Author Archives: Richard Passmore

Communion

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The question was asked today why do we celebrate communion? My immediate thought was because at the time, having some sort sacred meal was very culturally relevant and a good way of connecting this “new” religion with the diverse religious communities around, particularly as the passage we were looking at the time was from Corinthians (a cosmopolitan city with a variety of temples and religions). Whilst all the gospels talk about the last supper, only Luke records that Jesus tells the disciples “to do this in remembrance of Him”. I wonder how much the early church read into these words (at the expense of the other gospels) to institute a communion meal that would help people connect and how much we have now read into it to see it as instituted by Jesus rather than by Paul and the disciples. This is not to say it is wrong to have communion or that Luke was not accurate, but maybe its time for a rethink about what we mean by communion and how we find ways that connect with the people today in the same way a sacred meal would have 2000 years ago.

The Clique film

Locating shame

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One of the things the prisoners window got me thinking about was where we locate feelings. In psychology in discussions around consciousness there is the homunculus which describes the notion of feeling detached from consciousness and the part of the brain that allows you recognise processes (not very well explained sorry) but I always think about it like the numb skulls the men from the comic that control the person except that we are aware of them. I have been thinking about whether we internalise feelings as much in a more post modern mindset or we have a certain level of detached awareness as everything become more relative. I was discussing this the other day as whether guilt was a more internalised concept and therefore an inappropriate concept when discussing the gospel with people or evangelising because it is kept at a distance in more postmodern thinking patterns. Whereas shame is felt because of its external factor (ie felt and driven in relation to others rather than self) it is more processed and gets through the relativism that is around. I am not advocating the use of shame and guilt in evangelism but think out loud.

Cathedral

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Had a great weekend away in Salisbury. The cathedral is great and has some great works of art, the coolest font and a great sculpture outside both by the same bloke. But the windows were fantastic especially the main window which was in memory of prisoners of conscience. Which set my mind and heart racing particularly as we were there the same day as the Live8 concert. It was also where the BBC did a Christmas drama thing with Timothy Spall as teacher taking a class away. A great drama tackling a load of issues. Sitting in the place I kept thinking what a great resource this place could be. I have always been quite critical of big old buildings, all that money for upkeep when you could sell it off for flats, but I reckon with a few risks you could do some really good stuff linking the building, drama and young people together around multifaith, spirituality and a host of other issues.

An inclusive bike ride

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June continues to be mad, however one project we now have underway is the FYT virtual Cycle ride who I work for. FYT have a strong history of working with young people on the edge, and working to include them in the church and kingdom. As such we wanted to do an event that everyone could be involved in, regardless of age or ability. So we have come up with a wacky concept that is all inclusive and are looking for people to join in this slightly twisted idea of the old favourite – a sponsored bike ride. Go here Once Bitten dvd for more details. If you want to sponsor me, or become a virtual cyclist please let me know via the blog. I would love to set a target of getting 50 virtual cyclists via the blog. FYT never really push themselves PR wise, for example few people would know that in the last year we have had contact with over 7000 people doing direct youth work, and 2000 youth work management. With the size of our team, to say we were punching above our weight would be an understatement. So please get behind this thing, and sign up and start linking. Thanks

Hearing from my Inward self

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Apologies for the sporadic blogging, June is a mad month for work. It seems that everyone is trying to cram stuff in before the summer. I hate it when I get too busy especially if it means being late.

Yesterday I met an interesting guy from New Zealand a church leader looking at emerging church and stuff as part of a sabbatical. I am finding more and more leaders open to new stuff which is SO encouraging. Less people shouting heretic and more people open change has to be a good thing in my mind. On another matter, one reason for my busyness is that I am sorting a fund raising event for FYT- The Virtual Cycle Ride. I don’t want to spoil the surprise but it will something that everyone can join in, whether your 8 or 80.

FYT have some great projects in the offing, which is great but I must remind myself of the need for balance. So for all you other activists out there, with a mad June or July approaching, here is a word of warning from Henry Thoreau.

“when our life ceases to be inward and private, conversation degenerates into mere gossip. We rarely meet a man who can tell us any news which he has not read in a newspaper or been told by a neighbour; and for the most part the only difference between us and our fellow is that he has seen the newspaper or been out to tea and we have not. In proportion as our inward life fails we go more constantly and desperately to the post office. You may depend on it that the poor fellow who walks away with the greatest number of letters proud of his extensive correspondence has not heard from himself in a long while.”

The Foot Fist Way psp

Mission and Emerging church

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I have a growing unease about much of the emerging scene. It is one of those nagging but growing feelings. I like the co-operation and much of the generosity both in terms of theology and ideas but the growing shape and organisation seems to be turning quite product focused. I think the initial questions of what is church and mission in contemporary culture has been replaced with how do we worship in ways that reflect our culture, perhaps with the assumption that this will answer the mission question. In an earlier post I likened the emerging church to a bonsai tree that was top heavy. I wonder if the way the current conversations around are adding to this. There was a good post on simple church a while ago that I agree not to organise check out the comment. The unease is growing and I think we may miss the mission along the way.

Hopeful with Aslan

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I love the summer. I know feeling are very subjective, and quite in contrast to Marks last post on science. Summer makes me feel good. Summer reminds me of great residentials with young people, detached work when it is too hot to play football so you sit in the sun and talk, days out with young people who have never seen the sea, and chilling out with them as friends.

I love the evocative feeling that CS Lewis writes about Aslans recovery and his joy at rising again, but what is even better is how Aslan includes the children in the joy and journey ahead.

‘Oh, children,’ said the Lion, ‘ I feel my strength coming back to me. Oh, children, catch me if you can!’ He stood for a second, his eyes very bright his limbs quivering, lashing himself with his tail. Then he mad a leap high over their heads and landed on the other side of the Table. Laughing, though she didn’t know why, Lucy scrambled over it to reach him. Aslan leaped again. A mad chase began. Round and round the hill-top he led them, now hopelessly out of their reach, now letting them almost catch his tail, now diving between them, now tossing them in the air with his huge and beautifully velveted paws an d catching them again, and now stopping unexpectedly so that all three of them rolled over together in a happy laughing heap of fur and arms and legs. It was such a romp as no one has ever had except in Narnia; and whether it was more like playing with a thunderstorm or playing with a kitten Lucy could never make up her mind. And the funny thing was that when all three finally lay together panting in the sun the girls no longer felt in the least tired or hungry or thirsty.

‘And now,’ said Aslan presently, ‘to business. I feel I am going to roar. You had better put your fingers in your ears.’

And they did. And Aslan stood up and when he opened his mouth to roar his face became so terrible that they did no dare to look at it. And they saw all the trees in front of him bend before the blast of his roaring as grass bends in a meadow before the wind. Then he said,

‘We have a long journey to go. You must ride on me.’

What Doesn’t Kill You dvdrip

Small is Beautiful two

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I have used this track several times around smallness, it fits both youth work and church training stuff I often do. It comes from a track by Belljar on the Secret Volcanoes album.

Small is beautiful,
I’ve heard it said,
When things get too big,
You can’t keep them in your head.

You can take your big ideas,
And your big hat and your big shoes too,
Coz’ small is beautiful and I don’t need you,
Spoiling the view,

I’d rather know two or three,
Than a thousand smiling nameless faces,
So won’t you let me be,
Coz I won’t be thinking of changing places.

Small is beautiful,
Keep it that way,
You let it get too big you can’t give it away,
You can take your techniques and your ten top tips for success,
Coz small is beautiful and I’m convinced more is less.

I’d rather know two or three
Than a thousand smiling namesless faces,
So won’t you let me be,
Coz I won’t be thinking of changing places,

Small is beautiful,
Small is beautiful,
Small is beautiful,
Small is beautiful.

Deep Ecclesiology and Learning

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TSK has been writing on the term Deep ecclesiology which was the first time I had come across the phrase.
The term has been picked up and used by bloggers in a number of ways one definition TSK offers is –

We practice “deep ecclesiologyâ€?– rather than favoring some forms of the church and critiquing or rejecting others, we see that every form of the church has both weaknesses and strengths, both liabilities and potential.”

For me his definition links into the Generous Orthodoxy of Brian Maclaren. I like both terms Deep ecclesiology and Generous Orthodoxy and the sentiment, acceptance and openness that they express. I have recently been doing some work on Learning and the concept of Deep Learning both for lecturing and for my own thinking about process ecclesiology (which builds on tacking). Deep Learning includes a scale that moves from “performative understanding” through “direct application to indirect application” to finally a “holistic integration”

I am left wondering if the definition TSK offers is more apt to Generous Orthodoxy and whether “deep ecclesiology” has a notion of process involved because it is evolving from the growing emerging church movement. As we move to a deeper and greater understanding of church through the praxis of the emerging church movement are we moving to towards a deep ecclesiology that is more integrated, more holistic, and whilst hopefully maintaining the openness that TSK’s definition offers is also more actualised. By actualised I don’t mean that it is a theology of church that thinks it has arrived but one that has a greater sense of holistic integration and knows itself better so it can get on with task of being the type of church that serves the world well.