T21:15:00.003-01:00

morning bell at the moment is drawing on the work that I'm doing on a book on how we might take the wisdom and practise of monastic spirituality into the everyday. I'm starting this week suggesting a simple clothing day, perhaps based on one colour - and let's see what that feels like...

StillPoint stations of the cross Easter 2010

2010-01-31T09:09:00.004-01:00

Really looking forward to the second StillPoint stations of the cross exibition at the Jam Factory in Oxford. We've got 14 great artists with an inspiring mix of styles each producing an art piece based on one of the traditional 'stations of the cross' - an ancient practise of entering the universal story of the passion of the Christ. Opening night is Friday 26 March and then it's on for almost a month.

ways into small missional community [13] accessible and committed - the traveling band

2010-01-29T13:40:00.003-01:00

here's the latest in my series of posts I'm offering on small missional communities online:

Here’s an interesting task that comes in creating and sustaining a new Christ-following community: how can we find ways to make the life of the community both accessible to anyone who might just want to explore or visit, and at the same time enable others who want to commit themselves to do so. Can accessibility and commitment happen in the same space?

One possible route is to nurture a way of seeing the life of the community as being like a journey, and picturing the community as a traveling band, perhaps like a bunch of medieval pilgrims. So the community is not understood as a fixed entity. People join the traveling band and find a welcome to share the journey for as long as that works for them. Some may become committed to the journey and to this traveling band. Others will share the path for a while and then find another way. Some will join and leave and rejoin at different points. The key [and at times demanding] thing is to grow a sense that this fluidity is OK.

If the offer of fluid access is important, so is the possibility of commitment to sharing the journey with the community, and space for commitment to following the Christ. Communal vows are one possibility. My experience is that these need to arise from the community in reflection, prayer and conversation - definitely not imposed - and are best offered for a reasonable but limited and renewable period of time, like a year. Another way is to offer people the opportunity to commit themselves to a particular community project or task. This will probably be a shorter time span - an event, a month’s activity, or a festival season. And of course some kind of disciple-formation [catechumenate] is another route.

In the gospel of Luke chapter 7 Jesus is pictured teaching the disciples, surrounded by a larger and involved audience of interested onlookers - perhaps another helpful picture of the possibility of both accessibility and commitment...

Holocaust memorial day

2010-01-27T06:39:00.003-01:00

It's Holocaust memorial day. I'll be remembering today by listening to Gorecki's Symphony no 3: Sorrowful songs and keeping a lit candle.

drop Haiti's debt

2010-01-27T06:37:00.002-01:00

it's time to do this - drop Haiti's debt - sign the petition at Christian Aid

fundraiser for Haiti

2010-01-21T15:34:00.003-01:00

If you are anywhere near Exeter on Friday night NightChurch are organising a fundraiser for Haiti.

help for Haiti

2010-01-15T07:22:00.011-01:00

If you are looking for ways to help and be alongside the suffering people of Haiti:
- offer financial help via agencies such as Christian Aid Oxfam and Unicef
- resources to be alongside the people: I'm reading chapter 1 of the book of Lamentations in the Jewish scriptures/Christian Old Testament, which laments for a city and people devastated - look out for the slender thread of hope in chapter 3
- for a ritual to accompany prayer how about scattering a pile of old bricks or stones, light small candles or nightlights amongst them, say a prayer as you do so and go into silence....

ways into small missional community [12] eucharist

2010-01-14T06:46:00.002-01:00

here's the latest of my pieces on small missional community for CMS - reflecting on the place of the Eucharist:

Stillness for reflection, bread and wine shared, sacred words spoken. Jesus the Christ left us a practise that has continually shaped the huge variety of communities that have sprung up seeking to follow him and his way - what we might know as the Lord’s Supper, Holy Communion, Eucharist, or the Mass.

For many this has become the central act of Christian community, a weekly or even daily pivot point for all our activity and prayer, sensing that this is the time and place where we may be most open to God and to each other, and where we are nourished by Christ’s presence in a particular and mysterious way. For others it is a less regular activity, but important nevertheless, a deep remembering of the Jesus who died for the world and for each person. Wherever you find yourself in relation to the Eucharist I guess that you’ll probably agree that it is a vital ingredient in the life of a Christ-following community.

The question that we may well come across in the context of a small missional community is how we ‘do’ the eucharist? The issue soon arises for those coming from traditions where the priest, presbyter or ordained minister takes the presiding role in the eucharist. What does a small community do if it has no priest or ordained minister?

It seems important to me that we respect the tradition and guidelines of our particular setting and denomination. We are in a long line of people and communities who have walked this path before, and their learning and our place of belonging with them matters. So if for example that context calls for a priest to preside at eucharist, I suggest that we need to look for such a person[s], trusting that in God’s good care a priest will be found who will empathize with, relate to, and perhaps even belong to, the community.

There can also be a place in the life of a community for a simple meal where stories of Jesus are told, food and drink shared and prayers offered. It wouldn’t be described as Eucharist, but my experience is that such a meal can be a profound experience of human life and God’s presence, nurture and thanksgiving.

StillPoint 'gaze of love, body of joy'

2010-01-12T21:51:00.002-01:00

Looking forward very much to the next StillPoint event on Saturday 13 March in Oxford with Fr Gregory Fruehwirth of the Order of Julian of Norwich. He'll be offering insights and practises for the contemplative way flavoured by his long experience of living inspired by Julian. More info and booking via StillPoint.

Devon winter

2010-01-12T21:46:00.004-01:00

more pics from the last couple of weeks

mayBe Advent retreat

2010-01-01T10:35:00.003-01:00

I really enjoyed being back with the mayBe people in December where I was facilitating their Advent retreat. Dave and Rich have posted pics on the mayBe gallery and flickr

our first Christmas in Devon

2009-12-29T16:33:00.002-01:00

happy times - our first Christmas in South Devon - some pics from Christmas day and Boxing day

ways into small missional community [11] children and community

2009-12-18T13:58:00.002-01:00

here's the next in my series for the small missional communities project:

In the Gospels we find the community-maker Jesus giving a high priority to children. He emphasized the importance of caring for children; he seemed to bless them at every opportunity; and he saw them as offering a role model for people of all ages.

So if children are already or potentially part of your community’s life it’s good to give attention to what might emerge. A route often taken is to offer specific things for children, but I’m really interested in finding ways to enable children to be part of community, helping to shape the community, and being shaped by it.

Here’s a few starter suggestions from my own experience as to how this emphasis might look...

• create a child-friendly way into any action of conversation that the community is involved in
• rather that getting someone to take children off parents’ hands create a culture where parents and children contribute, learn and care together
• work at the community’s story-telling [in all media], find your gifted storytellers, and tell great stories
• give an central place to play [for everyone] as being both a way to learn and create community
• create places and times of stillness for all the community. Children and adults alike can be encouraged to enter stillness, so discover ways to make stillness part of the community’s culture, a gift to everyone.
• make sure that proper attention is paid to the care of children - see the legal requirements as just the starting point for their care

Of course there are challenges, including changing seasons of life, varying personal learning preferences, and different parenting styles. But there’s something really hopeful about community where children are genuinely enabled to play their part...

peace to you
Ian

prayer and action for the blue-green planet

2009-12-06T16:23:00.002-01:00

As the UN Convention on Climate Change begins in Copenhagen this week’s morning bell will focus on the amazing blue-green planet, and how our action and prayer might play a part in it’s care...

ice sun and the Benedicite

2009-12-04T20:28:00.005-01:00

Good times with CYM students this week on Boars Hill, where I was leading their retreat days. We did some work in the open inspired by putting together the ancient Jewish song Benedicite with the ideas of artists like Richard Long and Andy Goldsworthy. Here's the making of the ice sun by the year 2 group, facilitated by Steve Tait. Great work!

morning bell - with the Benedictus

2009-11-29T17:29:00.003-01:00

This week the Church begins a new year and enters the season of Advent. In Advent the Church has traditionally prayed with the Benedictus - the great song of Zechariah, the father of John the Baptiser, from the first chapter of Luke’s Gospel. This week’s morning bell does the same. I'm going to try to let it carry my prayers this week, and to learn it through repetition. It's well worth checking out the story of Zechariah in Luke 1, and see how the song came into being.

THE SONG OF ZECHARIAH - Benedictus Domine

Blessèd be the Lord, the God of Israel,
for he has come to his people and set them free.

He has raised up for us a mighty Saviour,
born of the house of his servant, David.

Through his holy prophets, he promised of old
that he would save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all that hate us;

He promised to show mercy to our forebears,
and to remember his holy covenant.

This was the oath he swore to our father, Abraham,
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,

Free to worship him without fear,
holy and righteous in his sight,
all the days of our life.

You, my child,
shall be called the prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,

To give his people knowledge of salvation
by the forgiveness of all their sins.

In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,

To shine on those who dwell in darkness
and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen.

ways into small missional community [10] a transparent, light and freeing framework

2009-11-23T08:24:00.005-01:00

here's the next in my series on creating communities of the great community-maker...

If you’ve followed this series you’ll know that I encourage people to look out for a few others who share similar hopes to be committed to the project with you [see ways into smc [1] starting out in company]. I also encourage smc’s to find a bigger place of belonging of some sort - for encouragement, shared learning and some accountability - be it diocese or parish, network or circuit, or a wider community of mission like CMS.

When you set out on a new venture like this, one of the delights is the freedom to imagine and shape the thing as you go. The three or four of you, over a coffee, in the pub or over a meal. This is good! Enjoy the freedom and the creativity of this early phase. You will then reach a point, sooner than you might imagine, where it’s really important to work out a framework for how decisions will be made in the longer term.

I’m not advocating any particular type of organisation. That will depend on the sort of people you are, the nature of the project-community and your setting. But here are a few key principles that I find helpful:

- trust people: involve everyone in the framework-finding process
- seek transparency: make sure that any framework will show everyone very clearly how decisions are made and who makes them
- keep the framework light and freeing: aim for simplicity and remember it only exists to help the community to live out it’s calling
- put the framework in place with some provisionality: agree to try it out, and revisit it after a period and ask how it is working
- treasure listening: make sure that everyone has a voice in decision-making
- aim for consensus in the big issues: allow for any really big decision to be made by consensus
- find wise guidance: give to some wise, prayerful and humble person in the community a role to include calling a provisional way forward should there ever be a real impasse - in my experience this is very rarely needed if deep attention is paid to the big idea [see ways into smc [2] ]and to the spirit of the community [see ways into smc [4] ]
- don’t create jobs for life: find a framework that allows people to move in and out of roles
- seek the Christ: remember where the community belongs...

peace to you
Ian

morning bell 400

2009-11-20T05:52:00.004-01:00

It's morning bell number 400 today. I love being part of this...

StillPoint story

2009-11-16T15:20:00.003-01:00

Good to see a story on StillPoint - the project that Matt Rees and I run together - in the latest edition of e-xpressions. You can view the story written by Ian Mobsby from an interview with us here.

Ernesto's art

2009-11-13T08:02:00.005-01:00

It was good to do some work with artist-priest Ernesto Lozada-Uzuriaga Steele last week. If you are in or around Oxford on Saturday it's the opening of Ernesto's new exhibition and the launch of his new book on Saturday night at the Ark-T in Cowley. Great work! The pic is Ernesto's Olive Tree III [2009]

here's the tender coming

2009-11-10T06:05:00.002-01:00

Really enjoying 'here's the tender coming' by the Unthanks. Brilliant. Thanks Cara.

ways into small missional community [9] earthy good news?

2009-11-09T16:29:00.002-01:00

Here's the latest in the series of posts I'm doing for the Small Missional Communities project on starting and sustaining new project-communities

This latest post in the ‘ways into small missional community’ series is an exercise in [re]discovering roots and imagining the future.

The great story of Jesus is known as ‘Gospel’ - which means ‘good news’. So it may be important to ask how Jesus could be good news where we are, in this place, for these people and for this setting.

It can be helpful to break this down into two questions:
first [and here’s the return to roots] ‘why is Jesus good news?’
then second [and here’s imagining the future] ‘so what could this good news look like here?’

We may have lots of responses to the roots question. But what might that lead to? How is the good news felt and tasted, lived and experienced? In the task of creating Christ-following missional communities we need to discover earthy ways of expressing and living the good news where we are.

An example: one of many possible answers to the roots question might be to say that Jesus is good news because he shows us that God is love. Now there’s wonder in that idea - it’s perhaps the most beautiful of all equations - but how do we say it and live it in ways that are more than cliche or jargon? The imagined future question takes us into the earthy business of how God’s love could be lived and experienced here. What might that actually look like ‘on the ground’? How could 'God's love' be shared and encountered in real ways in this neighbourhood or network? What can you imagine happening?

So why is Jesus good news for you? And what could the good news look like where you are - in, around and through the community-project of which you are part, or of which you are dreaming?

StillPoint meditation

2009-11-09T06:07:00.004-01:00

Matt will be hosting a StillPoint meditation happening tonight 9pm @ssMary+John on Cowley Road Oxford - will be really good!

freefallin

2009-10-29T12:39:00.003-01:00

Have just started to learn to play mandolin again - well for the first time really, previous attempt was not a success. Our friend Jackie wants to do the same with guitar so we're teaming up. Plan is to learn a song a week, starting with 3 simple chords. First song: 'freefallin' by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - simple chords, slow pace, and a fine song. Pic is from the TP gig at Knebworth which I went to back in the day with my buddy Mike.

Third Space

2009-10-28T15:31:00.005-01:00

I've been working together for a while with a group called Third Space in Matlock, Derbyshire, and they are now linking in with the Small Missional Communities project and CMS, seeing this as their primary place of belonging - the first group to do so 'formally'! They are very good news, doing imaginative stuff and really wanting to be and to make a difference in the way of Jesus the change-bringer where they are. A very big welcome to Third Space people: may you be blessed and may you bring blessing... peace to you Ian

ways into small missional community [8] finding a name

2009-10-24T10:01:00.003-01:00

Here's the latest in my series on creating and sustaining community for the small missional communities group - all about finding a name:

What’s in a name? Cumbrae, Emerge, hOME, Ithaca, mayBe, Sanctuary, and Third Space are some of the names that are represented on this network at the moment.

The process of discovering a name for your community-project can be a really important part in its creation. The imaginative conversations, the prayers and the waiting that are part of the journey towards a name take us right into the reasons that we are setting out on this course. The process will make us think through what the big idea is, it will immerse us in the spirit of the community [see earlier posts in this series of ways into small missional community], and it will help us understand how we can serve the people around us in the name of Jesus.

My experience is that an interesting thing sometimes happens in this process. You may find that the name is somehow waiting for you, that the name in some sense discovers you and your friends as much as you discover the name. If you don’t have a name yet, it’s a really good idea to make sure that everyone who is with you is involved in the process.

Although Jesus doesn’t seemed to have named the little community he created, he did give a new name to the disciple we know as Peter - which means something like ‘stone’ or ‘rock’ - and in so doing perhaps Jesus enabled this disciple to become more fully the character that he could see was within him.

So what’s the naming process like for you? If you have a name, how did you discover it? And how might the name be helping to shape your life as a small missional community of the world-changing Jesus?

artistic director for Moot

2009-10-24T07:34:00.004-01:00

Moot are looking for an artistic director. Sounds like a great role at a really exciting time for the community.

How can we avoid becoming like what we fight against?

2009-10-23T22:00:00.003-01:00

How can we avoid becoming like what we fight against? That’s the nagging question I’m left with after Question Time last night.

Most of the ideas and policies of the BNP, it seems to me, are a mix of the ridiculous and the reprehensible, the delusional and the dangerous. So I’m really concerned that the manner and the actions of the audience, the panel and the chair may have served to portray Nick Griffin and the BNP as victims. Now he can say with some justice that he was bullied, and bullying is of course a fascist tactic.

Fr Richard Rohr warns people of liberal politics like him and me that we can ‘become as power-seeking and controlling and dominating as our oppressors’. My hunch is that Nick Griffin would have revealed the extent to which his policies are based on fear, division and untruths of his own accord last night, if he was given space. Instead he was kept from answering truly important questions by some of the very tactics that most of us deplore and which we identify with far-right parties.

How can we avoid becoming like what we fight against? Perhaps it starts in the area of our own personal transformation. The teacher Jesus seemed to suggest that we need to learn to resist evil with stillness, mercy and even love. Tough stuff, particularly because, I suppose, it needs to start here, now, with me.

end of the line: tonight on More 4

2009-10-20T08:50:00.002-01:00

I blogged before about the excellent movie end of the line. It's on More 4 tonight at 10pm. Really worth seeing- about the threat to the world's fish stocks - but with a positive message that we can fix this if we have the will..

leftbankadvent

2009-10-12T07:32:00.003-01:00

This looks very good. Our buddy Si Smith is curating the leftbank advent art exhibition in Leeds. The venue looks amazing too.

ways into small missional community [7] eating, drinking together

2009-10-09T19:03:00.001-01:00

Here's my latest post re creating community:

Interesting things can happen when people eat and drink together.

Some of the most memorable stories left to us in the gospels from the life, death and resurrection of Jesus happen when food and drink are being shared. A woman anoints Jesus with her tears when he is at table. A life-changing conversation with Zachaeus takes place in the context of hospitality. Jesus bids farewell to his followers in the setting of a shared meal. The disciples at Emmaus recognise Jesus in the breaking and blessing of bread. And an early morning breakfast on the beach is hosted by the same risen Christ.

Interesting things can happen when people eat and drink together. Our common humanity becomes more apparent. Differences diminish. Neighbours and strangers find a place of belonging. Community can deepen. So if we are interested in starting or sustaining a new project-community in the way of Jesus it is worth imagining the place of eating and/or drinking together.

Any pattern of eating and drinking needs to be true to our setting and reflect our culture. An example from experience: from the start of its life the community of which I have been part for 5 years has centred its life on a simple community meal in someone's home each week. And each weekend the eucharist is followed by a visit to cafe or pub. The community's life and mission happen in the context of food and drink, in ways that fit the city setting and the life-patterns of the people.

Inspired by the practise of Jesus, what might be the place of shared eating and/or drinking in your community?

jonny on changes [pt 2]

2009-10-07T06:04:00.001-01:00

...and here's a link to Jonny's post part 2 on the changes @cms

jonny on changes

2009-10-04T08:23:00.001-01:00

Jonny Baker has blogged the first of 2 posts on what cms is about: changes [part 1] - the last 8 years

ways into small missional community [6] small is good

2009-09-21T16:23:00.001-01:00

here's the latest in my series of postings for the Small Missional Communities online network

It may not always feel like it, but I want to suggest that when we start something like a missional community, small is good! I'd go on to suggest that smallness may even be good throughout the life of a community.

Be assured that there are really tough things that go with smallness - fragility, vulnerability, lack of recognition to name just 3 - but these challenges are full of possibility and hope.

Small is good because it opens the way to participation. If the thing is small it requires us to be involved - and when we get involved we both shape and are shaped by the experience.

Small is good because it takes us into relationship. This path can, of course also be hugely uncomfortable. But it's in relationship with others that some of our rough edges become beautiful shapes, that Christ may be glimpsed as we learn to live, argue, accept and perhaps ultimately love our traveling companions.

Small is good because it has a vitality that cannot be easily defeated by difficulty, let-down or even persecution. The experience of people who attempt this way is that in the exposed state of smallness there can be a rediscovery of the God who is closer than we can imagine.

Perhaps we should not be surprised to discover that small can be good. For 2000 years would-followers of Jesus have banded together in small groups to share the journey. It could be argued that the Church has been at its most vital and authentic when characterised by being small - and that we have struggled to live the way of Christ whenever we have become big, powerful, or the majority. So don't be afraid of smallness. Work with it, embrace it, love it. Small is good!

visitor to our yard

2009-09-21T14:13:00.001-01:00

emerging conversation

2009-09-21T14:01:00.002-01:00

Emerging people here's a brief piece I've done on Emerging Church for Fresh Expressions. Anything you'd want to add or change?

Emerging Church is a term that has been used to describe a coming into being from the early 1990s into the 2000s of communities of people trying to follow Jesus in postmodern culture.

Emerging Church is not one single unified movement, and is not contained in any one denomination, but is rather a flowering of low key, grassroots and diverse groups, primarily in Europe, the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Emerging Churches understand themselves as being part of an evolving conversation. Most would resist being closely defined, and use of the term 'Emerging Church' is seen by some as carrying complications and restrictions. Shared themes include participation and non-hierarchical patterns of organisation, the place and possibility of community, engagement with the arts, a commitment to issues of justice, peace and the environment, and through it all a desire to work out what it might mean to follow Jesus in diverse and fast-changing cultures.

In the UK Fresh Expressions is currently taking the inspiration, learning and questions of the Emerging Church to a wider constituency.

For a wider view on Emerging Church, and an analysis of the main themes worldwide, the book 'Emerging Churches' by Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger [SPCK 2006] remains an excellent resource.

ancient prayer practise day

2009-09-18T06:06:00.004-01:00

Looking forward to the next StillPoint day conference on the ancient Eastern Orthodox Jesus Prayer practise with Simon Barrington-Ward. Places still up for grabs - go to the StillPoint website to book.

TEACHINGS ON THE SPIRITUAL LIFE & THE MYSTICAL PATH
with Simon Barrington-Ward
‘THE JESUS PRAYER’
SAT 26TH SEPTEMBER 09
Friends Meeting House
St Giles Oxford

a slow-burning revolution in Christian identity

2009-09-11T16:55:00.003-01:00

thanks Jonny Baker for flagging up this article in the Guardian by Theo Hobson on Greenbelt. Seems to capture the current spirit of the festival well.

ways into small missional community [5] being shaped by our setting

2009-09-11T06:47:00.002-01:00

Here's the next in the series of postings I'm doing on ways into small missional communities:

At various times in history Christian mission has tended to clone what has gone before, with little attention being paid to the context. One example might be the way in which, with the best intent, some 18th and 19th missionaries simply took the model of an English parish church and [literally] rebuilt that church and way of life around the British empire.

But the Gospel - the good news of Jesus - is a story of incarnation, of ‘God with us’ where we are, as we are, coming into our experience of the world. Christ’s coming gives dignity and attention to human culture.

So, whilst holding key elements in common - such as the new beginning of baptism, communal life nourished in the Jesus meal, love of the scriptures, and Jesus's practises of prayer and action - we should expect the life of Christ-following communities to reflect something of the brilliant diversity of human culture.

One of the most compelling possibilities for small missional communities is that they can reflect their context, celebrate their setting and energise their local culture. A truly authentic communal following of Christ will be shaped by and shaped for our setting.

There’s lots of ways into this, but here’s 2 opening questions that may help us to find a way in where we are:

What are some of the elements that make this community/neighbourhood/network distinctive? And if Jesus was one of us in this place, where would he be, what might he be doing?

[Look out for the next posting coming up in this series: small is good]
Peace to you
Ian

Greenbelt 09

2009-09-03T15:48:00.004-01:00

Great Greenbelt festival again. Can't quite get round to cutting off my wrist band yet. Highlights included staying with Matt Pippa and Lily, the Welcome Wagon in the Performance cafe, a moving talk by Bishop Gene Robinson about his story, going to mayBe's fashionable pace event, the bluegrass eucharist by HASS, inspiring conversation over coffee with theologian Rita Nakashima Brock, catching up with friends and making new ones, the Visionaries art exhibition, hanging around with Gail on Monday - and heh I enjoyed doing my material too, seemed to go well. Pics are of Gail and Heather at the Tiny Tea, the Welcome Wagon and Harry Adams brilliant 'Study of the Thames 1711' pic.

ways into small missional community [4] finding the spirit of the community

2009-08-26T06:20:00.002-01:00

Here's the 4th of the postings I'm doing on creating and sustaining community for the small missional communities online network.

In any community there will be always be a lot of focus on what we do. That’s fine - the actions of the community, its surface life - are important. But behind the activity is something less obvious, more subtle, and perhaps even more important. This is what I think of as the spirit of the community.

Almost every family, project, team, society or business has a spirit or value system, often unrecognised, and sometimes less than positive. Gracious or greedy, caring or care-less, transparent or manipulative [or a mix of those] - the spirit of a community is how it feels to encounter it - and the spirit of thing has the power to create something beautiful - or to trash it.

When combined with ‘the big idea’ [see the previous 'ways into... no 3'] a good spirit can produce something truly creative - a community that in small ways begins to reshape us and the world around us for good. So it can be really helpful in beginning a new community to identify what we hope the spirit will be, describe it, and begin to try to live it.

One way of getting a handle on this idea of spirit is to ask this question: how will we be when we are doing the things we hope to do? This is a question about the sort of people we want to be as we journey. It’s about how we do anything - and as one of my mentors Fr Richard Rohr says - ‘how we do anything is how we do everything!’ So, for example, how do we do the washing up? Happily, together, well? Or reluctantly, left for others, badly?

So what might be the spirit of the community-project that you are part of, or that you hope will come into being? Can you describe the spirit somehow - and if so what words or pictures convey this?

[Look out for the next posting in this series: [5] being shaped by your setting]
Peace to you Ian

compassion without limits

2009-08-25T07:16:00.004-01:00

There's lots of controversy at the moment around the release of the Lockerbie bomber. The bombing was a terrible criminal act. But my instinct is that the Scottish Government has done a good thing in granting compassionate release, however unpopular or difficult the decision, however inappropriately received.

I am rooted in the Jesus story - and it seems to me that the Teacher-Healer's life, death and resurrection was an story of compassion without limit. The extent of his compassion shocked many people - "does he not realise what kind of woman she is" - surprised even his own disciples, and was not dependent on the spirit in which it was received.

It's so important that we don't become like the bad stuff we want to resist. We need to live the grace that we talk about. Here's a link to the statement by Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill.

The pic is a favourite icon of mine - 'Christ and the friend' - very early [5th C?] God help me to become and remain compassionate.

Michael Volland

2009-08-24T15:51:00.002-01:00

Michael Volland is going from feig to Cranmer Hall Durham - here's a link to his new blog - all the best Michael