Planting for Christ – Media

Last Wednesday was the Co-Mission ‘Planting for Christ’ Conference. It was a good day. There was a good turn out, though not as many came as did last year. Mark Driscoll must’ve been quite a pull.  The talks from the conference are now available here.

I left the day (early if truth be told – to pick up various children) hugely encouraged. I missed Al Stewart’s talk but I got Richard’s and two seminars.That was enough for me. I was hugely stimulated. The conference aims to be ‘Biblical, Missional  and Practical’. And it did it for me in each of those areas.

Richard’s talk was especially helpful in causing me to re-examine the biblical principles that underpin and inform my passion for church planting.If you only listen to one talk from the conference, this should probably be it. It was excellent. Look out for his lightning summary of some of Ed Stetzer’s comments choosing church planters. There’s real wisdom in his observations.

I came away wanting to plant another church. In that sense the conference helped me to be missional. I’m desperate to think about how we at CCB can launch another congregation to reach another area with the gospel. I don’t want to lose the recklessness of youth as I move into middle age. Wisdom tempers the arrogance of the young but old men can become worryingly conservative. I’d rather have a go and fail than wait till all the ducks are in a row and never get round to it.

Justin Mote’s and Andrew Evans’ seminar made me think about what we’re doing and how we’re trying to do it. Andrew was very gracious in answering  a barrage of questions (largely from me, I think) about the practical details of what they did, where they did it and how they did it. That’s just so helpful for practitioners!

Dex has managed to record both the main talks, as you might expect. But he’s also recorded some of the seminars.

I’m looking forward to hearing what William Taylor had to say about ‘Priorities in City Centre Plants’. I’ll be amazed if it’s not teaching the Bible! But I’ll get back to you on that. Mike Cain took a seminar on preaching that’ll be pure gold. Andy Patterson talked about congregational identity and planting networks, which is something we face within Co-Mission.

You can get the talks here.

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The Jesus Storybook Bible – on Video!

Friends of mine at Quirky Motion have been involved in turning the very excellent Jesus Storybook Bible into video. Here’s an offering. It’s brilliant. And I hope that, in due course, they can do the whole thing. Our kids for one would be gripped by the combination of storytelling and visuals.

 

The Quirky Motion blurb says this,

A short scene from the Jesus Storybook Bible. Based on the book by Sally Lloyd Jones and the illustrations by Jago.

The Moonbeam Award Gold Medal Winner in the religion category, The Jesus Storybook Bible tells the Story beneath all the stories in the Bible. At the center of the Story is a baby, the child upon whom everything will depend.

In The Jesus Storybook Bible, every story whispers his name. It tells the story beneath all the stories in the Bible.

With voice over by David Suchet, and music by Moritz Schmittat.

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The London Men’s Convention – Reflections

It’s been a couple of weeks now. I’ve recovered. I feel I can be objective now that there’s some distance from the event and I’ve started sleeping again properly! It’s time for some reflections of this years’ London Men’s Convention.

I’m not an impartial judge. My objectivity is hopelessly compromised by my involvement on the organising committee (though it’s worth saying that no one ever listens to me and if I had the reins it’d look very different – but nobody would probably come). I also hosted the day. And together with Tim Thornborough we cajoled those without the requisite strength of character to say ‘no’ to contribute to the LMC book ‘The Big Fight’. I bear some responsibility for what we did and how we did it. But mainly it’s Stephen Fletcher’s fault. And the others’!

I don’t have to be involved. It’s not part of my Co-Mission job spec. It’s a big time commitment. And my life would be easier if I wasn’t. But I’m happy to be a part of it because I reckon it’s valuable. I think that, for the last ten years, the London Men’s Convention has served the churches of London and the South East. And presumably, since people keep coming back year after year, others think so too.

Speaking now as a small church pastor, the LMC offers our guys things that we cannot offer them at Christ Church Balham. None of these things are essential. We can do church and be church without them. But they are beneficial. And I’m keen for our men to benefit.

Principally, the LMC provides a big event feel. That was perhaps less obvious this year with our cost cutting move to the Westminster Chapel. It’s felt more convention and less ‘intimate’ at the ExCel Centre and the Royal Albert Hall. But we still had over 1,300 men present at each ’bout’. That dwarfs the average weekly attendance of every single evangelical church in London that I’m aware of. And the scale of the event enables us to offer things that otherwise most Christian men wouldn’t get. Here are some of them.

1. Guys get to sit in a sizeable crowd of people who share the same convictions as them. They get to look around at others who are pouring over the scriptures, listening intently to an explanation of God’s word and taking notes to help remember what’s been said. That counts for something. And then they can turn to the person sat next to them and talk about what they’ve heard. They can go and grab a bite to eat and chew  over what’s been said from the front with a crowd of like-minded friends who’ve all experienced the same thing. They can travel back to their homes together and continue to debate what changes need to be made in their own lives or what’s encouraged them to persevere in Christ’s service. The size of the event seems to encourage guys to take what’s said more seriously than we otherwise might. There’s a buzz and a vibe that helps concentrate. And it presents an opportunity for guys to make decisions, to resolve to be different and to make themselves accountable to others that can help them. And that’s not nothing!

2. Andy Fenton can recruit a fabulous band to provide a level of musical expertise most congregations can’t manage (for the record, we come close at CCB – this may save me some awkward conversations!). But the music was fabulous. Inadvertently I was the focal point of the singing. Standing underneath the projector screen meant that I was met by a wall of sound. And it was incredible. And as one or two others observed, it was so encouraging to hear blokes singing God’s praises at the tops of their voices. On more than one occasion I wanted to bring out the worshipful air guitar. But, worried that I may never live it down, it sadly remained in its case.

Look at the size of that clock - not that it made any difference to the timekeeping throughout the day!

3. We can persuade speakers with a gift for preaching to men or with an area of expertise to come and address us. There’s a reason that the likes of Al Stewart, Richard Coekin (not to mention Tim Keller, Rico Tice, Vaughan Roberts, Mark Driscoll, Phillip Jensen and others) are flown around the world and I’m not. And it has to do with the gifts that God has given them and the use to which they’ve put them. They are very capable speakers. And they’re much in demand. At the LMC we can ensure that lots of guys gain access to their gifts of teaching the scriptures. With Al we got a bloke who’s brilliant at speaking straightforwardly to men. His two talks on the world and then flesh were accessible, helpful and enjoyable. He made one or two really profound points that have stuck with me. His point about the transition from boyhood to manhood having to do with caring for others being one. For my money we needed more on how we fight the influence of the flesh in our lives. I think there’s more to be said than we need to exercise self-discipline. Richard’s talk on the Devil was incredible. He managed to compress three talks he’d given at Dundonald into one. And it felt like it! I think he probably wanted it to be the definitive talk for the evangelical constituency on the Devil . It was certainly exhaustive. And having sat through it twice I can tell you it was also exhausting. But it was brilliant. If you only ever listen to one talk on the work of Satan, this should be it. Though you might want to listen to it on half speed! But it is a thorough and comprehensive biblical treatment of an issue on which there is much confusion. He’s done us a great service through his work in preparation.

There was lots we got right this year (cost, music, theme, videos and vibe). There were a few things we got wrong. And there were a few things we could do nothing about (the location of the ‘nearby’ cafes, the temperature and discomfort of the seating arrangements in the upper tiers and the stench from the inadequate number of toilets). But overall, I think it was a winner. By the grace of God. And Stephen Fletcher.

 

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Economical with the Truth?

Interesting article from the Economist here. It’s about the alleged rise of evangelicalism in the Church of England. It doesn’t really analyse the increased marginalization of ‘classical’ or ‘conservative’ evangelicals, but you wouldn’t expect them to be aware of the complexity of the situation in the Church of England. I’m not sure I am! Or anyone is. But evangelicalism has increasingly come to be understood as an umbrella term covering over all manner of, let’s say, positions.

If what Peter Brierley and his statisticians say is right, then the future of Anglicanism in this country is of declining numbers of Anglicans but an increased proportion of both clergy and laity who would describe themselves as evangelical. Whether that leads to increased influence in the denomination, brought about by sheer weight of numbers or perhaps by financial clout, remains to be seen. I’m not holding my breath. The trajectory of the Church of England is unmistakably clear. It would take a complete change of direction if evangelicalism was to be regarded as mainstream. God can do it, if He wants. And so there’s hope. But humanly speaking, the writing’s been on the wall for a while now. We press on (at the margins) in CCB. But others are more involved and will stay until they’re ejected. They wouldn’t be the first good guys to be excluded from the established church.

But despite that, you’ve got to love an article that begins with the following paragraph; not so much for the accuracy of the observation but the beauty of expression!

EVER since the 18th century, England’s established church has harboured a suspicion of religious enthusiasm. Anglicanism’s cosy ubiquity as a reassuring, if vestigial, presence in every English suburb and village is regarded as a defence against the sort of fanaticism that leads to social or ethnic conflict. But every so often in English church history, compromise and emollience have triggered a countervailing reaction: an upsurge in faith of a more passionate kind. Such a change may be under way now.

It would be sad if the following observation were true,

Many of the rising generation of keen young clerics already make it clear they wish to work in large evangelical churches, ripe for American-style mission, rather than in slums or charming villages where social views are relaxed and doctrinal purity is not prized.

I suspect the reasons aren’t relaxed social views nor absence of doctrinal purity but an unwillingness to embrace a level of sacrifice that moves us well out of our comfort zone. My friends working for churches on the estates would certainly level that accusation at people like me. And they’d have a point. Perhaps, as I’ve heard Jonathan Fletcher say, when evangelicals are willing to go to the places no one else will we’ll see a revival of true biblical faith in this country. For myself, it won’t be me reaching Brixton from Balham. But we’re going to bust a gut to do what we can to train a great bloke to make it happen. We’ll keep you posted. But it’s be fair to say that we’re not expecting much help from our Anglican Diocese.

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‘If Rick could’ve sung it – we won’t!’

Monday morning was a four hour marathon working our way through the entire CCB song list. We were culling. Chopping out the dead wood. And we were ruthless. You may be pleased to know that some musicians were involved in the decision making (not least the two guys who are most involved in overseeing the music).

I’d slept well, which was a good thing. It made me more generous in my assessment of the hymns, songs and spiritual songs that I don’t like! We drank a lot of coffee. We listened a number of times to songs on YouTube. Fanny Crosby’s live material was harder to find. And as you would imagine with four people expressing their opinions there was some entertaining debate. It was, however, carried out in the best of spirits. But it reminded me a little of the dynamic that existed when Rosslyn and I sat down to discuss baby names. Opposition can appear so unreasonable in that context. It often comes down to taste and opinion. And a dearly held attachment to a particular name just doesn’t cut it if the other person doesn’t like it! We were more accommodating in our willingness to allow a variety of musical tastes. Up to a point. Much to my disappointment the others drew the line at Rick Astley. Apparently, anything on the list that could be sing by the eighties pop-meister had to go. No ‘shine Jesus shine’ then.

There were a number of things that surprised me in our discussion.

First, the vehemence of opposition to the pop genre from the younger generation!

Secondly, I was amazed at how many hymns we have in the song list. That’s good thing because the theology of many is so good. Sure, they can sometimes be so theologically densely packed that you feel like you’ve put Calvin’s' Institutes to music. But ordinarily they shy away from the trivial drivel of some contemporary writers. And no, I haven’t got anything particular in mind (though if you gave me a few minutes on YouTube I’d come up with something). It’s just an ill informed rant about the Jesus is my boyfriend genre! Hymn writers tend not to write superficially but deeply and profoundly. And even if the original melody is somewhat dated, in the hands of our extraordinarily competent musos they make it work brilliantly.

Thirdly, I was amazed at just how many songs we have in our repertoire. How many songs would you expect a congregation to sing in a six month period? Go on, hazard a guess. In the six months before Christmas we sang over seventy songs in evening church. And it feels like we only ever sing a dozen!

I thought this was helpful. It’s where we’re at in our thinking. It just ‘happened’ to be published a couple of days after our discussions.

 

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