ben-clymo, Author at FX ARCHIVE...

Tubestation

Emma Garrow reports on the latest from tubestation, a fresh expression for surfers.

A chapel on a Cornish beach is becoming the place to be for both visiting surfers and locals. The Methodist chapel is at the heart of a venture that opened in summer 2007 in Polzeath, 'a bridge between surfing and the gospel', known as tubestation. A church, an internet café, a community centre, tubestation is many things and has a vision to be many more.

Tubestation is run by project directors and keen surfers, Henry Cavender and Kris Lannen. Henry says,

Surfers tend to be searchers. They travel the world looking for the ultimate ride, a tube, where the wave bowls over your head. It's the most coveted surfing experience, and has been described as a religious experience. Everything slows down, sound changes, it's an amazing thing.

While Henry and Kris are familiar with the wonder of surfing, their ambition is to convey to surfers that 'the ultimate ride can only be found in Jesus'. Henry explains,

These are people who are immersed in the wonder of creation. Our job is to point out where they're already experiencing God.

Key moments in tubestation's life so far have touched on that sense of wonder, such as a prayer vigil held in the sea at night. Participants stood up to their chests in the water, holding torches aloft, 'connecting to a different side of God'.

But while tubestation enables occasions of transcendence for surfer seekers, it also plugs into its local community. A key element of the original vision was to provide Polzeath's 600 residents with a sense of ownership. A community consultation as the project was developed revealed the need for 'a warm safe place to enjoy and meet one another', especially in the winter months.

We see it as key to work with and serve the residents, we're here to build long term relationships

says Henry.

The first summer was busy catering for surfers and tourists, but the winter is still seeing visitors to tubestation, locals coming in for coffee, young people using the skate ramp, taking advantage of what tubestation is offering: 'a generous space which reflects God'.

Alongside this community venture is a core congregation of between 40 and 50 people, which meets on a Sunday morning. This includes members of the original congregation which was attending the chapel when the concept of tubestation came into being. The service, Henry explains, is

run by surfers, is very laid back, feels very home made – it’s real.

Plans are in mind to extend the chapel with more community areas and galleries for the encouragement of the creative arts. A project is under discussion to enable underprivileged young people to 'live life to the full' by encountering extreme sports. There is even a hope that the work of tubestation in serving both the local community and the worldwide surfing community, might extend to supporting surf destinations in the developing world.

The future for tubestation looks bold, both in Polzeath and in its connections with the worldwide surfing community.

Heyford Chapel

A church community on a former US air base turned housing estate has separate age-related congregations.

We are a growing, worshipping community and are thinking about the way and how we meet together,

says Ian Biscoe, Church Army officer and leader of Heyford Chapel since its foundation in 2002.

Each of the four congregations has its own leadership team.

Kidz Church, for any child up to the age of 11, meets on Sunday afternoons in the former military chapel used for much of Heyford Chapel's activities. Worship and prayer are mixed with games.

HeyU for younger teenagers meets in the chapel on early Wednesday evenings, while Revival, for older teens, meets in the chapel later on Wednesday evenings, with a half-hour gap between the two.

Unity church for adults meets in two cells on Tuesday and for worship and small groups on Thursday evenings, beginning with refreshments and chat. A social evening, Fusion, happens on Fridays.

This growing worshipping community of between 100 and 120 members is working out ways to meet the differing needs of its members whilst maintaining a sense of being part of a whole.

Dream – update Jul10

Richard White, pioneer minister of Dream and now Canon for Mission and Evangelism at Liverpool Cathedral, has seen many changes since the network first saw the light of day eight years ago.

Dream now has six groups; five in the Liverpool area and one in New Zealand. We have seen networking develop through the groups themselves and increasingly via the website.

A close relationship has also developed with the cathedral and that relationship can be seen in a number of ways. During Liverpool's year as European Capital of Culture in 2008, we set up a small installation in the cathedral where people had an opportunity to reflect and, if they wanted, leave their email address and contact details. Several hundred people did that during the year. This was a sign that people were connecting with us in some way, and wanted to do so again in that incredible building and in other places too.

The biggest personal shift in emphasis came in September last year when I became Canon for Mission and Evangelism at the Cathedral. This was the next step in quite a journey with Dream. When I came to the end of my curacy I had been appointed half time to oversee Dream, half-time with CMS. The Diocese of Liverpool then offered a full-time opportunity to oversee Dream and as two of the Dream groups were already linked with the cathedral by then, the cathedral played a growing role in Dream's development.

What has become clear is that there is tremendous potential in that relationship and we are now looking at a whole range of possibilities to work together even more closely. To my mind, that's very much trying to live out the whole mixed economy thing. It is different from the inherited but is no way detached from it.

The two biggest challenges for us involve:

Going deeper into discipleship

Jesus' summary of the most important commandments gives our rhythm its shape: Loving God with all our passion, prayer, intelligence and energy; and devoting ourselves to loving others and ourselves.

Keeping missional

It is very easy to slip back into being comfortable. Yes we want Dream to be a safe place but we also want it to be a dangerous place because we all need to be pushed out of our comfort zone.

Dream has also instigated guerrilla worship on several occasions. It's about taking simple, creative, genuine acts of worship out of the church box and into the 'marketplace'. These have been great fun; the first held in the Liverpool One shopping centre and another on the beach at Crosby where we had a labyrinth near Antony Gormley's iron men installation. Both have had thousands of hits on YouTube.

The Dream network currently meets at:

L19:Dream

Dream in Ormskirk

Dream in Haydock

Dream in New Zealand

All Age Dream

Dream in the Cathedral

All Age Dream and Dream in the Cathedral both meet in the Lady Chapel. We are trying to develop the reflection zones to engage both children and adults simultaneously.

In a further development this year we launched e-Dream, a weekly email newsletter with Dream To Go reflections, Dream Lectio Bible readings and regular updates from the Dream network.

Dream

Richard White traces the story of dream.

Dream was born in 2002 when a group of young adults began meeting together to experiment with worship and discuss what 'church' might look like for their peers. Since then it has grown to a network of groups in the Northwest of England with a much wider age spread. Of the five current groups, one meets at Liverpool University, another at an artist's studio, two in churches, and the fifth at an NHS primary care trust. While diverse in their styles, the groups all seek to express four 'CORE' values through being:

Christ-centred: We seek to develop a spirituality centred on Jesus, and lives that are formed by following him.

Open: We welcome and seek to include anyone who is seeking Christ or exploring spirituality.

Relational: Building communities rather than putting on worship events.

Experimental: Seeking to re-imagine church through creative experimentation and exploration.

Three of the highlights of the past year have been:

Seeing the network grow

Especially among groups who may not have had the confidence to start a fresh expression of this sort without the support and resources that the network brings.

Increasing numbers of formerly unchurched or dechurched people

Who now count one of the Dream groups as their spiritual home.

Opportunities to take 'Dream' into the market place over the past year

Including:

A Dream marquee with café and labyrinth at the St Helens show, where we had over 1000 participants.

The Faith zone at Merseyfest, with chill out zone and installations for all ages.

Essence courses in homes, a health centre and a community centre.

Regular 'spiritual spaces' at two of the work places of members of the Dream community.

Perhaps our biggest challenge is now discovering what lasting discipleship looks like in this context.

Riverforce

In just a few years, Riverforce has become an official staff support network in Merseyside Police. The workplace church is involved in the formulation of any policy before its implementation in the force.

It also receives funding from Merseyside Police and its leadership team has grown to six, covering virtually the whole of the force which provides policing services for the five local authority areas that make up Merseyside – Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens and the Wirral.

Recent developments at Riverforce have also seen the setting up of a counselling service. Weekly or fortnightly cells now operate in most areas of the force while joint celebrations at police headquarters in Liverpool city centre regularly bring together up to 90 officers.

Merseyside has a population of 1.4m, with the police workforce – as of December 2009 – standing at 7899 (including officers, staff and specials). A city-wide Christian prayer event at the waterfront Liverpool Echo Arena in 2009 saw 250 officers from Neighbourhood Policing Teams join the 4,500 audience. So successful was the Redeeming Our Communities launch that Merseyside Police requested a follow-up celebration in 2011.

Riverforce members have recently been going out to local churches to help them work more closely with the police. The first event attracted 150 people.

Chief Inspector Peter Owens, who launched Riverforce in 2006, has now retired but continues as a manager with the Occupational Health Team – and as chairman of the missional cell network. He is very encouraged by the developments:

We have had a lot of interest from other parts of the country and other organisations. On an individual level too there are some amazing testimonies. We will be running a force-wide Alpha course in the autumn. It's hard work but worth it.

The Spectator: ‘God reconfigures his church in mysterious ways’

Reporter Theo Hobson, writing for The Spectator online, recently outlined a visit to Grace in west London, finding it arty, irreverent, postmodern – and full of people seeking a new way to worship.

In a comprehensive article he disagrees with those who dismiss such attempts at change as 'marginal trendiness, a very minor sideshow'. Instead he says there's a definite longing for a new church and the time for that church may be coming.

Referring to Beyond (Brighton) and Dream network (Liverpool) he says many people are turned off by organised religion and are looking for a new style of sacramentalism that isn't steeped in authority.

For the moment, the pioneers tread carefully,

he adds,

the stylistic reinvention of an ancient religion is a slow and difficult process, with huge pitfalls – but my hunch is that we should watch this space. God reconfigures his church in mysterious ways.

You can read the full article on the Spectator website.

Fresh expressions in The Guardian

A flurry of fresh expressions have featured in The Guardian newspaper over the past couple of weeks.

From 30th June there's a brief mention of Sanctuary in Birmingham in Riazat Butt's article Church of England looks to attract more ethnic minority Christians and Howden Clough Methodist Church and Presence feature in Alex Klaushofer's look at New wine in old church buildings.

Finally from 7th July, Theo Hobson provocatively explores A new model Christianity and asks whether the emerging church and fresh expressions are all just a presentation style, or a substantially new form of Christianity.

Please note that the Guardian comments section can contain strong language and opinions.

(CEN) Time to ‘Dream’ in Liverpool, and beyond…

Fresh expressions of church are only properly understood in the context of a 'mixed economy church'. The mixed economy is not a rhetorical device to allow the newer to coexist with the older. It is a commitment to maintain the unity and common life of the Spirit across an increasingly diverse and fast-changing mission field. 'Economy' is an appropriate word to apply to the Church, drawn from Ephesians 1.10. Paul speaks of God's 'plan' to gather all things up in Christ. The word translated as 'plan' gives us our word 'economy'.

It is a word about the proper running of a large Roman household, applied to the household of God as it plays its part in God's restoring of the universe through his Son.

The mixed economy church calls for a wide range of creative partnerships between long established patterns of church life and newer ventures. In our day the whole church has to be 'like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old' (Matthew 13.52). It is our cathedrals and other 'greater churches' – abbeys, priories and so on which have a particular opportunity to embody this, and a number are already doing so very well. I will focus on one – Liverpool Cathedral.

Richard White is the pioneer minister of the Dream network fresh expression, founded eight years ago. Dream now has six groups; five in the Liverpool area and one in New Zealand. A close relationship has developed with the cathedral which can be seen in a number of ways. During Liverpool's year as European Capital of Culture in 2008, Dream set up a small installation in the cathedral where people had an opportunity to reflect and, if they wanted, leave their email address and contact details. Several hundred people did that during the year. This was a sign that people were connecting with Dream in some way, and wanted to do so again in that incredible building and in other places too.

The biggest personal shift in emphasis came in September last year when Richard became Canon for Mission and Evangelism at the Cathedral. When he came to the end of his curacy he had been appointed half time to oversee Dream, and half-time with CMS (also a partner in Fresh Expressions). The diocese of Liverpool then offered a full-time opportunity to oversee Dream, and as two of the Dream groups were already linked with the cathedral by then, the cathedral played a growing role in Dream's development. Two of Dream's groups All Age Dream and Dream in the Cathedral meet in the Lady Chapel where they are trying to develop reflection zones to engage both children and adults simultaneously.

Cathedrals are the locations for stable rhythms of prayer, and some fresh expressions are exploring 'new monasticism' and developing light touch rules of life.

People are not just responding to Dream as a safe place to come to faith but also see it as a place to deepen that faith. As a result some have taken on the Dream 'Rhythm of Life', committing themselves to a way of life built around practices that have been central to followers of Jesus down the centuries. Jesus' summary of the most important commandments gives their rhythm its shape: 'Loving God with all our passion, prayer, intelligence and energy; and devoting ourselves to loving others and ourselves.' In a further development this year they launched e-Dream, a weekly email newsletter with Dream To Go reflections, Dream Lectio Bible Readings and regular updates from the Dream network.

All forms of church face the challenge of remaining missional. Richard says

It is very easy to slip back into being comfortable. Yes we want Dream to be a safe place but we also want it to be a dangerous place because we all need to be pushed out of our comfort zone.

They need to break out of the cathedral at times and so, have instigated 'guerrilla worship' on several occasions.

It's about taking simple, creative, genuine acts of worship out of the church box and into the marketplace.

These have been great fun; the first held in the Liverpool One shopping centre and another on the beach at Crosby where we had a labyrinth near Antony Gormley's iron men installation. Both have had thousands of hits on YouTube.

What has become clear is that there is tremendous potential in that relationship and Dream and the cathedral are now looking at a whole range of possibilities to work together even more closely.

Richard says

To my mind, that’s very much trying to live out the whole mixed economy thing. It is different from the inherited but is in no way detached from it.

Holy Space – update Jul10

Holy Space continues at Wickford CofE Infant School though Revd Paul Trathen, who was assistant curate at St Catherine's Church, Wickford, Essex, has now moved on.

Revd Philip Kearns, who died in May 2010, oversaw its development with Curate, Revd Gill Hopkins; staff member and parent governor Emma Doe; and churchwarden Jeanette Cardenell. Headteacher Debbie Rogan remains a strong supporter.

Holy Space is now more deeply embedded in the curriculum, linking into whatever is happening in the life of the school. Parents continue to attend with their pre-school children but numbers vary widely.

The school has 114 children in five classes with 23 staff. The high number of staff is due to Wickford being a national support school, supporting schools in special measures. Holy Space, which attracts a core group of 10 to 12, does its own planning in terms of content.

It is very much seen as a key part of the school through offering times of thinking and reflecting. Pupils do this in different ways but Holy Space offers a particular focus once a week.

It is open to any pupil. 'Church' times or holy spaces take place regularly in all classes but Holy Space itself, which runs from 3pm-3.30pm every Wednesday, is a key focus. Headteacher Debbie Rogan says it is a fabulous resource to have for everyone – staff, pupils, and parents.

Succession planning has already started as the leadership team will change in September 2010.

Holy Space

The acronym HEARTS gives the ethos for Wickford Church of England Infant School:

Happiness,

Esteem,

Achievement,

Respect,

Truth and

Spirituality.

Father Paul, curate of St Catherine's Church, began Holy Space just last September. Although the school has services at St Catherine's throughout the year, this is an opportunity for the children to have church at school.

It's not only the children who attend. Father Paul opens Holy Space to the whole school community – parents, teachers and others who have a role there.

Holy Space meets after school on Wednesdays. It gives the opportunity for much needed quiet reflection, a time for listening, relaxing and receiving from God.

Holy Space benefits the whole school. Adults and children contribute on an equal footing and it enables parents to worship alongside their children. Attendance is entirely voluntary – just like a normal church.

Fr Paul says he and the head teacher, Mrs Rogan, wanted the raise the profile of spirituality within the school and the idea of Holy Space arose as an idea during a staff and governors' retreat day. It has been a success because its importance is recognised at all levels of school government.