CHOICE OF GREENBELT SERVICE

Folks, you'll have seen my e-mail on this. We have a very limited amount of time in which to decide (by next weekend), and the only way to make the decision is really via a poll as already advertised. Experience shows that "reply to all" is a very unpopular way of conducting discussions, but to open out discussion here is a blog post and comments section to which you are invited to contribute with any opinions.

The text of my e-mail ran as follows:

The GB alt.worship team need our description of the service by 10th June, as this is the deadline for the advert which will go in the GB programme. Obviously 10th June is the date of the June service itself, so we need to make the choice of service for GB before that day. This is not quite what we were expecting (!), but the GB team have a lot to organise and we need to work with their requirements.

Given that last September's service was deliberately minimal following a fairly exhausting time at GB06, and "Frozen" from December 2006 was very much a winter service and involved some not-very-easy-to-transport props (an ice sculpture!)... there are probably only two practical contenders, namely "Unknowing God" from March 2007, and "FEARLOVELOVEFEAR" which will be the June 2007 service.

As to the choice between these two, I'd like to conduct a quick straw poll of those involved in creating both these services, and anyone else in Foundation who has any thoughts on the subject. Here are some relevant considerations to bear in mind:

Health and safety - Both services are Greenbelt-compatible from Health & Safety perspective.

Ease of transport to festival context - "Unknowing God" was deliberately light on props and set-up, as we created the service having the potential Greenbelt context in mind. I understand that "FEARLOVELOVEFEAR" involves the building of stations, although perhaps these may be easily transportable so that they can be set up in the venue in half an hour? I defer to the June team!

Suitability of content - Whichever service we choose would in any case be adapted for suitability to the Greenbelt context. In the case of "Unknowing God" this would involve shortening to within an hour (e.g. removing some of the opening section) and, if not softening, then at least careful handling, of some of its stronger elements. "FEARLOVELOVEFEAR" is at present a bit of an unknown quantity for most of us - which is why the team's input would be welcome, so that we're not flying blind!

Either way, a service with some hard-hitting elements should be acceptable for the GB context. In fact, it is arguably welcome in view of (i) the festival's professed aspiration to be edgy and honest (as Steve observes), and also (ii) the wish to be distinctive given the large amount of potentially quite same-y alt.worship which may be happening! As a positive example, Ikon have gained a national reputation by presenting challenging material over successive years in the GB context - so this is certainly not something to be afraid of. The important point will be how the service is introduced and pastorally handled, and we will be taking special care over this whichever option is chosen.

So - views welcome.

Tim

Violence

From Paul Roberts :

After a fairly intense service last time about personal spiritual journeys, life of faith and so on, I think it might be blessed relief to move over to something outward-facing, preferably engaging with some issues in the public domain.

I wondered about doing something on violence, not least the fetishization of violence and its affect on gun crime and knife crime. GIven that an act of violence lies at the centre of the Christian message, what should this say to Christian responses to violence in our own lives. Leading into some kind of prayer response and activity.

Pentecost

From Lizzie :

When pondering on this next service I couldn’t help realising that it was around the time of Pentecost. This got me thinking. For me, this year has been an incredibly significant year during Holy week. Walking with the cross and death of Jesus has resonated deeply because last year I walked with my mother very closely as she faced death and died from cancer. I share this because the last service we did allowed us to taste the experience of death in our lives. The experience of holding onto our crosses in the face of much uncertainty, stripping experiences, doubt and confusion. At the end of this journey of grief we came to the resurrection, our Easter celebration. A time of joy as hope is returned, Jesus is alive and all is well.

However, as we reflect upon the journey of the disciples and other followers at that time it was still a time of great uncertainty, fear, doubt and vulnerable experiences. The disciples were still journeying towards Pentecost and the upper room. This posses a juxtaposition. On the one hand we have experienced the resurrection power in whatever context that has shown itself within our lives, and in the other we are still in the upper room waiting in some what uncertainty for Jesus to incarnate himself in our life, in the lives of those around us and in creation itself. To follow on from this when incarnation happens a set of other uncertainties exist within the new certainties of God’s actions through and in Jesus. Those who followed the way were to leave the upper room and to head out into a world and a life not neatly mapped out, but with great unknowing and vulnerability.

Certainty/Uncertainty, Mystery, Negative Theology, Weak Theology

From Jenny Lyus :

I don't have any particularly developed ideas about the next Big Service, but I think that the last service was so powerful that it should follow on in some way, rather than being on a randomly different theme. I think that aspects of the last section of the previous service could be developed to explore what can be gained from mystery. Underneath the experiences of the presence/absence of God there is often a lot to do with certainty vs uncertainty as well. It seemed to me that the narrative of what people were saying last time in their testimonies was generally that they had initially experienced a very real faith, with experiences of the presence of God and then events in their lives turned all this on its head, to move into a time of absence and uncertainty. However, Tim's story's ending (and the hinted endings of the other stories) was that he had found a way to live out his faith in a way that held both absence/presence and certainty/uncertainty in tension. I think that this could be developed a lot more in a further service, as a positive progression in our faith journey.

The feeling of such a service would probably be mystic with aspects of neo-monasticism which we talked a lot about a while ago. Does anyone know much about negative theology/ via negativa as this sounds interesting? I've read things which touch on it, and would like to find out more about it. The basic idea is that we can only know what we don't know about God/ God is incomprehensible and the only thing that is comprehensible about God is His incomprehensibility. I think it's associated a lot with Thomas Aquinas and the Greek Orthodox church, but I'm sure there are people in the group who will know a lot more about it than me!

"Dionysios the Areopagitis taught that we should enter the 'Divine Darkness' by way of the apophatic or 'negative' theology. This is " the perfect way" - the only way that is fitting in regard to God. For God, of His very nature, is unknowable. Therefore this 'way' leads us finally to total ignorance. All knowledge has as its object that which is. Now God is beyond all that exists. So in order to approach Him it is necessary to deny all that is inferior to Him, that is to say, all that which is. If in seeing God one can know what one sees, then one has not seen God in Himself but something intelligible, something that is inferior to God. It is by unknowing that one may 'know' Him (should we say 'live Him'?) Who is above every possible object of knowledge. Proceeding by negations one then ascends from the inferior degrees of being to the highest, by progressively setting aside all that can be known, in order to draw near to the Unknown in the darkness of absolute ignorance. For even as light…and especially, an abundance of light, renders darkness invisible; even so the knowledge of created things, and especially excess of knowledge, destroys the ignorance which is the only way by which one can attain to God Himself.4"

This obviously is very related to the previous service, but I think could be developed in different ways to celebrate the mystery and unknowing, rather than trying to overcome it. e.g. I liked the envelopes last time - perhaps this time we could ask the congregation to write down something which they have gained from mystery/unknowing and to place them in envelopes for other people to find? I was thinking of lots of Byzantine style icons and mystic quotes (we could also touch on issues of idolatry in religion if people wanted).

Alternatively, if people don't like this idea, what about exploring Weak Theology? Again this is something I know very little about, but it sounds very interesting:

"Weak theology is a manner of thinking about theology from a deconstructive point of view. The style of thought owes a debt to Jacques Derrida, especially in light of his idea of a "weak force." Weak theology is weak because it takes a non-dogmatic, perspectival approach to theology. Proponents of weak theology believe that dominant contemporary explications of theology are inherently ideological, totalizing, and militant. In response, weak theology expresses itself through acts of interpretation.

According to Caputo , the distinctive reinterpretive act of weak theology has resulted in the notion of the weakness of God. In the body of thought, the paradigm of God as an overwhelming physical or metaphysical force is regarded as mistaken. The old God-of-power is displaced with the idea of God as an unconditional claim without force. As a claim without force, the God of weak theology does not physically or metaphysically intervene in nature. Weak theology emphasizes the responsibility of humans to act in this world here and now. Because God is thought of as weak and as a call, weak theology places an emphasis on the "weak" human virtues of forgiveness , hospitality , openness , and receptivity. In each of these virtues, a metaphoric "power of powerlessness" is at work.

Gianni Vattimo , John D Caputo , and Jeffrey W. Robbins have recently completed works that further develop the idea of a weak theology." see http://www.answers.com/topic/postmodern-christianitywhere this quote was from.

A service on Weak Theology could explore issues around power in the church, and our conceptions of the power of God. It could also be quite outward looking as there would be an emphasis on personal responsibility (although we would have to be careful about how we handled this).

What do people think about these ideas?

Absence / Presence

We talk a lot about God this and God that, but actually - much of what we feel, much of the time, has to do with the *absence* of God. It can seem that we have very few lights, and our decision of faith (made anew each day!) is what keeps us going.

I think this would be a good, honest theme for a service. What I would envisage is a service which begins with an exploration of the idea of God's absence - or at least the absence of any *signs*. Then the service can seek to bring to birth in the congregation some ideas about how God *does* in fact show himself to be present in our lives. Then it can end, somewhat epiphanically, with a song which tentatively and brokenly celebrates God's presence.

I have some ideas as to how this could pan out and the materials we could use.

Firstly, for near the beginning of the service, I've just written a poem based around the passage in the NT: "Teacher, show us a sign" / "A wicked generation asks for a sign!". Jesus won't grant them the assurances they are seeking. The faithful are, in Kierkegaard's phrase, treading 700 fathoms of water.Anyway, so there can be some artistic explorations of absence; and Anna (K) mentioned that she is conversant with some Henri Nouwen writing on this topic.

Then gradually we can encourage people - through interactive elements, and perhaps some personal stories from the service team - to the recognition that contrary to appearances, God IS present.

I thought the service should end with a live song. In fact, I have a song in mind, which I've mentioned to some of you in person. I've avoided the song here - as I can't remember what the rules are on nicking other people's work and messing around with them for one's own purposes! However, it's PERFECT for a qualified celebration / affirmation at the end of a service like this. It's tentatively joyful. It would need some arranging from Jez, but I'm sure he'd be on board with the choice. As the version we know is a love song, we'd need to adapt the lyrics somewhat. But that's fine.I think this service idea has the merit of honesty, as most churches (esp. charismatic) are happy chocolate and talk about the "relationship with Jesus" the whole time. Am I really the only one who isn't experiencing things in that way? No, I'm sure I'm not. This service would give us the opportunity to challenge people to greater honesty with their fellow Christians, and also enable us to put plenty of ourselves in.It's relatively introspective, but then "Frozen" was outward-looking - so that's fine I'd say. What think you all about said idea?

Tim Summers

Time

I'm aware that this is purely conceptual rather than an actual idea of how a service would be shaped, but I'd been thinking about Time. Advent Sunday is the beginning of the liturgical calendar, and the run up to Christmas often has a "here we go again" feel to it. I was wondering how we might juxtapose an idea of progression through time (The notion of 'salvation history', in which the incarnation is the most significant point) with the cyclical way in which we tend to measure and conceive of Time. It also occured to me to wonder about the juxtaposition of expectation and commemoration and how this tension(?) might fit with the rest of my thoughts.

Just a thought,

Bruce Forman

Frozen

I like themes that have an obvious 'hook' with respect to visual and written imagery, and 'Frozen' is such a title for me. Obviously there is no point however in making a service look pretty if it has no real content. So here are my thoughts so far...

• Frozen fits with the weather at the time of the service, so the imagery should resonate with people
• 'Frozen' suggests a sense of impotence and fear. A lot of our services are very inward looking; I think this could lead us in directions where we explore our response to some of the big issues facing our world
• Frozen can also of course describe the human heart, and its inability to feel connected to others. In the gospels Christ had the ability to 'unfreeze' hearts... are we receptive to that? Are we called to be part of that process for others? Do we feel too frozen with fear when it comes to sharing our faith with others?
  
• Other Scriptures that come to mind are OT characters too afraid to take on what they were called to do (e.g. Moses, Gideon); and the parable of the talents
• Elements could include melting ice (I have a lovely image of icecubes hanging on a washing line, gradually dripping throughout the service!); and I've got a great song up my sleeve! I know Ian is very keen on story telling playing a part, and certainly it could fit within this service.

So...what do you think, guys? Please post any positive comments, ask me a clarifying question, or post a new idea entirely!

Tracey

The way this works - read this first

The point of this is to stimulate a bit of creative thinking between services, involve those who can't be on planning teams and stop us wasting the first meeting or two of a planning cycle staring at a blank piece of paper. Anyone can make a new post suggesting a possible service theme, why they think it would be good, and the kind of ideas and activities that might make it work. Rather than us all having the login details for the blog and potentially messing up each others stuff, email your suggestion to thewheelybin@blueyonder.co.uk and I will paste it faithfully in as a new strand. Anyone else can obviously respond directly to the initial blog on any theme with thoughts, questions or creative suggestions (poems, songs, visual ideas, rituals, prayers, bible links etc.) that develop the theme. It would be nice if no-one made purely negative comments (apart from raising questions about how a particular idea/activity would work) as it is generally best to just wait and see which ideas take wings and fly and which don't without discouraging people from having ideas in the first place. Anyway - think bold, think free, enjoy.