Church or Parachurch?

It seems to me that some of the people I have engaged with today have a real struggle before them when it comes to the issue of 'Fresh Expressions' in that so many are labelled (by those outside) as parachurch rather than church. The question is, what makes for a valid expression of church?

Church, for me has to be Sacramental - this means:

Eucharistic - this is the reason that Church has continued to continue to exist because it met weekly to break break and drink from the Chalice.

Baptising - A super comment I heard on a course was, 'You can tell when a fresh expression's arrived as 'church' because it starts to baptise new believers!'

It also needs to be Proclamatory - which means they preach from the Bible, teach from the Bible, uphold Biblical principles and tell people why they are doing in, and in whose name, and that means Jesus gets mentioned - for it is in His name we go out to do the stuff.

The 'Parachurch Clubs' label is rather harsh and perhaps a little unkind but then again I find some telling me that Fresh Expressions and new forms of worship, understanding and being church are the only hope the Church has. The old traditional church stuff is strangling whatever growth there is and the clericalism of the past is nothing more than the clergy trying to maintain their monopoly and their veto on what would otherwise live.

The problems is that as rigid as the old structure is the new isn't for it presents a flimsy house built on little more than sand! The bricks might withstand the wind and the waves but they are emptying as the inhabitants grow old and die.

'Better to have a thriving parachurch than a dying established church,' said one person as they defended their new project, pointing to the people who were content to diminish in numbers as long as church could continue to be what they wanted it to be.

'Better to be faithful in our worship than be blown by every wind of change down at a coffee shop!' came the reply.

And you know what - they are both wrong and are equally right at the same time. The tattoos, piercing and all the trendy stuff mean as little as the grey hair, BCP services and traditional services when it comes to being a stumbling block, after all didn't Paul say that we must be all things to all men (except of course accommodating and accepting everything to the point of being permissive) and so this is surely a red herring.

And speaking of red herrings I was told last week that older people can't reach the young in the way that they, of course being young, can! so taking this to its logical outworking only black people can lead black people into faith, women likewise for women, redheads for redheads and so on. Wearing a clerical collar prevents us from being engaged in effective ministry with anyone under the age of thirty and unless you have a great worship band no one can really worship (which of course displays a paucity in the understanding of what liturgy is all about)!

We need to understand what being missionally minded and sacramentally sensitive is all about - after all it wasn't that long ago that I was taken to task because I wanted to see something billed as 'renewal' offered to the high church churches. Silly me, I had apparently forgotten that renewal was the sole property and right of a certain type of Christian!

We need to preach the Gospel in and out of season, in places where it is popular and unpopular and engaging with as many as we can to make it take root - bear fruit - be sustainable.

We need people who wear 'Pioneer' badges to encourage others to learn about what being 'missionally-minded' means and to encourage them to learn - there's a Mission Shaped Ministry' course somewhere near you (and if not, then there can be) - to be that person who works with others to build the Kingdom (note: This is dangerous because it might not mean building your piddling self-obsessed expression of church that you are so fixated with) of God.

So, pass this message on to the people you know - and don't know. bang the drums. Blow the trumpets. Bang dustbin lids together. Shout in your Chapter meetings and telephone your bishop and get people enthusiastic about sharing the Good News, making friends, winning family, plundering hell and populating heaven. Ring your Archdeacon and tell them to forget about the Common Purse (Parish Share) and remind them what the Kingdom of God is like (There's loads of those 'the Kingdom of God is like a .... ' stories in the Bible).

Who gives a monkeys whether clergy are pioneers or not - stop worrying about it and get pioneering!

Am I bothered that pioneer ministers aren't leading people to  the water and offering them one of those wonderfully happy Eucharistic 'Happy Meals'? Blinking right I am - stop making friends and start thinking about how you make disciples - numbers are great but only when they're counting the people who can say they're saved - all else is froth and folly!

Now you have to remember that all the words above come from someone who is the minister of 'a church in a phonebox' - yes that's right, a small church in an interesting estate in and challenging place in even more challenging times. I'm not clever or accomplished or any of the things that others around me are or will be - but I'm a member of a church that is full of wonderfully broken, flawed, failed and redeemed people and this is what it's all about.

Loving, sharing, giving and living together as people who know they're loved, forgiven and fit for purpose.

Now stop, take a look and tell me what you can see around you and  in the mirror - and then praise God, because you're loved, valuable, valid and ready for service too should you take a pace forward and volunteer.

Daily Office - Jan 1

The Naming and Circumcision of Jesus

Psalm 103
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits;

Who forgives all your sins and heals all your infirmities;
Who redeems your life from the Pit and crowns you with faithful love and compassion;
Who satisfies you with good things,  so that your youth is renewed like an eagle’s.

The Lord executes righteousness and judgement for all who are oppressed.
He made his ways known to Moses and his works to the children of Israel.

The Lord is full of compassion and mercy,  slow to anger and of great kindness.
He will not always accuse us, neither will he keep his anger for ever.
He has not dealt with us according to our sins,  nor rewarded us according to our wickedness.

For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his mercy upon those who fear him.
As far as the east is from the west,  so far has he set our sins from us.

As a father has compassion on his children,so is the Lord merciful towards those who fear him.
For he knows of what we are made;  he remembers that we are but dust.
Our days are but as grass; we flourish as a flower of the field;
For as soon as the wind goes over it, it is gone, and its place shall know it no more.
But the merciful goodness of the Lord is from of old and endures for ever on those who fear him,
and his righteousness on children’s children;

On those who keep his covenant  and remember his commandments to do them.
The Lord has established his throne in heaven,  and his kingdom has dominion over all.

Bless the Lord, you angels of his, you mighty ones who do his bidding and hearken to the voice of his word.

Bless the Lord, all you his hosts,  you ministers of his who do his will.

Bless the Lord, all you works of his, in all places of his dominion;
bless the Lord, O my soul.

Genesis 17.1-13
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, ‘I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous.’ Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, ‘As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are now an alien, all the land of Canaan, for a perpetual holding; and I will be their God.’

God said to Abraham, ‘As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. Throughout your generations every male among you shall be circumcised when he is eight days old, including the slave born in your house and the one bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring. Both the slave born in your house and the one bought with your money must be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant.

Romans 2.17-29
But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast of your relation to God and know his will and determine what is best because you are instructed in the law, and if you are sure that you are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth, you, then, that teach others, will you not teach yourself?

While you preach against stealing, do you steal?

You that forbid adultery, do you commit adultery?

You that abhor idols, do you rob temples?

You that boast in the law, do you dishonour God by breaking the law?

For, as it is written, ‘The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.’

Circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law; but if you break the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. So, if those who are uncircumcised keep the requirements of the law, will not their uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? Then those who are physically uncircumcised but keep the law will condemn you that have the written code and circumcision but break the law. For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is true circumcision something external and physical. Rather, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and real circumcision is a matter of the heart—it is spiritual and not literal. Such a person receives praise not from others but from God.

The Collect
Almighty God,
whose blessed Son was circumcised
in obedience to the law for our sake
and given the Name that is above every name:
give us grace faithfully to bear his Name,
to worship him in the freedom of the Spirit,
and to proclaim him as the Saviour of the world;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.