Transcript CONSUMERISM ‘CHOICE’ THE CORE VALUE  ADDICTIVE - Desire an end in itself.  AROUSING AND MEETING SHORT TERM NEEDS  SHOPPING FOR ‘SENSATIONS’ 

CONSUMERISM
‘CHOICE’ THE CORE VALUE
 ADDICTIVE - Desire an end in itself.
 AROUSING AND MEETING SHORT
TERM NEEDS
 SHOPPING FOR ‘SENSATIONS’

SHOPPING AS A PICTURE OF
LIFE
FOR IDENTITY
 ‘LIFESTYLE CHOICE’
 FOR TRUTH - ‘BUY INTO’ A
BELIEF
 ‘PICK AND MIX’ A WORLDVIEW

BOTH CONNECTED AND
FRAGMENTED
GLOBALISATION
THE WORLD SEEMS SMALLER
 WE ARE MORE AWARE OF THE
WORLD AS A WHOLE
 GLOBAL PROCESSES MAKE A
LOCAL DIFFERENCE

COMMUNITY SPLITS FROM
LOCALITY

‘The communities of the Global Age
generally have no local centre. People
living in the same street will have
fleeting relationships with each other,
having widely differing lifestyles and
household arrangements, and have
common interest only in the
maintenance of certain shared facilities
they take for granted.’ Martin Albrow
PLACES AREN’T WHAT THEY
USED TO BE! - Porous
boundaries
‘All boundaries are tenuous, frail and
porous. … Geographical discontinuity
no longer matters.’ Zygmunt Bauman
 In any week 25% of families will be
visiting absent parents, often at the
weekend.

‘SOCIAL CAPITAL’ HALVES IN
FOUR GENERATIONS ‘Bowling Alone’
'Without at first noticing, we have been
pulled apart from one another and from
our communities over the last third of
the (20th) century.' Robert Putnam
 'Members of any given generation are
investing as much time in organizational
activity as they ever were, but each
successive generation is investing less.'

FAST AND FLUID
LIQUID MODERNITY

‘A flexible identity, a constant
readiness to change and the ability to
change at short notice, and an
absence of commitments of the “till
death us do part” style appear to be
the least risky of conceivable life
strategies.’ Zygmunt Bauman
THROWAWAY SOCIETY


‘A throwaway society meant more than
just throwing away produced goods, but
also being able to throw away values,
lifestyles, stable relationships ... and
received ways of doing and being.’ David
Harvey
‘Your car has an MOT every year, so why
not your partnership?’ Hugh Wilson
SELF CONSTRUCTION
'Identities are constructed through
consuming.
 We shape our malleable image by
what we buy - our clothing, our
kitchens, and our cars tell the story of
who we are (becoming).’ David Lyon

VULNERABLE
POWERFUL BUT
VULNERABLE
FOOT AND MOUTH
 HIV / AIDS
 THE MOOD OF THE MARKET
‘A global casino?’
 ASSAULT ON THE TWIN TOWERS

THE PASTORAL COST OF A
WEB WORLD
THE PRESSURE OF CHOICE
 'Depression, eating disorders, suicide
and attempted suicide have all
become more common.’
 Young people now the most
vulnerable to suicide. (Putnam)
 ‘Constantly having to live in a
temporary world.’ Richard Scace

SELF CONTAINED
CHANGING STORIES
WE USED TO HAVE A STORY
ABOUT MAKING THE WORLD
BETTER.
 NOW WE HAVE A STORY ABOUT
MAKING OURSELVES UP!

THE LOSS OF REFERENCE
POINTS

‘There are few if any reference points
left which could reasonably be hoped
to lend a deeper and longer-lasting
significance to the moments we live.
…… Partnerships, families, skills,
places of work, neighbourhoods,
possessions, styles and habits.’
Zygmunt Bauman
I AM THE CENTRE OF THE
WORLD

‘History shrinks to the (eternal)
present, and everything revolves
around the axis of one’s personal ego
and personal life.’ Ulrich Beck
‘Culture is now an organised
diversity with little sense of
defining centre.’Alan Roxburgh
THE POINT OF BALANCE
No centre?
 Our society cannot reach its deepest
longings by the road it is traveling.
 We know a better way
 Not just a belief
 But a new beginning
 And a new way of living.

Christian ministry offers an
alternative

Matthew 7:13-14 Enter through the narrow gate; for
the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to
destruction, and there are many who take it. For the
gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life,
and there are few who find it.
A CHANGING CHURCH
GOD AND CHURCH
IN A NETWORK
SOCIETY
THE DEATH OF CHRISTIAN
BRITAIN - Callum Brown

‘What is taking place is not merely the
continued decline of organised
Christianity, but the death of the culture
which formerly conferred Christian
identity upon the British people as a
whole.’
RELIGION AS LEISURE
PURSUIT

‘Religious activity has become, for
an increasing proportion of the
population, a leisure pursuit; one,
moreover, which competes for the
public's attention alongside all sorts
of other pastimes. ' Grace Davie
Current (or previous) church
attendance or involvement
Regular attenders
– at least monthly
(10%)
Non Churched
(40%)
Fringe
- less than monthly
(10%)
Open de-churched
(20%)
Closed de-churched
(20%)
OUR PEOPLE?

‘The Anglican pattern of ministry, built
around parish and neighbourhood, can
lead to a way of thinking that assumes
that all people – whether attending or
not attending are basically ‘our people’.
All people are God’s people, but it is an
illusion to assume that somehow the
population of England is simply waiting
for the right invitation before they will
come back and join us.’
OUR PEOPLE?

The social and mission reality is that the
majority of English society is not ‘our
people’ – they haven’t been in living
memory, nor do they want to be. The
reality is that for most people across
England the church as it is peripheral,
obscure, confusing or irrelevant.’
OUR PEOPLE

‘The task is to become church for
them, among them and with them,
and under the Spirit of God to lead
them to become church in their own
culture.’
60/40 - the picture in 1997/8
Francis & Richter, “Gone but not forgotten”
Within our reach as we are
Out of reach
Steven Croft, “Fresh Expressions”, 2004
THE CHALLENGE
‘Go to’ mission as well as ‘come to’
mission
 ‘The change is to an outward focus: from
a ‘come to us’ approach to a ‘we will go
to you’ attitude, embodying the gospel
where people are, rather than embodying
it where we are, and in ways we prefer.’

the mixed economy
Celebrating and building on what is missionshaped in traditional forms of church…
…and finding new,
flexible, appropriate
ways to proclaim the
Gospel afresh to those
who do not relate to
traditional ways
CHANGE OF EMPHASIS
Unplanned consequences of other
pieces of Christian ministry
 Church where people are, not
bridges to get people to church
 Often lay led
 Church more deeply related to daily
life
 Church when people can attend

THE POINT OF BALANCE
To reconnect with the world
 And reconnect the world with the
gospel through mission

MISSION-SHAPED CHURCH
“We believe the Church of England is
facing a great moment of missionary
opportunity,
and we recommend our report for the
consideration of our church”
Bishop Graham Cray, chair of the report working party
A CHANGING MINISTRY
A BIT CROWDED
NOT A FORTRESS
MENTALITY
A MINISTRY DEFINED BY ITS
CENTRE
Not by its boundaries.
 Not a stepping stone to other
ministries
 Nor to be defended from other
ministries
 To be enriched by other ministries
 To add something distinctive to other
ministries

Dig wells instead of
building fences.
A MINISTRY DEFINED BY ITS
CONTEXT
Not by its past
 But by its opportunities
 In the hope of the Gospel

THE CENTRE OF READER
MINISTRY
LOCAL LAY THEOLOGIANS
 Biblically
and theologically trained
laity
 Licensed ministers and teachers
of the Gospel
 Bridging Church and world
LOCAL LAY THEOLOGIANS

'In order to fulfill the vocation of
ministry, the pastor has to be a
practical theologian who is able to
discern the meaning of the gospel
within the particular context of his or
her ministry.' John De Gruchy
THE POINT OF BALANCE
Identify the world’s need
 Identify the local church’s
responsibility
 Place yourself where the two meet
 There lies the heart of Reader ministry

THE CENTRE OF BALANCE
OF READER MINISTRY

‘Local lay
theologians,
bridging church
and world, in a
missionary
church.’
QUESTIONS FOR GROUPS
I have proposed that the centre of
balance of Reader ministry should now
be as
 ‘A local lay theologian, bridging church
and world, in a missionary church.’
 What do you think of that proposal?
 Where is the centre of balance of your
ministry as a Reader?
 What would you like to change?

WALKING THE
TIGHTROPE
‘WITHOUT FALLING OFF’