More on Post-Emerging

An interesting take on post-emerging church from Andrew Jones. For those who remember the "Kung Fu" TV series, it reads like a collection of wisdom being given to Grasshopper by his sensei.

Not sure where I'd place myself on the continuum; I think I recognize having gone through all of these stages. I certainly feel like someone who has gone through some deep thinking, soul-searching, and emerged somewhat scarred but hopefully wiser, humbler, and more quick to listen (James 1:18-20). I think I might fit "post-emerging" but I wouldn't presume to call myself one of the wise that Andrew urges us to seek out -- and I whole-heartedly agree with Andrew's wisdom in writing that.

Another part of me sometimes feels like, just when I'd gotten a good fix on things postmodern (or post-colonial, a term I think makes more sense), then somebody moved the goal posts and I'm suddenly back in the to-be-avoided-at-all-costs territory of "you don't get it". Even after reading (and mostly understanding) a lot of Michel Foucault and Jacques Derrida!

Which is why, yet again, I'm really glad I referred to this blog at its inception as "an ecclesiastical anarchist's journey", because journey is what it has definitely turned out to be. And as is true with all journeys, there are twists and turns along the way, and the destination(s) are seldom exactly what you first thought when you began.

Tell me, how have your journeys surprised you?

Tribbles and Post-postmodernism

When asked recently how my new job was going, I thought of this picture. I'm buried in things that I like, but I'm still feeling definitely buried.

Another metaphor that came to mind was trying to take a sip of water from a ruptured fire hydrant.

But I am enjoying my new work; it's just a steep learning curve that at times feels more like a steep incline than a curve.

I find that what I'm lacking here is shared history. I am fully capable of doing the work, but since little was written down (despite some good computer file management by my predecessor), it's difficult at times to figure out what needs to happen where and who needs to be contacted in the process. My co-workers have been great (and patient), but I'm frustated at times with myself because it feels like it's taking me too long to adjust.

Must the be smog.

But as I was driving along Lakeshore Road for several hours on Sunday (huge accident on the QEW so alternate routes had to be sought out), I really felt God was saying that this week the penny would drop and I would start making sense of it all.

Not a moment too soon.

On a different note, I was intrigued to read in Jason Clark's assessment of where Emergent is going that they (the top mucky-mucks of emergent) are recognizing that using the term "postmodern" is somewhat near-sighted (pomo-centric?) on the international scene.

The Third World, for example, hadn't really bought into modernism in the first place, so any critique or deconstruction that postmodern thought and theology might offer doesn't really fit after all. Nor does a critique of seeker-sensitive churches, for the same reason.

The folks at emergent are realizing that perhaps a better term might be "post-colonial" -- even using "postmodern" as a term to be exported to the rest of the world was (to a degree) still being colonial!

I hadn't thought of it that way before, but it was one of those "DOH!" moments.

See, despite the fire hydrant of new information coming my way, I am still having random ponderables regarding ministry!

Update on Emergent

Jason Clark, of Emergent UK, has an interesting write-up on a recent meeting of some key Emergent leaders in Chicago. You can read about it here.

I found it interesting on several levels, since I'm (like a number of people, I suspect) cautious about Emergent becoming a marketing sub-category of evangelicalism. It was refreshing to read that the people in Chicago were equally concerned that this not happen.

I also was intrigued to hear their take on the criticisms that they've received -- both helpful and the predominant kind: negative, harsh & judgmental. It reminded me very much of the attacks that the Vineyard endured in the 90's, and I suddenly realize that going through those years as part of the Vineyard was a portion of my "spiritual training" on how to deal with unfair criticism. A very useful learning curve when you commit yourself to being an agent of change within the structures.

And it was just good to be reminded, through Jason's words, of the heart that beats within the Emergent crew.

Benefits of NOT being in church Sunday morning...

Church on the Rock has already revealed a significant side benefit for us, since we decided last Sunday (as a whole family) to make it our church home.

The obvious thing that first attracted us, of course, was that it's a radical church plant focussed on reaching the youth & young adult culture of Hamilton Mountain. As such, you have a very missionally-minded leadership team that is determined to strike a wholesome balance between building up those who call the church "home", and the ongoing outreaches they do into the youth subculture.

But this afternoon, I discovered another side benefit: Because COTR meets in the pub at Mohawk, our church "services" are Sunday evenings, meaning that we're home all Sunday morning and afternoon, just like our neighbours.

Which explains why, as I was making wooden shelves in my garage today, with the door open to allow for some cooler air to come in, I met most of my neighbours. Apparently, in this neighbourhood, the opening of your garage door (especially when coupled with sounds of power tools) means "come on over and say hello". I was even treated to one of my neighbour's home-brewed beers (very nice -- the offer and the beer itself). We all pitched in and helped the guy across the street put the cab back on his new GMC pickup truck, and I met more neighbours.

And it suddenly occurred to me, after two hours of visiting and meeting other neighbours had passed, that perhaps one of the greatest side benefits of a church that meets in the evenings is that I'm home and available for hangin' out when my neighbours are. In a more typical church setting, I'd be conspicuously absent during prime neighbourhood time. And as Canadians, there is little that says "welcome to our community" like the offering of beer.

I'm going to hook up our BBQ later today. It's suddenly become a tool for evangelism. And the beer store is at the end of our street.

And I still get to go to church in a few hours!

Swan Song/COTR

One last picture of us performing at Winnipeg's Folklorama -- this was the final night of the festival, after a total of 29 shows in seven days, played before a combined audience of over 16,000 people. Wendy took this photo of us performing "Barrett's Privateers", literally an hour or so before we packed up for the last time, and our family began the 2400 kilometre trek to Toronto.



It has to be said, one last time:

I'm really going to miss these guys.

As I've noted to several friends out here in Ontario, if this was the last secular band that I'll be so heavily involved in, to quote the late Mike Yaconelli, "What a ride!"

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On a completely unrelated note, we've found a church to connect with out here. Check out Church on the Rock at their online home. They meet in a pub on Mohawk College's campus, and twice a month host 700+ youth and young adults at their Alternative outreach service in Mohawk's big auditorium. The core people of COTR have enthusiastically embraced us as a family, and we're looking forward to being part of a very radical bunch of crazies. Dave Overholt (the planting pastor of this six-year-old youth church) is certifiably nuts. I think we're going to be good friends.

This really does feel like a whole new chapter!

God In Your Face

I don't often recommend books on this blog, simply because I'm very cautious about inadvertantly participating in the marketing of postmodern ministry merchandise, but for once, humour me -- I'm in the midst of reading Dan Kimball's "The Emerging Church", and I'd like to recommend it. Wholeheartedly in fact.

Wow, Robby, what took you so long? The book's only been available for, like, about two years already...

But I have some really good reasons for recommending Dan's book!

• First of all, because Dan writes as someone who is actually doing something, not just theorizing from the comfort of Starbuck's on his laptop.
• As a practitioner, Dan is also urging us all to remember that we only deconstruct in order to reconstruct.
• The is not a book about "the" model of ministry that will work in every situation; it's about re-thinking ministry in general in order to be accurate witnesses of Jesus called the Christ.
• It's written with humility and grace (especially towards seeker-sensitive institutional churches), and we can always use more writers/bloggers who exhibit humility and grace.

Reading the early part of Dan's book reminds me of the cultural shifts we were engaging in the early 1990's at "Rock The City", our youth church that met in a rec centre every Sunday night. Unlike the conventional wisdom of youth ministry at that time (seeker-sensitive), Rock The City could be better described as "God In Your Face".

There was nothing subtle about it at all. Worship was grunge style, thanks to the nice folks in Nirvana & Pearl Jam (which was current at the time), teaching was simply reading a Bible passage and applying it to daily life (no youth pep talks, etc.), followed by inviting people to come forward to receive prayer from teams made up of other teenagers, and usually ending with more worship, until the rec centre staff's subtle hints (mops and pails scraping the floor at the back) made it clear that we should pack up for another week and head for a local restaurant for a late snack.

I'll never forget stuff like Tony, a big Japanese-Canadian guy, standing a metre or so in front of me as worship was happening, and watching him -- with tears streaming down his face while he raised his hands above his head -- falling to his knees in worship. Or seeing one teen who came to sell drugs (hey, over 100 youth in a rec centre -- who could resist the target market?), and instead becoming a Christian a month or so later, and then going to his high school principal, and all of his teachers, and apologizing to them for his behaviour, and then telling his classmates "I don't sell anymore. I don't use anymore. But you've got to come to this Rock The City thing".

Dan's book provokes the same sense of "God's up to something" that the memories of RTC bring. So, breaking my normal habit, I am recommending his book.

Highly.

Doctor Bob

Finally "online" at the homestead...

I promised Len Hjalmarsson that I'd include a story about Bob Roxburgh in today's post. Len heard Bob speak at the ALLELON gathering in Idaho recently, and it reminded me of the one and only time I've ever heard Bob Roxburgh speak:

Over a decade ago, I was in the process of being fired from a church because I had been labelled "too Vineyard". Well, technically, I "resigned", but if you've ever been in a hostile environment where life is being made as unbearable as possible, it's functionally being fired. I think the word is "duress"...

But I digress...

In the midst of the pain, feelings of betrayal and disillusionment, as I watched my very first pastoral position turning into something less than what I had hoped for, I really felt alone and that there was no-one I could get pastoral insight or counsel from. One of the most amazing youth leadership teams we've ever had the privilege of serving with, "The Dead Prophet Society", had become a difficult place for everyone. The "DPS" were our closest friends and co-labourers, and suddenly they found themselves caught in a maelstrom of church politics and power plays, and none of us had a grid for processing it. My last official pastoral duty was locking up the church after the midnight Christmas Eve service, and then tossing my keys back into the church through the mail slot. It was a very dark time.

During that hard season, just a few weeks before the Christmas Eve service, the phone rang in my office, and I heard an unfamiliar female voice asking if she could schedule me for a lunch appointment with Dr. Bob Roxburgh. I had heard of Bob by reputation, but I had never met him nor heard him speak, although I was aware that he pastored a Baptist church downtown. I agreed to a time and a restaurant, and the secretary (I assume) told me that Dr. Bob would meet me there.

At the appointed time and place, Bob showed up and treated me to pumpkin pie and coffee. Over our one hour together, Bob delicately probed the situation I was experiencing, and allowed me to sort through some of my thoughts and feelings through his wise combination of insightful inquiries, and lots of reflective listening.

As the close of our far-too-brief hour arrived, Bob gave me the only piece of pastoral advice that he was to offer that day.

Stirring his coffee, seemingly fascinated with the concentric swirls he was creating in the cup, he said, "Tell me, Rob, how old are you?"

"I'm 30," I replied, and waited.

Bob took his time, stirring his coffee slowly and deliberately. Still gazing thoughtfully into his cup, he softly told me, "You're still quite young. You have many, many years of fruitful ministry ahead of you."

Then he stopped stirring, carefully placed his spoon on the napkin beside his empty pie plate, and finally locked eyes with me.

"Unless you grow bitter."

His gaze held mine for what seemed an eternity, as he watched the lesson sink deep into my soul.

"Guard your heart, young man, guard your heart."

Then he paid our bill, bade me farewell, and that was the last I ever saw of him.

I need to point out that if Bob hadn't called me for that meeting, I wouldn't have thought less of him. I didn't know him; I had no expectations of him. Dr. Bob simply went out of his way, with no possible gain for himself, to encourage and admonish a young pastor in crisis.

I hope I see him again someday. I thanked him on that day in 1992, but I'm more grateful now than ever.

Settling In

Despite appearances to the contrary, I'm still part of the blogosphere. We moved into our own home over the weekend, and we're in that wonderful phase of trying to fit into our new home. The difference between housing prices, and house size, is significant when you leave Winnipeg and move to Toronto...

Internet access at home won't happen till after Labour Day, so regular blogging will be a reality after that date.

In the meantime, any prayers on our behalf as we, especially including our three children, deal with all the changes, would be greatly appreciated!

We're enjoying this new chapter so far, but we'll all feel better when we've completely moved in and finished all the nit-picky details that moving requires (medical insurance, car insurance, licenses, school registrations, etc.).

In the meantime, Len Hjalmarsson continues the discussion started by my "Year of Blogging" thoughts. Check out his August 30 post where he (as usual) thoughtfully extrapolates on my blog entry.

It's good to have smart friends.