For four years I’ve been leading a monthly intergenerational worship and learning time at our local church in Adelaide. I recently did a write-up about it for John Roberto’s “Lifelong Faith” Journal. The journal is free and an excellent resource that comes out three time a year. You can find it here. My article is in Volume 8.3. I also have an article about Queenscliff and Point Lonsdale Uniting Churches in Volume 8.2.
Worship Workshops in Tasmania
A week ago was in Tasmania running sessions on Worship as part of a presbytery event aimed at equipping lay worship leaders. About 35 people from across the state gathered for 2 days of input from people including Chris Barnett (pictured), Steve Terrell, Anne Perrin, Carol Bennett and myself. Wonderful organisation by Michelle Cook and Anthea Maynard.
Here are some of my session resources:
Worship as Formation (plenary session)
1. Story -“Always” from “Grasshopper on the Road” by Arnold Lobel
2. Discuss
- What do you ‘always’ appreciate about worship in your church?
- What ‘always’ annoys you about worship in your church?
3. Dinner at my place
I described that habits of the Mitchell household when people come over to dinner, and then talked about human beings as creatures of habit.
Human beings are creatures of habit. We are shaped by our habits. The patterns of our lives and relationships begin leaving their mark on us from the moment we are born. Who we are is part nature, part nurture. The habits of our families of origin shaped us for better and for worse, and we spend much of our lives both drawing on the strengths they gave us and trying to unlearn the unhealthy scripts that they placed within us.
Any community, large or small, has a culture that is in part the accumulation of many habits – ways of speaking and acting that reveal what we value, what we hope for, what we like and dislike and what we believe. We are shapers of culture but we are also shaped by culture.Continue Reading
A Sea Change for Elderly Churches
I’ve just had an article published in John Roberto’s “Lifelong Faith” journal in the US. The article is based on my visit to Queenscliff and Point Lonsdale Uniting Churches in Victoria and the interview that I conducted with their ministers Revs Kerrie Lingham and Charles Gallacher. The journal is free and comes out 3 times a year. There are a few years worth of editions available to download for free and a wide range of topics covered.
Click here to download the current issue with my article in it. (Direct link to PDF).
Mission and Evangelism Network
I’ve been in Melbourne for 3 days meeting with the Uniting Church Assembly’s Mission and Evangelism Network (AMEN). This is a voluntary network, primarily of people in Synod and Assembly roles, but open to anyone to join. The group meets once a year in different locations.
On Monday we visited Melbourne Korean Church which is possibly the largest Uniting Church in Victoria. The congregation is just over 40 years old and has recently undertaken a significant property development funded by the sale of another nearby church property. The Senior Minister Rev Dr Paul Goh was an energetic, informative and enthusiastic host. The church is intentional about spiritual formation and education, and is currently exploring open-ended faith conversation with young adults in a mentoring group. They are committed strongly to age-appropriate Christian education, both with first generation Korean language speakers and with second and third generation English speakers. Rev Robin Yang leads their ministry with youth and young adults. The church sees the Korean diaspora as potentially an apostolic evangelical movement.
On Tuesday we visited Hopper’s Crossing to hear Rev Dr Adam McIntosh and Rev Rosemary Broadstock speak on behalf of Port Phillip West Presbytery to share their “Regenerating the Church” direction and strategies. The Presbytery strategy includes inviting congregations to choose whether or not they want to work on new approaches to mission. If they do, the presbytery engages with them in several ways. The Mission-shaped Ministry course provides a foundation for church leaders to think differently about ways of being church and how the Gospel speaks into their context. Congregations are invited to creatively explore new models of ministry, and these are shared on the website as short videos. The presbytery has funding available for new placements with a specific on developing fresh expressions of mission. The presbytery leadership are involved in providing coaching for ministry staff involved in starting fresh expressions. It’s an exciting approach to systemic change.
On Wednesday we discussed plans for another national Mission & Evangelism conference, hopefully to be held in 2016 in Melbourne.
We also heard about Rev Dr Ian Robinson’s’ evangelism training course “Makes You Wonder” and began plans for Ian to offer this across Australia as a train-the-trainer program in 2015.
Using the Bible in Worship
Our task as a church is not simply to read texts aloud in worship, but to let our lives be shaped by God’s Story. How does Christ, the Living Word, speak through the Scriptures to diverse Christian communities today?
Here’s a short paper that I wrote for the Assembly Worship Working Group prompted by an online discussion about whether you can only use the recommended NRSV version of the Bible in Worship.
Download The Word Speaks (107kb PDF)