Sanctus1 Manchester: August 2005

Greenbelt reports

Just got back from Greenbelt. One thing that we did was a service called Useless beauty. Click here for a review. We also did something in New forms II, i'll blog about that when i get some images...

I'm off to Greenbelt today and I'm looking forward to it. Sanctus1 is doing three things there. A service in New Forms 1 called Useless Beauty on Saturday at 6pm, A worship installation in New Forms 2 called Do It Yourself and a text worship service. See earlier post.

Here's my must see list...

Lawrence Freeman
Richard Rohr
Maggie Dawn
Bill Drummond

In regard to worship, i think that I'll be at Moot, COTA, home, Aradna and Dream...

But what I'll probably end up doing is sitting in the organic beer tent or the Tint Tea Tent looking after Jude and catching up with some good friends; and that's what i really enjoy doing at Greenbelt

Nice turn of phrase...

One of my colleagues, who knows I'm a Christian and do my "church thing" on a Wednesday rather than a Sunday, just asked, "So are you Godding it up tonight then?"

Nice one! :-D

What is Success?

I've been thinking a bit about success over the past few days. I often get asked to do presentations on sanctus1 and after I've given the presentation somebody usually ask me how many people come to Sanctus1? I find myself quite uncomfortable with the question because essential the person is asking: 'Are you a success in numerical worldy terms? I was then searching the web for references to Sanctus1 and I saw that we were referred to as 'one of the most successful emerging churches in the uk'.

I am uncomfortable with the language of success within the church.

We live in a success driven culture and unfortunately the church has taken on a lot of the values, a success driven church, Christ is the antithesis of this attitude. The language of success is not the language of Christ, Christ’ life was about radical failure. Failing to be the type of messiah that people were expecting, failing to overthrow the roman authorities, failing by hanging out with the failures, a life of upsetting the successful, a life of radical failure.

A life that ended with death on the cross, failing to live up to all the expectations, letting everyone down and being denied by his closest friends. Dying on a cross all alone rejected by friends and rejected by Father, crying out ‘ my god, my god why have you forsaken me’. why have you rejected me? Christ knew radical failure and that radical failure is what we are called to.

And yet paradoxically it is in the failure that there is success, it is in the defeat that there is victory. We tend to rush to Easter Sunday in our desire for success and forget the success in the failure of Good Friday. A day where a person was prepared to put every person on this planet above himself, a day where God became a servant for all, a day where Christ embraced suffering, embraced the beatings and embraced the cross. In Christ’s failure he was a success.

Text Worship

I've been working on the Text Worship service that we're doing for Greenbelt over the past few days. I'm quite excited by it, so if you're going to be at Greenbelt then join in with the fun.

Awww

It's that time of year again. BBC News Website is running it's annual Photographer of the year competition. Round one has kicked off with this rather cute one included.

Bless.

Taize founder stabbed to death

Just seen this on the moot blog. Tragic.

Please pray for Taize and also for the Manchester Diocesan Youth Pilgrimage to Taize as they are currently there.

Whither the weather...

Oh yes, GB WeatherWatch is back again… ;-)

http://uk.weather.com/weather/local/GL53?x=0&post=Gl53&code=code&y=0

and

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/5day.shtml?id=2030

A new country

Has anyone dicovered yet the genius that is Danny Wallace and his new show on BBC2 (Wednesdays at 10pm). Its called "Citizens Required" and basically King Danny I has made his own country complete with national athem...

Yesterday was dark and dingy
My temperament was rather whingey
Things had got me wonderin'
Why I lived in London
Anyway - My days were grey

Now I welcome all and sundry
Everyone can join my country
Listen if you're near them
Maybe you can hear them say...

You've got to...

Teach the world to sing
Danny Wallace is the king
For justice and politeness are the laws that he will bring
Where the order of the crown
Is to frown upon the frown
We done a constitution and we even wrote it down...

Although the nation may be small
It's the nicest of them all
A land of opportunity
Where crime's against the law
Every subject do your part
With your hand upon your heart
A Kingdom-come-democracy to start...

Everyone is just the same
It doesn't matter who you name
Anyone can be a dame, or sir, or lord
(But not King)

People gather round completely
Listen as I tell you sweetly
All across our nation
Join the recitation with me...

You've got to...
Teach the world to sing
Danny Wallace is the king
For justice and politeness are the laws that he will bring
Where the order of the crown
Is to frown upon the frown
We done a constitution and we even wrote it down...

You've got to...

(Followed by general cheering & laughter, clapping and a joyious jump in the air)

Topical- maybe. Simple- yes. Hilarious- definitely.

Route marching, and other pedestrian stories

At last, my walk to work has been restored! Lower Ormond Street is open to pedestrians again (and cars, tsk).

It has the most lovely but simple old warehouse building on it. And it’s becoming one part of my new walk to work ritual. For those of you who’ve read this sort of thing from me before, I was really in love with my ritual of a certain walk from my old flat to my old office, most of which was loaded with personal and spiritual meaning and overtones.

Now we’ve moved both flats and offices, it’s not been the same… But slowly slowly I feel like I’m beginning to build an attachment and meaning to my half hour walk each way every day. And having Lower Ormond Street back on it is one such step – after 9 weeks of them finishing the two abutting buildings (on an old car park and an empty lot) which has meant the road has been closed.

I would post a pic or a map, but there’s nothing sensible out there on the web already, so I might try and take one on the way in tomorrow… It’s just round behind Oxford Road and the station, for anyone who knows where that is, near the site of the old Little Ireland from the 1800s, and not far from the Student Village building.

Which church model are you?

(Two posts in as many hours - that's how bored/ distracted I am!)

Saw this on the Moot blog and thought it might be interesting to see whether S1 members come up with the same answers or not... Go try and then post the results? I'll stick it on the List as well.

http://quizfarm.com/test.php?q_id=49752

Banksy is a legend and a mystery, and he strikes again.

This time in Palestine, painting pictures on the Israeli security barrier. Genius.

There's a rather lame PR-ed version of the story on the BBC site at the mo (http://newswww.bbc.net.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/4748063.stm) but if you want to see his telling of it go to: http://www.banksy.co.uk/news/index.html

But his work's not just funny or weird or graffiti or "destructive to property"- it's art, it's social commentary, it's campaigning. And I wish I was half as clever and/or half as ballsy as him.

Pretty in Pink