Church, Vacation and the Dreams of Youth
So Jane and I have taken a quick post Christmas break in warm and sunny Orlando. Unlike last year’s escape, the temperature is actually nice, it hit 81F/ 27C yesterday! Unfortunately the traffic is like double last year, perhaps a sign of an improving economy or just good weather, or both, but I digress …
Let’s get to the point. Yeah, I do church on vacation. I love the church and I love God’s people. In times past the location of a good church has influenced where a vacation might happen! It’s the only way I get to experience church as a casual attender. I love the opportunity to experience the diversity of how God’s people worship and work out their local and global mission. There’s always something I can learn. So often God uses these times to speak directly to me. And I must admit so often it causes me to appreciate the amazing church family I’m a part of and how we approach worship and mission.
So this morning Jane and I connected with Summit Church, a multi-site community whose main campus meets in a renovated twin screen movie theatre in an older area to the northeast of downtown. Currently 2,500 strong, Summit was founded in 2002 by now 30-something Isaac Hunter and two of his friends dating back to their teen years. As 18-year-olds, this trio began to dream about creating a church that would truly reach people with the love of Christ, the hope of the Gospel and love each other well in the process. They held onto that dream and are finding themselves on an amazing ride orchestrated by the hand of God.
Now the church community I’m a part of, Redwood Park, has a somewhat unique flavour that impacts it’s Sunday worship experience and approach to mission that is not found elsewhere as often as we at Redwood might expect. Our desire for a passionate worship experience that is relevant and inviting to people who are not yet committed Christ followers combined with our missional focus to see God’s invisible Kingdom made visible in a way that draws more and more to personal faith in Christ, seems basic but it’s not always all that easy to find.
My sense is that Summit shares many of these same values. One of my take-homes from Summit is their “jobSERVE” program where they are seeking to work with the unemployed and underemployed in their lower income location by offering resume coaching, mentoring and counseling in job attainment skills. This might be something we at Redwood should consider.
Unlike Redwood whose demographic is well spread over all age groups, Summit’s demographic is highly skewed towards 30-somethings with young families. The tight worship band has a definite 30-something appeal. The low key, dry humoured Isaac Hunter has a speaking style that is engaging to the under 40 crowed. One of the reasons his speaking works is because it’s not typical of most large successful evangelical churches. Hence in contrast to Redwood, this results in a lot, if not most of the growth coming from evangelically raised young adults looking for a more authentic grace oriented church with a pumped but not charismatic worship experience. Like Redwood, NT Wright is clearly a respected theologian at this church.
While Isaac speaks very well of his father Joel, who is the Senior Pastor of the mega 12,000 strong multi-site Northland Church, this is clearly not his father’s church. There are similarities for sure, but Summit is clearly further down the road of eliminating those things in evangelical culture that cause so many unchurched folk to run in the opposite direction. Summit seems to understand the balance between the Gospel as good news for individuals who need to experience Christ personally, and the Gospel as good news for our neighbourhoods, cities and world as a whole.
But what really struck me is that three 18-year-old devoted Christ followers had a dream together and didn’t let go of it. They have allowed God to use them to break through so much traditional evangelical church culture that can be such a turn off for the younger generation apart from Christ, creating a fresh expression of church bringing God’s kingdom to earth as it is in heaven. May God raise up a few 18-year-olds around Redwood with such vision and passion to do church and extend God’s kingdom in a way that is relevant to the next generation.
So if you happen to be visiting Mickey and the Orlando area sometime, don’t forget to include church in your schedule. And a church well worth the visit would be Summit: http://www.summitconnect.org/ Check out their founding story here at vimeo.
2010 in review
The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:
The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Fresher than ever.
Crunchy numbers
A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 5,300 times in 2010. That’s about 13 full 747s.
In 2010, there were 8 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 21 posts. There were 20 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 15mb. That’s about 2 pictures per month.
The busiest day of the year was August 12th with 79 views. The most popular post that day was The 2010 Willow GLS: Leadership in Transition.
Where did they come from?
The top referring sites in 2010 were redwoodpark.org, facebook.com, insideredwoodpark.org, twitter.com, and northernboy.theadvancecommunity.ca.
Some visitors came searching, mostly for u2 album, u2 no line on the horizon, bill hybels, missional canadian, and arthur guinness christian.
Attractions in 2010
These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.
The 2010 Willow GLS: Leadership in Transition August 2010
4 comments
Perhaps St. Guinness? March 2010
9 comments
Surprised By Hope in U2′s “No Line On The Horizon” March 2009
2 comments
The Bible: One Big Story June 2010
Halloween: Let’s Enjoy it!! October 2009
6 comments
I Love Sundays!!!
For those who think that larger church services where committed believers gather with those who are not yet committed but are exploring the Christian faith is a relic of the past, I beg to differ. Sunday after Sunday I see this very eclectic mix of ages, races, and all levels of faith or no faith, gather at Redwood for worship, community, and for some, just to see if there is any reality to this “God thing,” or not.
This past Sunday was no exception. Although the fact that we got an extra hour of sleep the night before with the return to standard time, definitely boosted attendance. Especially among those who are tire kickers, just checking out the buzz that they might catch a glimpse of God in a church worship service of all places.
As I prepared to speak at our Sunday morning services, I had one of those experiences where God was calling me to abandon the nicely laid out worship schedule and really focus on the communion table with a bit of theology about what it means to inherit a “sin nature,” from Adam and how the reality of the Evil One only complicates our desire to overcome this propensity we have to do wrong. We celebrated the provision of our “new nature,” provided by Christ’s death on the cross, that while we won’t experience it fully until His return, we can begin now as we discipline ourselves to stay in the flow of the Holy Spirit, to see more and more of that “new nature,” expressing itself in our lives.
Really just the good news, that life transformation is possible because of the cross. We don’t have to stay the same. And the response was amazing!! Folk from seekers to veteran believers identified with the struggle and committed or recommitted themselves to accessing the power of the cross and living in the flow of the Spirit. Worship around the communion table following the message was electric. The presence of God was tangible! Wow!!
But it didn’t stop Sunday morning. I got to speak to about 140 of our high school through college-aged students at Plunge Sunday night. Problem was, changing my morning message plan midweek combined with a much larger number than usual of people needing to connect with me during the week, left me short of time to really prepare adequately for Sunday night. The result was a message that was not as tight as I wanted it to be. I rambled much longer than I had meant to. I simply wouldn’t rate it as one of my stronger speaking experiences.
But my weakness didn’t appear to stop God from working. Worship following my speaking was simply intense, as the young people responded with passionate hearts. In the hang out time after Plunge, all sorts of folk got into conversation with me about issues of what it means to be called to work with God in the building of His Kingdom on earth and “how unsafe is God when you follow him in building his kingdom?” Some very cool discussions where a number of young people are grappling with life directing ideas.
And then to top off the day was a little beer and pizza with our adult ministries pastor Darryl Buckle at Boston’s. A time to bond in our relationship together as fellow servants at Redwood and a time to mutually express awe at the obvious work of God throughout the day.
Yeah, I really love Sunday’s!!
Church Governance: An Ongoing Journey …
This Saturday the Pastoral Staff and Governing Board of Redwood are going to meet for a full day to brainstorm about church governance. In these rapidly changing times from modernism to postmodernism, thinking on how major directional and financial decisions are made, how accountability is accomplished, how staff and board relate to each other, as well as how the church family as a whole speaks into the direction of the church, is undergoing significant re-evaluation.
I say re-evaluation because the issue of governance has been a hot topic for local churches for the last 20 years or so, especially among those who are older or more modernist in their perspective. Over the last 20 years, churches appear to have been moving in one of two predominate directions.
• Often midsized to larger churches including Redwood have moved in the direction of what can be best described as a “staff led/board affirmed,” governance model, where vision and direction are set by staff under the leadership of the Lead/Senior Pastor, and the board exists as an affirming presence, championing the direction of the ministry. In this model the Board also serves as guardrails, insuring that the Lead pastor and his team do not take the church off track.
• The second model that has emerged, that is more typical of small churches is the “elder led/staff-executed” model, where elders or board members discern vision and direction, and staff is responsible for executing the vision and direction.
• Both models employ some level of what is called “policy governance,” where ultimately the board is responsible, whether on it’s own or with primary input from the Lead Pastor/staff team, to establish what the mission is, what metrics for success are, and establishes policies within which staff operate in order to achieve these metrics. Over the last 20 years it’s become increasingly understood that church boards or elders boards do not meddle in the day-to-day affairs of the local church, nor do they play a direct supervisory role with any staff other than the lead pastor.
• In the Christian & Missionary Alliance, of which Redwood is a part, how this works out is a bit more complex. The CMA local church constitution has slanted things in favour of a staff lead church or even more so a Lead Pastor led church, by essentially granting the Lead Pastor the position of first among equals on the board. In the Christian & Missionary Alliance the chairmanship of the Board defaults to the Lead Pastor unless he chooses otherwise. Constitutionally the Lead Pastor is a direct report to the District Superintendent. Much of this is in reaction to congregational church governance, which historically the Alliance has seen as counter-productive to the visionary leadership needed for church growth. The Christian & Missionary Alliance is fairly unique in Canada in its approach to leadership in the local church.
As we look to the future, the two major trends as well as the unique Alliance approach to those trends is being questioned. Over the years as we at Redwood have tried to move towards a well defined staff led “policy governance” approach, neither staff nor board have ever been all that settled with how this could work. You would often hear the statement that the clear delineation between staff and board roles is not something you can find in the New Testament. The passion has always been to work more closely together, collaborate more and not be so worried about who has final authority. While the documents with well-delineated roles, responsibilities and policies made sense, the result didn’t sit well with the heart felt passion among our board and staff for what New Testament including John 17 style community looks like.
Add to that the passion of our key leaders and volunteer workers who are so avid about the mission of Redwood that they desire to get right in the middle of dialogue around Redwood’s future, and it’s clear that our current structures as well as the direction we have been moving in reflecting the values of the past 20 years, will not be satisfactory for the future.
It appears to me that the future looks a lot more collaborative and a lot less hierarchical than the past including our current Alliance constitutions. I don’t think it means abandoning everything that has made policy governance a giant step forward for so many churches. Nor do I think it means reverting to congregational government that so often solidifies the status quo and puts the brakes on change. I suspect it looks different than anything we have at present.
It’s not that there isn’t a role for the Lead Pastor as an initiating visionary leader, but that much more room needs to be made for others to contribute to the dialogue. The future involves a lot more dialogue between key leaders, staff and board, in a way that is not bureaucratic, cuts through red tape and is responsive to rapid change when rapid change is needed to move the mission forward.
Our staff and board are actually pumped to be able to spend a day thinking about this kind of stuff. They love being together. They truly want to find a way to work more effectively, more collaboratively together. Should be an interesting day that leads to further discussion involving more of the church family. Ultimately is should lead to a revamped governance structure that more effectively advances our mission while being more collaborative and less bureaucratic. Coming up with something like that is no small task! Your prayer about all this is appreciated!
FIERCE CONVERSATIONS/FIERCE LEADERSHIP: Seeking life & relationships that are deep, authentic, passionate and unbridled …
Susan Scott in her books, “Fierce Conversations,” and “Fierce Leadership” has my attention. Over the course of this past summer during my annual study leave, these two books managed to deeply root themselves into my mind and heart about what it means to walk and lead with authenticity and integrity, what it means to connect deeply and passionately with my team, my family, or whomever God has me in relationship with. Her clarion call to sincerely invite truth, creativity and even contrarian thinking to the table hit me with an intensity that I have rarely experienced, even under the best of preachers and Christian writers. That may have more to do with me and where I’m at in my life journey these days, than any preachers or Christian writers, but even so, there is a freshness to Scott’s approach that simply rings true. And yes I believe the Holy Spirit spoke clearly and directly to me, through the words of this secular prophet.
I owe a huge thanks to a couple of guys in my Pastoral Small Group, Mike Wilkins from West London Alliance and Garth Leno from Heritage Park who introduced me to the books and blog of Susan Scott. I was working through some of my own “stuff” and sharing that with the group, when both guys jumped with the name Susan Scott and strongly encouraged me to take a look. They were surprised that I was unfamiliar with her as so often I’m the guy recommending secular authors who have something to say to the life of the local church.
Contrary to Susan’s Scott’s strong recommendation, I read “Fierce Leadership” before I read “Fierce Conversations,” which worked well for me, but “Fierce Conversations,” is clearly the foundation upon which the next book is built. I was struck by how the virtues Scott espouses are so obviously Christian. I wondered what in her background contributed to an ethic that so often reflected the teaching of Jesus despite her obvious disdain for institutional religion as well as her colourful yet sensitive use of such language. Perhaps her expression “what fresh hell is this,” will not win her points with the average evangelical church goer, but I must admit I found it an original and winsome way to express the realities we continually encounter in church and family life.
It wasn’t until I got to her first book, “Fierce Conversations” that I discovered that Susan has a churched upbringing with a mom who has been concerned about her daughter’s rejection of their family’s faith background. That explained a lot, including her phrase, “What Would Love Do?,” likely her secularized version of WWJD. She provides an excellent exposition of Matthew 18:15-17 without ever letting you know that she’s been influenced by the Bible. Reading between the lines, I suspect the values that she holds so strongly to, that she “preaches” so passionately, which are biblically consistent, were likely sadly absent in the church of her upbringing. Like so many, she embraces many biblical values, sees herself as “spiritual,” but rejects Christianity. Someone how I found myself identifying with this jaded reflection of church culture, and it caused me to look deeply within, at where I might be contributing to the culture Scott has come to reject.
Let me just throw your way a few quick things among many that struck me as I read these two books:
• Our work, our relationships succeed or fail one conversation at a time. We build our emotional wakes for the positive or negative, one conversation at a time.
• What each of us believes simply reflects our own view of reality … and reality is unforgivingly complex. In other words, no one person owns all of the truth.
• The person who can most accurately describe reality without laying blame will emerge the leader.
• If your behaviour contradicts your values, your body knows, and you pay a price at a cellular level.
• Authenticity is not something you have, it’s something you choose.
• What are you pretending not to know???
• We must recognize that humans share a universal longing to be known, to be loved.
• What we do at work that hurts people or alienates coworkers we also do at home, hurting and alienating those we love.
• When we keep important thoughts private, our ability to learn and make good decisions is lost.
• Feedback is invaluable. Anonymous feedback is not honest. Like all toxins, anonymity should be kept as close to zero as possible. Trust requires persistent identity.
• The goal is to have open, honest, face-to-face conversations, 365 days a year, with the people central to your success and happiness.
• A careful conversation is a failed conversation because it merely postpones the conversation that wants and needs to take place.
• A central part of my job is to build a culture that includes genuine affection for and an emotional connection with coworkers and customers.
• Master the courage to interrogate reality.
• The point of accountability is to empower the other person, not for you to become the new source for his or her power.
• Tell me what you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?
Well that’s just a tease that hardly scratches the surface of two books that are immensely practical, incredibly challenging, yet refreshingly biblical in an arena you might not expect it. In some ways Scott’s books were almost like reading the sequel with practical application to NT Wright’s new book, “After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters.” Wright talks about the tough work of putting to death our old nature and putting on Christian virtues, and likens it to the difficult challenge of learning a new language. Yes we have the working of the Holy Spirit who will empower us, but only as we first choose to do what we as human beings have been enabled to do by our Creator God, as His image bearers. But that would take another blog to unpack.
So I give a hearty two thumbs up to both of Scott’s books, “Fierce Conversations,” and “Fierce Leadership.” I’d recommend them for use at home, at work, in the church, or wherever you interact with people committed to some sort of mission or task. Hey, I might even suggest that “Fierce Conversations,” might be one of the better books we could use in pre-marital counseling. Go buy both books and read them NOW!! (And after that take a look at Wright’s book! )
The 2010 Willow GLS: Leadership in Transition
The WillowCreek Leadership Summit, now called the Global Leadership Summit has been a staple in my summer diet for 14 out of the last 15 years of the Summit. I am never disappointed. Always I find myself inspired and challenged deeply by the event. This year through the diversity of speakers I could visibly see the transition taking place between the leadership thinking of modernism and what is beginning to develop with the emerging post-modern generation.
The Summit did start a bit slow for me. I found the first day of the two-day event to be good but not as captivating as in previous years. One of the contributing factors was the lack of emphasis on worship and the arts on that particular day. I found it intriguing that that lack had such an impact on my experience, despite some amazing teaching and presentations. The second day was much stronger on the arts front and contributed to my ability to better take in all the material that was presented. That contrast between day one and day two was a significant educational “take home,” for me about the power of the arts as well as the release that comes from spending a significant amount of time in corporate worship. I don’t think some of my staff team who were not at the Summit would have made it through day one with the almost “all business approach” to the day.
But the lack of arts and worship on day one aside, the Summit proved once again to be an invaluable contribution to my own leadership journey. I commend the Willow team for putting together such an excellent teaching team or as they like to call them, “faculty.” Let me just list a few of the many “take homes,” that impacted me. It’s too long for many of you to read all at once, just scan down and see what catches your attention:
• I had already been in a setting where BILL HYBELS did a test run of his Summit talk, but I was struck anew by the intensity of his passion for knitting together teams of what he calls “fantastic people,” folks who you would go out into the hall and vomit if you ever heard they wanted to leave your organization!
• Hybels has now added a fourth “C” to his team-building list, that being “culture,” in addition to character, competency and chemistry. He distinguished between chemistry as being inter-personal, and culture being the DNA or ethos of your organization.
• “Good is the enemy of great,” was the renewed rallying cry of JIM COLLINS, who once again was mesmerizing in his presentation.
• As a part of his presentation on why some “mighty organizations” fall, Collins built on Hybels session by emphasizing that we must have all of our key seats filled with fantastic people, that we must resist any attempt to move ahead or grow until we have those fantastic people occupying those key leadership seats.
• The signature issue that separates great leaders from good leaders, leaders who are often able to prevent “a catastrophic fall,” are those who are marked by humility.
• With passion Collins said that if we desire to be truly useful as leaders, then we must never capitulate, never ever give up on the idea of creating a great church or organization, never ever give up on the discipline of creating our own future, while being willing to embrace loss and endure pain in the journey towards those goals. You might have thought he was a preacher!
• DR. PETER ZHAO XIOA’s presentation was simply fascinating. He became a Christ follower studying the American economy for the Chinese government and concluding that biblical values make for a stronger economy. He is proud of his Chinese heritage and looks forward to China becoming once again one of the dominant nations in the world. His call is for us to not fear China, but to work to strengthen Christian presence in China, which will only benefit the nation and the world.
• The concept advanced by ANDY STANLEY, that great organizations have problems that shouldn’t be solved and tensions that shouldn’t be resolved, is a keeper! He argued that we need to identify those critical problems and tensions, that if held in a creative both/and balance, bring progress for the organization. While tensions are organizationally specific, they include things like: time with family/ time at work; reaching the unchurched/maturing believers; led by the Spirit/ attentive to logic. He calls the balancing of these unresolvable tensions a “third category,” that when artfully handled, propel the organization forward.
• Throughout the Summit there was an emphasis on creating environments of collaboration. This came out brilliantly in TERRI KELLY’S, the CEO of what we know as Gore-Tex talk. The culture of Gore and Associates really grabbed my attention, where it is a peer-based organization where everyone understands that it is their job to make everyone else in the organization successful. Her presentation of what a peer based organization based on personal relationships and the power of small teams is all about, where there are more coaches than bosses, where every staff member has a sponsor in addition to a supervisor who is committed to the betterment of the person, really got my mind going on overdrive. Yeah she stretched me big time, and it was good to be stretched!!
• Again the whole issue of hiring the right people was emphasized. The need for the right kind of behavioral interviewing that assures that the people you hire fit the culture they will be working in.
• And if I thought Terri Kelly was brilliant then I’ve run out of strong enough adjectives to describe the thinking of DANIEL PINK. His work on what it is that truly motivates us was simply captivating. I bought both the audio and print editions of his book, “Drive”!!
• Pink uses three concepts to describe what he calls “enduring motivations”: autonomy, mastery, and purpose. He argues that most organizations use lesser motivations like reward and punishment, including financial profit and money. He calls “management theory,” an outdated 1800’s concept designed to get compliance when folk yearn for autonomy, that we need to find ways to give folk autonomy over their time, teams, tasks and techniques. This leads to the need for an individual to develop mastery in what he or she is doing that reflects their personal passions, and mastery is motivated as people see they are making progress. Pink like some of the other contrarian thinkers at the Summit is very hard on traditional performance appraisal systems, opting instead for an ongoing process of encouragement, where the individual is motivated to monitor his or her progress with the help of a supervisor/coach.
• Pink then moves on to purpose, which many of us resonate with who think of faith in terms of “the purpose driven life. Pink is strong that even in business purpose trumps profit every time.
• Tom’s Shoes with it’s CEO BLAKE MYCOSKIE is a great example that purpose trumps profits, in a for-profit business venture. His buy a pair of shoes, and we’ll give a pair away to someone in need in the majority world has impacted both the churched and unchurched community. It’s become a viral movement capturing the heart of the younger generation that truly want to make a difference. I’d love to see Tom’s Shoes in Canada!
• Listening to JACK WELCH helped me to better understand Bill Hybels. There’s a unique combination of old school and new school leadership thinking that Welch represents that has impacted Hybles, who re-reads Welch’s “Winning” every six months. He isn’t the most studied CEO of the 20th century for nothing! Welch brings to leadership an amazing combination of energy, candor, as well as passion for the individual. However he takes a more hard lined approach to performance appraisal that clearly grades the individual in relationship to the rest of the employees, so that he can abundantly reward the top 20%, care for and grow the core 70% and remove the bottom 10%. Hybles takes a softer approach on this than Welch, but similar. After listening to Daniel Pink and Terri Kelly, I sensed that on this issue, the Welch performance appraisal system’s days are numbered.
• The summit wrapped up with a resounding message by Bishop TD JAKES. I’ve heard him speak before and was not all that enthused to hear him again. I personally find wumped up enthusiasm, and what for me is trite clichés, to be a bit grating. This time, Jakes surprised me and totally engaged me. There was a level of humility in his speaking that captivated me. He was well worth the risk Hybles took in brining him back to the Summit.
• Several of Jake’s statements that stayed with me include: “You cannot lead someone who cannot read you, you have to transparent enough to be understood, you have to show your wounds.” “They learn as much from your troubles as they do from your strengths.” “Lord I need a me! That’s someone who is safe to encourage me as I encourage others.” Jakes lamented how few “safe encouragers” there are out there for pastoral leaders.
So yeah, a lot of good stuff!! I hope to bring some of these sessions to the Redwood staff team and the Christian and leadership community at large in Thunder Bay through a series of “LEADERSHIP LUNCHES,” at Redwood’s Thunder Bay campus. I just have to check with Jane and see if she’s willing to put the soup on for us! I should have more information come September.
On The Shores of Lake Clearwater …
As I write this little blog I’m out on the dock of a friend’s cottage across from Ontario Pioneer Boys’ Camp with Girls’ Camp to north and Adventure camp to the south. The Boys Camp Band is doing an amazing job of leading a couple of hundred young men in worship as a part of their time of Bible study. I love the fact that I can clearly make out all the words and hear the passionate singing right across the lake. It’s stirring. It’s nostalgic. It evokes some very deep and raw emotions … the guys are singing, Mighty to Save: “Saviour, He can move the mountains, He is mighty to save, mighty to save!” And it’s echoing with power across the lake. Wow!
Yesterday I tweeted a few of my thoughts, as I enjoyed this cottage across from Pioneer. The response I got back spanned the decades from recent campers to those who haven’t really been a part of camp for decades. And their comments were every bit as emotional as I was feeling right here at the cottage.
Comments included, “Truly a magical place;” “Oh, I wish I were there;” “So jealous. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy;” “Man I miss that place;” “If I could get a cottage on that lake, I probably would!” My daughter Meagan reflected on writing her application for Med School at the Girls’ camp site, crediting the location with the writing of an application that got her in!
There’s the old Camp Song that we used to sing with passion, yes all three verses, that today occasionally they sing the first verse. I get it, the tune and words are a bit geeky for today’s sophisticated youth, but hey, it says a lot:
On the shores of Lake Clearwater
Stands the camp I love
Where in sparkling water glistens
Blue of skies above
Chorus:
Hail to thee, Camp Pioneer
Camp of camps the best
Where in fellowship united
Every heart is blessed
Far from burning heat of city
Here the woodland dreams
Darkling pines and silver birches
Shelter cooling streams
Chorus …
Hear the glories of the Northland
Praise the Lord of all
Here we too can learn to love Him
And obey His call
Chorus …
Geeky or not, the Pioneer Camp song captures the ethos of what’s been happening at Christian camps like Pioneer for the multiple decades of the Christian camping movement. For so many camp is or has been a place where deep life long friendships have been forged, where personal growth has catapulted forward and self worth has been bolstered. And most of all it’s been a place of spiritual encounter and life transformation, discovering that the God of all creation is irrationally in love with me, wants to walk with me personally and has a mission, a purpose beyond my wildest imagination for me to pursue.
For me it’s been camps like Pioneer and Mini-Yo-We in Muskoka where I have been a camper, served as staff member in my formative high school and college days, and later had the privilege to serve full time, being the Director of Mini-Yo-We for two years and the Administrative Director of Ontario Pioneer Camps for almost five years. For many in the Thunder Bay area where I now serve, it’s camps like Dorion, Round Lake and Manitoba Pioneer that evoke that same deeply raw and wonderful emotion.
I really like the Celtic concept of “thin places.” In the days of Patrick of Ireland and the Celtic spirituality that he spawned, the Celts had a deep appreciation for special places of spiritual encounter, where the line between this world and things of God are indeed very thin, an environment that invites us to experience spiritual transformation. Camps are truly “thin places.” So much so that I’m convinced that one week at camp can have a far deeper and more profound impact on a life than a couple of years in church – and hey I believe in church!!
As I wrap up writing this little blog, the boys are singing, “Oh happy day, happy day … I’ll never be the same, forever I am changed.” That’s my story. Because of my experiences at camps like Mini-Yo-We and Pioneer, my life took on a whole new trajectory and I was forever changed. My calling to and passion for full time ministry came from camp. Even how I approach ministry is profoundly shaped by camp.
Thank you Barb and Jim for letting me use your cottage, it’s truly been a “thin place” for me. And all of you on staff at and leading various Christian camps, know that as a part of my study time away form Thunder Bay, I’m praying for you and the great work you do!
Rancorous Times!
Eighteen years ago it was my privilege to take up the role of what we’re now calling the “Lead Pastor” of the Redwood Park Church. I entered into Redwood at a time of seismic paradigm shift that was a source of great tumult not just for Redwood but also for evangelical churches all across Canada. Some, particularly some over 50 who had invested their lives into building the church, struggled with the new and sometimes unfamiliar paradigms that were emerging. Others clearly understood that for the church to remain effective in its mission to reach those apart from Christ as well as the next generation, they would have to sacrifice their own comforts for the sake of prioritizing the needs of those we are called to love and impact with the message and life of Jesus.
The late 80’s into the early 90’s for many Canadian churches with an evangelical heritage were a time of what’s been called “the worship wars.” Some churches moved through them well, others have still held onto old paradigms, creating greater distance between the local church and the average Canadian. Redwood did not move through this period unscathed but eventually moved through to the other side and was sometimes viewed as a positive example within the evangelical community of a church that was effective at prioritizing the needs of those apart from faith in Christ.*
Twenty years later those who study culture and the church like George Barna in the United States, Alan Hirsch formerly from Australia and Alan Roxburgh here in Canada are all telling us that we are the midst of a much larger shift than any of us have experienced in our lifetimes. Roxburgh calls these “rancorous times!” Here we are for the first time in Canadian history, watching churches with an evangelical heritage not just in decline, which has never happened before, but in many cases move into steep decline, while the more progressive churches over the last 20 years think they are still relevant because of the changes that have been made.
Roxburgh led me to look at a book by Joshua Cooper Ramo called “The Age of the Unthinkable.” Roxburgh wants us to understand that title is a great description of our time. He passionately says to the Canadian church that we live in the age of the unthinkable, a time of massive cultural change where the real driver of change is the unexpected, where “focusing on well established categories and measurables is worse than useless.” He goes on, “The standard answers operating in our churches and among our leaders today can only misdirect us … focusing on improving worship, developing better evangelism, getting more imaginative discipleship programs or creating a passionate spirituality will no longer get at the levels of change we face … living in an age of the unthinkable.”
“Unthinkable Times” … Roxburgh just might be onto something. As we move into the 2010’s, there’s a complexity to doing kingdom work here in Canada that is deeper than most of us have ever experienced. The transitions that led to the worship wars of 20 years ago, pale in comparison to what we fact in the next few years. My fear is that we will move into this future with grasping the enormity of what’s before us and in the end become increasingly irrelevant to and out of touch with the average Canadian.
My prayer is that the passion that has clearly marked Redwood for at least the past 20 years, that we would be like the Old Testament, “men of Issachar, who understood the times and knew what Israel should do,” (1 Chronicles 12:32, NIV), would remain core to who we are. And what that means is that I like many others need to be careful that in our deep and irrevocable passion to hold on to the truth of God’s Word, that we don’t hold onto other “stuff” that gets in the way of mission in an age of the unthinkable.
* (Side note: Both Faith Today published by the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada as well as the denominational magazine Alliance.ca have published articles about Redwood’s missional focus. You can download a pdf of the Alliance .ca article here.)
The Bible: One Big Story
Since it came out in the fall of 2008, I’ve been passionately getting people to read Scott McKnight’s “Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read The Bible.” From my perspective it could be by far, one the best and easiest to digest books out there to help readers of the Bible truly make sense of the Bible as a whole and better help us navigate those sticky hard to figure out passages.
McKnight has helped me to better articulate that the Bible from Genesis to Revelation is one consistent story: It’s the story of God who is crazy in love with the people he created, and how he has made a way for us to be at one with Him, and at one with each other, at one with creation, even as God is at one with himself.
There really is an overriding story to the whole of the Bible. It’s all about a restored relationship we can have with God, restored relationships we can have with each other, and ultimately it’s about a resorted relationship we are to have with creation.
McKnight tells us that the Bible is a book with a beginning, that’s Genesis chapters 1 to 11, and a long, long middle, that’s Genesis 12 to Malachi 4 and then Matthew through Revelation, and there’s an end, that shows up in a few places, like Matthew 25, Romans 8 and Revelation 21 and 22. The climax is the death and resurrection of Jesus that makes this oneness, this restoration possible.
Within the Bible there are a bunch of smaller stories that each contribute to the overall story. Again, what unites them altogether is this story of oneness or restoration, where are all things are ultimately destined to be made right, that all of creation and all the people of this world who chose God’s offer of restoration, despite the hurt and mess you find, will ultimately be made right. The Bible calls us to look forward to the coming new heaven and new earth where our God… “will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:4, TNIV)
So when you read the Bible, you start with an understanding that it’s a bunch of little stories that are all related, that are all part of the big story, the story that God is crazy in love with his creation including you and me, that he wants us to be at one with him, and each other. And when you read with that understanding, it really does begin to make sense, even some of those tough passages become easier to grasp or at least don’t need to be the red herrings we so often make them to be. It actually all fits as part of the big story.
And while we believe that the canon of the Bible is complete, God’s story continues. And you and I fit right into God’s Genesis to Revelation story. Our part of the story, our mission is to serve as agents of this restoration, this oneness project of God. We lead people to experience oneness with God and then through oneness with God, oneness with each other. Further in anticipation of the promised new heaven and new earth, we work towards that ultimate restoration even now, seeking even as Jesus taught us to pray, to see more and more of God’s kingdom come, God’s will done on earth as it is in heaven. Quite simply we work to make the invisible kingdom which is not far off, visible now.
It’s the greatest story ever, “For God so loved the world …” And you and I get to be a part of this story. We might not be part of the canon on Scripture, but we’re still very much a critical part of “his story”! God wants each of us to play our role, to take all of our talents, resources and gifts and leverage them in the power of His Spirit for the sake of His oneness project, seeing God’s kingdom come, God’s will done in individual lives and our world at large, in anticipation of the return of Jesus when it all will be made right.
Perhaps St. Guinness?
As we approach St. Patrick’s Day and celebrate the passionate Christ follower God used to lead so much of Ireland into the Christian faith, it got me pondering another interesting character in Irish history, Arthur Guinness. Both Patrick in the 400’s and Guinness in the 1700’s used beer within the context of Christian mission and ministry. Patrick employed a brewer in his household and often brought beer as a gift to village leaders he was seeking to evangelize. (And try not to read into that any motivation other than beer was truly an appreciated gift!)
I first got a hint about what an amazing individual Arthur Guinness is when the Doyle family in a vacation last spring checking out our ancestral heritage, toured the amazing Guinness Brewery in Dublin. But I never really knew the full Guinness story until Darryl Buckle, our new Pastor of Adult Ministries bought me a gift, a newly published book by USA Today columnist, Stephen Mansfield. It’s titled, “The Search for God and Guinness: A Biography of the Beer that Changed the World?” It was written to celebrate the Guinness Company’s 250th anniversary.
Who would have thought that a book about an iconic Irish stout and the family that had made it famous would actually be a riveting and inspiring read, challenging us how to live and do business for the glory of God. While it might sound strange to some from more traditional evangelical settings, Arthur Guinness was motivated by his deep personal commitment to God to develop a product that would contribute to the good of society through a company devoted to the well being of its employees.
Here are some interesting thoughts that have come from reading Mansfield’s book:
• Arthur Guinness was deeply impacted by John Wesley’s preaching in Dublin. With Wesley he accepted the idea from Psalm 104 that alcohol in moderation was a gift from God “to gladden the heart”. However Wesley deplored the use of distilled beverages such as gin, brandy and whiskey because they led so quickly to the sin of drunkenness. Guinness came to see the brewing of beer as a way to promote the God honouring moderate use of alcohol, while leading people away from the “Gin Houses” that were such a blight in Irish and British society. Brewing beer was part of his mission to make a positive difference in Irish society.
• Guinness founded the first Sunday Schools in Ireland. He fought against dueling. And he chaired the board of a hospital for the poor. He had a huge Christ centred social conscience. As a Protestant he fought for the rights of the oppressed Roman Catholic majority in Ireland.
• The generations that followed Guinness produced not only some very God honouring businessmen, but some passionate pastors as well. In the 1890’s, Rupert Guinness, future head of the brewery, received five million pounds from his father on his wedding day. Shortly after, he moved into a house in the slums and launched a series of programs that served the poor.
• The Guinness brewery routinely paid wages that were 10 to 20 percent higher than average and had a reputation for being the best place to work in Ireland. Guinness paid for all of his employees’ ages 14 to 30 to attend technical schools if they wanted and more advanced school if they qualified. He provided medical and dental health care to the whole family, with doctors and nurses on site; subsidized meals; provided a company funded pension, sports facilities, free concerts … And the list of way over the top generous employee benefits goes on and on. Guinness believed, “You cannot make money from people unless you are wiling for people to make money from you.”
• And then in 2003, scientists at the University of Wisconsin reported that a pint a day of Guinness is good for the human heart, confirming that call to drink a little wine in 1 Timothy 5:23, is relevant today and can be extended to beer!
It’s only been in recent years that major evangelical denominational families like Christian & Missionary Alliance that Redwood Park is a part of, have been officially willing to go back to a balanced biblically grounded understanding regarding the consumption of alcohol. The latest edition of the Manual of the Christian & Missionary Alliance in Canada states:
“The Bible contains guidelines regarding the moderate use of alcohol and warnings regarding its misuse. The misuse of alcohol is damaging to individuals, families and society. The C&MA expects its credentialed workers to exercise their Christian freedom responsibly within the framework of God’s Word.”
Guinness, Wesley and St. Patrick would all have approved.
But what’s most fascinating about the life and legacy of Arthur Guinness is not the novelty of seeing beer as a tool in Christian mission, as much as it’s simply to see how a Christian businessman worked out his faith so holistically through his business. We truly need to see God raise up a few more Arthur Guinness’ in the world!! Oh and Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
About
For the past 20 years Doug Doyle has served lead pastor of Redwood Park Church, a multi-site missional community that is passionate to see the message and life of Jesus impact Thunder Bay, Barrie and beyond to Northwestern Ontario, Canada and the world. LIFE, PASSION and ADVENTURE are three words that Redwood uses to describe the nature of Christian spirituality.
Doug is married to Jane, who possesses an amazing gift of hospitality and the ability to cook for hundreds! They have three young-adult children mostly living on their own: Meagan is a pediatric resident at the Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary , Susan who is married to Chris Groenheide and among other things supply teaches at Dennis Franklin Cromarty First Nations High School and Graeme who is involved in an eclectic mix of insurance and financial planing, working for a highway line painting company, and ushering at our local Community Auditorium. Each of them in their distinct ways have a yearning to be difference makers in this world.
Meal times at the Doyle household tend to be a bit of a party, but you might want to ask what it is you’re eating – as sometimes Doug enjoys a hike with a good friend and a gun in the beauty of the Northwestern Ontario bush, or maybe a paddle on a remote lake with rod in hand.
Doug & Jane are currently in a time of transition, enjoying a time of sabbatical from active ministry, while seeking where God would lead them next. It’s an incredibly exciting time with moments of trepidation as we rest and wait on God.
