andi's perspective

emRG @ NOVAVOX

Novavox is a young network of missional practitioners in Germany. Its recent conference with Alan Hirsch drew over 200 participants, many of them below age 30, in a very constructive and encouraging atmosphere! And good questions being asked!

Among the seven practice workshops I held an emRG introductional seminar into missional research: How to support the missional practice questions by strategic reasoning and up-to-date technology?

Read more on the emRG blog.

IS THERE HOPE EVEN FOR (white, western, middleclass, evangelical) CHRISTIANS?

I am not sure. I have to think there is. According to Aragorn "there is always hope". According to Jesus there still seems to be hope, yet, judging from his harsh way with the pharisees quite obviously the odds are not very good for us...

Since who really is the modern counterpart to the pharisees of Jesus time if not us evangelicals? - Quite a message that Alan was delivering here in Karlsruhe these days. 

Where should we turn then??? I get the feeling the answer to all our reformation questions starts with a first time conversion of faithful Christians into real Jesus followers majoring more on compassion than on ideas, more on action than on holy script.

More than just food for thought that i am bringing to the Antioch meeting i am currently heading to.

Peace and greetings from Istanbul airport.

NOVAVOX CONFERENCE KARLSRUHE

Sitting in the Alan Hirsch Conference and witnessing an encouraging spirit of about 150 mostly young (< 30 y) German religious innovators.

The subjects, questions and the overall missional conversation strike me with their innate simplicity. Very basic questions are discussed with great passion:

How to follow Jesus practically? How to evangelize really? How to disciple really? How to do this together? What really does it mean, how does it look like to follow Jesus "missionally", i.e. as a continuation of the mission that Jesus was sent for into our world.

 

A SOCIOLOGICAL VIEW ON GERMAN EVANGELICALS

In my recently submitted BA Thesis I ventured to put together a sociological view on the mechanisms of reproduction and transformation within the evangelical movement in Germany. On only 50 pages this needed to stay on a rather shallow level, but it is a try and possibly a groundwork for any further studies in this direction. Building on my earlier study i applied several sociological concepts like social movement, social world, collective memory, religious market, field, power, capital, discourse and space to the question of what potential for change might be naturally inherent in evangelical Protestantism.

Suffice it to say here that i found ample evidence for this potential, mostly as the whole movement itself is a direct result not only of upheavals of change, but it actually incorporates what Alister McGrath calls a "methodical search for constant renewal" (something quite untypical for any religion).

Whoever is up for it, feel free to download the piece and to let me know what you think, particularly on my assessment of what i saw as handles for change (p28ff.).

LOTS OF LIFE THESE DAYS

Got out of rhythm with blogging as life has been pretty full the last months.

May & June were dedicated to conducting the first vocational training for "Cooperation Coaches" in Switzerland. As this was as mandate directly from the Swiss government, you wouldn't want to deliver anything less than excellence... In any case the feedback was positive enough to open more doors for smE-MPOWER trainings in Switzerland and beyond.

July I had to finish my sociology BA thesis with 50 pages on "Mechanisms of reproduction and transformation within the evangelical movement in Germany". This was a great time as I always love to devote myself totally to study and writing. I also applied for continuing my studies on graduate level under the "Cultural engineering" scheme.

After that shortly back to Switzerland only to learn about even more business opportunities, new mandates and work-loads on my table.

August finally ushers in peaceful summer time with a focus on family and house-keeping.  No doubt this mostly means helping Christine taming our beloved firebrand:

 

Upcoming holidays at the Italian beach might at last bring the desired time for looking into some sociology books (Luhmann's system theory and Löw's sociology of cities/ space) and to play with the two new digicams we are starting to really enjoy:  A Lumix LX3 for indoors/ serious pictures and a Lunix FT1 for fun, beach and no worries if Stefan get's a hold on it ;)

Marvel with me at the quality of my newby-pictures shot recently in the challenging dim-lights of a circus show (LX3 without flash of course):

Some more impresssions of our life these days here.

NEW FORMS OF COMMUNITY IV

Taking up my short series on new forms of community i love to share what by now i would call a very promising micro-experiment.

The setting is the local Jesus cluster we are associating with in the moment. The quest is to mobilize the disciples into their callings. With a group of around 15 people we experimented with something we called "Recognition Groups":

• On the back of a general mobilization for action and thorough times for listening prayer, we asked those that feel ready to go for a certain task the Lord has put on their hearts, to stand up and shortly share the idea with the group. This could be kingdom activities inside or outside of the organized Jesus cluster. We had either two or three task champions sharing.
• We then gave a time for prayerful reflection for everybody to 1. check with the Lord whether there is a doubt or a veto for going ahead with these volunteers and 2. to check in which of those themes they would like to engage personally in a support role. We then split up in two or three parallel groups centered around the volunteers and possibly their teams.
• In each of these groups  a moderator  guided the group process along 4 phases while taking exhaustive flip-chart notes:

1. Phase: CONCRETE: The task champion(s) describe the concrete idea, its ultimate dream, the background and the persons that are / should be involved.
2. Phase: PRAYER + FEEDBACK: The recognition group listens silently to the stirring of their hearts and then report a yay or nay about whether they can recognize this idea to spring from the heart of God. They give any feedback that comes to mind at this stage.
3. Phase: NEEDS: The task champion(s) enlist what they need to succeed in their project incl. any kind of support structures, finances, team mates or relational support.
4. Phase: ACTION + PRAYER: Together the team and the group plan the next steps, also reporting what they personally will or will not contribute to the initiative. The recognition group blesses and prophesies over the task champion(s),  with the moderator taking notes on the flip-chart.

• After about 45-60 minutes the parallel groups rejoin and the moderators summarize their group experience. Again, the full group is given opportunity to utter doubts or any misgivings that might hinder full affirmation of the initiative.
• Finally a group foto is made and a public one page project description developed on the basis of the flip-chart notes.   

The result is spiritually recognized and relationally affirmed private initiatives turned into collective projects. It is all about encouraging grass-roots what the One Head is putting on the heart of each of the smallest members of the Body.

And the point of the whole exercise is exactly this: to recognize Christ in each other and affirm this. To me, this has a whole lot to do with spiritual authority and of living the kingdom together.

BACK TO CHURCH? II

I am glad for those who show to be friends by caring enough to ask the hard questions. Seems i should add some words of clarification about my "being back to church" post.

1. No, i am not returning to the fold of "mother church" as a penitent sinner. Neither have i turned my back on any of my critical positions re. the current forms and our inherited theology of "church".

2. No, i am not submitting again (guess, i never did that in the first place) to any assumed "pastoral" authority. I would burn my conscience if i did. It is exactly the absence of a "pastor" that opens a door for the prophets?

3. No, i am not strengthening relations with this church-bound Jesus cluster (that happens to take the form of a - really not traditional - Baptist church) for the sake of getting anything other than an opportunity to change the world ;) It is not disillusionment really, nor the desire to have our little one undergo religious programmes, and least the need for "spiritual nourishment". I think this should be clear.

But Yes:

1. I do feel a need and personal calling at precisely this stage on our journey to (re-)associate with the body of Christ  that happens to have not yet outgrown the old forms of church. It is clearly a calling to "reform from the inside rather than from the outside".  This would not have been right yesterday and might not be tomorrow, but for this specific window of opportunity we feel it is.

2. The decision is based on my close friendship with the leading elders of this particular Jesus cluster and the unity in our desire to move ahead to new forms and realities of kingdom life. Plus the opportunity they give me to co-work in kind of a consultant and designer role without the need to enroll as church member which i feel i am not allowed to by the Lord at this point.

3. Besides the kairos-leading, it is my growing appreciation for the purely social dimension of the one Body. Meaning: humans are humans and need to organise their communication, interaction and relationships if they want to achieve something. Existing churches do provide a "third place" (some call it a "commons") for religious seekers and thus a natural space for sowing the seeds of the kingdom to the masses. The point is that Jesus did not build in secret! He proclaimed in the open and then selected 12 from the masses. How can i expect to build along relational lines only - without stepping out into the public?

BACK TO CHURCH?

I would not have believed it, but i can no longer deny it: In a certain way we are "back to church".

While my theology keeps struggling against it, with many questions unanswered, since a few months we are feeling clearly led to re-engage ourselves again in what could be called a traditional Baptist church (whether this might change?).

Admittedly, we are "back" with a careful and rather (self-)suspicious attitude and solely on the agreement that as coworkers we would not need to become enlisted members (which would still feel to me like outright sin).

Anyway. First preaching scheduled for me since years at next week's "sunday service" (oh, how i hate this term!).

Guess we're just getting older, wiser and milder. Or simply disillusioned?

Make sure to read the sequel to avoid misunderstandings!

DREAMING PROPERTY

Still the old dream of sharing an English cottage style house with good friends and ample space for guests and pilgrims is not dead within us.

The two years of Prussian castle experience could not quench the dream, either. Without a heavenly door this will however only remain a dream, but still, it is God who gives us many a dream in the first place. So, why not keep on dreaming?

Maybe there are similar dreamers around?

NEW FORMS OF COMMUNITY III

Following up on my short series on new forms of community, here is the third kind of intentionally structured kingdom interaction that i am currently enjoying:

• Weekly tele-prayers in pairs: On several weekdays' mornings i meet with a fellow disciple for a 15-30 minutes prayer over phone, VOIP or skype. The time has a double purpose: listen to HIM (through the exchange of hearts) and together expressing our desire to see His kingdom come. Thus building love and faith at the same time. The point is to have several of these bilateral interactions over the week together starting the day "hearing as disciples hear". 

Combine this with the "prophetic pairs" logic and you might see why this is all more profound than it seems on first sight. For me it currently means praying with England on Mondays, with Czechia on Tuesdays, and with Portugal on Wednesdays. Not always easy, but very fruitful for practically journeying together while being "widely separated in an extensive work".

Try it!