Interpathy .....

......not sympathy or empathy.

Just read this again in Frost & Hirsch's "Shaping of things to come"... "Interpathy describes that depth of a relationship when an outsider to a particular host community develops a burden for that community .... it refers to the capacity for an outsider to pick up a community's sense of values, what has hurt them and where they're headed."

I think it's all about listening to that host community asking the question 'what is good news to these people?' and what should church look like for them?

Frost & Hirsch suggest " we would think like missionaries and spend more time listening to, eating with, and playing with" those we are trying to minister to. We shouldn't try to impose church upon people like some sort of alien model but we should listen to what seems natural.

Listening, eating, playing .... sounds like fun!

Potential.......

Bulbs ..................................... to daffodils.

I planted some bulbs last weekend .... or should I say I planted some daffodils. Sure, they don't look like daffodils yet but I look forward to what will emerge from the depths of the soil in a few months time. I don't expect to see a bulb appear but a daffodil in all its intricacy. It will emerge from immaturity to maturity and then .....

These bulbs I've planted have potential .... these times on Saturday mornings have the potential to be something beautiful in the Kingdom of God. The conversations are laced with questioning ...they are beginning to be something beautiful .... and God is in it all.

Yet I still feel that what I am doing is planting, nurturing, encouraging .... will I see what emerges? It has the potential to be church for those that come, in that it will be their spiritual home and God lives in the midst of the community!

On a different note .. the community association is hopeful of getting a vacant shop in the estate .... now that is good news .... with potential .... exciting times!

Croissants coffee and card making in the morning then?!

It's different ...

....numbers are the same but it's different!

We've met three times since I last blogged. I was concerned that meeting weekly would just be another programme until Andrea commented on the last blog. Meeting weekly is actually what is wanted. Two weeks ago there was no Childrens' club in the Saturday morning because some of the leaders were away and the parents were disappointed they couldn't meet. The same scenario will happen this coming Saturday! So i'm now more content to meet weekly.

So what has changed? The relationships have changed. I think they've deepened. There's an honesty and real depth in our conversations. One parent has taken the initiative and planned the cards we're going to make and sourced all the stuff we need to do that. So my role has changed too. I don't see myself as a leader more of an enabler or facilitator or is that just too postmodern?

A community has been created, we're having fun, we're enjoying breakfast, we're doing something creative. The discussions have focussed around the pressures of family life and already talk is of Christmas (no surprise since we're making Christmas cards). So there'll will be plenty to explore over the coming weeks.

Being incarnational is what this is about. God is a sending God. God sent Jesus and in the same way we are sent into our communities to be relevant, to listen, to join people on their faith journey .....