A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Poor Paul.

Wow, What a Game!!!

Well, the Grey Cup Game again lived up to it's reputation as the greatest sport's championship game on the planet. The Edmonton Eskimos snuck out a 38-35 over time victory over the Montreal Alouettes to win Earl Grey's holy grail.

We watched the game with the a bunch of friends at the Dodson Pub and Hotel on Hastings Street, a couple of blocks from where we live. It was a great afternoon! The only thing that could have made it better was if the BC Lion's were the champions. But congratulations to the Eskies on a great game!

Lessons in Anthropological Correctness

My buddy Roger from Vanguard College sent me a quote which he discovered reading for a Cultural Anthropology course he is taking.

“…Westerners think in terms of full-time trained specialists who are paid for their work. They find it hard to think of self-supporting lay leaders in charge of the church, and doing the preaching and teaching. For the most part, Western formal ways of organizing the church [overseas] have failed because they do not fit the ways common folk organize their activities. Ironically, Western missionaries have often been more willing to contextualize the gospel than church polity.”

Interesting thought - though I'm not sure the church overseas has failed to be organized effectively. I guess taking ‘western’ ecclesiastical forms to un-western places is not the anthropologically correct thing to do. Who knew!?! Westerns just assume that the way we do things is the way things should be done regardless of the cultural context. Do we really do that? Is this an unfortunate colonialistic blind-spot, or are we just plain dumb? Or is this just politically correct babbling?

Another aspect to this discussion could revolve around the question of whether the ‘full-time trained specialist’ is appropriate or effective for the western church. From an anthropological perspective I guess our culture does look to the skilled professional in most areas of life, and it has been the preferred pattern of the western church throughout history.

But for the church, is this the right way, the best way, or the only way? Praxis can be a pitfall. Is it enough that our church structures are shaped and validated by our westernized ecclesiology and cultural tendencies, or is this another of our cultural blind-spots the church needs to recognize and make some adjustments to? When it comes to church leadership, isn’t an effective leader a legitimate leader, be they paid or not? Does our culture’s perception of the need for the full-time specialist dictate the church’s preferred form of organization?

What happens when the western context you are in is evolving and may eventually be better served by the ‘lay leader’? Do we really have to call this person a ‘lay leader’? What qualifies this individual as a ‘legitimate’ leader in the church - calling, gifting, and involvement, or a theological degree from some institution, formal credentials with a denomination, and a position and pay cheque from a church? What can we do to recognize that these people are an essential and strategic element for the development of the new faith communities the western church is desperate for (or should be desperate for) and do everything we can to foster and release this largely untapped leadership resource? Will we as the western church be willing to experiment with church polity?

Stay tuned. The next 50 years should tell the story…

My Most Unfavoritest Books

Warning: this is a rant…

Contemporary “Christian” fiction is so pathetic. I was flipping through the pre-Christmas sales rag of the local Christian bookstore, and I found these winners, which I present for your entertainment:

Second Chances
Marilyn is determined to guard her heart after her minister husband divorces her for another woman. But when she meets Joshua, she struggles to ignore the attraction she feels. Suddenly a stalker known as “Leopard” starts sending Josh threatening messages. $13.97

What She Left For Me
Jana discovers that her pastor husband has run off with his secretary—and the family bank account. Penniless and pregnant, Jana turns to her mother, who is haunted by her own guilt. Then an eccentric aunt complicates the situation! $13.97

These make The Da Vinci Code look like stellar literature. I can’t remember the last time I read a “Christian” novel. End-times hallucinations and ministry marriage messes drive me nuts. Beyond Frank Peretti, does anybody out there have any suggestions?

The Shaping of Things To Come

One of the best books I've read on the church is The Shaping of Things to Come, by Frost and Hirsh. Some of you have been asking about it, so here's some info if you're still interested.

This is a link to a PDF of the first chapter to whet your appetite.

You can catch a couple of reviews / summaries of it on the following links.

Leonard Hjalmarson
John Ed Robertson
Facing the Challenges

Amazon.ca is a good place to buy it so you can read it for yourself...

Birds Eye View of the Neighborhood

Here's a birds-eye view of the neighborhood. This is what the crows see when they fly over our house squawking thier beaks off. Aileen would like to shoot all of them.

Actually, the crow thing is an unusual Vancouver phenomena - they are actually commuting crows. They fly in from Burnaby in the morning and fly back at night. You can literally see flocks of hundreds of them heading home in the evening. I guess they can't afford to live downtown. But they do leave the odd chicken bone on our deck. At least we are assuming they are chicken bones...

By the way, Daleena says "Hi" to all of you out in cyber space.

The End of the World Post-poned

The end of the world is apparently on escatological hold. Check out the details here. Thanks to Timbo H. for the hot tip on rapture awareness. He's also got some interesting insights that challenge your assumptions on war and the proliferation there of. Check Tim's post, or read the original article from the BBC.

The Lights are ON and somebody's home!

When we moved into the neighborhood about 18 months ago the Taylor Building (link) was just a hole in the ground. Now it is a 26 story tower with about 212 living units. We have watched this building grow and stretch towards the sky and have been amazed at the tons and tons of concrete and rebar that go into a structure like this. Wow, what a complex peice of engineering.

Now at long last, someone has moved in! We have new neighbors just a stone's throw across the street from us. I've never counted the windows looking down on us, but there are a lot of them! We'll have to be more careful to close the blinds on our place...

So to all our new friends across the street, welcome! As you look out your windows at our community, may you fall in love with it like we have. And if you see us looking out ours, give us wave!

Canadian Myths

J.L. Granatstein in the Saturday, November 12, 2005 of the National Post had a great article addressing some of the attitudes that Canadians have toward our American cousins. There is a strong anti-American sentiment in Vancouver that at first surprised me (the prevailing attitude in red-neck rural Alberta is quite different), and now just annoys me. It’s not that I approve of everything the USA is and does (as if I approve of everything Canadian!), it's just that I just refuse to accept that 'the Americans', including thier government and institutions, are as bad as Canadians, especially Vancouverites make them out to be. I think Granastein’s article is important enough to quote a bunch of it here.

The myth Granatstein tackles is that Canada is a nation of peacekeepers and the U.S. is a nation of warmongers. 'Canadians keep the peace; Americans fight wars.’ That cliched statement, that Canadian myth, is now accepted as gospel truth from St John's to Vancouver. Canadians proudly cite Lester B. Pearson's Nobel Peace Prize, won for his role in stabilizing the Suez Crisis of 1956. They point to the grand peacekeeping monument in Ottawa and to the back of their $10 bill showing Canadian peacekeepers. We are the good guys in white hats or, at least, blue berets. Canadians, we like to think, are natural-born peacekeepers.

And the Yanks? The Americans are the superpower that fought in Vietnam and sprayed its jungles with Agent Orange. They waged war against the Nicaraguan and Cuban peoples, invaded Iraq twice, and continue to station troops all over the world to serve U.S. interests and ensure control over oil supplies. If we're the good guys, the Americans are the world's bullies. Too many Canadians accept this view of their neighbours.

Granatstein rightly points out that the harsh truth is that Canada has largely had a free ride while the United States has taken most of the risks, paid the lion's share of the bills and, for its pains, borne the brunt of the world's abuse. The Canadian Forces, its strength shrunken, much of its equipment obsolete, cannot even credibly defend this nation's air space, sea approaches and land mass. The only question is how much longer the United States will wait before it declares that its own national security makes it necessary for Washington to openly assume responsibility for Canadian defence. Can we still call ourselves a sovereign state if that occurs?

Canadians need to be more clear-headed about the world. We have national interests, not just values. We must defend them or see them overridden by others. The Americans have their own national interests, and have demonstrated they will do what is necessary to protect them.

Canada is part of Western civilization, and we share the values and beliefs of that civilization. So do Americans. We must get beyond the reflexive desire to criticize the superpower next door and to understand that if the United States is crippled, we too will suffer. We can pretend we keep the peace if it pleases us to do so, but we simply must recognize that without America's strength and will, our civilization will disappear. More realism, fewer myths, please.

Real Community

Thursday night we had knock on our door. The new neighbors who just moved into two doors down had come to invite us to a house warming party they were having that evening, and to apologize in advance for the noise. They promised to shut things down by midnight, but would we like to come over and see their place?

Wow! What a neat opportunity to experience and create community. This has never happened in any other neighborhood that we have lived in. There is just something about our roof-top row-house that lends itself to a unique and genuine neighborhood experience.

So down we went, and enjoyed an hour of festivities with David and Peter and about 30 of thier closest friends. Thier townhouse has been remodeled and looks like something out of a magazine spread. It was cool to see what a unit so similar to our can look like when a professional designer gets involved.

Its experiences like this that confirm we made a wise decision to live where we live. I'm a big fan of being on the ground of the community you are trying to minister in. It's all about being incarnationa. You don't get invited to a housewarming of people you don't know unless you live next door. You have to be in the neighborhood. Parachuting doesn't work.

We Will Remember

I need Thy presence every passing hour;
What but Thy grace can foil the Tempter's power?
Who like Thyself my guide and stay be?
Through cloud and sunshine, Oh, abide with me!

It was a very wet and cold day at Victory Square.

Perhaps a fitting reminder of what so many endured.

I always find these services a powerful experience.

It was great to share today with everyone from our livingroom gathering.

The hot chocolate after the service really hit the spot!

90% of the World's Pastors are Bi-vocational...really?

Last week at the Vancouver Urban Planning Group meeting I was at, Ian Green told us that 90% of the world’s pastors were bi-vocational. He related how their international church planting ministry Next Level International made an important policy decision about 5 of 6 years ago, and now all of their church planters are bi-vocational. They have found it to be hugely successful (for many of the reasons listed below). I didn’t get a chance to ask him if that was a model they pursue long term, or if that is just until the church can financially support the pastor, but he also mentioned that in his home church, which is large by European standards, most of the church staff are part time – by design, not default.

Can it be true that 90% of the world’s pastors are bi-vocational? From a North American perspective, that is shocking. Bi-vocational ministry and churches are often regarded as second class. Pastors want the salary and respect that comes from a full-time position. Churches want a pastor that is on call 24/7.

But, if you’ve been reading this blog, you know that bi-vocational ministry is something we are experimenting with. I am not opposed to vocational ministry, but to us, being bi-vocational is educational (we’re learning lots about life), keeps us in touch with the real world (and out of the church sub-culture bubble), self-finances our dream, and provides a template for rapid, cost effective church multiplication. Just as importantly, it forces us to develop a new way of being and doing church. Everyone in our church must be involved. It can’t be left to the “pastor” to do all the ministry, be it pastoral care or teaching. You can’t be a passenger. You have to be a participant. I have a hunch that the future North American church may be more bi-vocational than it is now.

Stuart Murray in his book Church Planting says that bi-vocational pastors are less likely to embrace the seclusion that inhibits many full-time church leaders. This exile from the real world can create:

1. An orientation toward maintenance rather than mission; (the focus becomes keeping the lights of the church building on in the name of touching a community rather than really touching a community.)


2. A practical if not ideological clericalism; (the pastor has the time, so the pastor does the work. Worst case scenario is when the Pastor is considered the highly trained, called and anointed professional who alone is capable of ‘real’ ministry. I hope that too many pastors don't buy into that, but a lot of church people seem to.)


3. Ecclesiocentric attitudes and interests; (all they think, talk, and read about is church, church, church. Conferences, seminars, personal study, courses, continuing education, hobbies, all revolve around one thing.)


4. Insensitivity to the context within which most church members live and work; (enough said – that’s why I refer to my real-world job as my “real-world job”.)


5. A tendency to multiply church activities and to use centripetal methods of evangelism; (Come to church, and come often! It gives the pastor something to do and justifies all the money we spend on building and salary. Classic ‘attractional’ methods and values.)


6. Teaching that does not engage with contemporary issues, especially issues of the work place. (I’ve talked to pastors recently who feel they can’t speak to marketplace issues with integrity because they don’t have experience in the real world.)

Stuart points out that bi-vocational leadership does not guarantee these kind of issues won’t happen. But maybe it will help.

Here’s the rub. I haven’t been a paid staff now for almost 2 years, but I have to admit that sometimes I really miss it. I miss the kind of work that I did (especially preaching and music), the more flexible life-style, and the satisfaction of doing a job I was trained in and am proficient at. I also miss getting paid to do something I truely love to do. And as much as I didn’t like being the answer man, being the answer man did bring a certain satisfaction.

Yesterday a good friend who is also a vocational pastor told me of a great congregation of about 100 that is looking for a new pastor. The salary would probably be about $50,000 a year in an area of the country with a lower cost of living than we currently enjoy. I almost hear the call…(where did I file my resume anyway?)

So I live in a very real tension. The adventure we are currently living, versus the comfort and security of what we have known. I’m trying not to whine, just wanting to be honest. Pray for me.

I am not an answer man

I’m into a new book, Making Sense of Church, by Spencer Burke. (It’s been around for a couple of years, but so many books, so little time.)

The first chapter hit something in me that I’ve been wrestling with off and on for a long time now. Since I’ve been “out” from “Pastor-ing”, I have been relieved not to be looked to as the answer man for everybody’s problems. I grew weary of the expectation some people had of fixing, controlling, and telling people where to go and how to get there. “Pastor, can you pray for me about…”, “Pastor, what should we do about…”, “Pastor, can you talk to __________ about…”. It’s not that I wasn’t concerned about these issues, it’s more that they were forcing me onto a pedestal that I didn’t want to be on. The expectations as the source of knowledge, vision, wisdom, and “anointing” were unrealistic, unbiblical, and unwanted. Today I still get tired just thinking about it.

Burke’s first chapter hits the same issue. In Tour Guide to Traveler – A Conversation About Leadership, he points out that we have defined spiritual leadership in terms of a hierarchical relationship: one person finds the way and tells someone else how to get there. The picture is that of an expert out in front with all the answers for everyone.

Cow poopies.

Instead, Burke offers another metaphor: the traveler. It is a picture of a person who is also on the journey, not one who has reached the destination. You are traveling with the others, not in front of them. You don’t always know where you are going, and you don’t have to. You get blisters and feel thirsty, so you need rest.

But you are going somewhere. There is something calling you onward and upward. And you want to go there. And you want to walk with others who feel the same tug. And the trek is an adventure, and the destination is awesome, and you want others to join with you.

Life is something to be lived, not a problem to be solved, especially by me. Just enjoy the journey.

For Lack of Point!

ARGH!!! I can't beleive the Canuck's and the Lion's both lost by a single point tonight! What's up with that???

After an 11 - 0 start, the Lions' have lost 5 of their last 6. And now they may not even take first place in the Western Division.

And don't bet on them in the playoffs either!

How can a team that was so good be so bad?

A Vancouver Morning

Vancouver Housing Market Still Strong

I got a mail-out from our Marty our realtor. He says:

"The market has continued to heat up over the last two months. There were 30% fewer listings in September 2005 than September 2004 but far more buyers. Accordingly, prices continued on the upward trend rising across the board by 1% in one month (as has been the case for most of the year). The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver shows volume sales activity up by 13% compared to this time last year. In summary, the market is still hot, prices are continuing to rise, and inventory is still low. Mortgage rates, one of the main drivers of this market, are expected to creep upwards putting additional pressure of pre-approved buyers to buy within the next 60-90 days but will have a potential cooling effect in the long term. If the economy stays active we will continue to see a rise in the fixed rates. Many investors and upgrade home owners are taking advantage of the optimistic forecast. It continues to be a great time to get a better foot-hold in Vancouver's premium real estate market."

Why I Am Not Emergent

This is important. Read it.

Why I am Not Emergent

(Mom and Dad, just so you know, this is satire. He is not serious...)

Trumpism

Donald Trump: "That's why they have menu's in restarants. I like steak, some like spagetti." Mr. Trump commenting on sexual orientation during an episode of The Apprentice.

New Churches in Vancouver

Do we really believe in diversity in the body of Christ? There are some brand new church in town that high light how different things can be.

Urban Community Baptist Church went public in October. They seem to be a very traditional church plant that meets in the Rosedale on Robson at 11AM and 7PM on Sunday. It will be interesting to see how things go for them. I'm a little surprised at their suit and tie, twice on Sunday, King James only, hymn singing approach. But it's a good stretch for me. They will connect with people that are not like me. http://www.urbancommunity.ca/

Church on the Westside is in the Kitsilano area and is taking a contemporary approach. Meeting in a movie theater they are to plant a church that is Jesus modeling, missionally engaged, culturally redemptive, truth seeking, authentic in community and extravagant in worship. Their purpose is to be a church that will be active in the west side community through practical acts of service in the name of Jesus. They plant to be purposely invitational and involved in the marketplace, relevant to the culture through participation in the fine arts, and aware and helpful in key needs that become apparent as they minister. This is the kind of church that I expected to plant when we moved down town. They will connect with people kind of like me. http://www.churchonthewestside.com/new/index.php

Then there is this little condo church with no name that meets in a couple of living rooms. I guess you could call this the radical approach. We haven't mailed out 20,000 pamphlets with the Gospel of John and Epistle of Romans. We haven't had a big article in the Vancouver Courier or been on TV. (Okay, we made a splash in the Testimony!) But we have the same dream as our brothers, just a different approach. It's not a contest to see who wins. It's all about the Kingdom of God. http://vancouvercondochurch.blogspot.com/

God bless us all. God bless Vancouver.

Article in Pentecostal Testimony

Here's a link to my article in the Noveber issue of the Testimony.

http://www.paoc.org/testimony/article.cfm?ArticleID=181

Setting the Bar Low

I'm in the middle of a couple of days of meetings with a group of Pastors looking at urban ministry in Vancouver. What a great experience to be part of this. I learn so much just from listening to the dialogue around the table.

Tonight we had a presentation by Edwin Kong, the Director of the Chinese Christian Mission of Canada, helping us to understand the issues and realities of Chinese community in Vancouver. Fascinating discussion.

There was one particular comment that really lit me up. He was talking about the desperate need for leadership in the Chinese church, and not for more theologians with M. Div's or D. Min's, but for Pastors who know how to love people and relate to them at the level of their need. He called it UBC vs. BCIT. University training is great, but what is really needed is people who know how to do the hands on, practical stuff in a language that people understand the blue-collar pastor, as opposed to the white-collar theologian.

We have a similar issue right now with trades people in BC. The woodworking company I work for is desperately short of skilled woodworkers and cabinet makers. BCIT has a great program for that, but the push for years has been for students to go to University. BCIT and other technical school have been portrayed as second class. So now we have a frantic shortage of trades people we need to survive as a community. Ironically, the highly educated UBC people often have trouble getting a job in their area of expertise.

Back to the church. I believe for the church to go forward like it needs to for Canada to be really impacted, perhaps we need to rethink the way we do church leadership. The professionalized model of ministry and church that we have bought into needs to be re-examined. Do you really need 4-8 years of specialized training to be an effective pastor? From a pragmatic perspective, can we really ram enough people through that kind of training to have the numbers of leaders that we really need to do what needs to be done? And having spent all that money on education, can we pay them enough to justify all that effort and enable them to pay off their student loans before they are 93. Then what about suitably professional office and building to preach in? Finances become just one of the huge roadblocks to this kind of church.

What if there was another way to do it? What if church was simple enough that non-professionals could lead it, and do it with excellence? What if pastors were ordinary people who supported themselves with ordinary jobs and simply cared for 12 people in their living room? What if anyone who is growing in their walk with the Lord and is in the process of becoming who God wants them to be could lead a church? What if they were expected to lead a church? It would solve a lot of problems, like how to finance all the new churches we dream of, how to keep Christians and Pastors connected with the real world, and how to create a sustainable and rapidly expandable leadership force, how to release people to meaningful ministry in their neighborhood.

What I'm talking about is "setting the bar low"! That's a phrase Paul and I heard at a learning party in Seattle a few months back that got our imagination rolling. Set the bar of church low enough that anybody with a real relationship with Jesus can do it! Not low in holiness, character, or quality, but low on overhead and formal requirements. It would change the church. Maybe it would change the world - or at least our neighborhood.

Standing the Church On It's Ear

There is a new public art exhibit in Vancouver. Created by Dennis Oppenheim, it is titled "Device To Root Out Evil". I guess it is quite controversial. After an exhibit in Europe, New York City and then Stanford University didn't want it (!) becuase it may be contentious. But it is welcome in Vancouver. (What does that say about our city?)

I don't know what other people will think of it, but as a church insider, I love it. To me it is a wonderful - if not prophetic - picture of what is happening within the church, especially the institutional church, the one represented by a building. I don't mean to dis the church; I am passionate about the Bride of Christ. I love the Church. It's just that I think would be good for church as we know it to be shook up a bit and stood on it's ear! I know some church people may feel it is disrespectful or another slam against Christianity, but perhaps those are the people that need to ponder this work of art and hear if God is saying something...

I'm not sure what the unchurched world will think. Is it art? Is it any good? Is it worth the $500,000 someone supposedly paid for it? But I've made up my mind. I think it's awesome. And the group of people that I was talking with seem to like it too.

What do you think? Post a comment and let me know.