Bournagain

I while back I blogged about something I found on a new book by Tom Sine (of “The Mustard Seed Conspiracy” fame, from years back). I still haven’t read the book by the way – don’t know what Amazon has done with my order.

It’s a bit odd writing about a book I haven’t read yet, so while I’m waiting, today I heard a radio interview with Tom Sine in Australia that I found well worth a listen.

If you are one of the four people who read my blog (Hi Mum!), you may have been waiting to find out how my weekend in the Cévennes went. We were staying in a community with the words “God’s Property” intriguingly inscribed on a sign to welcome you as you drive in after an impressively scenic drive into the hills along windy narrow roads. This place was started about 20 years ago by a couple who had been given this property, and saw it as a “safe house” for all who needed it – from homeless and marginals to alternatives, nomads, drifters – anyone was welcome. There are no conditions for entry other than respect for the fact that it is “God’s Property”. In practice this means that people are welcomed and respected in their differences, without judgement, that people participate in the running and financial needs of the community as they are able, and that they attend 2 community meetings each day, where there is singing, prayer, and sharing from the Scriptures. We experienced a couple of these meetings: 70 people crammed into a kind of stone basement with vaulted ceilings, praying and sharing together in all simplicity…it would be impossible to imagine a more diverse bunch of people! You could not escape an overwhelming sense of “God is here”. It’s rather like a modern-day monastery, I suppose.

It was therefore a PERFECT setting for this gathering. How can I describe it? We are so dependent on labels, aren’t we? But such a diverse group is difficult to put a label on. We had Jesus Freaks, student & youth workers, community dwellers, missionaries, a methodist minister, 24-7 prayer guys, house bus nomads, house church planters – you name it. The common thread was a passion for living a Jesus-centred life, sharing that with others, and living it out not only within the four walls of religious buildings but out in the world. We talked a lot about emergent church, simple church, house church etc. etc. But it was encouraging to see that the focus what not so much on any particular structure or method being THE answer for being church in the 21st century. The emphasis was much more on relying on the Holy Spirit to give us the right approach in our particular situation. Since the weekend I’ve been reading Red Moon Rising about the 24-7 prayer movement, and it’s helped me realise how much my way of relating to the Holy Spirit is changing. The book points out that for years in the church we were praying “Come Holy Spirit”, and he came. Today the Holy Spirit is calling “Come, Holy people” – come and live out holiness among people where they live – not to distinguish ourselves, but so that they too can share in what it means to be holy (definition: centred on God rather than on self. It is the opposite of being “holier than thou”, which is the way it is often wrongly understood). The question is, will we go? Or will we remain in the “come Holy Spirit” mode – come and bless our churches.

The meeting did not end with any great strategy or plan for the future, but we achieved our goals of networking, new friendships, and getting a bigger picture of what’s happening in France and across Europe. Hard to predict what the fruit will be, but for me it was absolutely a not-to-be-missed experience.

Had one of those marvellous long French lunches today with some friends (the kind where you’re still at the table at 5.00). These people know how to eat! We got onto talking about my favourite subject (the church). There seems to be no question in the minds of many evangelical friends I speak to that the church is in need of a new reformation of some description, but just how radical are we prepared to be?

There is general agreement that Christian fellowship is best lived out in small groups, that if we limit ourselves to Sunday mornings it’s too easy to fake it. It’s much harder to hide in a small group, it’s more authentic, and a more natural environment to learn in. So far nothing new.

But where we diverged a little was over whether or not just adding small groups to existing Sunday-morning-centred church was actually sufficient. Read the rest of this entry »