local stories of fresh expressions of church

On Saturday the team I am part of that is helping to implement the key direction of the SA Synod's strategic plan - new models of church - put on a dreaming / visioning / story sharing day.
I could tell you what we did, but why would I when Steve, also on the team, has already done it so well? You can read it here.

Actually, that's probably a good idea anyway, because I can't remember much of the day, other than the really good feeling amongst the people, the lovely local food (including the sighs of appreciation for the Udder Delight cheese I brought, we shared the stories of the food, too), and meeting some interesting and passionate people.

It was a good day - good to be gathering people and to get a sense of the enthusiasm and energy and dreaming and hoping that is beginning to surround this somewhat mysterious idea that is 'fresh expressions'.

launch of a poetry anthology

Last night I attended the launch of Season of a New Heart, the Poets Corner Anthology.
Rev Philip Carter launched the anthology, which was a wonderful moment of synergy for me - one of the poems I have in the anthology emerged for me out of a retreat day with the Christ Church council that Philip led in 2009. Philip uses a lot of poetry when he leads retreats, and he had shared with us some words from Julian of Norwich, who said that peace and love are always in us, living and working. And from this thought a poem - 'The deepest and the best' - was born. I spoke to Philip after the launch and told him this and he said he had had an 'I wonder' moment on reading that poem ... and he quoted the same passage from Julian of Norwich in his address!
Other things that resonated for me from the things Philip said included some reflections on the relationship between poetry and prayer - both happen when ordinary language runs out. This was from Archbishop of the Church of England Rowan Williams, a church leader who restores my hope in church leadership on the world stage.
Philip also said that poems shouldn't mean but simply be, and any meaning we receive from poetry, as in life, depends on the disposition with which a reader comes to it.

John Pfitzner, one of the editors, then shared with us the story of the production of the anthology, which on an intellectual level, having been an editor with a publisher, I kind of know - but on an emotional heart level, was great to hear as one of the contributors how our book came to life.
I was really sorry that Jude Acquilina, another of the editors, couldn't be there last night - I interviewed Jude as a local poet for an assignment in my creative writing honours workshop more than 10 years ago. Part of the joy for me in this first appearance of my poetry in an anthology is that it is with a poet who I admire, and whose work I have enjoyed for so long. I'll have to look for another opportunity to reintroduce myself to Jude - with her involvement in poets corner, I'm sure that opportunity will arise soon enough.

Another joy for me with this anthology is the poetry of some other members of The Esther Project - one of the poems in the anthology, if I remember rightly, emerged from an Esther Project gathering ('Silence', by Bob Macintosh), and one of the poets found the poet within through her participation in our community of faith, creativity and sacred story. What a joy!

Congratulations go to The Effective Living Centre and all involved in the production of this anthology - what a gift Poets Corner, Sacred and Creative, ELC and Christ Church are to the wider community. I am so excited at the possibility of being more intimately involved with these movements and people in the years to come.

pondering an ancient letter

actually, it's more that I'm pondering Malcolm's wonderings around the ancient letter from Paul to the church at Colossae in the first century.
I really like the thought that in Christ all things have their place - this is the cosmic Christ, or as I sometimes like to think, Wisdom, which others name Word, through which and in which all things come into being. Sometimes we get ourselves to the point of understanding the origin of all things as being in God that we think God gives us suffering, pain, hardship - as what? punishment, a test - but actually if we think of it in terms as Malcolm put it this morning at Blackwood Uniting, and all things have their place in the Divine, then yes, the harder parts of life do have their place, and yes, they can lead to discovery and learning and other good things, but their being isn't part of some Godly puppet show in which humans have no choice and humanity has no responsibility for the current of evil and pain and suffering that runs through the world. We don't bring it on ourselves, that's not what I am saying; what I am saying is that I do not understand that God gives us the car accidents or the job losses to test us or to punish us.
These things have their place in God's realm (aka kingdom), and it is to those who suffer hardship, loss, loneliness, marginalisation ... etc., that this realm is given - it is ours, and the hard stuff has its place in the Divine because all of creation has its place in the Divine and we are blessed in our pain and our suffering and our loss and will know the fulness of the renewal of all creation in due time.
that was a bit of a ramble, probably not terribly coherent.
I do like the thought ...

of opportunities, community and creativity

It's been a busy week.
starting with lunch on sunday with a friend I've known most of my life and his wife who are visiting from London - great to see them both.
I was in a bit of a nervous state as I hadn't heard the result of the decision from a congregation who were considering a proposal to call me as their minister from next year. I didn't know an email had been sent - I was out all day!
Later in the afternoon I had arranged to have a beer with another friend I hadn't seen for a while, still not knowing I'd received an email ... eventually I couldn't stand it any longer and got in touch with the chair of the JNC (joint nominating committee, the group who meet with a potential minister for conversations to discern the call of God for congregation and minister) and heard that Belair Uniting Church congregation had agreed unanimously to call me as their minister from January 2011, half time. I am delighted, and so excited to be joining this community. The conversations had been so positive and an indication of the potential for creative and mutually life-giving collaboration in ministry. It's going to be great, and I have received much affirmation all week for this call. I've waited to write about it publicly until I signed the terms of placement - which I did and posted yesterday.

The Esther Project table - 15 Nov 2010

Monday was a very long day, with an early start planning a contemplative space for The Esther Project, playgroup (which was so delightful, the relationships with parents and children now firm and trusting after these past months of getting to know each other), shopping and lunch squeezed in before a meeting to contemplate the future of The Esther Project at the Effective Living Centre, then more planning and the actual contemplative space with The Esther Project, which inspired some profound reflections and creativity once again. I love how the stories of our faith tradition resonate and invite us into deep discoveries about God and life and our being.
Tuesday morning brought more discoveries about the realm of God as Nathan and I continued to develop our bible studies for NCYC 11. I think I'll have to blog about this process separately. It's been quite an experience, and we haven't even got to the Gold Coast yet (I haven't even booked my seat on a plane, but that's also another story). Tuesday afternoon cemented our plans for a fresh expressions dreaming and resourcing day, and then brought some rich conversation about the models and the language we use to describe what we see emerging through fresh expressions of church.
Wednesday was the final day with the community program at Blackwood Uniting - I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with these creative people, and learned much about myself and the pastoral element of my role as a minister in a community - the profound simplicity of having the courage to be with people and invite them to be who they truly are. Later Wednesday afternoon I was involved in some planning of a course on worship and the arts, which the Centre for Music, Liturgy and the Arts will be running next semester. That looks very exciting indeed. Then in the evening, the Effective Living Centre management team and I thought some more through the possibilities and implications of incorporating the Esther Project into ELC, and though there is more work to be done to make this happen, we are all committed to and excited about this development for the two entities.
Thursday was a short day at CPE, but on the way I crafted a story for the devotion, which I may post later. Liz and I met later in the afternoon to further develop the topic outline for Exploring the Christian Scriptures, a Certificate course being offered next year at Uniting College. That's also exciting.
But by last night, when my youngest sister joined my other sister and I for tea, and I was helping my best friend and sister with their respective job applications, I was aware of being very very tired. So today is a slower day, when I might finally put my washing away, gather my thoughts, have lunch with another friend I haven't seen in a while, and rest, rest, rest.

Seeking the Sacred - a night with Stephanie Dowrick

Sean (minister at Effective Living Centre) has commented, reflecting on the book launch and conversation with Stephanie Dowrick on Thursday night, how remarkable it was to witness 130+ people from different faith traditions (or none) putting aside time to contemplate together the Sacred. The book being launched was Seeking the Sacred, and its author exudes passion for this presence among us.
I've had so much going through my mind on a personal level in recent weeks, I'm not sure how coherent my own reflections will be, but I'll start with the things Stephanie said that resonated for me.

At the front of the book, Stephanie (using her last name in the way one would usually refer to an author 'Dowrick' seems too impersonal after the way she talked with us on Thursday. I'm sure she wouldn't mind) quotes Jung, who talks about the desacralisation of life (I guess mostly in the Western world), which leads to a lack of spiritual vision and a diminished capacity to include everyone. Jung points us to a deeper place, where we connect with the Sacred and are able to transcend the things that divide us. Stephanie talked about how she believes that the Sacred is integral to our being - spiritual practice is the practice of living. [this resonates for me, I think I have blogged before about how this vocation into which I feel called is more a way of life than it is a job you can leave behind. for better or worse. but if spiritual practice is the practice of living, then perhaps it is, after all, for better. if this vocation is a call into spiritual practice of living, then I don't really have to go to 'work' do I? I am simply living. lucky me!]

which reminds me of another thing Stephanie talked about, that when we gather for worship, or watch the sunset, or meditate / pray / sing / any number of 'spiritual practices' we are pausing to remember the Holy that is always there. We're awakening ourselves to the Sacred - not saying that the Sacred is not present or integral to all of life. We do need to pause, though, to remember - that's essentially what any rite or ritual is about, remembering, reminding ourselves of our story, the story of an individual, a family, a community, a faith tradition. [which reminds me of part of what is important to me about the place of an ordained minister in the church community - a symbolic role, reminding the people of the call of God on all of our lives to live God's way of Love in the world. and what is important to me in the wearing of liturgical garments - the white of the alb reminding the gathered community of our common baptism into the one Spirit, the stole representing the ordination, the symbolic role of the ordained minister to call us back again and again into God's presence and God's loving ways.] again with pausing - the act of creation is a kind of a pause, and in the pause we do a kind of remembering, of what leads us into life. [this resonates for me as leader of a storytelling creative community of faith whose mission is to create spaces for stories that lead us into life]

there were other things I wrote down, but I think these resonated deepest for me.

the only other comment to make about what Stephanie said is this: I bought the book.

of the everyday miracles that occur when stories are told and heard

I have just finished reading The Other Side of You, by Salley Vickers .
It's the story of a psychiatrist and it's the story of one of his patients. It is also the story of the healing power of story, and the invitation art can offer into healing and wholeness.
David (the psychiatrist) discovers a connection with Elizabeth (the patient) in the artist Caravaggio. The connection, and David's sharing with Elizabeth of his encounter with a Caravaggio painting, provide the key to unlock Elizabeth's silence. And in one afternoon and evening she tells David her story; and this brings healing for Elizabeth. Surprisingly for David, and for the reader too, in the telling of Elizabeth's story, David is also moved towards healing of his own story, his self.
I was a bit nervous about the story early on, because of my own story. But this was less about depression and suicide as it was about healing and the stories of these two characters who share a profound experience of healing as Elizabeth tells, and David hears, her story of love and loss. And so while it resonated with quite deep and sometimes vulnerable parts of my story, it did so in a way that affirmed my own journey towards healing, rather than causing me any distress or to wallow in the difficult parts of that story of mine. The author has been quite skillful there, because she doesn't hold back from telling the story of depression and suicide and mental illness; she tells it honestly, frankly, and leaving room for the suffering and the pain as well as moving towards hope. A tough task. A story necessarily told.

For me, as a storyteller, what I'll take away most, however, is the way she shows how story has power to transform teller and hearer:

David narrates the book, and says (p. 191): 'I was changed. Changed by my patient, and by her story, which was also her lover's story, and my own story, and by the story of that long-ago scene [the Caravaggio painting of the walk to Emmaus from the Gospel according to Luke] ...'

This book for me, this story, underscores one of my most deep and abiding beliefs: in 'the everyday miracle which occurs when stories are told and heard in conditions of love and trust' (p. 247).

Thank you Salley Vickers. I adore your writing, your characters, your telling of story.

of becoming the poet i dreamed i could be

I have just realised that I have not blogged about this until now, and am a little surprised.
I have had two poems included in a poetry anthology, to be launched later this month. It's pretty exciting for me, in a year of affirmation for my writerly side. When I went back to uni in 2000 to study English, this is what I was aiming for, publication in anthologies, of course my own collection at some point, being paid to write. I am so surprised at how it has come about, but here I am, about to be ordained as a minister in the Uniting Church, and realising the dream I have held for so long. That's the second dream to be realised for me during this process of formation for ordination - the first being to be in Stratford, standing in the home town of William Shakespeare, in London, experiencing his plays at the Globe, realised in 2008.
Instead of a couple of other writing projects I really must get to, today I went through the prayers, poems and liturgies the have emerged from or I have written for the Esther Project, and also other prayers and poems I have written in recent years, and I think I have enough to look at putting a book together. I was inspired to do this by the pocket liturgies Jonny Baker produces through his company Proost , three of which I use a lot when I run out of words to craft myself. I don't know yet what I'm going to do about publishing this collection I have created, but there are some options I can pursue. And I could also wait a little longer until I have enough material for a book of Esther Project prayers etc. only and Sarah poems only ... It is great to have the collection started though, and to have something tangible to work with.
For now I am looking forward to the launch of the poets' corner anthology - poets' corner is an initiative of the Effective Living Centre , and this is their first anthology. I have to say it is something of a thrill to have poems of mine included in an anthology along with those of Jude Acquilina, who I interviewed ten years ago as a project in my creative writing honours year.
To purchase a copy of Season of a New Heart, contact the Effective Living Centre on 8271 0329.