a question…

the latest update from fresh expressions seemed jam packed with interesting things – i highlight a couple here.

i am headed to wells on thursday to do a training day for bath and wells diocese on curating worship – download the brochure for info. i actually have two or three things on curating worship over the next few months. i was chatting with someone yesterday about it and it seems that the concept of curation as a way of thinking about leading worship is out there in conversation and imagination in quite a few spaces now which i hope is a good thing!

i was asked a question via e-mail this week from a pastor in the usa which i thought i'd run by you. it went something like this…

I have noticed that many of the emerging church blogs and websites have dried up. Where I live, there were virtually zero churches doing what you were doing. I like to play and create and offer worship experiences that are different from the traditional 1900's models; however, I have found it difficult to find folks in my area who share this.  These blogs were my discussions of ideas, etc. Have these churches and creators of worship arts gone somewhere else, or are they just gone? If you have suggestions on where else I can go to find discussion and idea creation for alternative worship, I would greatly appreciate it!

i sent a reply saying that i thought a lot was happening but inevitably the conversation moves and things like twitter and facebook have had a part to play in that. but equally the phases of the church reconfiguring that were called emerging church and alternative worship have been passed through i suspect. lots of things now seem to be configuring around mission and community. quite a few people have got involved in moving worship into public space which is good. others are gathered round meal tables in small missional communities under the radar. but i do think it's harder to find groups who are creating worship that grabs the imagination, soul and spirit. if any of you have thoughts/comments on this issue do make them here or on facebook where i'll also post the question. and if you know of hubs post them. i post less on worship now but am still passionate about it. the reason i post less is that so much of my time and energy is taken up in running the cms pioneer training so i post less on everything!
steve has paused the alternativeworship web site. he says this

This site has existed since 2002. The movement it attempts to describe and map is now too diverse and widespread to be adequately summarised here, even if I still had time and energy to do so. Consequently this site will not now be actively maintained, as in truth has been the case for some time. However, the site is still functional as a gateway to the movement on the internet, for those coming from Google, Wikipedia or books. The definitions [which have been much quoted] have been updated, along with the directories. The practical advice is still valid. Beyond this site, the alternative worship/emerging church world is highly interconnected, so follow the links and you will find much more

and we paused the emergingchurch.info web site a while back now which i notice has disappeared off the internet so i will try and least get it hosted somewhere as it contains lots of great stories…

i noticed that pete rollins has posted that maybe one of the spaces things have moved to is with non-christians…