Moral passion | entertainment
Art is moral passion married to entertainment. Moral passion without entertainment is propaganda, and entertainment without moral passion is television. (Rita Mae Brown)
The environmental middle-class guilts...
Last night, we did the last event of the Dirty Mother series, a service exploring the links between the environment and talking the talk/walking the walk, and guilt, shame, anger/choice, class, convenience.
Below are a few things that we did: thanks to Lizzie, Kevin and Rachel for their ideas and hard work.
A new candle lighting setting
We light this light in the name of the Creator,
The one who breathed the breath of life,
The one who made the heavens and the earth,
The one who looked at everything in the beginning and it was good.
We light this light in the name of the Redeemer,
The one who came to show us a kingdom way,
The one who spoke in riddles about seeds and birds and lilies of the field,
The one who turned The Word into action.
We light this light in the name of the Sustainer,
The one who hovered over the waters at the very start of everything,
The one who inspires and challenges us to change,
The one whose fire renews us still.
A reflective liturgical piece
Where to start, what to do? So much to do and so little time...
Choices, choices everywhere and not an action to take. Life is a mass of choices - from the frivolous to the life-changing. Which Tshirt? What newspaper? That job? This house? Sometimes it feels like there are too many choices - simply too much to choose from - an indistinguishable mass of clamoring stuff.
In fact, so much choice that we become worried that we make will the wrong one, we become paralysed by the choosing. And then comes the guilt and shame and anger. Because we are wealthy and free enough to even have choices in the first place. Because we try to pick between convenience and ethics, the environment and other people, the best use of our resources and the best use of our time...
Where to start, what to do? So much to do and so little time...
Wine from France's relatively near vineyards or a fair price for vintners in Chile?
The cost of that long train trip or the convenience of flying?
Fairtrade bananas or organic ones?
Free range or food miles?
Biofuel or world food shortages?
Spend at People tree or invest at the Co-op?
And in the end, the middle class guilts about the very act of choosing the "right" option...
Can we make the earth a little lighter? Can we hold it as a common treasury for all? The inconvenient truth is we must still live and work and lead our lives in this 21st century world, but maybe those of us who *can* choose must realise (as the saying goes) that with great power comes great responsibility... So when the scale of the task overwhelms us, we need to go back to basics and redo the maths - small changes x lots of people = BIG change.
This is not about whether we should act alone, but how we can act together – both acting locally and thinking globally. We are a new movement, one that talks the talk and walks the walk; we must imagine, believe and begin.
Other
Also we dug out an old Vaux liturgy for use during sharing bread and wine. And there were four stations around the space for people to visit:
Below are a few things that we did: thanks to Lizzie, Kevin and Rachel for their ideas and hard work.
A new candle lighting setting
We light this light in the name of the Creator,
The one who breathed the breath of life,
The one who made the heavens and the earth,
The one who looked at everything in the beginning and it was good.
We light this light in the name of the Redeemer,
The one who came to show us a kingdom way,
The one who spoke in riddles about seeds and birds and lilies of the field,
The one who turned The Word into action.
We light this light in the name of the Sustainer,
The one who hovered over the waters at the very start of everything,
The one who inspires and challenges us to change,
The one whose fire renews us still.
A reflective liturgical piece
Where to start, what to do? So much to do and so little time...
Choices, choices everywhere and not an action to take. Life is a mass of choices - from the frivolous to the life-changing. Which Tshirt? What newspaper? That job? This house? Sometimes it feels like there are too many choices - simply too much to choose from - an indistinguishable mass of clamoring stuff.
In fact, so much choice that we become worried that we make will the wrong one, we become paralysed by the choosing. And then comes the guilt and shame and anger. Because we are wealthy and free enough to even have choices in the first place. Because we try to pick between convenience and ethics, the environment and other people, the best use of our resources and the best use of our time...
Where to start, what to do? So much to do and so little time...
Wine from France's relatively near vineyards or a fair price for vintners in Chile?
The cost of that long train trip or the convenience of flying?
Fairtrade bananas or organic ones?
Free range or food miles?
Biofuel or world food shortages?
Spend at People tree or invest at the Co-op?
And in the end, the middle class guilts about the very act of choosing the "right" option...
Can we make the earth a little lighter? Can we hold it as a common treasury for all? The inconvenient truth is we must still live and work and lead our lives in this 21st century world, but maybe those of us who *can* choose must realise (as the saying goes) that with great power comes great responsibility... So when the scale of the task overwhelms us, we need to go back to basics and redo the maths - small changes x lots of people = BIG change.
This is not about whether we should act alone, but how we can act together – both acting locally and thinking globally. We are a new movement, one that talks the talk and walks the walk; we must imagine, believe and begin.
Other
Also we dug out an old Vaux liturgy for use during sharing bread and wine. And there were four stations around the space for people to visit:
- one on we are what we do
- one on the effect of climate change on people across the world
- one a big graffiti wall - one thing to change the world
- one on BBC's Blood, Sweat and Tshirts
An abuse of Mancunian hospitality
I walked through the city centre this morning and was angered by what i saw and smelt. As you can no doubt imagine 150,000 drunken football fans create a lot of mess...I walked along Cross Street and a man shouted out of his car window at some Rangers Fans, 'F**k Off back to Glasgow'. My city had offered hospitality and it had been abused.
I'm a great believer in hospitality and when that hospitality is abused it hurts. Maybe the police were heavy handed, it was unfortunate one of the TV screens failed to work. But when my TV has broken down I do not have a riot, i do not assault people, I do not threaten people...
Do I blame Manchester City Council? A bit....yesterdays headline in the MEN claimed the city would make £25 million from the day - tankers were arriving full of beer. Manchester maybe saw this as an opportunity to make a quick buck, and basically they got burnt.
I'm a great believer in hospitality and when that hospitality is abused it hurts. Maybe the police were heavy handed, it was unfortunate one of the TV screens failed to work. But when my TV has broken down I do not have a riot, i do not assault people, I do not threaten people...
Do I blame Manchester City Council? A bit....yesterdays headline in the MEN claimed the city would make £25 million from the day - tankers were arriving full of beer. Manchester maybe saw this as an opportunity to make a quick buck, and basically they got burnt.
old technology | memories
Today, we did a major tidy of the Sanctus1 tip, ahem storage room. And it was like an archaeological dig through our past, our remains, our memories of what was and had been...
This remnant old technology was at the bottom of one box of detritus. Thanks for the memories.
Where is God in the football riots?
I left Sanctus1 last night to encounter police dresses in full riot gear. There was a tangible sense of tension in the air and level of nervousness on the streets. I'd been in the city centre since 17:00 and it was heaving with 100,000 Rangers Fans. I'd cleaned up vomit from the toilets of Nexus, shut Nexus early because of the threat, had water stolen from us, seen people skinning up on the front step, been in a crowd where bottles were being thrown and witnessed horrific sectarian abuse. I'd received many messages throughout the day telling me how 'bad' the city centre was and yet I was still excited about the prospect of entering the city.
As a church, and as a church leader in the city centre, I/we are called to reflect on our context and ask the question: Where do we find God in this? Where is God in 100,000 pissed football fans rampaging through our city centre? I cannot believe that God is not there and therefore I will not. Yet, at the same time we are called to be critical, we cannot blindly affirm all that is happening without criticizing the destructive force that is at work.
Being a church in the city centre means that this is your context - this is where we outwork our Christian faith. Last night we were exploring three different positive Christian approaches to the environment, finishing with Matthew Fox's Creation Spirituality. I finished with a quote from Fox:
Creation spirituality, a path that we choose to take that is distinct from other ways offered us, begins with creation and the cosmos. Only later does it get to the human story, which then attracts us like jewel set in the larger drama of creation itself.I read this and then 20 minutes later I left Sanctus1 and saw blue flashing lights and riot police. Are we really the jewel in the cosmos? I still believe that we are...
Some people are Not Very Nice
Coming out of Oxford Road Station last night, a gentleman steped off the pavement, right into me, on my bicycle. This happens quite often.
What happens less often is that he swore at me, and kicked out at me as I cycled off. The resulting damage can be seen here.
What happens less often is that he swore at me, and kicked out at me as I cycled off. The resulting damage can be seen here.
I just don't understand that kind of behaviour: it can't have made him feel better about himself, can it?
Sanctus1 and Moot on Wikipedia!
Emerging or Fresh Expressions of Church There has been much discussion about whether Fresh Expressions are forms of Emerging Church or Emerging Churches are forms of Fresh Expressions. A growing consensus suggests that the more pioneering forms of Fresh Expressions, such as Sanctus 1 or Moot are Emerging Churches. However, those Fresh Expressions of Church that are mission-shaped but operate out of existing traditional churches tend to have traditional understandings of ecclesiology so are not forms of Emerging Church.
Discuss...
Discuss...
Dirty Mother - Week Three
This week is Christian Aid week so the Dirty Mother programme has been stepped up and we have a number of special guests and events:
Tuesday 13th
Lunch Time talk with Jennipher Sakala - 13:20 Nexus
Carbon Vs Condom Debate - 19:30 Nexus
Wednesday 14th
Lunch Time talk with Dave Hardman from Christian Aid - 13:20 Nexus
Sanctus1 - Christianity and the Environment: 19:30 Nexus
Thursday 15th
Lunch Time talk with Fabienne Katy Camm from Christian Aid - 13:20 Nexus
How would you spend £3billion? Drop in between 19:00 and 21:00 in Nexus with clean air now
Friday 16th
Lunch Time talk with very special guest Daleep Mukarji - 13:20 Nexus
Pingu Bingo - 20:00 in Nexus with MFOE
Saturday 17th
Street Theatre with MFOE and Christian Aid: 12:00 - 17:00
Tuesday 13th
Lunch Time talk with Jennipher Sakala - 13:20 Nexus
Carbon Vs Condom Debate - 19:30 Nexus
Wednesday 14th
Lunch Time talk with Dave Hardman from Christian Aid - 13:20 Nexus
Sanctus1 - Christianity and the Environment: 19:30 Nexus
Thursday 15th
Lunch Time talk with Fabienne Katy Camm from Christian Aid - 13:20 Nexus
How would you spend £3billion? Drop in between 19:00 and 21:00 in Nexus with clean air now
Friday 16th
Lunch Time talk with very special guest Daleep Mukarji - 13:20 Nexus
Pingu Bingo - 20:00 in Nexus with MFOE
Saturday 17th
Street Theatre with MFOE and Christian Aid: 12:00 - 17:00
Sanctus2nds: Climate Change and Pentecost
'Climate Change and Pentecost'
Sunday 11th May: 4 - 5 p.m.
Sacred Trinity Church, Chapel Street, Salford.
Open to people of all ages, Sanctus2nds is a sanctuary for creativity, reflection and socialising. Sanctus2nds will feature a cafe space to refresh your body, a creative space to inspire your mind, and a prayer space to nurture your soul; building an environment to encounter Christ.
Sanctus2nds will also feature an under 5's play space.
Technorati Tags: emerging church, Manchester, sanctus
Trash
Barry Taylor gave me pause for thought last night, when he shared some thoughts as part of the Dirty Mother month at Nexus. His theme was trash - the rubbish we throw away/ the detritus of life (illustrated by the photos of Chris Jordan), and also the trash(y) culture of Western society.
He prompted me to be reminded of some really important issues, ones that go beyond just the scale of our waste (example). He reminded me (again) of the challenge to change both behaviour and feeling, to not abandon dirty cities in favour of the "Godly country", to keep looking for glimmers of the divine in the trash...
He also prompted me to think of the Be The Change day that we hosted last year. During that presentation, I was moved by a very profound clip of Julia Butterfly Hill saying:
"When we throw something away, where is away? There is no away. The paper we throw away is a forest. The plastic we throw away is petroleum that was taken from an exploited community somewhere. The coffee we buy is taken from another exploited community somewhere. We buy it, use it for a second and throw it away, further exploiting the world by our own pollution. The modern world kills a planet for a moment’s pleasure."
So a fantastic evening of reminders. And afterwards, I pondered whether anybody there felt slightly piqued at being reminded of these themes by a north American, and one from LA no less, one of the trashiest (in every sense of the word) cities in the world?... Please Barry, keep challenging us and prompting us to remember.
He prompted me to be reminded of some really important issues, ones that go beyond just the scale of our waste (example). He reminded me (again) of the challenge to change both behaviour and feeling, to not abandon dirty cities in favour of the "Godly country", to keep looking for glimmers of the divine in the trash...
He also prompted me to think of the Be The Change day that we hosted last year. During that presentation, I was moved by a very profound clip of Julia Butterfly Hill saying:
"When we throw something away, where is away? There is no away. The paper we throw away is a forest. The plastic we throw away is petroleum that was taken from an exploited community somewhere. The coffee we buy is taken from another exploited community somewhere. We buy it, use it for a second and throw it away, further exploiting the world by our own pollution. The modern world kills a planet for a moment’s pleasure."
So a fantastic evening of reminders. And afterwards, I pondered whether anybody there felt slightly piqued at being reminded of these themes by a north American, and one from LA no less, one of the trashiest (in every sense of the word) cities in the world?... Please Barry, keep challenging us and prompting us to remember.
Barry Taylor at Sanctus1
Tonight at Sanctus1 we'll be sharing a meal together from 7:30 followed by some input by Barry Taylor on Christianity and the Environment. Barry Taylor is associate rector at All Saints Episcopal Church, Beverly Hills, CA and artist in residence of the Brehm Center for Worship Theology & Arts at Fuller Seminary. Author of A Matrix of Meanings and Entertainment Theology.
Signs of summer...
Yesterday I sat out in the park at lunchtime, basking, and ate my first ice cream lolly of the season - a real marker.
And today, a ladybird made friends with me, whilst I was sitting in the sun outside my office...
In other news, we're currently hosting some Fuller DMin students in Manchester and it's proving nice to shirk off the reputation as "the rainy city"...
And today, a ladybird made friends with me, whilst I was sitting in the sun outside my office...
In other news, we're currently hosting some Fuller DMin students in Manchester and it's proving nice to shirk off the reputation as "the rainy city"...
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