Outwardly focused religious life

Organised religion requires an inflow of money to keep the system going. It has largely done this through the giving of its members who gather on Sundays or on other days of the week. When the people flow dries up so does the money flow unless it can rely on the income derived from property, investments etc.

My observation is that much church life is about gathering people (the shrinking few) and trying to get more out of them both in commitment to the organisation and in financial terms.

The gathering I think has to focus on inspiring the living of life to the full, of providing opportunities for creativity, for reflection, for education, spiritual reflection and growth, for helping people to find ways to change the world together and so on. If there is a paid or ordained person I think their role has to be as a facilitator rather than as a provider of religious services. The gathering has to act like a springboard for sending people out to a life lived more fully rather than sending them on another mission strategy for getting people back in the church.

The key difference here for me is the difference between inward focused religious life and outwardly focused religious life. Unfortunately I think whether we have churches organised around one leader or supported by a resource minister we can be still maintaining the inward focused flow.  So often the flow from the church is disillusioned hurt people like a trail of blood from a wounded dying animal rather than a flow like a river of life nourishing the world. 

The church is dead. Long live the church!

Fresh expressions or last gasps?

It seems to me that much of what people who congregate as Christians do or what is classed as mission only appeals to less than 5% of the Australian population. Much of what goes on is merely attracting people from other denominations. One example (among many) is of more conservative minded people drifting to more conservative minded congregations and more liberal minded people drifting to more liberal minded congregations. Some may be attracted in from a non-religious background but the amount of disillusioned believers leaving seems to be growing even faster. If a congregation or denomination or 'the church' is concerned about its impact, the uncontested space of the 95% might be where it could focus its efforts and resources for the greatest rewards.

Meanwhile, I think every church, every congregation, has to de-construct what it is, why it exists, what it does, how it holds power, its history, its place in society, its view of 'the truth', what it represents, how it relates to people who do not want to believe or people who do not want to be part of organised religion and so on. There may be a lot to let go of including ideas about God and notions of what is truth and who and what defines truth and letting go of the things we do, that we hold to but which work against what we really want to express. For example baptism and communion in the way we practice them may be more exclusive than inclusive.

In recent years congregations have been encouraged to come up with quick vision statements and medium to long tem strategies, but I think we need to sit for a while in case the vision statement or strategy is built on ways of being church and believing that not only those beyond the church cannot relate to but even those still within the life of the church cannot relate to.  

I really enjoy the congregation that I am currently committed to. It is the Bushland Chapel at Helensburgh, New South Wales http://bushlandchapel.net/. I enjoy Sunday gatherings there because what goes on enables me to reflect on stories of lived life and biblical stories and other stories. I think that ‘the church’ could become something different in the world and a means of transformation in society when instead of telling people what to believe and how to behave it creates space for people to reflect, to develop their own beliefs, to be creative and then to trust people to do what they want to do and the choices they make about living.  Somewhere in here I think is a way that those of us who are still connected with the church could engage more creatively and authentically with the 95%.

(photo: Church of Ireland, Crookhaven, Co. Cork, Ireland

Will Fundamentalism eventually triumph?

I read something in Greta Vosper's book 'With or without God' that really got my attention. Greta quoted Lloyd Geering who in an article titled ‘Fundamentalism: the Challenge to the Secular World’ (www.religion-online.org) quoted Kirsopp Lake who in 1925 (86 years ago) predicted that the church is shrinking from the left. He said that the fundamentalists (the right) will eventually triumph in the church. They will drive the 'experimentalists ' (the radicals) out of the church and then reabsorb the 'Institutionalists' (liberals) who under pressure will become more orthodox.

This got my attention because it was 86 years ago and was a prediction about the future and is exactly what I think is happening today. Will fundamentalism eventually triumph? I hope not and I don’t want to be forced out of the church.

Lake said that it was more difficult for experimentalists to establish a viable identity because they had no firm belief structure. It is much easier for fundamentalists and conservatives to brand their version of Christianity. They know what they are on about and can articulate it clearly and quickly because it is made up of rigid doctrines and dogma. The challenge for those of us who hold less rigid views, those who want to experiment, is to find ways to brand Christianity differently than the branding done by more theologically conservative and fundamentalist Christians. This branding has to stand apart from the branding of fundamentalists and reflect a definite direction, not rigid, not dogmatic, but meaningful, inclusive, authentic, spiritually enriching, life enhancing, passionately committed to loving action, to social justice, to mercy, to forgiveness and to making this a better world.

Fundamentalism: the Challenge to the Secular World by Lloyd Geering 

http://www.religion-online.org/showchapter.asp?title=2732&C=2437p?title=2732&C=2437

Today, I was thinking about the spiritual journey a number of us went on in a study group during my last two years as a minister at St. John's Uniting Church, Neutral Bay (Sydney). The journey can only be followed by looking back.

There was no strategic plan to cover all the books listed below, there was no predetermined destination, no outcomes or key performance indicators. Rather it was a journey of exploration, leading from one book to another, like island hopping as we ventured further and further out to sea away from our port of origin. 

Along the way not only did we read books, we met Brian McLaren in person in North Sydney, watched Pete Rollins on Vimeo, had a Skype session with Samir Selmanovic from New York and we often saw Reza Aslan interviewed on ABC (Australia). We were enriched by the journey and very challenged by it.

It made me realise that just there is always more to learn about the people who inhabit this planet, the need for a just an equitable world in which to live, an ability to include one's 'enemies' as well as one's 'neighbours', to learn from all people, to really question the way we do 'our religion', to make meaning for today, to live in the present moment, to live without fear, that there is always more to learn about that whom we call God and lots more. One major thing it taught me is that there is a depth of faith to discover beyond the religious harbours we seek to find safety in. 

I have included the books, authors and some web links below.

Everything must change: Jesus, Global crisis and a revolution of hope’ by Brian McLaren http://www.brianmclaren.net/archives/books/brians-books/

‘The secret message of Jesus’ by Brian McLaren http://www.brianmclaren.net/

‘The fidelity of betrayal: towards a church beyond belief’ by Peter Rollins http://peterrollins.net/

‘It’s really all about God’ by Samir Selmanovic http://www.samirselmanovic.com/

‘No god but God’ by Reza Aslan http://www.rezaaslan.com/nogodbutgod.html

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Jesus Christ Superstar

On Saturday I saw the musical Jesus Christ Superstar for the first time and I was very impressed. It was an excellent production by Wollongong High School of the Performing Arts. It was full of passion and terrific performances in singing, dancing and acting.

Seemingly, it was first performed forty years ago in 1971. I'm older than that. It has been around for a long time so why haven't I seen it before now? I think it was performed in Ireland for the first time at the beginning of 1973 and I remember that there were protests about it when it came to Cork. Some people were still protesting it again in 2003 when it was performed in Cork. Was it those 1970s protests that put me off? I'm sure that at the time the protests acted as the best publicity.

As I watched the performance I thought about the protests.What was all the fuss about? Why were some who claim to be followers of Jesus so threatened by it? I imagined that the protesters could have been part of the script. It would be interesting to place a performance of Jesus Christ Superstar within another musical or play a bit like the plot of the film 'Jesus of Montreal' (1989). The protesters adding more calls of 'blasphemy' would only enhance the script and bring into sharper focus how we can use religion as a negative, oppressive and controlling force in people's lives today just as it was back in the time of Jesus. Perhaps it has been done already.

Just as Jesus challenged the religion of his day so the religion of our day needs to be challenged. We want to challenge people beyond our definitions of the church with the message of Jesus but will we let people 'beyond' or 'outside' the church challenge us with the message of Jesus? Shall we let them speak (or sing, dance and act) or shall we seek to silence them just as we seek to silence those within the church who raise questions and see things differently?