the time in australia ended up pretty busy with the installation and the workshops/teaching so i never got round to blogging much unlike my last visit. anyway for what it's worth a few thoughts written on the flight as once i get back i am sure i'll be busy catching up on other things…
there seems to be a move in lots of places to try and shift some of the alternative worship approach to installations into public space. i have really enjoyed seeing this happen with the likes of stations of the cross, beach hut advent calendars and so on. this move has been happening in australia in a few places as well as the uk through the likes of cheryl lawrie and the other guys who form part of a team who have done things in melbourne and elsewhere, and mark pierson when he was in melbourne (i'm sure there are others but my knowledge is inevitably limited). so it was good to be part of that and have an installation that was advertised in the adelaide fringe programme. we had visitors come along on that basis – 25-40 each session it was open. i think being in the fringe was a first thanks to craig mitchell but hope it will be followed on by others locally next year.
the workshops we were taking part in were part of an event in adelaide called spirit of wonder dreamed up by craig in and around the edges of the uniting college there. they all seemed to go pretty well as far as i could tell (though its' not always easy to know). craig has blogged about a few of the events – re:generate was the first i did. but the thing that i was reflecting on was how similar some of the themes/questions being asked are in different contexts round the world.how much the internet is to blame i have no idea or are we all just riding the same wave or is it what happens in slef organising systems such as the church?! in the uk i am currently developing pioneer mission leadership training that is trying to reconfigure an approach to training that is through a mission lens. well it turns out uniting college, a training institution of a different denomination on the other side of the world, are basically on a very similar journey. they have reshaped or are reshaping their training in this way. it was good to cross paths again with steve and lynn taylor who i haven't seen for a few years who have moved from new zealand. steve is on staff to teach/create learning around mission. it was good to compare notes. it was also fun to do a double act leading a communion service with steve at the college.
on the denominations thing, i hadn't quite realised that forge, a missional training network in australia, was no longer happening. it seemed to have a lot of energy before… i guess that energy will have gone into other things. but it does intrigue me that maybe the denominations that some had written off in terms of mission may be some of the spaces and networks that catalyse change and newness for the next phase? that's not really a thought through comment as i don't have an overview of what is happening in australia and i'm sure it's a mixed picture…
i managed to catch a coffee with mark sayers who has a new book out called the vertical self looking at holiness/character. i enjoyed the book and suspect he's on to something. it's a theme that is going to make a comeback in certain circles. he writes with his usual blend of mission thinking, reading the zeitgeist, and accesible stories. the challenge with thinking about holiness is that it often tends into an anti-cultural territory or at least identifying and majoring on the negatives in culture. i still think mike riddell's notion of the sin of holiness in threshold of the future was a refreshing counter to that…
talking of coffee australia is a great place for coffee and has influenced my drinking habits both last time around and this…
we had an interesting discussion around the word pioneer. whatever language you use is problematic but there was a very split opinion around whether this was a good word or not in the australian context. but there was a shared sense that with a refocusing on mission, recognising the gift that pioneers/entrepreneurs bring into the mix is timely. i felt it was a pretty useful conversation at least.
after all the workshops it was great to spend a couple of days down at the coast on mornington peninsular with the team who create installations in the basement in melbourne and to eavesdrop on dreams and plans (and visit wineries and beaches!). i also got to see a 4 ft brown snake slide across the drive in front of me – apparently venomous!
we returned to the airport via the long route through the forest where the fires were last year which was one of the most astonishing landscapes i have ever seen. its an incredibly beautiful forest (apparently where some of where the wild things are was filmed). i can't begin to imagine what it must have been like with fire moving at 100kmh as high as a forest consuming everything in sight. it must have been so desolate afterwards. but it is an amazing world we live in and in many places the blackened trunks (still haunting) are sprouting green as new life is returning quite rapidly in places.
although i have now been to australia twice it wasn't until the final evening this time that i finally got to see a mob of kangaroos. anyway now looking forward to home. photos to follow…