Blog upgrade

With the new version of Wordpress released this month, I have upgraded both this blog and my study notes. I have suffered no ill effects, both are running fine.

I also checked my blog stats. Itis nice to see a steady increase in traffic over the year. The dynamic of my blogging has changed slightly over the year as I have become aware that people read it. Though I would still blog even if no one read it, my three blogs are simply my filing system.

Happy New year to you all.

Kester Brewin on the incarnation

This is the mystery of the incarnation: that Christ was both fully God and fully human, and his birth sums up what we must do. He came into the world invisable to the human eye, beneath the radar of the authorities, undetected by those blinded by power. And now we like Mary need to become wombs of the divine, allowing God to fertilize our creativity and give birth to newness. Brewin, K. “The complex Christ” Page 47.

The Complex Christ, Brewin, Introduction

Kester sets out his intention of the book that the church should allow its self to move on in its faith development. He draws on Fowler’s stages of faith development (Fowler, J., Stages of Faith, HarperCollins, 1995), to suggest that the majority of the UK churches are fastened in Fowlers faith stage 3 (synthetic-Conventional).

(this is) … where people fall into the trap of thinking that further change is unnecessary. At this stage being oart of a tribe or community is significant. (Page 9)

Kester suggests that his book is a first attempt to imagine what the h=journey of faith development is going to look like.

I think it should be noted that the majority of faith development studies are male orientated. This has, not supprisingly, been criticised by those of a feminest persuasion. In fainess to Kester, he is using the mose widely available material. He hints that Alan Jamieson also refers to the Fowler material in his “A Churchless Faith”. Perhaps their use of this material reflects the white, male domination of emerging church thinkers.

Book Reccomendations from Tallskinnykiwi and Mark Berry

Andrew Jones (aka Tallskinnykiwi) and Mark Berry (of Way out West) have both posted a reading list for the Missional minded reader.  Thanks both of you.

http://markjberry.blogs.com/way_out_west/2005/12/emergingmission.html

http://tallskinnykiwi.typepad.com/tallskinnykiwi/2005/12/best_books_on_e.html

Henri J. M. Nouwen on the Incarnation

The body tells a spiritual story. The body is not just a body. It’s an expression of the spirit of the human person and the real spiritual life is an enfleshed life. That’s why I believe in the incarnation. There is no divine life outside the body because God decided to dress himself in a body, to become body.

From the video “Angels over the net”, Sparc Productions,1995

Initial Reading

Bosch, 1991, Transforming Mission, Orbis Books, 0883447193
Grenz, 2000, Renewing the Centre, Baker, 0801022398
Brewin, 2004, The complex Christ, SPCK, 0281056692
Nussbaum, 2005, A Reader’s Guide to Transforming Mission, Orbis, 1570755949
Raschke, 2004, The Next Reformation, Baker, 0801027519
Mann, 2005, Atonement for a sinless society, Authentic Media, 1842273558
Murray, 2005, Church after Christendom, Paternoster, 1842272926
Murray, 2004, Post-Christendom, Authentic Media, 1842272616
McLaren, 2004, Mission Implausible, Paternoster, 1842272950

Dibbyisms

Elizabeth is growing up quickly. Everyday she is learning new words. Some of our favourites are:

“bibbished” = finished
“babyahh” = baby ahh (said at random intervals whenever there is a dolly near by)
“soose, coat, car” = Shoes, Coat and Car in that order usually straight after breakfast… but she goes to bed instead.
“more” = more
“peese” = please
“mummy, mummy, mummy”
“cheese” = cheese, though it can be a little difficult to distinguish beteen cheese and please.
“poo”, usually said when she hasn’t done one but wants to get out of the push chair.
“ow”, often said when hurt, but this week she walked up to Louise stroked her head and said “ow” , “ow” said Louise, “why”. Then she hit her over the head with a toy!

Mark Berry on Post Modernity

Mark Berry of “Way out West” posted on The reluctant souls blog in a discussion about mission (find it here)

Yes the debate about postmodernity/postevangelical has bee raging for years and many are now reflecting that postmodernity is not a helpful way to understand the paradigm shift that is underway… perhaps we need to use something like transitional-modernity, expressing the idea that we are not yet in a new cultural paradigm but in a transitional phase of modernity… the resulting cultural paradigm as yet unclear.

http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=14665188&postID=113377759156165505

Lunch

I have had a couple of lunch time appointments this week, beyond my normal pastoral appointments. I met with the new minister in the village of Caton for one of them and the local schools worker Tony Bower (working for NISCU).

It was nice to talk with two people about mission particularly in the local area. Tony has been in this area for years and has done loads to encourage churches into active mission among young people.

All in all a refreshing week! Added to that, I have managed to get back to a bit of regular blogging.

Thoughts on the development of mission

I recieved an e.mail today from “S”, some of which is below. (S, if you would like to own your work, I’ll happily attribute it to you or remove it if you prefer).

> With regards to the missiological aspects, you mention, from what I can
> recall, about 19th century missiologists engaging with culture. You are
> right in your assumption that this engagement tended to be somewhat
> one-sided, at least initially, but by the late 19th century there was
> significant movement on the part of missiologists in other directions.
> Now, they were thinking differently as a result of theological shifts-
> particularly within the field of Christology and as a result of the work
> of Max Muller, the rising anthropologists and a myriad of other
> influences, many scientific, some with their roots in the new critical
> history which was emerging. By the beginning of the 20th century then,
> we see that there is very direct engagement on the part of missiologists
> and missionary thinkers with culture, as evidenced by the work of C F
> Andrews of India, J N Farquhar, also of India, and very many others. A
> dialogue with culture is opening up, particularly through direct contact
> with Science and with non-Christian religions- in fact, the degree of
> dialogue which I have discovered is of a very high quality and we have
> largely forgotten how much those 19th and 20th century thinkers
> pioneered radical new ground, ground which we are often only
> rediscovering today. I heard Professor Keith Ward of Oxford lecture the
> other day and almost everything he said could be found in the teachings
> of the 17th Century Cambridge Platonists, who also, by the way, have
> much to say to missiology. The work of Bishop Spong is basically just a
> reworking of 19th Century Liberal theology. But, to return to
> missiology, I think that you have a vast field there from which to
> choose topics of research, particularly within a 19th C context.
>
> You also mention, again if I recall correctly, wanting to explore some
> postmodern writers. Have you considered Stanley Grenz, an American
> Baptist who died very recently at the age of only 57yrs and who wrote
> some excellent and throught-provoking stuff on evangelical dialogue with
> postmodernism? His main work ‘Renewing the Centre’ is well worth a read.
>

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