Posted by: Nathan Colquhoun in Untagged on
Sep 27, 2007
Last Sunday we talked about living in, and not for, the present moment. We discussed being aware of our surroundings, where we find ourselves, and the seed trail of promptings that God leaves before us...leading us to live lives bent on giving him glory while concurrently helping others. We also dabbled in some talk about the role that suffering plays in the life of a disciple of Christ - how it's part of God's redemptive intentions and how it causes us to rely on Someone other/greater than ourselves.
This kind of thinking speaks volumes about how we're telling theStory. Our intention as a church is not to create something that will outlast us, nor are we confused about our relationship with the people and culture we find ourselves in. Simply put, we want to play our part in God's redemptive plan for today. We exist, primarily, to journey with whomever may be with us at the time. This doesn't mean that we don't have hopes or aspirations for the future - we do - but not at the expense of the present. As Jesus said, "Tomorrow's not your problem...trust me, I'll take care of it. Instead, figure out how you're going to live today."
With that said, here are a few quotes that helped us along...
"In a flat, wiki-world, Reformation is not likely to happen through large movements or charismatic leaders. It's going to happen as small groups of revolutionaries begin meeting locally to begin plotting together how to change the world with God's love." (Mark Clawson)
"The sacrament of the present moment is relevant today for those who find life purposeless in a society abandoned to the fantasies and arrogance of the pursuit of happiness which so quickly becomes a pursuit of pleasure; in which suffering, mental or physical, must be drugged out of existence; in which there is no place for the Cross in Christianity. Those who are ready to believe in God will find comfort and hope in the quest for perfection through surrendering themselves to His swill and discovering in the reality and humiliation of life's trials and tribulation His loving purpose for them." (Kitty Muggeridge)
"[For theses], all their duties of the present moment are marked along its course, one by one they will fulfill them unconfused, unhurried. For the rest they will keep themselves entirely free, waiting always to obey the stirrings of grace as soon as they make themselves known, and to surrender themselves to the care of Providence."
(JP De Caussaude)
Posted by: Nathan Colquhoun in Untagged on
Sep 21, 2007
I've been trying to work out some of the things we talked about last Sunday in my own words. Here are some posts I've written in the past few weeks trying to flesh out what we are talking about and balance this tension. Keep in mind, these are just some thoughts and aren't representing theStory and what we are doing. However, hopefully they can be used as a springboard for further and better discussion around these topics.
ATIC (Practically Evolving to All Things in Common)
Church: Where Children Fit
Church: More Like Shrek
Posted by: Nathan Colquhoun in Untagged on
Sep 17, 2007
This week we touched on some important subjects at theStory in regards to Potluck and the Children. We are trying to come to grips of what these things mean for our community and what we should do to help them grow in a healthy way with our community. So we decided that everyone would be participating in the potluck. This means that there are two people a week that are responsible for the main dish and then everyone else that week is responsible for bringing something else (from a bag of chips to dessert to a jug of juice.)
We also talked about the children and the role they play in the community and how we need to help them grow but also give them an opportunity to help us grow. After all Jesus did say that unless we are like them we will never inherit the kingdom of God. So we are hoping that everyone is going to sign up to work with kids. One person a week will be responsible for organizing and one other person a week will be there to support. Whoever is responsible for a week in a month will come to a monthly meeting to brainstorm and talk about the children. We are hoping these meetings will start to give us some consistency and creativity in how the children are with us on Sundays.
We also unveiled a new initiative called ATIC (all things in common) where people can post things they own or services they can offer to an online database to share with anyone else in the community. This will help us start combating the ideals of consumerism in our culture along with helping us build a stronger community. Check out the ATIC link above for more details.
If you want to sign up for music, contact Darryl.
Or you can click here to see our budget online.
Posted by: Nathan Colquhoun in Untagged on
Sep 12, 2007
In some ways it's hard to believe a full year has come and gone. Reflective, a year removed from some of our original thoughts, ideas and experiences with theStory the obvious question presents itself: "Are we becoming who we set out to be?"
I chronicled some of my first observations way back on April 18, 2006 (our second general meeting at Lambton College) and September 11, 2006 (two days after our first official Sunday) . With this in the back of my mind as we celebrated our 1st birthday this past Sunday, the aforementioned question was posed to our community. Framed by the categories of Now and Not Yet, we hung two strings from the ceiling and allowed people to clip their reflections and hopes for theStory for all to see and to also give them the opportunity to explain their sentiments.
The ‘Now' string represented an aspect of theStory that people were excited about, thankful for or had personally impacted them. From this thread hung words like: welcoming, freedom, love, journey, mutability, dialogue, friendship & grace. The ‘Not Yet' string represented the evolution of theStory, where people sensed the focus of next 12 month could (or should) lead. Words like ownership, empowering, kids & creativity hung before us as both challenge and aspiration.
All that said, over the next 12 months, may theStory continue to establish itself as a healthy community that points the way to Jesus. Through our lives, may the Grand Narrative be told, and may others discover their inclusion in its tale.
"If there is no point in the story as a whole, there is no point in my own action. If the story is meaningless, any action of mine is meaningless...so the answer to the question 'Who am I?' can only be given if we ask 'What is my story?' and that can only be answered if there is an answer to the further question, 'What is the whole story of which my story is a part?'" (Leslie Newbigin)
