monday evening's [re]generate was a good night. we've grown from 16 to 24 people. the pub turned out to be run by the same people who run the bombay bicycle club where we met last time. the decor theme this time was birds, not elephants! food was OK. and I forgot to take the camera!
anyway, sarah talked about the jazz worship service that blackwood has started. it's run in their church once a quarter on a sunday evening. although at first this sounds like a 'safe' attractional model, for them its the start of a journey towards something different. it raises a good set of questions about whether a church in a prominent location should go off-site regardless. and a helpful pointer that for many churches, a new worship community with an experimental worship style is where they are likely to start moving 'outside the box'. and a young adult is heading it up, which is fantastic.
jason spoke about his eco church. scots church in the city, an elderly but asset-rich congregation, are sponsoring some new initiatives, after a lot of groundwork by their minister. jason is a deacon who has just completed his Ph. D. in eco-theology. he has started a weekly eco-worship in the botanic gardens, not far from scots. he is drawing a mixed group of people, and is still exploring what they do and what 'community' might mean for them. i think that it is significant that the worship and community are aligned with his passions and theology. it's not just a gimmick, but a congregation sponsoring someone pursuing their ministry passion. they've also just employed sue, another deacon and an artist, to explore her artistic gifts and passion in relation to new forms of worship, public art, whatever.
robin talked about the faith community at port adelaide that he was been working on for 2 years, and who have been meeting for over a year. while it has been a struggle in terms of numbers, i find his thoughtfulness about processes of spiritual formation being at the heart of 'evangelism' very stimulating. part of this is about people exploring faith by trying out its practices, not by having it all explained first. some interesting issues about where you actually get to meet and engage with people who live in upmarket townhouses with security systems, and with whom the church folk don't normally intersect.
a good night with probably too many speakers - any one of them could have been the focus of the evening. so one of my goals next is to allow more in-depth exploration of particular approaches/examples, without it turning into a public critique of people's mission experients.
the next one is June 8 with steve collins from the uk, and I'm off to check out the next venue!
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