The Complex Christ

Should Mission be about Funding? | Small is Beautiful

Over at TallSkinnyKiwi Andrew has posted some thoughts on How To Ask Foundations For Money.

This isn't the first time Andrew's posts have made me feel a little uncomfortable. And it won't be the last. And I'm glad about that. He's a guy who keeps me itching. But, I have to say, the post did flag some questions for me about some of the foundations of the emerging movement.

Andrew notes:

This kind of thing really wears me out but its a necessary part of mission work and getting the job done. My previous mode of working was to ignore the Foundations and do everything without money as much as I could. But Donors also want to play a part in the Great Commission. Especially the more exciting stuff that I have been involved in this past decade -the mission of God in the global emerging culture - and I have a responsibility to make space in the playground for them also.

It seems trite these days to go back to asking what Jesus would have done, but I think it's a serious point. The gospels suggest that the merry band shared a common purse, and that they probably welcomed gifts. But did they go out fundraising? I wonder if it's a point about gift theory. If you put together a Christmas present funding proposal to your parents about how exactly they are going to get that great gift you so want, and what a boon it would be to your life, is that present still 'gift'? I think something of the gift is destroyed by the proposal.

Vaux was a very small project. I remember going to see the Bishop of London at the House of Lords and him sitting down saying 'So what do you want to see me for? Do you need some money?' His jaw almost hit the floor when we said we didn't. We accepted gifts, sure. But we never went out fundraising. Why? Because it seemed right to live within our means.

I love Schumacher's principle of Small is Beautiful and sometimes wonder if much of the industrial mission machine has moved away from this. The subtitle of his work is 'A Study of Economics As If People Mattered', and it is of course the relational that is central to all we do. How much funding should we need for that?

If these donors want to 'get in' on the global emerging culture, why not just give freely? Oh - because they want to make sure their money is being used wisely. How can they do that? As Andrew hints, they need to get relational. But much more so than they might already be doing. Forget the funding forms and spin culture.

I recently went to speak at a large, modern, beautiful church and was speaking to one of the congregation about the building. 'It's horrendous!' they moaned. 'It's costing us so much to keep up'. So sell it. Live within your means. Accept gifts. And if that means scaling back some big projects, fine. The Church™ will survive.

Technorati Tags: Consumption, Mission

The 3rd Economy: Gift, Market and Plunder [1] | Christian Leadership and the Leisure Class

As some of you may know, I've been working on a novel for the past few months, playing with themes, among others, of the links between identity and consumption. One of the books I've picked up to feed the furnace has been Thorstein Veblen's 1899 satire Conspicuous Consumption (an excerpt from his longer work The Theory of the Leisure Class, available as part of the lovely Penguin 'Great Ideas' series), and I'm glad I did, as it's nudged me to re-thinking some of the ideas on gift within The Complex Christ. These are unrefined thoughts, but I wanted to set out a few posts on what I've mulled over.

Firstly, an outline of Veblen's ideas.

His thesis begins with an examination of what he calls the 'leisure class' which 'is found in its best development at the higher stages of the barbarian culture; as, for instance, in feudal Europe or Japan. This leisure class is basically what we might now call the aristocracy, but his labeling is quite deliberate and, I think, rather contemporary. What obviously separates them - and Veblen gets us to think about this in more ancient cultures, rather than just in terms of stately homes etc. - is their employment:

'The upper (leisure) classes are by custom exempt from industrial occupations, and are reserved for certain employments to which a certain degree of honour attaches. Chief among the honourable employments in any feudal community is warfare; and priestly service is commonly second to warfare.'

Actually, Veblen continues to list four main lines of activity for the leisure class: government, warfare, religious observance and sports. And, as World Cup fever truly grips (perhaps for only 4 more hours as England face Ecuador at 1600) it is interesting to note our continued fascination with the leisure class - we might call them celebrities now I suppose - who play for £120000 a week.

I want to explore the links Veblen identifies between warfare, consumption and leisure in another post. What interests me briefly here is whether Christian leadership is still seen as part of the 'leisure class' -  a get out from real work, an escape of some sort.

Perhaps I'll do no more than present the question; what I would like to add is this fascinating quote from a letter a great friend and critic of Thomas Merton wrote to him. It talks of 'the monastic', but made me think on the insularity of some full-time Christian work:

"The point of being a Christian in the city is to try to humanize modern technology and modern society, and you [Merton] are trying to escape this. Let us admit that at the outset I am radically out of sympathy with the monastic project. […] All monasticism rests on a mistaken confusion of creation with this world, and so they suppose that by withdrawing in some symbolic fashion from creation they are leaving the world. But creation is precisely not the world, but its antithesis, and so what they do is essentially the opposite of salvation. They withdraw from creation into the desert taking ‘this world’ with them and then they dwell apart from creation, but in a newly erected kingdom of the prince of this world. You have not withdrawn from this world into heaven, you have withdrawn from creation into hell."

Rosemary Ruether writing to Merton. In Merton: A Biography, Monica Furlong, p 287

Technorati Tags: Books, Consumption, Leisure, Merton, Ministry, Ordination, Religion, Veblen, Work

Leadership Day This Saturday

Looking forward to spending this Saturday discussing leadership issues at the first Blah... learning day, with Anna Draper, Jonny Baker and Paul Roberts. I'll be sharing some thoughts first published here.

Book [ here ]

Technorati Tags: Emerging Church, Ministry, Theology, Westminster

Bi-Vocational Leadership | Si's 'Life More Ordinary'

Excellent post from Si Johnston here.

"So in closing, I think our new terrain for mission requires a serious look at the training grounds for leaders, the growing of new streamlined infrastructures for supporting less full-time leaders which in turn must be coupled with a pro-active move towards ‘bi-vocational leadership’ for more people."

As I mentioned to him, shame the post is well over 300 words. Few bloggers appear to want to read that much text ;-)

Technorati Tags: Part-time Work, Ministry, Work

A Polite Message to Condoleezza Rice About Democracy

Condoleezza is currently enjoying a tour of the North of the UK, hosted by Jack Straw, UK Foreign Secretary, and they have faced anti-war demonstrators at every turn. Condi's response:

"The protesters make my point. Democracy is the only system that allows people to be heard, and heard peacefully."

It's not just her. This has been the default response to any protest over the war: 'well at least they have the freedom to protest.' And I am totally sick of it. Why? Because it is an utterly cynical disenfranchisement of the political process.

Yes people are freely allowed to protest. But the logical conclusion of this position appears to be that Governments are given a free hand to do what the hell they like, as long as the little people are given some space to have their pathetic little protests about it. And this is precisely what so many people feel about this Labour government's responses to Iraq, to education, to health, to terror legislation.

The end result is not a love-in about how great democracy is, it is people becoming so fed up with the impotence of the 'democratic' system we have - a system that shouts loudly and proudly about the voice they give to dissent, but then utterly ignore it - that they simply give up on democracy. And take matters into their own hands.

Condi is wrong. These protests do not prove her point. Unless, of course, her point is that people disenfranchised from the democratic protest and rendered impotent by it, who see their views and opinions ignored by a powerful elite in the pockets of the rich, are very likely to find potency in terrorism and direct action. Yes: finally an admission that Iraq led directly to the London July bombings.

So, the polite message? Go home Rice. We don't want or need your lectures on democracy. You may have talents and skills, but you're hardly the best ambassador on this one.

Technorati Tags: Condoleezza Rice, Democracy, Iraq War, Islam, London Bombings, Terrorism

Emerging Leadership Day | Churchless Faith Follow-up Book

Two quick links:

Firstly, I am looking forward to sharing some thoughts on leadership in emerging organizations at the blah... learning day.

I'll be joined by Maggi Dawn, who will reflect on trying to re-imagine leadership in the ancient structures of the Anglican church and Ana Draper of L8R, who has recently completed her MSc in psychoanalysis, guiding us in some thoughts about leadership from a psychoanalytical/theological perspective.

It's on 29th April at Moot Towers, St. Matthew's  London SW1P 2BU

To find out more and to book a place visit blah leadership learning day.

Secondly I'm really excited to hear that the follow-up to Alan Jamieson's groundbreaking book 'A Churchless Faith' is set for release very soon.

“This follow-up to A Churchless Faith is both fascinating and disquieting – fascinating because it shows that people rarely stand still in their journey of faith, whether or not they attend church. And disquieting because it underscores once again just how irrelevant or unhelpful the institutional church has become for so many reflective and intelligent believers today. This book provides further valuable insights into the growing phenomenon of church leavers, whose protest the church ignores at its own peril” - So says Dr Chris Marshall (St. John’s Senior Lecturer in Christian Theology, Victoria University, Wellington)

Stay posted by visiting Prodigal Kiwis often - the excellent blog by Alan Jamieson and Paul Fromont. Good people. Fine thinkers.

Technorati Tags: London, Theology

President vs Archbishop | The End of Patriarchal Leadership?

A couple of recent posts I've read to link together:

In an excellent post here Will Samson explores the failings of the religious right in US politics.

"Beyond the public moral failures, however I believe that 2006 will be the beginning of significant political failures for the religious right. I believe we will begin to see an undoing of the last 30 years of political organization by this segment of the church."

And Jordan Cooper put me on to this post by Andrew Sullivan, which outlines the root belief of this 'political organization by this segment of the church':

"The key element that binds Christianism with Bush Republicanism is fealty to patriarchal leadership. That's the institutional structure of the churches that are now the Republican base; and it's only natural that the fundamentalist psyche, which is rooted in obedience and reverence for the inerrant pastor, should be transferred to the presidency. That's why I think Bush's ratings won't go much below 25 percent; because 25 percent is about the proportion of the electorate that is fundamentalist and supports Bush for religious rather than political reasons."

Finally, I noted a link on Sanctus 1's blog to this interview with Rowan Williams (Archbishop of Canterbury) in The Guardian in which he not only describes himself as 'comic vicar to the nation', but also replies to a question on whether an Archbishop should provide moral leadership by saying:

Technorati Tags: Anglicanism, Bush, Church, Democracy, Politics, Power, Theology

In Defence of Alt.Worship | We Haven't Even Begun to 'Emerge' Yet

I was disappointed to read on Jonny's blog that Graham Cray wanted to down-play the significance of alt.worship and emerging churches in the future of the church. And I'm glad Jonny attempted to correct him.

Just a couple of observations.

According to Jonny's notes, Graham Cray said:

"Mission vision not church angst. Emerging churches good but only part of picture. Alt worship etc part of picture but not future... Postmodern is passe - paradigm shift has taken place"

I agree with some of this. Alt.worship is not the future. But it has been a very vital catalyst. And catalysts rarely get the credit they are due when the history is told. They are the invisible spaces that allow reactants time to create newness. Without them the process of change would take much much longer. However, this energy they bring to speed up the process should not be interpreted as 'angst'. It is disingenuous to suggest it.

I would also want to take Graham to task on his view that 'Emerging Churches are good but only part of the picture.' If he is right that the postmodern is passé and a paradigm shift has already taken place, then the church that emerges from this shift is, by definition, all there is going to be. The big problem is that people are, I think, far too easy with the definition they are using.

The chapter I wrote on Advent in the book - about waiting for the old to pass and the new to come - is pertinent I think. And I don't think people in the institutions have shown enough patience to wait yet. They think the transition has already happened. That we are already 'emerging.' I don't think we are even close. Unless there is a proper 'wait' then what emerges will still be too much infected with the old forms. And I think this is happening now. People are tacking together programmes of café-style stuff and a few nightlights and thinking they are 'emerging.'

I'm afraid I'm sceptical. I just don't think that's going to work. We need a far deeper change to occur. One that reaches wide and deep. And given that this was led by the same old white men, I'm afraid I don't think that can possibly have happened yet.

Technorati Tags: Rebirth

A Party-less Politic? | The Emerging Church Shows the Way

Just been listening to a very interesting report on the BBC about The Power Commission's report into British democracy which has been published today. The parallels with Alan Jamieson's work on Churchless Faith were astounding and, as I mentioned in my book, the church really does have an amazing opportunity to model a mode of change and being to the rest of society, rather than copying it in twenty years time.

The Power Commission - funded by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Foundation (JR was a fabulous Quaker-Philanthropist-Chocolatier) - initially asked MPs why they thought voter numbers were down. 'Apathy' they said.

Rather like the ministers Alan asked, they reasons they gave for people not participating were totally wrong, and laid the blame at the wrong door. The Commission found very little political apathy. On the contrary, people are up and involved in politics all the time. It's just that Westminster don't call that 'politics', because it's not the 'Politics' of Downing Street in the corridors of power.

Their first recommendation then is that Westminster needs to realize that the solution is not to 'get people more interested in politics' - ie drag people to Westminster to see all the great stuff they do (cf. get more bums on seats in church) - rather, Westminster needs to get back out there and get involved in the issues people are involved in locally.

You simply cannot - whether in church or political parties - expect people to sustain membership of organizations they feel totally alienated from. Unless there is genuine opportunity for meaningful participation, why should people hang around? I have often argued with MPs - especially over the Iraq War - that they are in dereliction of their duties if they vote against the will of their constituents. Our democratic system is currently topsy-turvy. We vote for parties who set out an agenda for action. What the system originally intended was for people to elect a representative to send to Westminster to speak for them. In other words, the motivation for action came from the people. We have lost this original intention, and are poorer for it.

The solutions the Power Commission recommends? Unsurprisingly if you've read The Complex Christ, a move from the top-down to the bottom-up, greater low-level interaction, and feedback loops. . More power to the local, and mechanisms whereby dirt can be dished and people listened to and action taken. Interestingly enough, they suggest that more MPs should blog, but beyond that, they think that there ought to be a system whereby the public can force Parliament to debate an issue if a certain number of people get together and sign for it. Furthermore, they recommend changes that would allow people to stand for election more easily without being swamped by the big parties.

One commentator was an academic who commented that 40 years ago we were debated the role television might have in politics (see previous post). It clearly had a profound one, and he argues that e-Democracy will have similarly profound effect not only on our politics, but on the way we see ourselves as citizens too.

Clearly, the Emerging Church movement has made big steps forward in this area already. e-Spirituality and the emergent, underground blossoming interest in the spiritual has had a profound effect not only on our theology, but on the way we see ourselves connected as Christians too. Spirituality and theology are no longer the holed up in Ivory towers to which only the sacred few have access; what we must do is help politics move the same way. It is, of course, a movement that is irresistible because it's the way of co-operation, the way of inter-relation, the way of the divine. And it is, of course, a movement that will be always resisted by the powerful.

Technorati Tags: Democracy, e-Democracy, London, Politics, Power, Spirituality, Westminster

Carpenter from Nazareth Needs Joiners

Contender for worst Christian sign ever.

In case you've been wondering, it's DIY week. Or half term - never can remember what it's really called these days. Certainly not holiday... Will need a relaxing week's teaching after all this. Carpentry, wallpapering, re-wiring, insulating... The list goes on. And on.

I remember hearing one David Pawson speak - yup, the guy who wrote 'Leadership is Male' (thankfully 'Limited Availability') - who said that he was very happy for people to come and stay with him and his wife, but only if they were prepared to do a day's work. He backed it up with some proof-text, and claimed he'd deny you your dinner if you hadn't done enough work. A dinner his wife would doubtless have to have cooked. The same wife who he wouldn't let pull the switch on an electric chair, though he'd do it himself.

One of those bizarre Christian talks you never forget.
Think I've earned my pie tonight anyway.

Technorati Tags: DIY, Emerging Church, Work