Five Years

It seems to be the thing to do to reflect on five year anniversaries (here and here).

Last Sunday was a double anniversary for me. It was 5 Years since we moved into a house that needed rather more doing to it than we thought.. Louise and I also celebrated our 12th Wedding anniversary (I think we remembered about midday).

A week on Sunday it will be the fifth anniversary since my induction to the pastorate in Morecambe. The last years have been a personal journey for me. I have had moments of feeling the need for a total career transformation and have investigated retraining as a plumber. At other times I have known that that I’m doing the right job. Today is a right job day. Not just because someone who gave me a hard time at a meeting almost apologised, but because I am happy that among other things the Morecambe, Sunday Night Project is helping the church to think differently about community and life.

Other things have happened in the last five years that are worthy of note, some good things, other rather sad things:

• Libby was born.
• Alice and Isaac Started School.
• Both my Maternal Grandparents have been ill and subsequently died.
• I have passed the post as a fully qualified minister (bizarrely enough, I’m going on a “Ministry Refresher Course” this year).
• I have begun post graduate research into Church Planting Approaches in the Baptist Union.

Managing Church Meetings

For those of you that don’t know our system, the Baptists have a Church Meeting, where all the members of the church can meet to discuss matters that are of concern to the Church as a whole.  There are several ways of looking at it.  Two ways I see it are:

• Theologically, it is the church, who are called “the body of Christ” in the scriptures, meeting to discern “the mind of Christ” for the future.
• Practically, it is consultative leadership.  Everyone has an opportunity to consider the things up for discussion and comment on them as they see them.  Not that the church meeting decides everything.  It delegates responsibility to groups and individuals and trusts them to get on with it.

Last night we had a meeting, and it is probably the most tense meeting I have been involved with at Stanley Road.  It made me reflect on the way I lead meetings.  I’m not one for the Minister and Deacons telling the church what to do, so I leave plenty of time for questions and dialogue.  The problems I have noticed are:

• Although the dialogue is encouraged it tends to be dialogue between and individual and me, the chair of the meeting.
• That although people are free to contribute only the most vociferous, or eloquent, do.

To combat this I have sat people around tables a hall, rather than rows in a chapel.  I don’t think I have progressed that far enough.  The dalogue last night was mainly between me and two individuals who wanted to speak on two subjects without entering into any dialogue. We may as well have been sat in rows.  The meeting at that juncture would have been the same.

Some things I could have done, but didn’t (perhaps because I feeling a little under siege) are:

• Turn the questions outward: “Would anyone else like to answer that”.
• Turn the conversation inward: “Perhaps you could discuss that around your table, and we will take feedback from each group”.
• Shoot the discussion dead on items that are marked as information: “This item is for information, if you would like to discuss it at a church meeting feel free to ask the secretary to put it on the agenda as a discussion item at the next meeting.”

Other things have occured to me that we could do:

• Provide a discussion primer introducing the topic so people are informed in advance.
• Have a discussion about behaviour in a church meeting and collaboratively produce a summary of what the church meeting is for, including acceptable forms of behaviour and questioning.

Has anyone got anything to add?

Richard asks me some questions about “The Sunday Night Project”

This is a really dodgy quality interview.  My Friend Richard who is Minister in Hull asked me a few questions about the Sunday Night Project.  Richard Interviews Graham

Morecambe Sunday Night Project

Last Sunday we launched our Sunday Night Project.  My initial reflections are:

• Fantastic start, 75-80 People.
• Lake of Fire are very good, as are the Jazz band from Ripley School.
• Great venue (who didn’t charge us all they said the would).  The horse shoe layout worked well, giving a quieter space and a loud space.
• Things like this usually start well, I’ll be surprised if there is the same number of people next week (circular walk).

I’m very pleased with the way that it went.  I have had various comments back, and am arranging with RevJev to impartially interview me and ask probing questions.

The Sunday Night Project

For a few months we have been working on re-inventing our evening services. We finally came up with a name “The Sunday Night Project” and Launch on June 8th. However we pinched the name from “the Friday Night Project” who have now moved their program to a Sunday night and have renamed it “The Sunday Night Project”. Sigh… the best laid plans of mice and men…

Our initial values are:
Values: Enjoyable, Accessible and Christ Like

Areas of Activity:

1. Building Relationships
2. Social Action (Local, National, International).
3. God, Bible and Thinking
4. Worship as journey

Provisional Program
June 8 Big Launch – The Park Hotel 6:30-8. Light Music and Food
15 Circular Walk, with a few pause for thoughts.
22 Where is God in an “Act of god”?
29 Communion with a difference.
July 6 It was Independence Day – Barbecue on beach (bring your own Burger).
13 Discussion – Genetics?
20 How do you see Christ? – Question Time Format/Interviews.
27 Review/groups feedback

May’s Reading and Junes Target

I haven’t quite hit my target of reading 18 books this month. However in my defence I have found some dusty copies of “Planting Papers” which was a Baptist Church Planting journal that ran from 1991 until 1994 in the archives at Spurgeons College Library.

I have also conducted two preliminary interviews with people who have been significant in the church planting world over the last 20-30 years. I will not be publishing the transcript of those interviews here because I haven’t asked permission.

Next months targets are fairly simple:

1. List all the churches established with the B.U. in the period 1970-2008.
2. Identify Church Planters that might be targets for an initial investigative questionnaire.
3. Read and review two books significant in the Baptist Church Planting World (Christine, Nodding)
4. Set up two more initial conversations with people who have been significant in the Church Planting world.

The books and articles I have read are:

Allen, D. (1994). Planted to grow. Didcot: Baptist Union.  (Bibliographic Details)
This book is a comment on Derek’s research into fifty church plants planted between 1984 and 1994. His analysis occasionally lack coherence and has an anecdotal tone. Sometime the comments appear to have nothing to do with the research, and are often repetitive. Although a useful summary of the general position of church planting over the period it is anecdotal in style. (My Notes)

Christine, S. (1991). Editorial: The planting decade? Planting Papers, 1, 1–2.  (Bibliographic Details)

Coffe, D. (1991). From the bac room. Planting Papers, 1, 8.  (Bibliographic Details)

Dennision, J. (1991). Willow creek – a new philosophy for ministry. Planting Papers, 3, 7–9.  (Bibliographic Details)

Faircloth, S. (1991). Church planting for reproduction. Grand Rapids: Baker.  (Bibliographic Details)
Samuel is providing a manual for church planters. He attempts to provide theological rationale as well as drawing together what he sees as useful resources for the church planter. He is focused on planting churches in a geographical area. (My Notes)

Feeney, J. (1988). Church planting by the team method. Anchorage: Abbott Loop.  (Bibliographic Details)

Finnell, D. (1991). Power planting. Planting Papers, 2, 2–3.  (Bibliographic Details)

Forster, R. (1991). The primacy of pioneering over pastoring. Planting Papers, 1, 2–3.  (Bibliographic Details)

Frost, R. (1991). From the sharp end: A community approach to church planting. Planting Papers, 1, 6–7.  (Bibliographic Details)

Hearn, M. (1991). Planting people, the human factor. Planting Papers, 3, 1-–3.  (Bibliographic Details)

Helen, W. ((1995). The role of english associations/districts in church planting.). Unpublished BA dissertation, Spurgeons College, London.  (Bibliographic Details)

Hill, S., & Barlow, G. (1991). From the bac room: A 10 point manifesto for the centrality of church planting in the denominational mission policy. Planting Papers, 2, 9–10.  (Bibliographic Details)

Hill, S., & Barlow, G. (1991). From the sharp end: The church for the unchurched. Planting Papers, 2–3.  (Bibliographic Details)

Jackson, P. (1991). Bacup conference review. Planting Papers, 3, 10–11.  (Bibliographic Details)

Misselbrook, L. (1991). To build or not to build: A checklist for church planters. Planting Papers, 3, 4–5.  (Bibliographic Details)

Nicholls, M. (1991). Spurgeon and church planting. Planting Papers, 2, 4–6.  (Bibliographic Details)

Parkes, R. (1991). From the sharp end: Using community networks. Planting Papers, 3, 3–4.  (Bibliographic Details)

Sutton, R. (1991). Failure factors: Reflections on a church planting survey. Planting Papers, 2, 6–7.  (Bibliographic Details)

Tdball, D. (1991). Letter to the editor from derek tidball (b.u. secretary for mission and evangelism). Planting Papers, 3, 9–10.  (Bibliographic Details)

Warner, R. (1991). The folly of photocopying. Planting Papers, 1, 3–6.  (Bibliographic Details)