Four Reasons to go to Dallas!

I’m now mid-flight, rammed in economy between two very delightful people. There are a little under two hours to Detroit, where I change for Dallas. I’ve watched two terrific films; Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol and Moneyball. I’d never get round to watching either at home; they don’t pass the film night criteria for a QNI (Quiet Night In) with Rosslyn.

In my last post I outline some of the reason not to go to Dallas. It’s only fair that I give the other side of the argument. So how do I defend the decision against the imaginary detractors? Here are the four reasons that swayed the argument in my favour!

1.       It’s a break from the normal

Isn’t a change supposed to be as good as a rest? I can’t afford to take a rest. There’s too much to do at CCB at the moment. And so a change is a welcome intervention! I’m not bored of ministry at CCB. God has been very good to us and there have been lots of encouragements amidst the turbulence of the last six months. Moving into the office and sharing a ministry life with the apprentices has been a real joy. Seeing the numbers of people who’ve professed faith for the first time has been the highlight. But I’ve been doing it non-stop for ten years now. And this definitely changes the routine.  It’s an opportunity to do something different. I preach to our crowd almost every week. And I love it. I’ve especially loved preaching my way through Exodus with the morning crowd. And the week has a typical shape to it. It can feel a little ‘samey’ (if that’s a word). Monday is recovery day. Tuesday is staff meeting and the administration and ministry contact that falls out of that. Wednesday is Apprenticeship Workshop day over in Wimbledon and Co-Mission meetings. Thursday involves reading the Bible with one or two lads and specific church planting training for our Brixton bound apprentice. Hopefully I get to the text in some meaningful way before the close of play. Friday is finish sermon day but is wonderfully interrupted by a trip up to town to read with one of the lads who’s been converted. Saturday is a welcome day off. Sunday starts early and finishes late, which is why Monday is unproductive! This is a break from that well-worn routine. And I’m really looking forward to it! But it also gets me out of my comfort zone. This kind of disruption to the normal forces me to depend on the Lord. It prompts me pray in unexpected places and times. and that’s no bad thing.

2.       It’s a chance to see another ministry

It exposes me to something different. I’ve never been to Dallas before. I haven’t got to know a whole heap of American Christians. They can’t all be like the nut jobs they’re depicted as in mainstream American media. I used to work with one of them and he was brilliant. I’d like to meet a whole load more like him and find out what Christian discipleship looks like in the States. I’m really looking forward to sitting down with the Minister, Bill Lovell and chewing the fat. We may compare notes about the experience of church planting. And it’ll be fascinating to hear his testimony of how God helped him and his family deal with the theological and political wrangling in ECUSA. But mainly I’m looking forward to talking to a guy who’s been in ministry for a whole heap longer than I have but who thought enough of my preaching to fly me half way across the world to talk to his congregation. He’s worked with some really good guys (Tom Oates and David Short) as well as pastoring the main Episcopal Church in Dallas before planting Christ Church Carrollton. I’ll be taken notes in our conversations! One of the great joys of going to Madagascar back in November was the questions I had to ask myself about my own Christian life. I’d operated with a level of sacrificial service that I thought was acceptable and sustainable. Seeing the guys in Madritsara and what they had to cope with forced me to reconsider what cost looked like in our own context of comfortable middle class Balham. I could also do with some new stories. And I’m confident that the clash of cultures is going to give me more than enough stories for the next five years in ministry!

3.       It’s a treat

Let’s call a spade a spade. There is something enjoyably indulgent about this trip. That doesn’t mean it’s bad but it does mean there needs to be good reasons to justify it! I wouldn’t be doing this if I hadn’t been asked to and paid for. It feels like a timely gift from God to get away and I’m very grateful for it. Apart from a couple of trips in the last 20 years to New York, I’ve not been to America. And I’m pretty sure that the rest of the States isn’t like Manhattan. And so I’m really looking forward to what Carrollton and Frisco (where I’m staying with a family) looks like. The kids are looking forward to the presents I’ll bring back. CCB are waiting with baited breath to see whether I can resist the cowboy boots and stetson. Rosslyn just wants me back! I’m looking forward to uninterrupted sun for five days!

4.       It’s an opportunity for ministry

Though Rufus and Flora discovered via Google Earth that the house I’m staying at has a swimming pool, I am going there to work. Honest. I’ve worked hard on 1 Corinthians over the last ten years. I was introduced to it at Theological College with Dr Paul Woodbridge. I’ve preached my way through it twice at CCB. It’s been the book in Knowing God this year. And I’ve given seven talks on the opening chapters in another context. I’m beginning to get to grips with it! And I think it’s got some really important things to say to young church plants who are finding their way in a secular culture. I’ll never write a book out of this because Vaughan Roberts cornered the market with his. But it’s a chance to help a group of Christian brothers and sisters think through the implications of these passages for their own church planting endeavours in another corner of God’s kingdom. And if there’s any way that I can help with that, then that’s terrific.

It’s probably worth saying that Rosslyn and I didn’t linger long over the decision to go. Though she’d prefer to be on the plane, she’s happy that I am. We both felt that the benefits far outweighed the costs. I’ll let you know. But I’m pretty confident I’ll be proved right!

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Three Reasons not to go to Dallas!

As I write this, I’m at Heathrow’s terminal four. The flight to the States is a couple of hours away. I’m checked in and I’m good to go. I’ve even bought a couple of great gifts for the kids of the family that I’m staying with. But I didn’t sleep brilliantly last night. Rosslyn and I stayed up late chatting about some of the issues that are preoccupying us at the moment. And I had to get up early to finish off providing feedback on one of the sermons to be preached in my absence this Sunday. The journey out of SW12 was chaotic and the route the taxi driver took was anarchic. But I’m here now. And in a little over an hour I’ll be off to Detriot and then on to Dallas. But why? Why am I going?

Interestingly that’s not been a question that’s been asked in the Perkins household. Rosslyn knows what difference these sorts of trips make to my mental and spiritual well-being. She just wishes that she could find a way of getting some for herself! But it may be a question others ask. After all, they’re paying my wage and they’d be entitled to seek some sort of justification. They’re expecting me to pray for them, prepare sermons, organise church and equip them for the work of ministry. They don’t pay me to swan off half way round the world on a personal whim. And they have a point.

There are lots of reasons not to go. Here are the three that spring to mind.

First it’s a hassle. It would be easier not to go. It’s always a headache going away.  I’ve had to be really organised to fit stuff in and stuff around the time away. I’ve been preoccupied at home as I think  through what I’ve needed to do in preparation. I’m useless at making the kinds of decisions required to pack easily and quickly. I get strangely discomforted by travel arrangements and the uncertainty they induce. I absolutely hate leaving the family behind. The kids get fed up with how tightly I squeeze them in the days running up to departure! I don’t have to go. It would be easier not to. But I was asked which was nice. And it’s all being paid for, which is even nicer! But I didn’t have to go. I choose not to do things all the time. So, why not this time? Was the allure of Dallas just too tempting? There’s something in that.

Secondly, it’s a distraction. It’s not as though there isn’t stuff to do at home! Church is pretty busy at the moment. We’ve just completed a week of mission events. We have a new Christianity Explored course starting in a week. There are a few personal care issues flying around. We’re about to talk to the church about our financial plans and hopes for the year ahead. And I’m heading the organisation of Revive, our annual Co-Mission Bible Festival. There’s loads of ministry to be done in the church that pays my wage. So isn’t this trip merely diverting my attention away from the sheep that God has given me to care for? That’s a possibility. But I take holidays and leave the church in the competent hands of others all the time. This isn’t that much different.

Thirdly, it’s an inconvenience. It impacts others and they have to fill in the gaps left by my absence. The Apprentices are preaching at the weekend. And I don’t doubt that they’ll do a great job. Rosie, our Co-Mission Administrator won’t be able to get hold of me if she wants decisions about Revive. Rosslyn has some fairly key discussions and decisions pending at the moment. We have to sort out alternative arrangements to ensure that the kids are cared for. That usually means others stepping up to the plate and collecting them, feeding them and amusing them till Rosslyn gets back from work. It’s not ideal, though it is rare. And to top it all, it’s the Diamond Jubilee weekend. I’m missing our street party, and I’ve wanted one of those for years. Rosslyn and the kids are going to watch the River Pageant and then go to some thing in Hyde Park (I wasn’t paying much attention).

Just three of the reason that came to mind when, sat eating my porridge this morning, I wondered why on earth I’d agreed to go. The people of Christ Church Carrollton may be pleased to learn that I didn’t struggle to think of better reasons to join them!

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Mission Encouragements – II

Monday night was the Girls’ Night In. I didn’t go. Wasn’t allowed to, what with not being female and that. But at half ten that night I got the full debrief when all I wanted to do was watch the highlights of the Quins Northampton game from the weekend. Don’t get me wrong, I’m as keen as the next man for women’s evangelistic events. But there’s a time and a place for everything! And this was neither.

Joking aside. And, yes, it was a joke. Monday night’s women’s event went off like a storm.

The event was billed as an evening on which to take time out, relax and find sanctuary. Guests were greeted with an stunning array of beautifully crafted canapés (a rapidly diminishing number of which still reside in our fridge). Different women in the congregation offered a variety of pampering treatments ranging from make-up, hand massage, nail treatments and the like. (They may be boring accountants, teachers and nurses by day, but by night they clearly transform into talented beauticians!) But the focus of the evening was a talk by Julie Marriner. During the traumatic pregnancy, delivery and now upbringing of her youngest daughter Hope-Tia , Julie found her ultimate sanctuary in God. By all accounts she spoke openly and with heart rending honesty about Hope’s life. But Julie and the family will continue to face a number of heart-wrenching decisions as they respond to Hope’s very serious heart defect.  But in the midst of this ongoing turmoil, Julie is adamant that we have a God in whom we can always find refuge.

Commenting on the event one recent newcomer to CCB wrote this in an e-mail to her small group,

Those of you that were around last Wednesday know that I was planning to ask my flatmate to come along. She said yes and then told me how excited she was about it. Then yesterday I think she got cold feet and said that she wouldn’t stay very long but would still come along, so I prayed about it. Anyway, we arrived and it was just a haven of loveliness! She felt really welcome and said how friendly everyone was. The food and drinks were beautiful too! So after being there for about 15 minutes she decided that she definitely wanted to stay longer and hear the talk - hooray! The talk really moved her and we had quite a long chat about Christianity and our faith afterwards (previously unexplored territory!)

Anyway, she really enjoyed the evening and on the journey home even said she might try and go to the Bedford on Wednesday night and also said she’d like to come along to CCB.

Before the event, when they were still facing the anxious uncertainty of whether it would work, I tried to convince the girls who organised the event that if only one non-Christian came then it was worth all the effort. I still believe that. But how good was God!! Isn’t that terrific. We’ve got more events to come; the Question Time at the Bedford tonight, the Men’s Curry Night on Friday, the guest service on Sunday morning and Balham’s Big Question on Sunday evening. We’ll keep you posted. But we’re praying that God continues to exceed our expectations and do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20).

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Balham’s Big Quiz

To promote our forthcoming week of mission events, ‘Balham’s Big Survey’ we hosted a pub quiz at The Regent last Tuesday night. We’re good at these. They’re fun, they’re easy to promote and the vibe is positive. The guys who prepare them have to out in a fair amount of hard work. But the end product is well worthwhile. It ought to be an easy invite because it’s a fun night out and not to heavy on the spiritual content.

I gave a short talk. I enjoy these, though I always feel somewhat gutless because I’ve had an opportunity to speak but haven’t really said anything of any substance. I’m worried I’m turning liberal! I’m just not sure that the environment is massively conducive to a serious engagement with serious matters. It’s a pub. There’s a fair amount of noise. People have come for the quiz not to listen to the opportunistic church minister who’s hogging the microphone. And so my aim in speaking is always limited; I simply try and promote whatever’s next on the church programme for those who wouldn’t describe themselves as Christians. It’s a judgment call. I think it’s the right one. But it doesn’t stop me feeling gutless! I can’t wait to get to the mission events so that I can expunge my guilty silence from my memory! Having said that, I often have substantial conversations with friends because we’ve got the time and it’s as though we’ve been given permission to go there.

My heartfelt thanks to those of you on Facebook who helped me with some witty introductory comments. On Tuesday afternoon, I went to the drawer marked humour and found it was empty. You guys got me out of a hole.

This is what I said …

• What if the hokey cokey is what it’s all about?
• Is there another word for synonym?
• What was the best thing before sliced bread?
• Why are your keys always in the last place that you look?

Surely some of the great unanswered questions of our time.

• There are some questions that we can never answer like, why is there an expiry date on sour cream?
• There are some questions that deserve an answer like, who framed Roger Rabbit?
• There are some questions that we ought to answer like, if the ‘black box’ flight recorder is never damaged during a plane crash, why isn’t the whole airplane made of that stuff?

There is one question to which I’d love to know the answer. I hope you don’t mind if I ask it. I don’t mean to be rude or intrusive. It’s just that the answer fascinates me. It won’t be a question that everyone can answer. But the question is simply, ‘why aren’t you a Christian?’

I don’t know how you respond to that

• You may think, ‘I already am, stop bugging me!’
• You may think, ‘are you kidding me, do I look like an idiot?’
• You may think, ‘I haven’t got a clue; it’s never really crossed my mind’.
• You may think, ‘I didn’t realise I had to be, I thought it was optional!’
• You may think, ‘it was a conclusion I reached after a long and agonised exploration of the facts’.

But my point is; you have your reasons. You’ve got reasons for not being a Christian. Presumably you think that they’re good reasons otherwise you’d change your mind. But whatever they are, as far as you’re concerned, you’ve got good reasons not to be a Christian. I understand that.

At CCB, the church at which I run the staff team, we want an opportunity to hear those reasons, we want an opportunity to think about those reasons and we want an opportunity to respond to those reasons. We understand that people have their reasons not to be a Christian. And so we’ve launched Balham’s Big Survey.

We’re going out on the streets on Saturday, with our clipboards. We’ll try not to get confused for chuggers. But we’re going to approach people and hear what they have to say.

We’ve launched a website so that people can participate in the survey. If you visit www.balhamsbigsurvey.org you could turn your reason into a response.

We’re hosting two events for people who wouldn’t normally go with in a country mile of a church. On Wednesday week we’ve got Question Time in the Chestnut Grove Theatre. On Sunday week we’ve cancelled Sunday church so that we can respond to the single most popular question posed in the survey.

It’d be great if you submitted a question, encouraged others to do so and then brought them with you to either or both of those events. You’d be very welcome.

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Balham’s Big Survey

Our annual mission kicks off this Sunday. It’s called ‘Balham’s Big Survey’. Essentially we’re encouraging anyone who’s willing to respond to the question ‘If you could ask God one question, and you knew you’d get an answer, what would you ask?’

We’ve launched a website so that people can submit questions. We’re attempting to help people engage with the big issues of life. We’re encouraging church punters to use all manner of social media to get a response. My Facebook news feed has included a steady stream of congregational members using their status to promote the events. Happy days!

We’re going to respond to the two most popular responses on Sunday 22nd Many; in the morning, when Pete will tackle the second most popular response, and the evening when I’ll have a stab at the most popular one.

This Saturday we’re going to be out on the streets of Balham, trying not to make a nuisance of ourselves, asking people to submit a response to the big question. We’ve been out a few times before, so we’re hoping that people have got used to us pestering them for 30 seconds of their time! We’ve got a team of nearly 30 people who are giving up their Saturday morning to listen to the people of Balham and gather data. That’s hugely encouraging. I’m a bit of a statistical geek. I love graphs and pie charts and so on. They may already be dated, but I love a good ‘wordle’ as well. I  may try to get some of the creative collective to produce an infographic! But I’m looking forward to the analysis once it’s been done. We’ve got a wonderfully helpful congregational member who works for the National Audit Office so she can churn out the facts in the blink of an eye!

But there are more events in the week. ‘Question Time’ should be good. On Wednesday 18th May we’ve hired Chestnut Grove School Theatre for the evening. We’ve got three panel members, with expertise in different areas, to come and respond to questions posed by the audience. Rev Dr Steve Jeffery, a PhD Physicist, Church Minister and author of ‘Pierced for our Trangressions’ will be joined by Martin Ayers and Debs Stein. Martin is an ex-lawyer and now Anglican Clergyman who’s recently published book ‘Naked God’ responds to common objections raised against the Christian faith. Debs Stein is studying for her PhD in Church History, she’s married to an Anglican Clergyman and became a Christian after pursuing a reckless hedonistic lifestyle during her young adult years. I’m going to host and there’ll be a mixture of written questions submitted by the audience and then opportunity for further supplementary questions from the floor. The unpredictability should make for a great evening.

We’ve also got two gender specific events, though we don’t call them that!

The girls are having an evening devoted to fashion called ‘Frock Chicks’. It’s on Monday 16th May. Hilary Nicholls is the co-founder of the company with the same name. Frock Chicks is a fashion consultancy with a personal shopper service. Hils is married to a good friend of mine, Andrew, who also happens to be on the C0-Mission staff. That gave me sme useful leverage! Before being married to Andrew and raising their two boys, Hils was a UCCF staff worker in London. She’ll give a style presentation and provide some fashion advice and then speak on the subject ‘Dressing up? Who are we really?’

On the Friday night (20th May), the boys are having a curry! Why wouldn’t you? We’re only a stop away from Tooting, one of the best areas in London to enjoy South Asian Cuisine. I’m speaking at this event. So it could go either way. I’m going to try to convince the gathered crowd that Christianity isn’t for religious people, which I hope will come as refreshing news to everyone there!

And the kids haven’t been left out. They’ve got Balham’s Big Bounce this Sunday afternoon (15th May). We’re transforming the school gym at Chestnut Grove School into a giant playground with soft play, a bouncy castle and a massive inflatable assault course. Simon, our children’s worker apprentice, is going to compare the fun we have at parties with the joy we have in knowing Jesus.

If you’re around, come to the events. You’d be most welcome. If you like what we’re doing, pray for us. And if you’ve got a question; submit it here.

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A Year in the Life of CCB

I wrote a summary of our year at CCB. You’ll find it here. It’s the Senior Minister’s opening letter for our AGM booklet. Except that we don’t call it an AGM. We call it a Year at CCB. It sounds more enticing than AGM!

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