Unbounded church articles
“You Don’t Get to New Places by Following Established Tracks” Carlo Rovelli At talks or seminars given on the ‘Unbounded Church’ concept there are regularly the same questions asked or issues raised. One of these is the issue of ‘Models’. Nearly always someone will say something like “Well give me some models so that I … Continue reading Mission in the Future that Turns Up When You Get There
It was after dinner on a Hong Kong evening many years ago now, just before Christmas. I was sitting on the balcony of our apartment in the Mid-Levels of the main island, and looking down over the central business district of Hong Kong below me, known as Central, with the harbour beyond and further beyond … Continue reading The Atheist and the Sledgehammer
“Turning and turning in the widening gyre. The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world” W. Yeats ********************** In the University City of Oxford, England on October 16, 1555 the Anglican Bishops Nicholas Ridley and Hugh Latimer were burned at the stake. Their … Continue reading The Light Flickers Lower, The Foundations Crumble and the Centre Will Not Hold
“Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” This is a quote from Sir Winston Churchill who was paraphrasing a statement by the Italian philosopher and novelist George Santayana. Churchill went on to say- “We must always look forward, but we have to understand our history in order to not repeat … Continue reading The Square Wheel Delusion
“The culturally compliant strain of Christianity promoted in Australia does not . . . oblige (people) to embrace lifestyle choices that might involve discomfort.” Tom Frame As the Christian church declines in Australia, and the western world generally, there is a consequent search for ways of being more missionally fruitful. Many reasons are cited for … Continue reading The ‘Laodicean Syndrome’
A year or so ago I visited my great grandmother’s church. A very old stone building set in a stonewalled, grave-filled enclosure in an English hayfield. Weather-faded headstones spoke of centuries of ‘saints’ that had walked this place. But it was on the inside, in the cold, small space of worship that the ‘overwhelming’ happened. … Continue reading The Kingdom and the Darkness
Phew! It’s finished, all that planning, all that effort, the multitude of resource-draining Christmas ‘outreach’ activities (with exhortations to invite a friend), Carol Services (with exhortations to invite a friend), Gingerbread Houses (with exhortations to invite a friend), Beach Missions (with exhortations to come along to help). Thank goodness, it’s now time to have a … Continue reading Tis the Season for Axes and Bullets
‘‘We need to learn to speak in the ‘Vulgar’ tongue to ‘Vulgar’ people’ Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer (in his preface to the ‘Great Bible) In these 21st century times the church faces the challenge of doing mission to its own culture, a culture (I have described in another article as ‘Morphtopia’) in which there … Continue reading Communication Equals Transmission Plus Reception
The Cunard ship the Queen Mary was a floating palace when it started to carry the exceedingly rich across the north Atlantic before the second world war. It was fitted out in the most opulent and sumptuous manner, with the finest materials that money could buy, with staterooms that were fit for a King. Then … Continue reading Don’t Mention the War!
It’s Saturday which means by amazing logic tomorrow is Sunday! Sunday is when most ‘church’ happens in Australia and here are some facts about it all. • Tens of thousands of Christians will be happily filing into their church buildings for ‘worship’ although Amos 5:21-24 might sometimes cast just a little doubt on the unreflected … Continue reading Holy Discontent In the Strangeness of It
