.:: keeping the ministry fresh ::.

Excellent quote from a recently elected politician here in New Zealand: ‘(My party) must move with the times, generate new ideas, recruit fresh talent, take risks and listen to New Zealanders.’

Not bad advice for anyone who is involved in ministry leadership! Let me tease this out a bit:

//Move with the times  - the society around us is changing.  It is essential that leaders spend time reading across a range of disciplines; and go for blogs where possible.  Books are great, but often it can be a year between the finished manuscript and publishing and a lot happens in a year.  Also subject yourself to the discipline of writing about where things are heading and how it applies to your area.  This often forces careful thought - not a bad thing.  For my latest piece see: The Bible in the Digital Space (1120)

//Generate new ideas - in my experience new ideas are easy, what is hard is finding the resources to make the great ideas become reality.  And when I say ‘resource’ I am not thinking about money, but something way more important: talented staff (fresh talent). Getting the right people involved in a project at just the right time is one of the most important tasks of leadership.

// Listen - It amazes me how few Christian orgs. I have encountered will take the time to find out what the needs are in the community they are working with and seeking to influence.  As one Pastor once said, ‘The church is answering questions no one is asking.’  It is absolutely essential to find out what the needs are in a community, to learn as much about the community so as to contextualize the offering.  And in listening, be prepared to change the offering if required.  It is essential to keep the ministry fresh.

Virtual Sacraments?

One of the key challenges with online worship is how to incorporate the Eucharist.  The Eucharist is a physical experience from witnessing the act to receiving bread and wine.  But it is also a spiritual experience in that the key action is invisible, caused by God who acts within the liturgy.   So would it be possible to have a virtual communion, a virtual sacrament?

The Revd Professor Paul S. Fiddes, who is Professor of Systematic Theology at the University of Oxford and Director of Research, Regent’s Park College, has just written a very interesting short paper called,  Sacraments in a Virtual World?

With his permission I reproduce it here; your thoughts are welcome!

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           Summary: An avatar can receive the bread and wine of the Eucharist within the logic of the virtual world and it will still be a means of grace, since God is present in a virtual world in a way that is suitable for its inhabitants. We may expect that the grace received by the avatar will be shared in some way by the person behind the avatar, because the person in our everyday world has a complex relationship with his or her persona.Argument:

1. The key theological question is whether the triune God is present, and whether Christ is incarnate (in some form, including the church) within the virtual world.[1] If the answer is yes, then one can conceive of the mediation of grace through the materials of that world, i.e. through digital representations.

Grace is, of course, not a substance but the gracious presence of God, coming to transform personality and society. In sacrament, God takes the occasion of bodies in creation to be present in an intense or ‘focused’ way to renew life.

2. One ought not to assume that cyberspace is a disembodied world.  The net is composed of a form of energy, just as is the familiar ‘physical’ world in which we operate everyday. Moreover, the persons behind the avatars are in physical connection with the virtual world - through many of the senses (sight, hearing, touch - i.e. keyboard, mouse). Anyway, mental activity always has a physical base in the brain. Studies have shown that people feel a bodily connection with those with whom they are communicating over the net. Continue reading »

Ta tah!! I present the farewell service highlights video..

Check out the 6 min. vid highlight from my farewell service at the Anglican Cathedral of Second Life..

What does the future hold for Virtual Ministry?

This weekend I preach my final message before I formally retire from the Anglican Cathedral of Second Life.  Next weekend is my farewell service.  My final talk is, ‘What does the future hold for Virtual Ministry? ‘  I will offer some possibilities, some ideas as to where virtual ministry might be heading.  I can see two realities converging, which will fuel online worship: 1) A declining number of people calling themselves Christian yet not attending the local church, and 2) the massive growth of the internet.

The service I am speaking at is 8pm Saturday Los Angeles time.  Click here to see what time this is in your part of the world.  You are welcome to come and join us!

To get to the Cathedral to hear me speak:

If you are signed up to Second Life:  to get to the Cathedral to attend the service click here.

If you need to sign up to Second Life: check out my blog post by clicking here.

For more background info see: Christian Mission to a Virtual World (1528)

Why don’t people go to church?

I have spent the day preparing my presentation on, ‘The Bible in the Digital Space’ for the Christianity in the Digital Space conference in July at Durham University.  As part of my prep I have been thinking a little about why people don’t go to church.   So to assist this, I placed up on Twitter and Facebook the following,

‘ Interesting question: Why don’t people go to church? Thoughts?’

Within a couple of hours it had more than 50 responses.  So I thought I would post the same question here and invite your comment:

‘ Interesting question: Why don’t people go to church? Thoughts?’

Twitter Church?

The most recent edition of Time magazine has a piece on Twitter being used in church services.  Throughout the service the congregation is encouraged to twitter about the service, with a large screen in the auditorium streaming the tweets as they occur.

The same piece also spoke about Trinity Wall Street Church who this past Easter twittered the passion play including, ‘via @romanguard1: I’ve got dibs on his robe, but if you guys want to cast lots for the rest of his clothes I’m cool with that.’  And this got me thinking… so much of our engagement as church with technology is attempting to fit the technology into our present model.  But what would church look like if we were prepared to allow technology to guide how we do church?

Jon Hirst spent some time studying some of the most innovative companies in the world with the aim of gleening some gems for the church.  His first point is, ‘The most innovative organizations are, at their highest levels, defined by innovation in technology’.  Hirst goes on to note,

Technology: In the early days missions were extremely technology driven as they used every tool to overcome huge obstacles. But we have given this distinctive up and now most of our core processes/services/products are not driven by innovative technology.

So taking this view of allowing the technology to guide how we do church I have an idea.. Continue reading »

Can a 1950s Church Serve a 21st Century Society?

Wonderful to welcome Bishop Randerson to Brownblog.  In this guest blog post Richard challenges the 1950’s style thinking of many churches.  Here is the good Bishop:

Can a 1950s Church Serve a 21st Century Society?

No! is the obvious answer, yet in too many places that is what we are trying to do. I’m a product of the 1950s Church. I started training to be an Anglican priest in 1958. In the course of 45 years of ministry I served as parish priest, industrial chaplain, social justice officer, bishop and cathedral dean.

Looking back, I see that churches of the 1950s were based on folk coming along on Sundays. Clergy were flat out with church-based activities which were well attended. Church was the place to be. In fact, there weren’t many other places to be in those days. Shops, cinemas, sport were strictly Monday-Saturday.
But by the time I was ordained priest in the mid-60s, society was changing fast. Sunday church was in decline. In 50 years some churches have made creative changes, but many are still operating a 1950s “come to church on Sundays” model with little else, and experiencing the law of diminishing returns.
I firmly believe that the Christian Gospel, expressed in ministry exercised compassionately, creatively and with an essential community rather than church focus, still has huge impact on people’s lives. The essentials are : Continue reading »

Lent? Huh?

Tomorrow is the start of Lent an ancient church tradition with huge meaning.  It is kinda sad that so many churches have given the practice of Lent up.  Lent can be an unbelievably powerful time of spring cleaning our soul. I am giving Facebook and Twitter up for Lent (oh yes).  I am committing to a time of real self examination, heaps of prayer and working on resting in the Lord.  I invite you to join me in observing Lent.

Check out below a simple 8 minute message: ‘What is the point of Lent?’ Preached in the Virtual Anglican Cathedral of Second Life.  (Note: ignore the dates mentioned! The message is from last year; the dates for Lent are 25th of Feb to 11th of April).
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Fancy a deeper faith?

 To seek a deeper faith in God is to desire strength when times are tough.  A deeper faith inspires greater action in caring for the poor and the downtrodden.  It has very little to do with how we appear, but with what we do.  In this sermon to the Anglican Cathedral of Second Life I share two ideas to encourage you into a deeper faith.  To listen to ‘Kites and angry airline passengers: 2 big steps toward a deeper faith’ click on the play button below. (21 mins in length).

Also I would be interested in hearing how your faith has deepened, feel free to share your ideas with a comment below.
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Kites and angry airline passengers: 2 big steps toward a deeper faith

This weekend I am leading a new service at the Anglican Cathedral of Second Life: Saturday 6pm Second Life time.  Click here to see what time this is in your part of the world.

I am preaching on  Kites and angry airline passengers: 2 big steps toward a deeper faith. Where ever you live come along! Be great to see you at the virtual Cathedral.  So how to get to the Cath?

If you are signed up to Second Life:  to get to the Cathedral click here.

If you need to sign up to Second Life: check out my blog post by clicking here.

For more background info see: Christian Mission to a Virtual World (1528)

Or for a more general overview of the Anglican ministry in SL  click here.