Growing Faith // Finding Belief

Yesterday we had our first proper training event. Richard Passmore (Streetspace Director, from FYT) came down to deliver a great session on the process we use to identify groups of young people, and work with them towards becoming Church in their own culture (or Church-on-the-Edge as we call it). And one of the key discussions we had was on Donovan’s quote:

“In working with young people do not try to call them back to where they were, and do not call them to where you are as beautiful as that place may seem to you. You must have the courage to go with them to a new place neither you nor they have been before.”

We began to reflect on where we were as individuals, as volunteers and as a project; and then where or how we might be going WITH the young people we’re meeting. And, in part, it is these deep but practical questions of our own theology that we are struggling with as we discern how to move forward. Let me offer an example:

Recently we asked some young people to make a symbol using tea lights that was important to them; one young person made a cross and told us Jesus died for him. But he’d never been to church, and he didn’t really know the story. The question that faces us, is how can we re-imagine that old story for the current culture instead of just doing what we’ve always done, because that wouldn’t be a new place.

As we set-up our community here on the Bournville, we struggled with these notions of faith statements, creeds and theological stances – and we were ultimately unable to easily locate ourselves into the pre-defined boxes. Instead we identified three commitments that describe how we are choosing to live as authentic Christians.

My previous two posts(1 + 2) explored the first two, and today I am looking at the third, as the way in which we discern our questions and answers:

“A reliance on theological reflection, embracing scripture, culture and tradition, as the foundation of discerning missional practice.”

In searching for that new place , we are choosing to continually reflect, converse and discuss about what we believe God is asking us to do; drawing on the bible (Scripture), how Christians have traditionally understood their faith (Tradition (found in books + history)), and through what we see in the world around us (Culture) to inform and help us.

Some tell us this is a dangerous or risky commitment, because we might do something in a way that is different from how it’s always been done, or we might come to a conclusion that has been traditionally thought of as wrong – but we believe God is part of this journey too, and that he will guide our discussions and actions as we need him to.

This can often be taken up with the questions of which ideas to support, and which ideas to reject. But perhaps, in practice, it can be more worthwhile to decide which ideas you will implement – which ideas will change your life?

Our project here on the Bournville is about changing life – it’s not really about abstract thoughts, but about a practical, lived-out faith (or way-of-life). It’s about changing our own lives, and supporting those around us change theirs. We believe in the Kingdom of God, in a healing Shalom, and ultimately a different way of life – and really, that’s the new place we hope for.

So in the process of finding belief, finding a new place in your context, I urge you not to totally lose yourself in the abstract notions of an academic faith (as important as those endeavours are), but to live an idea. Whether it’s the Kingdom of God, a Utopian Dream, the goodness of humanity, or The Big Society… commit yourself to making it a lived reality, only then can believing change the world.

Here is Brene Brown on her fascinating idea to change the world: Vulnerability

J Wheatley

The Road

“The road is full of surprise and a place, if we are open to it, of learning” (Adams I., Cave, Refectory, Road, p36)

Detached youth work literally takes us onto the road in the afternoon and evenings.  Sometimes on a dark evening, it is an intimidating experience to enter a space when you don’t recognise the young people, they are suspicious of us, us of them, worried if we’ll be rejected… the list goes on.

Yet if you can overcome these fears there is a surprise waiting.  In my 6 years of doing youth detached work I have only met young people who are surprisingly ok with you being there.  Sometimes it’s merely a hello, other times a conversation or even an invite to enter into a game.  I have therefore had to relearn what much of our media and society think of young people.

“Every place is holy; every place can be an encounter with the divine.” (Adams, p37)

It takes faith to believe that every place on the Bournville is holy; every place on the Bournville can be an encounter with the divine.  (Try inserting your neighbourhood)

God is asking for a change to our world view.  To see the whole of our area, even its weak points, as sacred space, otherwise we might miss out on an encounter with the divine.

The experience of the road has the opportunity to change us.  This Christmas, John returned from his time with family stating, “Reading high street has changed!  I was looking at everyone, seeking eye contact, a hello, anything and it has changed my view of the place”.  The experience of walking many hours in our local neighbourhood, often meeting no one, has meant that we have become trainined to seek encounter.  Maybe that was why Jesus trained his disciples by sending them out in pairs (Mt. 10:9-15), to live and breathe the message by travelling.

D Wilkie

Growing Faith // Finding Direction

‘You can be anything’, they tell us.

‘You have the world ahead of you’, they tell us.

Life is there to be lived. It’s Big, Daunting, Exciting, Open… And there is nothing more thrilling (or chilling) than trying to imagine how our lives might pan out, or how we might go about sculpting them in the ways we want. One of the biggest questions that faces young people today, and especially young people of faith, is how do we spend the days we have been given. Paul tells us: [We] can do all things through Christ, because He gives [us] strength” (Phil 4:13).

The possibilities are endless, and exciting. But with each step I do take, I find myself remembering the steps I didn’t take. Believing we can do or be anything can be paralysing if, because of our fear, we hesitate to act.

Here in Weston, we have decided to commit to a particular way of living, which comes from the second of our Faith Commitments:

“A calling, found in the gospels, to a stance of simplicity, vulnerability,  powerlessness and humility, towards the service of God and Others”

In reality, we’re still struggling to discern what this means – this is who we want to be. But what does it really mean to live simply, to be vulnerable, or to choose powerlessness? You’ve already read about our struggles with money, with our attempts to share life together, or our steps towards hospitality and child-like play. And so we continue to press into this calling, believing with all our energies, that it is possible – finding our potential through our faith in God.

But what of those young people that struggle to find direction, or have not believed they can fly… In the past few weeks we have visited a variety of professionals from the local area to hear their voice about local people – and what stands out, for me at least, is that some (if not many) young people growing up on the Bournville have very low life aspirations.

They have no expectation that they will do, or be, anything different from what they are now. They have no concept of being or becoming a doctor, a postman, a politician… for some, they have never visited the beach just around the corner, and others have never been out of Weston. The context in which children grow up here seems insurmountable.

In the local park we have a roundabout/see-saw which is almighty fun – and this week, I met a young person who had never been on it. No one had ever put him on it, nor offered to push. It was a poignant moment as he shrieked with laughter, and shouted more, more…

The challenge, as I struggle to find and negotiate the direction I have chosen and been called to follow in my life, is to struggle also with how I help others take the first steps on discovering their direction, supporting them over the fear of where to act. I leave you with the inspirational words of Marrianne Williamson which I hope will spur you on in your own way (A return to love, 1992):

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

J Wheatley

Growing Faith // Finding Joy

Have you ever had one of those days? Where life just seems to be passing you by, and you’re simply stuck in what seems like a whirlwind of activity… I’v had a few recently, or at least it feels like that.

I’m not really busy. In fact I have significantly more free time than I’ve had in a long-time. But doing lots of little things (three jobs, church-life, detached youth work, Streetspace admin) seems to create the illusion that my life is jam-packed. Abbot Jamison (Finding Sanctuary) offers his solution straight:

“If somebody says they are too busy, then either they are too busy or they think they are too busy. Either way, the responsibility lies with them [p14]… You are a free person and you can choose how busy you want to be [p17]“

So as I stood on the beach yesterday, looking out to sea and contemplating what I wanted from life – I realised that I was taking  a negative perspective on the world around me. I was lamenting the busyness, gasping for air, and I was struggling.

Over the next few posts I want to explore how I’m working out my faith in this new context – I’m living in community, I’m holding down several jobs, I’m trying to be authentically missional, and for the first-time since I was 4 years old, I’m not a student. Our basis of faith here in Weston has three commitments, of which the first is:

“A lifelong search for community, intimacy, creativity and meaning”

As I reflected on this commitment, I remembered that life is a continual search for something greater – and above all, the meaning I want is Joy. Not a mediocre happiness, but a joy centred deep within me that allows me ride above all the internal pessimism when life seems busy, dirty or a struggle.

I think that I thought when I left university, when I hit the ‘real’ world, life would somehow resolve, and everything would be vibrant, brilliant, and perfect – Of course it’s not. So I’m struggling with the now and not yet of God’s Kingdom that reminds us that God’s beauty has already broken into the world, but it is still yet to be fully realised.

And so this quote, from New Monasticism as Fresh Expression of Church, has brought me back to reality as I reflect on the stuggles of my life, and of those around me.

“The commitment to struggle is an essential element of Christian Maturity”

Because in reality, my struggles are what make me who I am, and they are nothing in the face of those growing up on this estate. As we’re getting to know more young people and hear the voices of the faithful professionals already working here, we are realising how much people here have to battle through to succeed, of which I will look more closely in my next post.

“We are happy because of the hope we have of sharing God’s glory. We have joy with our troubles, because we know that these troubles produce patience. And patience produces character, and character produces hope. And this hope will never disappoint us, because God has poured out his joy to fill our hearts.”

J Wheatley

New Year // New Monasticism

Happy New Year! Have you made a resolution yet? I made mine as part of CMS’s 1000 mission resolution – I’ve pledged to take time out each week to reflect and retreat; and one of the practices I’m taking up is to read more…

My first read of 2011 is ‘New Monasticism as Fresh Expression of Church‘ – it’s a collection essays from a variety of people from the field. It looks at the significant role monasticism has played in it’s different forms at each of the major transitions of church history. And on the cusp of  another big move, this inspiring work asks how might God be using monasticism to revitalise his Church in the UK.

When we started out here in Weston we weren’t sure if we were part of the new monastic movement – but in the light of this work, it is evident that we fall firmly within the field. Here’s Ian Mobsby (Ch2) on the second of three different trends of this new monasticism:

“The second group of new monastics identify with the Friar tradition. They are committed to finding the sacred in all of life but follow a different model… this second group tends to move into an area either as single households of pioneers or as intentional communities. Many are living in very rough and unsafe places… These intentional communities are sent out in teams to love and serve in particular contexts… [and] they are as committed to contemplative and charismatic action as the first” (p14)

At the start of this new term Dave + I spent some time together in prayer and discussion about how the project (Streetspace WSM) + community (Street Pilgrims) might grow and develop in the coming months and year…

…We’ve lots of ideas, like a regular community meal for our volunteers and re-shaping some of our detached, but we’ve also been left with lots of questions. Things like funding, and community shape. If you’re interested about the place of new monasticism in supporting church in our current UK context, and you fancy getting involved with us here – please get in touch. We’re seriously considering the possibility of growing a bit, and maybe taking on some more people/houses – whether your a youth work professional, a student or simply interested, we’d love to hear from you.

A good first stop would be to read New Monasticism as Fresh Expression of Church, and an inspiring example are The Simple Way Community in Philadelphia (Irresistible Revolution)

J Wheatley

The Strange World of Christmas Carols

Christmas is upon us – and like the rest of the country, we have had heavy snow fall. It’s been great fun having snow ball fights with the locals; a good bit of community bonding… In this post, however, I wish to look at the strangeness of Christmas language.

In the last week we’ve had two surreal experiences with carol singing. Firstly, about a week ago, we had a group of lads knock on the door and sing for us four verses of Silent Night. They had downloaded the lyrics from the internet, and were confident with the tune of the ‘silent night’ bit – and then, with help from Donna (Dave’s girlfriend) they stumbled through the rest. The irony was they were singing these beautiful words, that express so succinctly the story of Christmas, and yet had no clue about their meaning – they were running words together, unaware of their significance or history.

Then, just yesterday, we found ourselves at an impromptu gathering singing carols around the tree in the local community centre. We were thrust into the lime-light, having to set the pitch, sing-up, and lead. It was a lovely gathering, but very surreal –  Everyone was keen to do some carol singing, but the knowledge of tunes, words and traditions were sparse. It was as though the thought of carol singing and being a part of the tradition was important than the singing themselves.

Carols represent an important Christmas tradition, with significance in both our faith-heritage and national culture; but that significance seems to differ in those two worlds, and are, at least to some extent, divorced from one another. This is, of course, a remnant of Christendom; and may provide some opportune moments for the historic-church of today.

But it is to this new, post-Christendom culture, and the lack of significance that the traditional Christian language now has in contemporary culture, that the Streetspace process addresses. Richard Passmore, founder of Streetspace, writes:

“When we share the gospel, we must engage in contextual theology. That is, we need to understand the culture we are entering and what the gospel means within that given culture, developing a street spirituality and theology specific to the area… we must grapple with the Bible and search for its relevant to our communities, our lives and the lives of the young people we work with. This is vitally important, otherwise the language we use will have little meaning. In the light of this, we must re-examine the words and concepts we use to explain the gospel.”
[p14-15, Meet them Where they're at]

Our role here on the Bournville is to listen – to hear the voice of the community, to see the outlay of the culture, and to find the movement of God here; and to be part of the re-imagining of the gospel in this new context. We desire to find the connections between the beautiful but strange traditions and language of our faith-heritage, with our post-Christendom (and equally strange) world.

It’s an exciting adventure… but for now, it’s time to relax and enjoy the Christmas story once again. Have a wonderful Christmas, and see you back here in the New Year!

J Wheatley

Creating a Refectory

Byron Park – creating a refectory

Ian Adams book Cave Refectory Road states that a refectory is “a symbol of the way of life that an individual or a community seeking to be in the way of the hospitable Jesus might follow.  This is the community deciding to offer itself as a source of stability, presence and hospitality to its wider communities.” (2010, p24)

Recently John and I ventured out into the park in the photo to engage with local young people.  Only this time we were armed with a stove, frying pan, pancake mix and a variety of sauces.  This was our attempt at being hospitable, although the refectory itself, in this case a park, was on the young people’s territory.  We were not inviting young people into our place of comfort but instead asking if we can come onto their space & share food.  If the invite had been declined we would have tried to find the courage to sit and eat the pancakes by ourselves.

Sometimes its the simplest actions that allow a refectory environment to be created such as taking a cake to neighbours house, hanging out in the local cafe, cooking more than enough food and randomly inviting someone over.  Don’t let the niggling doubts hold you back from taking risks in offering yourself as a source of stability, presence and hospitality.

D.Wilkie

The Financial Struggles of Community Living (2)

In my previous post I considered the broad picture of how God provides for us, and the pains of faith that accompany that promise. Today I wish to reflect on our practical every day response to that provision – the struggles we take to share and be generous.

Giving used to be easy – well at least obvious – but now, inside a project and community  (albeit a v. small one), it is far more complex. To my surprise the rules have changed, and I find myself re-navigating the concepts of generosity and kindness.

I used to simply make a direct debit each month to some chosen causes (saving some away to be generous when the time came); and then I’d keep the rest for my own personal use. By giving first it ensured my generosity and removed guilt about personal purchases. Following the BBC report, I discovered the Giving What We Can campaign, which is an inspirational approach to this style of giving.

When living, however, as part of the cause you wish to sponsor, giving becomes more blurred because it is difficult to discern what is giving and what is not. In the last few weeks we’ve been taking out flasks of hot chocolate to share with the young people we meet. If I buy 4 pints of milk to make that hot chocolate, how should I buy it?

• Should I buy it from my personal account?
• Should I buy it from the money we’ve put aside to be generous?
• Should I buy it from the money we’ve put  aside for community groceries?
• Or should I buy it on the Streetspace WSM account?

Which of these is generosity? Of course they all are, but only the first feels like generosity – the others are systems that stifle the personal gift, and yet without them, community life itself would be stifled. And so, paradoxically, through buying milk for hot chocolates for someone else, I can feel like I’m being selfish or tight-fisted because I’m caught in the systems that enable me to be generous.

Life together, however, can be even more complex – for if I buy an 8-pack of penguin bars for our home use, who do they belong to… Are they mine for me to eat? Mine for us both to share? Ours for us to eat? A gift for Dave to eat alone? Or, a gift for Dave to eat, and me to share?

And then which account should it come from?

Being generous has moved from a decisive act, to being a personal choice of opinion, intention and feeling… I am generous when I choose to be generous, and I hide behind the systems when I cannot be; the lines are now so ambiguous that life can no longer be, if it ever was, split into for me and for you. Instead it’s about a steady desire to give, and perhaps give beyond my means, and even, all of my means. Mark 12: 41-44.

J Wheatley

Can I find a cave on the Bournville?

© Copyright Chris Downer

I have recently finished Ian Adams book, Cave Refectory Road.  He outlines the insights the monastic traditions have for us today.  These are the rhythms of life we should seek in order to live a balanced and life in tune with God’s mission.

The first traditional explored is the Cave: a place of retreat, a place to listen and meditate.  This was a popular movement once Christianity became a religion for the Roman Empire.  People sought isolation in the desert, following Jesus’s challenging 40 days in the desert, in order to re-engage with God on a deeper level.

The Bournville estate is a lively one.  It is one of the few places we have lived where we have encountered real, friendly and sometimes confrontational community.  It is in this environment that we am to seek a cave, a place of retreat.

We have taken time to walk, such as over to Uphill where one can look over the whole of Weston, or to the beach which provides a place to reflect and pray.  Like the desert monastics we have retreated from the “empire”.  However I wonder if the challenge is to find a place to withdraw on the estate itself, to find beauty and a place to hear God’s voice and then to point it out to others.

God is here and also where you live.  Have you found a Cave yet?

D. Wilkie

The Financial Struggles of Community Living (1)

This week we’ve changed our morning liturgy. We’ve finished the 40 days of Yes by CMS, and started upon Praying our Values by Urban Expression. It’s a different pattern from what we’ve been used to, and it’s helping us reflect upon the values needed for missionaries in the contemporary context. Feel free to pray along with us (we’re on day 5 of the City Cycle).

Unlike our connection to CMS, we do not have any formal links with Urban Expression; instead we have chosen their liturgy because of the values they promote. Urban Expression is ‘an urban mission agency that recruits, equips, deploys and networks self-financing teams pioneering creative and relevant expressions of the Christian church in under-churched areas of the inner-city’. This week it is the ‘self-financing’ aspect that has grasped me, and it is to this that I wish to turn my thoughts.

One of the key foundations of our project here in Weston is that we want to sustainable in the long-term. We deliberately don’t want to be reliant on one large funding source, but instead we’ve small grants from a host of sponsors, an array of generous supporters, and together hold down a variety of part-time jobs. The theory goes: it doesn’t matter if one (or even several) of those sources dries up, because we’ll still be able to plod on independently with the foundation of support we’ve fostered.

We’re relying on God to provide – and in a drip, drip fashion, He has. Each of these sources culminate together enough resource and provision for the both of us to live, as well as deliver a youth work project. We are well-fed, sheltered, well-resourced, and (weather permitting) warm. On one level,  the sustainability level, this works well – like the Israelites in the desert, we live from day to day on the manna that God provides.

We do not, however, have enough today in order to provide for tomorrow. And it is here the discomfort lies. We do not, for example, know what will happen in April when our current grants (including rent) run-out. We trust that God will provide, and our ethos requires such an ebb and flow in funding for our sustainability – the question of faith is, what if?

What if God doesn’t provide in April?

What if the project needs to grow?

What if we need to support someone else as well?

The same doubts come in the small, and the personal…

What if the electricity runs out faster than it should?

What if my car doesn’t start again?

What if I want to start a family?

Each of these questions, doubts and realities require faith – faith that God will pull through, and faith that resources will stretch. It is easy to panic. And it is even easier to pray for large sums to support our ministry – but then we would not be sustainable, and would not be trusting.

We want to be risky, we want to be pioneering, and we want to be creative – and that, I have discovered, requires more faith than I imagined. Faith that what we have today is sufficient, and faith that tomorrow God will provide us with what we require. So I continue to struggle with what I have, and what I would like; and I continue to foster the trust that God has already put aside what we need, long before we know we need it.

J Wheatley