Back to Church (pt 1)

This weekend was a weekend of starting new things:

On Saturday we ventured into new territory, visiting kindergarten open days to pick one for the little girl for either next year or the year after… How on earth you decide which is a good one is beyond me at this stage. One of them looked spacious, semi-rural, and had chickens! Is that a good criteria??

And on Sunday we ventured into old territory and visited a new church. Church hunting is always a difficult thing – the sort of thing we all do at one stage or another but don’t seem to approach in a very strategic or consistent way – Weird. Sort of an unspoken thing... We just can’t seem to come clean in visiting a church and say “we’re hunting!” and be shown around… It’s always “Oh, we’re just visiting”, and we all play along…

So I thought I might track our visits and progress as we go along:

28 May – Local Baptist church, really close to home (walking distance, a positive for us), in the midst of a busy shopping area. Good to see a church surrounded by shops and restaurants, and in the midst of activity, rather than tucked away in an industrial estate or some sleepy suburban street. Art gallery attached to the church was a big plus for me, and I couldn’t help but start thinking about the potential…

View from the rear pew was of mainly grey hair (to be expected I guess) but a few young families and scattered other ages made that seem ok. Church newsletter showed a select number of activities – definitely not the smorgasbord of options provided at some churches – but included positive things such as a counseling centre and other charitable activities. Gorgeous old building – the way churches should be! Hard old fashioned pew – oh well…

Service was the basic structure – but nicely thought through… Lots of diverse, less popular songs (which was a nice change from the usual church-pop songs), including lots of Iona and locally written stuff. No showy overheads or powerpoints. Kids talk which treated them well, conducted by one of my old theology lecturers. And a reflection which was humble but thoughtful, and spoke to me at the place that I am now… good stuff. Husband and wife pastorship team, in a real sense (as in they’re both equal ministers), not the too often seen Mr Pastor and Mrs Does-all-the-other-stuff-with-no-recognition-but-all-the-expectations.

After church was good. People were very nice, but not in an insincere way. Had a coffee and let the little girl run around with the other children… Welcomed us back, but didn’t put the pressure on… And we then chuffed off to wander down the street and enjoy lunch at one of the many local restaurants!

So, a good start to the hunt… We’ll try someplace else next week and see how we feel then.

Sprouting a new blog...

Over the past few weeks, events, observations, and words of others have come together and after a lot of thinking and talking out loud (which could also be called prayer!) I've been strongly impressed to seek out two things:

A faith which is simple and clear, and in being so provides an answer to chaos.

A faith which can put an end to suffering.

No small task... But the start of my task in this I believe is to go back to the source, and read the Gospels once more. But this time, coming at it with, at the front of my mind, the two greatest and clearest and undeniable commandments God has given us:

To love God

And to love your neighbour


To keep this all in one place rather than getting intermixed with posts about all other manner of things, I've created a new blog: Two Commandments.

This blog will basically be my journalling of this as I, chapter by chapter, read through the Gospels and see what this reading creates, and what sort of sense such an interpretation might make.

I invite you to join me in this journey, and contribute along the way...

We do stuff.

Welcome to the world of Huh?

Hilarious... as someone who's worked with consultants this is just way too funny. How do I get a job like this? Oh that's right - you have to leave your ethics at the door...

Crisis, Catharsis, and Contemplation

After getting the heads up from Kel and Cheryl about this exhibition, I dropped in late last week for a quick peek in between meetings... Well worth the visit (even if my viewing got cut short by Mass!)

What I was most surprised by, and impressed by, was how well the art blended in with the church surrounds - At first, I even thought I'd gone to the wrong church and there was no exhibition there! Apart from the video installations, to my eyes the rest all seemed highly suitable and blended in so well to the messages and symbols of the church as a whole.

It reminded me a lot of running the Labyrinth in the past - with people meandering from place to place - thinking, meditating, and stopping for long periods of times at places you never thought they would!

Of course, it only added to my frustration of "I wish I could contribute to something like this!", but perhaps in time... How do you get awareness as an artist? Especially when most of your 'works' are still residing in your own head, waiting for an opportunity... Hmm....

"Success begins on Sunday"

I had to drive down to a part of town I normally don't go to today for work purposes, and while sitting in some traffic was confronted with this slogan as part of the advertisement for a local church... Raised a few mixed feelings for me and resulted in a very thoughtful drive...


I can perhaps see what they're trying to get at with this catchy little phrase, but must admit to some hesitancy around how it's used. Sure, I could accept it if it were alluding to the concept that Jesus' resurrection on that first Easter Sunday was the beginning of our 'success' over sin & death. Sure... But just put out there like it was concerns me for two reasons:

1. Success: While one of the definitions of success is simply "an event that accomplishes its intended purpose", the way I saw this used seemed to allude to what is probably the more common and understood use of the word in this context: "a state of prosperity or fame". So what success are we talking about here which starts on Sunday? Material success? Success in all that we put our hands to? By whose standards will we consider whether what we have done since Sunday was a success?

We equate 'success' with 'winning' quite a lot, and it's interesting that Jesus doesn't talk a lot about 'winning', but much more about 'losing' - Losing our lives for Jesus' sake, and bluntly demanding faithfulness to Him in all things, regardless of their outcome.

(In thinking about this I've stumbled upon a very thoughtful and well composed piece available here.)

2. Sunday: This seems to indicate that it is the presence of one at a church service that forms the foundation of your life with/in Christ...

This was best summarised as I googled this (obviously rather popular!) catchphrase and discovered this quote describing the concept:

"I see the church as a big filling station and us as the vehicles God drives during the week. We need to pull into the station and get a fill-up. We are like vessels or containers. The Bible says we are treasures in earthen vessels."

He does go on to then say that it's also about being filled daily and drawing on the strength of the congregation, but the oversimplicity of the catchphrase tends to make it seem that Sunday church is 'where it all happens'... As someone who is currently in-between churches and in touch with a lot of people in the same position, I would disagree intensely that without being a part of the Sunday service you are in any way disadvantaged in terms of God's ability to use you. Church is valuable, as community is valuable. But to oversimplify it in this way I think underestimates God's ability to use anybody/anywhere, and can put too much emphasis on the ability of 2 hours of singing and sermon to have such a significant influence in a week of 168... Likewise, it also underestimates the various forms of community which people belong to and draw strength from. I


Of course, I've probably now read way too much into this and spent way too much time thinking about a slogan which they may have just used because it was catchy and would encourage people to stick their heads into their church next Sunday... I guess I'm just the sort to worry about how our little sayings can impact our big theology.

Thoughts?