Gerard Kelly's Blog, page 10
May 3, 2011
May 2, 2011
The Bethanie prayer room - a wonderful place of encounter and...
The Bethanie prayer room - a wonderful place of encounter and energy…
wisdom = stillness + prayer
It's been so good to be back at Bethanie this week after a very busy time at Spring Harvest. The event itself was excellent - a really good year filled with positive conversations as the bible came alive to people in so many ways.
Here at Bethanie it's the rustling of the trees rather than the bustle of crowds that fills the air. This is a place of stillness, but the busier I am in the weeks 'in between' being here, the longer it takes me to find my place and rhythm. And it is only when I do so that I re-connect with God and with his purposes for me. Busy, I am distracted and misdirected. Still, I find God's wisdom. My chosen vocation is to love between stillness and activity - and I know which is more crucial to my faith and survival.
"Dear Lulu,
Your dad has sent on your letter and asked if I have any answers. It's a difficult one!..."
Dear Lulu,
Your dad has sent on your letter and asked if I have any answers. It's a difficult one! But I think God might reply a bit like this –
'Dear Lulu – Nobody invented me – but lots of people discovered me and were quite surprised. They discovered me when they looked round at the world and thought it was really beautiful or really mysterious and wondered where it came from. They discovered me when they were very very quiet on their own and felt a sort of peace and love they hadn't expected. Then they invented ideas about me – some of them sensible and some of them not very sensible. From time to time I sent them some hints – specially in the life of Jesus – to help them get closer to what I'm really like. But there was nothing and nobody around before me to invent me. Rather like somebody who writes a story in a book, I started making up the story of the world and eventually invented human beings like you who could ask me awkward questions!'
And then he'd send you lots of love and sign off. I know he doesn't usually write letters, so I have to do the best I can on his behalf. Lots of love from me too.
+Archbishop Rowan
A six-year-old Scottish girl named Lulu wrote a letter to God: "To God, How did you get invented?" Lulu's father, who is not a believer, sent her letter to various church leaders: the Scottish Episcopal Church (no reply), the Presbyterians (no reply), and the Scottish Catholics (who sent a theologically complex reply). He also sent it to the Archbishop of Canterbury, who sent the above letter. (via aar0n)
"April 6, 2011
Belcher's Europe
OK, so it was a bit unfair to accuse Jim Belcher of not being aware on anything outside of the USA. Since Steve Taylor (NZ), Jonny Baker (UK), Pete Ward (UK), Al Hirsch (AU) and Mike Frost (AU) all get mentioned as 'emergent voices' in Belcher's book, it would seem he is thoroughly aware of the global scene. But here's what's interesting - and almost certainly part of a bigger picture - many of the sources in the emergent conversation come from outside the USA, but the implied ecclesiology of Belcher's book, and the many conversations it touches on, is thoroughly American. Turns out this might be the very definition of the emergent conversation in the USA: the attempt to apply in the American setting, in churches largely shaped by the evangelicalism of Jonathan Edwards and Billy Graham, the philosophical and theological discoveries of post-modern Europe.
Which is ironic, since so many European churches are spending their time trying to apply the practical models discovered in America… which very often don't work here. It's a big argument in favour of context and of letting both our IDEAS and their APPLICATION take account of the context from which they have arisen.
April 2, 2011
Review: Deep Church
I am about halfway through Jim Belcher's 'Deep Church' and finding it an instructive read. To mention the book's limitations first, it is a) entirely America-centred, with no evidence of any awareness of anything outside of the US scene, b) it descends all too often into being an apologetic for Belcher's own church - very nice for those who go there but not much use for the rest of us and c) it may well not turn out to be a 'third way' at all so much as a simple compromise of traditional and emergent ideas. Having said all that, the book is a very good insight into the conversation that is currently taking place (mostly in the US) around the emergence of the emerging church. Belcher has friends, and sympathies, on both sides of the fence, and he does a very good job of describing their differences. I think his analysis of the US scene is sound, and his call for conversation in place of conflict is much needed. The book was published in August 2009 but could be a commentary on the last four weeks of American evangelical life.
The most ironic aspect of 'Deep Church' is that it probably doesn't go deep enough.. If there is a third way between established and emergent, it will not come from a compromise of the two but from some really deep theological reflection. I'm not sure that Belcher does that here, though he may be doing it now for all I know… Highly recommended, though, if you want to better understand the intensity of current US blog posts…
Read more about Deep Church on Amazon
