A walk in the snow

Friday 5th December
The Christmas spirit is here – snow had fallen in Kendal and our walk round Seizergh postponed – the back roads are lethal with black ice – instead we met on Windermere road at the north end of town for a walk round the golf course. It was cold, crisp and incredibly beautiful. However, we soon got into difficulties – the snow was compact where the children had sledged – and the steep slopes of the hills were ice – but we were not deterred and determined to reach the top to view the amazing sights over Kendal. After much slipping and sliding, we reach the top and look back over Kendal – the town was covered by mist and only the snow covered hills were visible – the backdrop to our walk.

The conversation picks up where we left off after the last walk together – pondering where God is taking the church – and us. We explored the theology of mission in more depth. Looking at some biblical examples – such as Paul’s ministry of moving on and leaving local people to find local leaders to develop churches as they develop. We considered the model of the inherited church – small churches with only a few members still trying to model the structures and patterns of the larger church – weekly services in large buildings, hoping for ‘their own minister’ to ‘do’ church for them – the cycle of running programmes that are outreach or social action, but not linking this to evangelism. We discussed what the role of ‘being’ is, rather than ‘doing,’ and how more laypeople might be empowered to speak more of their faith and pray with each other.

Over coffee in a house afterwards, we looked at the role of cross cultural mission, in a practical example of a local project that is developing by one person who joined us for coffee. We discussed how communities are formed, what holds them together and how there is a need for the inherited church to work with and alongside those who will not naturally find a place in the inherited church – and of course, how the resources can be made available for this missional work.
The walk again felt like it had the potential to be a church – although it does not yet have all the characteristics of a church that are mentioned in Acts 2 – we share fellowship, prayer (in the sense of informal sharing and support), and food – but not sacraments. Maybe this is not important – but the coming together at separate times for lunch, coffee etc will be our breaking of bread.