We went on the walk around Rydal waters, and to the cave - three of us. It was a beautiful day, the sun shone and the hills and lakes looked at their very best. The topic of our walk was moving on, with a good friend within the group moving a couple of days later. We reflected on Jesus moving on - his itenerent ministry.
It was a walk with an ending. The Walking Church will need to regroup now, and plans are already on their way, with new people interested. A new format will be developed with a reading/ focus at the beginning of the walk, and reflection at the end. The walking church is looking to become part of other networks of emerging churches in the area, including a church at Costa's in Bowness.
Thursday, 30 April 2009
Tuesday, 17 March 2009
Rydal Waters
Tomorrow we head of for what will probably be the last walk with one person who began this journey with me, and has come to nearly all the walks. We are going to head round Rydal Water, and if the weather is as clear and warm as today, it should be fantastic.
Reflection...
As the time comes nearer to writing up the walking church for the college assignment, my mind is turning to Theological Reflection - theology as a critical reflection on faithful practice. So reflecting critically on our walking church as a way of being church raises many more questions than it answers.
God has been central to our time together, and discipleship has for me been a rich experience of searching out answers to some difficult questions that do not sit comfortably in the institutional church. 'Theology emerges as a practical problem-solving and inductive discipline, which connects with practical issues in a way that illuminates and empowers...' (p 5).
The Walking Church has been an opportunity to experiement in a very small way other forms that church can take. It has highlighted many positives and also the difficulties with all forms of church life. It requires a drive from one or two people in the initial stages to become established - and a more regular pattern to the walk than we managed.
Over the last week I have been reflecting on other walks and journeys in the Bible - the Walk to Emmaus, the journey Jesus took to the garden of Gethsemane, the walk to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, the walk Jesus took to his own death, the journey of the Israelites after leaving Egypt for the promised land - the examples are endless.
The time while walking or journeying to another place are rich times of personal reflection and communication with others. The process of getting to another place provides a rich time that is as valuable as is reaching the final destination. This is what is exciting about the cafe church - there is a long way to journey, but the journey is spiritually refreshing and engaging, with Christ at the centre as we move forward. The Walking Church is another form of deep spiritual refreshment.
God has been central to our time together, and discipleship has for me been a rich experience of searching out answers to some difficult questions that do not sit comfortably in the institutional church. 'Theology emerges as a practical problem-solving and inductive discipline, which connects with practical issues in a way that illuminates and empowers...' (p 5).
The Walking Church has been an opportunity to experiement in a very small way other forms that church can take. It has highlighted many positives and also the difficulties with all forms of church life. It requires a drive from one or two people in the initial stages to become established - and a more regular pattern to the walk than we managed.
Over the last week I have been reflecting on other walks and journeys in the Bible - the Walk to Emmaus, the journey Jesus took to the garden of Gethsemane, the walk to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, the walk Jesus took to his own death, the journey of the Israelites after leaving Egypt for the promised land - the examples are endless.
The time while walking or journeying to another place are rich times of personal reflection and communication with others. The process of getting to another place provides a rich time that is as valuable as is reaching the final destination. This is what is exciting about the cafe church - there is a long way to journey, but the journey is spiritually refreshing and engaging, with Christ at the centre as we move forward. The Walking Church is another form of deep spiritual refreshment.
Sunday, 1 March 2009
Cafe Church
One of the outcomes of the walking church is perhaps the confidence to stop talking about an emerging form of church and actually join one. The cafe church in Bowness began 5 weeks ago, meeting in Costas on a Sunday afternoon. We have been going as a family, and are excited about how this new form of church in South Lakes will emerge. We have been discussing how it will develop and move forward. Our children are enjoying going to church - and watching the dvds. Our older son was amazed that we would be able to watch films like Finding Nemo - he couldn't see how God could be seen in the film - that is, until we explored together the issues that the film raises.
My vision is now that the walking church will become a part of the cafe church - that different interest groups will form within the cafe church and we will all come together on the Sunday afternoon. Already one lady is very involved in a music group. Other groups might include football and film. I have moved from being very disillusioned about church to excited about the future.
I am longing to go out walking again - I have been away, and visitors came for a week. When work quietens down in a couple of weeks we will be out again.
My vision is now that the walking church will become a part of the cafe church - that different interest groups will form within the cafe church and we will all come together on the Sunday afternoon. Already one lady is very involved in a music group. Other groups might include football and film. I have moved from being very disillusioned about church to excited about the future.
I am longing to go out walking again - I have been away, and visitors came for a week. When work quietens down in a couple of weeks we will be out again.
Monday, 23 February 2009
Accessible.....
I have been talking with a relative who was concerned that a walking church is not accessible to all - her view is that all should be able to go to church, and clearly those unable to walk distances would not find a walking church too helpful. It turned into a conversation about how accessible the inherited church is. For some people, the inherited church is their family - a place of support, encouragement and worshipping God. Yet I have met many people recently who are unable to access the inherited church for many reasons. Some because children have other committments such as sport or visiting another parent or relative, some because their partner is not a Christian and Sunday church is difficult, some because they work on a Sunday, and for others it is the only day for the family. For still others, the very model used by the inherited church makes the style, leadership and form of church inaccessible. In this pluaristic society we need differing forms of church - all ok in their own way. Differing forms of communities centred around Christ. Anthony Reddie speaks about what church is - I will go and do some reading.
Thursday, 12 February 2009
Celtic Pilgrimages
I am on the isle of Man at the moment, where there is a rich tapestry of viking and celtic heritage. I have been speaking to a couple who go on Keeill walks of prayer. These go to places of Celtic worship sites as a pilgrimage. Keeills are small, and so the communities must have worshipped God while in the open air. A facinating insight that a walking church is actually nothing new - the Celtic communities prayed where they were - the were incarnational - God was known to be everywhere.
Wednesday, 11 February 2009
Confusion and pain
I love the concept of the walking church - I love the journey it has taken me on - I am able to be with God on our walks in a way I never (or rarely) engage with God in church services - but where is it leading? Am I on a lifeboat rowing away from the Titanic in order to survive and continue my journey of faith with God - or will the ropes between the boat I am on and the Titanic remain in-tact - and even become stronger with a richness developing between the inherited church and the emerging church. There is pain in the journey - a move away from inherited church in order to continue my discipleship with Christ. It is a pain I have heard in the voices of others, only recognised after a long period of struggle where no one seems to understand....
Friday, 30 January 2009
The Prodigal Son
I am reading The Prodigal Son - one of the best books I've read that tells how others have been experimenting in worship, and gives some guidance - well ideas, pitfalls, and discusses what worship is (or isn't) - wish I'd read the Chapter New Approaches to Worship a year ago. Lots of ideas and pointer - worship as art, gettng it together, making a start, making room for God - complete with not just a summary of alternative worship that has worked, but also the pain and difficulty on that journey, and worship that has failed.
Saturday, 24 January 2009
Moving on....
21st Jan 2009 Moving on...
My walking buddie is moving away – I am upset... we began this walking church with 3 main adults, and their families. One person quickly became a ‘fair weather walker’ – and I am sure will enjoy some walks when the weather improves (Cumbria is very wet and cold at present). Still, we set of on Wed for what was the most beautiful of walks, through the Seizergh Castle estate and into the surrounding countryside. My friend – a friendship formed largely through our walks, is moving south in April. Yet I have gained so much through our conversations, enabling much reflection – though writing it on an on-line journal is a new experience, and one that I am just beginning to use more effectively.
On one level, this walking church has not met many of its objectives. It has not attracted other people to join, we have not read Bible stories together as often as I had planned, and we only take the children if we manage to walk at a weekend. These are for many reasons. A walking church that attracts others needs to focus as much around food as around walking. The original idea was to eat a meal together during the walk. The first time we did this – but it did not fit in with small children’s schedules... though others in the group loved it. Then the weather turned – the autumn was very wet in the Lakes, and stopping for food would not really have been the best move... We have also chosen a different route each time. This has provided a lot of variety and interest to the walks, but to form relationships, we would possibly need to go on the same walk at the same time each week – to meet others who do this, such as the dog-walkers. The children who came, including those in prams, also limited where we could walk and how the conversation could develop. Originally I had thought of weekends, but due to ‘church’ commitments, children’s activities and work, this has not happened as often as we would like.
So – where now? We will continue to enjoy our walks. I have been able to reflect on my own journey with God in a very positive way, but the walks need to be part of a larger network of believers. The last walk was reflecting on a review process that is about to be undertaken in my local church. My family and I have also been discussing how we can be an authentic community of believers . We are exploring if God is asking us to meet with a few others for a meal late on a Sunday afternoon, complete with a prayer tent, discussion areas, contemporary music etc. Not to attract others to us, but to worship God in a natural and authentic way. From this monthly gathering, interest groups might meet for normal activities – such as walking or going to the park. In these small groups, members will be accountable to each other and encouraged and challenged in their discipleship.
This is a different approach to the one I took when I began the walking church – it started largely as a college project, and most of my Christian friends who would join me on this journey do not live locally – part of the challenge of living in a rural area. But this needs to be a shared vision and journey.
‘I am convinced that no one can do this stuff alone. ... because I believe that the sharing of dreams, the overlaying of visions, the interweaving of relationships, and the struggles through difference and diversity are at the very heart of these ventures.’ – in The Prodigal Project, p49.
This book that I am reading is resounding very much to my journey – a sense of hurt, anger, frustration that the institutional church that I was very much a part of was not a place where I could live out my life in Christ - to come to understand over the last 5 years that this is not because I have a problem (as some within the institutional church would like to say) was a great release and relief – yet if an emerging church is to succeed, then others with the same outlook need to be found, and a joint vision emerge – that is where perhaps the walking church has failed the most – I have been going it alone.
My walking buddie is moving away – I am upset... we began this walking church with 3 main adults, and their families. One person quickly became a ‘fair weather walker’ – and I am sure will enjoy some walks when the weather improves (Cumbria is very wet and cold at present). Still, we set of on Wed for what was the most beautiful of walks, through the Seizergh Castle estate and into the surrounding countryside. My friend – a friendship formed largely through our walks, is moving south in April. Yet I have gained so much through our conversations, enabling much reflection – though writing it on an on-line journal is a new experience, and one that I am just beginning to use more effectively.
On one level, this walking church has not met many of its objectives. It has not attracted other people to join, we have not read Bible stories together as often as I had planned, and we only take the children if we manage to walk at a weekend. These are for many reasons. A walking church that attracts others needs to focus as much around food as around walking. The original idea was to eat a meal together during the walk. The first time we did this – but it did not fit in with small children’s schedules... though others in the group loved it. Then the weather turned – the autumn was very wet in the Lakes, and stopping for food would not really have been the best move... We have also chosen a different route each time. This has provided a lot of variety and interest to the walks, but to form relationships, we would possibly need to go on the same walk at the same time each week – to meet others who do this, such as the dog-walkers. The children who came, including those in prams, also limited where we could walk and how the conversation could develop. Originally I had thought of weekends, but due to ‘church’ commitments, children’s activities and work, this has not happened as often as we would like.
So – where now? We will continue to enjoy our walks. I have been able to reflect on my own journey with God in a very positive way, but the walks need to be part of a larger network of believers. The last walk was reflecting on a review process that is about to be undertaken in my local church. My family and I have also been discussing how we can be an authentic community of believers . We are exploring if God is asking us to meet with a few others for a meal late on a Sunday afternoon, complete with a prayer tent, discussion areas, contemporary music etc. Not to attract others to us, but to worship God in a natural and authentic way. From this monthly gathering, interest groups might meet for normal activities – such as walking or going to the park. In these small groups, members will be accountable to each other and encouraged and challenged in their discipleship.
This is a different approach to the one I took when I began the walking church – it started largely as a college project, and most of my Christian friends who would join me on this journey do not live locally – part of the challenge of living in a rural area. But this needs to be a shared vision and journey.
‘I am convinced that no one can do this stuff alone. ... because I believe that the sharing of dreams, the overlaying of visions, the interweaving of relationships, and the struggles through difference and diversity are at the very heart of these ventures.’ – in The Prodigal Project, p49.
This book that I am reading is resounding very much to my journey – a sense of hurt, anger, frustration that the institutional church that I was very much a part of was not a place where I could live out my life in Christ - to come to understand over the last 5 years that this is not because I have a problem (as some within the institutional church would like to say) was a great release and relief – yet if an emerging church is to succeed, then others with the same outlook need to be found, and a joint vision emerge – that is where perhaps the walking church has failed the most – I have been going it alone.
Tuesday, 20 January 2009
We are going for a walk tomorrow - round Seizergh. I am ready to get out and clear my head... so many things to think about, so many issues that the Church doesn't seem to get.... so many ideas for how a Christian community can be together in a post Christendom era, so many thoughts coming together about faith for us as a family.... maybe I will have space to think tomorrow.
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