Mike Riddell has been one of my favourite authors for a very long time. I just bought a copy of Sacred Journey: Spiritual Wisdom for Times of Transition. Quoting from the back cover…
“This inspiring and challenging book is for anyone who has ever asked “What now?” or “What will be left of my life when I am gone?”. ... In an engrossing blend of reflection and story, the author encourages us to regain our capacity for wonder and to discover that unique gift which only we can bring to the world”
In the book, Riddell explores the adventure that is the Christian journey and the journey of life, in general. I love one of the images he uses to convey the unknown nature of the journey…
“We are all of us trapeze artists; to get from one side to the other we have to be willing to let go of the trapeze we are holding, and hang on for a few moments in suspended animation before we grasp the next support on our own wild ride into the unknown.”
Mike Riddell draws on wisdom and stories from a variety of sources including Anthony De Mello
, Paulo Coelho, and Henri Nouwen and weaves them together in a way that only he can do as he connects with the context of the reader to reveal some of the profound blessings and inspiring sights along the journey of faith.
Highly recommended to anyone who is questioning and exploring and trying to refocus on what really matters on our journey.
This book is a wonderful exploration of confirmation as a rite of passage in the Christian church. I have wrestled for some time about the purpose and goal of confirmation, especially since increasingly it has become something of an exit ritual within many churches. Becoming & Belonging has helped me think through and develop a more contemporary and relevant understanding of confirmation.
The book is divided into two main sections. The first section deals with developing a working theory of confirmation. I found this section extremely helpful. The authors spend time exploring the history of confirmation, look at models of confirmation and engage in a fairly indepth exploration into the connect/disconnect between youth and the church. There is also a transcript of conversations between the 4 authors of the book – probably one of the most fascinating and interesting elements in the book.
The second section sets out a program for confirmation based on four elements discussed in the first section: tradition, covenant, ministry and pilgrimage. The most useful part of this section was the selection of ideas for activities for each of the elements.
Overall, a helpful book and useful in helping those involved in working with teens to think through the whole confirmation process and to engage in some theological reflection on the process.
I’ve been re-reading a book I read a couple of years ago called Making Sense of Church: Eavesdropping on Emerging Conversations about God, Community, and Culture. The book is by Spencer Burke, founder of TheOoze. The book is basically about postmodernism and the church, Spencer Burke’s own personal journey in ministry and extracts of conversations from TheOoze message boards.
Making Sense of Church is one of the best I have read on the whole emerging church movement, and the reason it works is because it doesn’t have a whole lot of theory but consists of many, many stories and journeys that help us identify and discover our own journeys and stories as we attempt to make sense of church. Burke tries to provide some brand new metaphors for what it means to be church in this postmodern age.
Some quotes and extracts that got me thinking and reflecting:
Metaphor #2: Teacher to Facilitator
“Somehow, over the centuries, knowledge has become king. We’ve effectively said that knowing about God will ultimately help us know God. As a result, we often focused more on the Word, then on the Word become flesh. And yet as A.W. Tozer pointed out, God cannot be contained in any object or that object will become out god. Cold it be that we’ve created an idol and have actually begun to worship Christian education or the Bible?
Churches today have been expressly designed for passing on knowledge. Objects that appeal to the senses have been removed, Ironically, this switch to a “user-friendly” environment is problematic for many postmodern people—the very people churches say they want to reach. While there is something to be said for comfortable chairs and trouble free parking, slick worship services seem exactly that—slick. It’s Amway with a thin spiritual veneer.
Thom S. Rainer, dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism, and Church Growth at Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, told The Washington Times that the main reason people leave church is it’s too similar to their everyday lives. Could it be the seeker-sensitive movement has actually backfired?” – Page 53-54
Metaphor #1: Tour Guide to Traveller
“For centuries, the tour guide metaphor has dominated our religious experience. We’ve defined evangelism and spiritual leadership in terms of a hierarchical relationship: one person finds the way and tells someone else how to get there. By controls, the church of the future-the emerging church-would seem to embrace a more collaborative leadership model. The metaphor is that of a traveler-someone who is “one the way,” journeying with us. They still may have more experience and expertise than we do, but they don’t need the security of their position/title. They can lead a group without having to know absolutely everything about the final destination.
How many leaders in the Bible would actually live up to our contemporary expectations for leaders?” – Page 37
Metaphor #6: Retailer to Wholesaler
“Target markets, strategic plans, statistical research-they’re all part of what it means to do church in the modern world. How can we reach certain segments of the population? How can we be “relevant” to our culture? How can we get brand recognition in a crowded spiritual marketplace? The answer is almost always a cool new program or some kind of image overhaul. In many ways, we function like retailers-branding our goods, fending off the competition, and always trying to increase sales. We’re photographers desperately trying to take the pictures we know people will buy. ...
...we start thinking that Jesus needs to be dressed up a little-maybe surfer shorts and a pair of Oakley sunglasses. The truth is that we need to strip that stuff off him and get back to the basics of our faith.
When we have a wholesaler mindset, we’re more inclined to trust that the story of Jesus Christ is powerful enough on its own. We tend to focus, not on how we can make ourselves look relevant, but how we can be relevant-through authentic life change. We live out the gospel in front of people and then let go, allowing the Holy Spirit to guide them into truth. As wholesalers, we share, “the raw materials,” and then give people the freedom to embrace them in their own way.” –
Page 109 – 119
For me it is so refreshing to read a book like this when churches everywhere seem to be jumping from one church growth fad to another – from
The Purpose Driven Church to
Alpha to the Willow Creek model. The book raises some interesting and challenging questions about what it means to be church.
