i really enjoyed taking part in blah… oxford last night. the bar in the phoenix cinema was a great space for it. the theme was on emerging church and i was given the task of getting the conversation going which i did by sharing a few stories and reflections. what struck me about the evening is how valuable it is to have spaces to talk where you can be honest and real, ask questions and express fears and so on. i think i take that for granted as i am often in spaces that are like that but it was clearly new for some people there which is great. it was hosted by maybe and home, two emerging church communities in oxford and i hope the conversation continues…
as i was writing this post i remembered ian at maybe saying something about their spirit (what we call our ethos at grace) so i had a read through it and i found it really interesting to read another community’s values at their core –
grace | space | wonder | grit | resistance | laughter | presence
As one of the people for whom much of last night was ‘new’, I would like to say that I think there are loads of people out there who are disaffected with evangelical churches and want out. Mostly I think this results in people not going to church at all, or going occasionally out of guilt. It would be fantastic if more people could be made aware that there are opportunities to continue to belong to a community of faith which allows free expression of honest feelings without judgement, and without expectation of their eventually ‘toeing the line’. I think there’s a huge need for a good look at the whole issue of ‘honesty’, and also for a publicity campaign about ’emerging church’-type spaces.