Hope in the Methodist Model

A couple of weeks ago I was thinking about the “Facilitated Conversation” I’m off to tonight with dread. Do I really have to sit through rehearsing the same old arguments again? I know more than one person who has decided the whole thing is so boring now they are just opting out of being involved. However, over the last couple of weeks I have been thinking and reviewing some new resources which have come out and have changed my mind.

Firstly, this is not just about hearing the same old arguments about same sex marriage, Methodist Conference have given us the chance to ask ourselves if we want to go on a different journey to the one most of the  other denominations have chosen to go on.

Let me explain myself. The questions that Methodists are being asked in the consultation are:

Whether the Methodist understanding of Christian marriage should be revisited

Whether the 1992 Conference Statement "A Christian Understanding of Family Life, the Single Person and Marriage" should be updated.

The Marriage and Relationships Task Group has asked the Connexion to particularly consider and feedback on:

What missional and pastoral opportunities and challenges could result if the Methodist Church decided to revisit its definition of marriage?

What missional and pastoral opportunities and challenges could result if the Methodist Church decided not to revisit its definition of marriage?

Yes, these questions do include looking at the impact of the government changing the definition of same sex marriage and whether we should change our definitions in line but they also go beyond it. The church is also asking whether we need to re-examine our previous understandings on family life and singleness more generally. This gives us the opportunity to build upon the We Are Family research that the Methodist Church published last year which focused on the changing face of family in relation to children and families work.

The Church are also asking explicitly about missional and pastoral opportunities and challenges. My understanding is whilst other denominations may be touching on these things they are not explicitly asking them to be discussed. So whilst I have clear views on the first session which I will come to in a moment I am excited by the second question and I hope in the conversation I attend tonight there will be opportunity to discuss that in detail.

The second thing that has made me feel less cynical about the whole process is seeing the resources which the Connexion has recently made available as well as knowing they have more materials on the way to foster genuine debate and understanding between different views with an equality course (covering a whole range of equality issues not just sexuality).

The resources recently published include clear guidance on what is and isn’t homophobia. This is a particularly useful resource which I think will help people on both sides of the debate because it gives a framework in which people can talk to each other knowing where the appropriate boundaries are. As far as I understand it we are the first denomination to publish such clear guidance about what is and isn’t acceptable for those who disagree with same sex marriage, particularly, to say.

They also include a really helpful video cast conversation between two members of the working group the Methodist Church currently has on this.(The resource list linked to earlier has short and full versions). The conversation outlines both the breadth of the discussions but also what is really at the root of the debate – the question of which scriptural passages we should regard as of primary and fixed and which we should regard as secondary and more contextual. The video also makes the point that we need to learn to live with difference because whatever happens that difference is going to be there for many years to come. I find this resource exciting because it makes the point that if the church were to really engage with this we will find ourselves going much deeper into scripture and thinking about how we handle it as well as learning more about how to live with contradictory understandings (something I think is ever more important).

The other things which have excited me about the process as I have thought about it is the way in which questions about mission are being focused upon as well as pastoral understandings.

I am excited by this conversation because it has the potential for us to enter much wider discussions about mission in different contexts. In some situations we know a change to the current definition would cause significant challenges whilst in others it would open many doors. Thus, in even having this conversation we are thinking about contextual mission rather than generic mission.

So as you can see the Methodist Church discussions have a creative potentiality in them which I have not seen in the discussions from other denominations.

I have also been excited to see on the Alton Methodist Church site which Google helpfully directed me too Roots (a resource for preachers and worship leaders I am not often overly keen on) has produced some excellent resources to help various ages (including children) talk about how to live with difference. This resource has been produced to accompany the conversations but I believe is certainly very useful independently of them.

Now, within this I do not want to diminish the importance of the campaign for a recognition of all legal marriage by the church but I am saying that a conversation which stops at that and continues with the well-rehearsed debates is missing the opportunities which the Connexion is showing can come from the discussions.

With regard to the missional opportunities my own view is that whilst I can see they become harder in some communities I know that a revisiting will provide some really positive opportunities. The one good thing to come out of the mess we currently have and the campaigns to promote equality seems to be that the secular LGBT world is taking religion and faith more seriously and seeking to be more open to it. The theme of the current LGBTHistory Month is Religion, Belief and Philosophy. As part of this the LGBT campaign group Stonewall have produced a series of short biographies on LGBT people of various faiths. It has been humbling that through this my husband has been given the opportunity to share his testimony and faith with a larger number of people.

* post yesterday evening comment.....disappointed! The conversation was very positive - too positive in many ways as it was clear not all voices had chosen to come along to be heard.

Most worryingly the conversation was only on the first question and only looked at marriage not marriage and relationships. There was no reference to the 1992 Conference Statement. What I must gather from this is that there is not consistency across the Connexion on how this has been handled on the ground. The facilitators were very good it just seems that messages have somehow got a little mixed up on what questions Conference wants feedback on. If somebody could clarify is it just the one question our District is addressing or is it both as is inferred by the introduction to the main web page on the Methodist Church page and as explicitly referred to on the Alton Methodist website, linked to above it would be useful.

Pioneer Spirituality edited by Jonny Baker and Cathy Ross reviewed

Put this up on my review blog earlier. Realised that it may be interesting to readers of this blog too. Pioneering Spirituality: Resources for reflection and practice edited by Cathy Ross and Jonny Baker, published by Canterbury Press, is the latest work from the CMS stable.

Whilst distinctly different from its predecessor , which I reviewed last year -The Pioneer Gift ,it still has the familiar format of having a range of chapters from practitioners in a range of contexts. The work that Baker and Ross do involves seeking to facilitate the hearing of voices which might not otherwise be heard. This has primarily involved seeking to ensure that it is those who would describe themselves as pioneers whose stories and theological reflections are heard.

The scope of contributors to this book seems wider than in previous texts of this kind. It seems that going beyond the traditionally recognised type of fresh expressions and pioneering projects they are engaging more widely with different types of pioneering. This includes hearing the voices of Harvey Kwiyani who is one of a group of Malawian pastors living and working in Nottingham and Berdine Van Den Toren-Lekkerkerker and Benno Van Den Toren who are originally from the Netherlands but have worked in various parts of the world. The former discusses African Spirituality in Western Contexts and the latter From Missionary Incarnate to Incarnational Guest: A Critical Reflection on Incarnation as a Model for Missionary Presence. There is also a chapter by anti-FGM activist Ann-Marie Wilson, who started 28 Too Many, on An Active Spirituality for Mission.

That said there are the familiar type of Pioneers in here too such as Gavin Mart of Engedi Arts who is a Methodist Venture FX Pioneer. Whilst Ross and Baker are careful not to speak with the voices of academics, rather presenting their introductory chapter in a more conversational form the academic voice is here too. Not only via Ross (and to a lesser extent Baker) but also through Stephen Bevans of Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. Bevans chapter Dancing with the Missionary God: Towards a Mission Spirituality seeks to identify six constant features of spirituality which provide a template for those engaged in pioneer mission.

The Bevans chapter is one which seeks to invite the practitioner to reflect on their own spirituality and seek to identify what both unpins it but also what sustains it. This concept of ensuring the pioneers own spirituality is sustained and the sharing of ideas and practices to help with this is the focus of the first part of the book. The most powerful chapters on this topic I believe are Kate Pearson’s on Angela of Foligno as a Model for Pioneer Minstry and Beth Honey’s Pioneers as Pilgrims. Both of these chapters were particularly useful to me personally as I seek to identify how to develop my own spirituality having moved into a lay university chaplaincy role – a role that in her chapter Pearson who is a chaplain at a different university describes as having “been a space for pioneers for a long time.” (p80)

Other chapters particularly in the second half of the book talk more about practice and how to help others develop their spirituality. Johnny Sertin’s chapter on Getting Dirty talked about doing this within a Church of England Parish Context whilst Tina Hodgett talked about it in relation to a group for young mums in her chapter on Doors in the Air: Baby Spirituality. These were interesting chapters telling the stories of what they were doing in a way which readers of the Ancient Faith, Future Mission series will be familiar.

Overall though this is more of a book to help pioneers themselves reflect rather than a book for those outside the system. It is a text to help understanding between different groups and to facilitate a conversation as illustrated by Kim Hartshorne’s We Are One Body Because We all Share in One Bread: Pioneering and the Eucharist. This chapter was focused on explaining to those from lower church backgrounds particularly why the Eucharist is so important to many practitioners from an Anglican tradition. This chapter articulated clearly why the rules matter to some people and why in finding new ways of doing things respect needs to be given to existing etiquettes. Again as somebody who doesn’t at times understand the need for the rules and restraints this was something I found particularly useful.

Overall this is a book which I would highly recommend to those who are seriously following developments in this area of pioneer ministry and mission because it highlights how maturing is now occurring. There is also more space being given to voices of those who have come from elsewhere to the UK which is good. I would also recommend it to practitioners who wish to reflect on their own practice and rootedness. Would I recommend it beyond that readership? I am not sure. Whilst it is a very good book and very readable and far less of a text book than some recent books I have read in this area it is still I believe quite specialist reading. It is clearly seeking to support the growing band of practitioners whilst developing some important conversations. It is a book of sharing ideas and also asking important questions of pioneers themselves.

Mission on the Road to Emmaus - A Review

Mission on the Road to Emmaus: Constants, Context and Prophetic Dialogue edited by Cathy Ross and Stephen B. Bevans is a contextual theology book focusing on the theme of prophetic dialogue. It contains essays by fifteen eminent theologians primarily but not exclusively based in the USA and UK; many of the US contributors are academics at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. However, unlike many texts of this type it consciously seeks not to be overly ethnocentric in its approach. It was pleasing to see Baptist minister and theologian Joe Kapolyo amongst the contributors - he was recently identified by the Baptist Times as one of the emerging African theologians inBritain.

The book is co-edited by Cathy Ross who teaches with a range of institutions around Oxford including Ripon College, Cuddesdon and on the CMS Pioneer course who was also one of the editors of The Pioneer Gift: Explorations in Mission, which I have also reviewed. It contains an essay from Jonny Baker, Mission Education Director of CMS, who was her co-editor on that project.

If at this point one starts to see a web of connection amongst the authors it is no coincidence. In the introduction to this book Bevans and Ross conclude "All these writers are our friends...."

Whilst there may be differences between them in approach and theology there are some strands which run throughout the book including a strong focus on the trinity and the relational nature of God and man. There is also the strong passion for mission each writer clearly has together with the influence of liberation theology on most of them in some form or another. There is also a feeling that much of the book is in some way a response to an earlier work Constants in Context: A Theology of Mission for Today (2004) by Roger Schroeder and Stephen Bevans. Indeed the final chapters of this text by firstly Schroeder and then Bevans appear to confirm this. Perhaps the present book might have been subtitled a reflection on contextual theology ten years on.

The book flows from what one might describe as the more academic and somewhat traditional academic style in the early chapters which focus on Christology, Ecclesiology and  Eschatology to the more narrative and conversational approach in the second half of the book which deals with Soteriology, Anthropology and Culture.

Whilst the book seeks to be accessible to those with differing levels of theological training and understanding the opening chapters are certainly helped by having some background knowledge of some of the key figures and debates in applied, practical or contextual theology over recent decades. That said a lack of familiarity with these should not be a barrier. Breaking all the rules of what is considered good practice I found myself using Wiki on more than one occasion to help me with my understanding of words/ concepts I was not already familiar with and quickly picking up what was being said. I would assume one might also do this with some of the theologians mentioned if one was not familiar.

The first chapter Prophetic Christology in the New Testament by vanThanh Nguyen, one of the Union based contributors, provides an insightful discussion based around Luke 4: 16-21 primarily. It establishes a specific portrait of Christ as one on a prophetic mission.

Continuing looking at Christ Amos Young, a US based academic from Fuller, provides us with Christological Constants in Shifting Contexts: Jesus Christ, and Prophetic Dialogue and the Missio Spiritus in a Pluralistic World. The central thrust of this chapter appears to be that if we look at Jesus as the relational prophet we move away from classical exclusivist understandings to ones which are more able to facilitate meaningful interfaith dialogue.

The final chapter in this section comes from Kirsteen Kim. Within it this professor from Leeds Trinity focuses upon Jesus, Mission and the Holy Spirit in Luke-Acts: Dialogue, Prophecy and Life. It is a chapter which focuses on Christ as both giver and receiver of the spirit and challenges the reader to engage with both Christ and Spirit.

As we move on we reach one of the most interesting and significant chapters in the book, in my opinion. Emma Wild-Wood who has taught in Uganda and the Congo before returning to Cambridge writes about Mission, Ecclesiology and Migration. Within this chapter she unpacks a range of issues facing churches and denominations regarding the challenges raised by migration and the relations between congregations and within them. She looks both at single or similar culture congregations and multicultural congregations as well as exploring resident-alien spirituality, ecclesial practice and mission. I would argue this chapter would make good discussion material for any group seeking to engage seriously with the implications of migration in their area.

Cathy Ross follows this with Hospitality: The Church as 'A Mother with an Open Heart'. It grapples with what is church and argues hospitality is at the centre of the household of God. This could come across as somewhat sentimental in tone but doesn't rather Ross identifies the difficulties and risks involved with taking this approach. In wrestling with these things Ross avoids promoting what De Beauvoir described in The Second Sex as a false gender consciousness, which I feared from the title she might.

Dawn Nothwehr, another Chicago academic, takes up eco theology with The Church's Mission of Ecojustice: A Prophetic Dialogue Approach. Whilst in some ways as polemic as Michael Northcott's work in this area it seemed less angry and frustrated, more patiently screaming out an important message for the church to hear.

There was a poetic start to his chapter as Tim Naish quoted Thomas Hardy as he began to discuss 'Continents of moil and misery': Mission, Justice and Prophetic Dialogue. This Cuddesdon based theorist explored the theme of justice by refering to a range of theorists. In particular he contrasts the differing approaches of Sagovsky and Hauerwas when looking at this from a theological perspective. One particularly interesting aspect of this chapter is Naish's brief discussion of his role as an assistant chaplain at a Immigration Removal Centre and of the challenges this poses in the discussion of justice and how to deal with different situations in the real world.

Moving into the forth section of the book we have Robert Schreiter's Reconciliation and Prophetic Dialogue. This was another particularly strong and challenging chapter from another of those based in Chicago. The nature of reconciliation and healing as part of that process is discussed in a way which shows a deep knowledge and understanding of those processes and much wisdom on the subject.

S. Mark Heim is a professor at the Newton Centre in the US and his chapter on Wounded Communion: Prophetic Dialogue and Salvation in Trinitarian Perspective focuses on exactly what the chapter would suggest. This is one of the more abstract chapters which I believe would benefit from further exploration.

As the book moves on to exploring Anthropology: Mission as What it Means to be Human Frances S. Adeney from the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary gives a chapter which comes from a feminist/ womanist perspective. Within it Adeney looks from three different perspectives at the changes in women's mission theology since World War Two. It is an interesting chapter which whilst in many ways a summary arguing for a greater listening to the prophetic voices coming from women in this area also provides a solid foundation for anybody wanting to explore the recent history of women and mission more.

Maria Cimperman's An Anthology of Prophetic Dialogue: Rooted in Hope is a chapter which focuses on the need for us to hold on to hope in a world which would so often move away from it. This chapter from another of the Chicago stable reflects on a number of recent events and has a very contemporary feel to it.

Joe Kapolyo's chapter is an important one which needs to be heard. Within Prophetic Dialogue and the Human Condition he reflects on deep and surface culture and the need to understand what deep culture means in the African context. Through using his own African cultural background as an example this North London Baptist Minister shows how understanding of the holistic nature of this deep culture means that our understanding of African congregations may need to alter from what it may currently be. He makes the point that as these groups are the fastest growing and the baton of leadership is passing to them that, "The quality of that leadership, upon which the very outlook of the Church will hang, depends on the quality of the prophetic dialogue between the word of God and the deep cultures of the African people groups."

Jonny Baker begins the final section of the book talking about Prophetic Dialogue in Contemporary Culture. This chapter explores developing a cross cultural understanding for mission which does not just relate to ethnic cultures but can also relate to understanding different cultures within the same culture. He makes reference to the differences between high and low cultures and the way in which listening is required to understand alternative cultures. Within this he makes reference to the way in which art is often an important tool in this type of prophetic dialogue.

Then we get to Roger Schroeder and his focus on culture as one of the aspects from Constants in Context within the chapter Prophetic Dialogue and Interculturality. The  Chicago based professor explores aspects of the social sciences and missiology to argue for a transformative approach to prophetic dialogue and interculturality.

Finally Stephen Bevans, also of Chicago, brings it together with what might be described as a defence of contextual theology as an academic and theological approach.

Is it a book worth reading? I would say definitely, although at over £30 the cost may be to be prohibitive to many. I had to consider this very carefully, even with a marketing discount from Eden to put towards the cost. Yet I think it is worth it. It is a book which should be more widely read than just by theology students dipping into chapters for seminars or essays.

Divided into the six portions I am going to explore it in more detail over Lent.

Mission on the Road to Emmaus: Constants, Context and Prophetic Dialogue, Edited by Cathy Ross and Stephen B. Bevans, (2015), SCM Press - ISBN:978-0-334-0409-8

A New Monastic Handbook by Ian Mobsby and Mark Berry - Reviewed

A New Monastic Handbook From Vision to Practice by Ian Mobsby and Mark Berry has been out a few months now. This book has been a collaboration project that I've heard mention on and off for a few years now in odd public spaces including virtual ones. If I were being cynical I might suggest this and The Pioneer Gift edited by Cathy Ross and Jonny Baker (which I also picked up at Greenbelt is next on my list to read and review) have both come out now because the CMS Pioneer Mission Leadership Training needs some good text books to recommend, and the people have involved have realised they are the best people to write them, (Berry, Baker, Ross are all teach on the course). Even if it is a cynical view it raises an important point pioneer ministry and new monasticism are now being taken much more seriously within theological education courses, and not just within the CMS course - which has been the leader in pioneer training. That means quality text books are required and these are the best people to be writing the texts because they have been the key practitioners who have built the movement.

The book gives a good outline of what new monasticism is and using a lot of their own experience. Mobsby leads the Moot community and has also contributed to a range of books on similar subjects including a couple in the Ancient Faith Future Mission series; Fresh Expressions of Church and theKingdom of God, (which I reviewed on my old blog) and Fresh Expressions in theSacramental Tradition. Berry has led safespace in Telford in addition to contributing to the CMS course. The book also uses examples from other established new monastic groups including the Northumbria Community and 24-7Boiler Rooms amongst others to reflect upon. Thus, examples from beyond the Anglican tradition are included which is positive.

One really positive aspect of this book compared to the Ancient Faith Future Mission series is that rather than being an edited edition with a series of chapters by practioners describing and reflecting on their own experiences is this has a coherent thread which goes all the way through. This allows the book to build over time and ebb and flow between examples and deeper theological reflection. There are three main sections: Roots and Shoots, Intentionally Prayerful and Spiritual and Focused on Mission.

From the introduction onwards this book in Roots and Shoots it is careful not to fall into romanticism rather the authors emphasise the struggle and hard work which is involved in these movements not just for leaders but also for those who join them who enter a world with values which are largely counter cultural.

Whilst this book provides interesting and useful reading for those of us who are not pioneers it is essentially a guide for those who are engaging with building these types of community. Whilst not a "build your own" manual because pioneer mission and new monastic movements don't operate like that it does provide some underlying principles which are central to all movements of this type before moving on to giving a wider range of examples of such groups.

The nature of the book and of the groups the authors are involved in mean the role of these groups in developing mission which engages with the unchurched and dechurched is rightly emphasised. The discussions around formation and discipleship are framed in this context. Yet, new monasticism has also had a role in developing the spirituality of the churched too either directly through dispersed communities like the Northumbria Community or indirectly through contact with new monasticism on line or at conferences events or through it's general influence which has started to seep beyond these communities into the wider church as aspects of practice are shared. This could perhaps be further explored.

After reading this book I looked back at a post on my old blog I put up after attending a new monasticism conference in Coventry in 2008. Reflecting on this six years later some of my initial criticisms stand, particularly the emphasis on the voices of men in discussions of this topic. Yet following my reading of the Church Growth Study data on Fresh Expressions I know this is simply because many of those involved in leading this type of Fresh Expression in the UK are men.

Some criticisms no longer stand. The language is more naturally inclusive and less cringe worthy. Having read the explanation at the end of the Mobsby and Berry book on Recognised and Acknowledged communities and listened to somebody who is linked to a local new monastic community talk I also now understand the reason the emphasis on celibacy remains important.

There are other criticisms I have with this book which I didn't have then which do worry me now. The key one is back in 2008 there appeared to be a wider denominational spread of influence when looking at this topic. Because of the influence of Anglicanism on the Fresh Expressions movement I do worry that this may be something else where the Anglican voice comes to dominate, particularly since the Archbishop of Canterbury has this week announced the formation of a community at Lambeth Palace for a small group of 20-35 year olds. That said I do understand a key strength of this book was that it was rooted in Mobsby and Berry's own experience and that experience is Anglican. They did move beyond Anglicanism in some of the examples given.

Would I recommend this book? Yes, it provides a deceptively easy read which actually makes you think hard about a range of things within and more importantly beyond you.

A New Monastic Handbook From Vision to Practice by Ian Mobsby and Mark Berry, published by Canterbury Press, ISBN 978-1-84825-458-9