Is it Graham Doel or Graham Dole? It’s Graham Doel not Graham Dole!

One of the first thing I learned as I grew up was that I was going to have to spell my name out every time someone needed to record it or write it down.  "That's Doel, D, O, E, L" I have to say, but even when you do that people write Dole.  My name is not Dole it is Doel!  I'm not telling you off if your reading this I simply want google to find me under Graham Dole as well as Graham Doel, hence the reason for including Dole as many times as possible in the title and the content. Just in-case you were wondering my name is Graham D, O, E, L. My name is not Graham Dole!

Riots in Barton in the Beans

The next time, therefore , that John Taylor visited Barton, a number of persons from Nailstone, a village a mile distant, assembled; and endeavoured to disturb the worship. Some tied bells around their bodies and danced about the place: others sung and swore: and all united in the most violent threats against the preacher and his abettors.

Taylor (1818) The New Connexion, p.8

Silk ripples in the story of life

I've said before that I like to change my style now and again so that I don't get bored (let alone those who listen to me). One of the styles I have been using is storytelling (I nicked the Idea from Jesus).

Experimenting with preaching styles is a bit like chucking a stone into a pond and watching what happens. It's fun watching the ripples come back. The interesting thing about storytelling is that the only ripple that has ever some back to me was a backhanded compliment and rebuke from one of the oldest members of the congregation (something about being a natural youth worker). I decided that it was probably time to engage in a little theological reflection on the subject and began to read what people say about Jesus Parables and story telling technique.

Simon Kistemaker observes some simple and obvious points that I will try to think of when I prepare my next retelling:

1. Structure "The parables Jesus told are unique in structure and design. They exhibit artistry with respect to unity, coherence, balance, contrast, recurrence, and symmetry."
2. Emphasis "Teaching orally by way of repetition, Jesus was at liberty to use the same material at different occasions. His method of repeating the same material exhibits emphasis."
3. Reality "Jesus' teaching method involves the hearers or readers in the context of the parables. It removes them from their comfort zones and places them in the story to become active participants."
4. Examples "The examples Jesus used in telling His parables are true to life and people relate to them without any difficulty. He relates stories of events that could have happened in the daily lives of the people of that day."
5. Surprise "Many of Jesus' parables conclude with an element of surprise. For example, the poor, the lame, and the blind are the guests at the great supper; all the workers in the vineyard receive the same wage; and the tax collector goes home justified. A dishonest steward is commended; a widow receives justice; a shepherd finds his lost sheep and a woman her coin." (Link to article. I found it via ATLA)

I have renamed his titles in order to help me remember the points. It is now a palindrome spelling "Seres". Seres is the ancient name for the inhabitants of the northwestern part of modern China It meant "of silk," or people of the "land where silk comes from." I guess silk is a good description for storytelling that is well thought out. It should be like silk for the mind.

Jesus and Whisky

This bottle of Whisky was a gift from my friends Colin and Doris a couple of years ago. I had mentioned that I thought the message that Jesus brought was a bit like drinking a bottle of Whisky.

• Only die hard church-goers can manage the whole lot at once (the message of Jesus that is, you have to be an alcoholic to manage the bottle in one go!).
• To get the best effect you take a little at a time.

I'm inclined to think that when we as churches adopted our practices they were culturally relevant. Take the sermon as a topical (here and here) example. When it became dominant in church life the main form of education was very similar. Over the past couple hundred years we have learned a little about the way people learn. Today no-one in their right minds tries to educate people by standing at the front of a room and lecturing them for half an hour. However, while classroom methods have changed and developed the dominant form of Christian learning has remained, largely, unchanged. Far too often we take a "full bottle of whisky in one go" approach to our message. Although I'm no expert on Whisky (unlike Doug Ingram, who has been known to do whisky tasting with his students) I understand each whiskey has its own character, flavour and depth. We need to find ways of allowing people to take a little at a time, to process the depth, quality and measure of the gospel. There are some great examples of this change in how we engage people with the message of Jesus at the moment. Richard and Catrioina can be found in their local pubs, Barney and Sara in the local Cafe and Clayton Baptist have planted a church using an entirely different format to the sung worship and "sock-it to 'em" sermon format. I have a dream that some day the dominant form of church will be different. That perhaps it will be more attuned to our regular cultural practices.