North Canterbury, NZ
Geoff writes...
Christmas for Christians often seems to be swamped by the clamour of the commercial world. The manger gets buried under tinsel. The Christ-child is muscled out of the picture by Santa. For most New Zealanders, Christmas is preceded not by Advent, but by anxiety and frantic activity. Yet Advent is among our most subtle and poignant of seasons, and we need not only to reclaim it, but to let our communities know why we value it so much.
It’s about time. Advent points us back to historical time – Christ was born and entered our world, God incarnate, in a particular place, at a given time. Christ has come. But Advent isn’t just a season when we look historically at what God has done. In 2 Peter chapter three, we are reminded of what God has in mind for our world, at a time only God can know. “The day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire. … But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.”
Advent is a season with an edge. It’s a time to look ahead towards the fulfillment of God’s promise. Christ will come again. As Bishop John Taylor wrote, “we are not just waiting for Christmas; we are waiting for the Kingdom.” There is a tension in Advent, “strung between the fulfilment and the postponement of the promises of God, strung between ‘now’ and ‘not yet.’” In Christ, we have been given the beginnings of life anew, but not the whole of it, not the full picture of God’s design. Our culture emphasizes getting what we want NOW, and ALL of it. Advent is counter-culture; God doesn’t promise us ALL of salvation or wisdom, nor does God promise to deliver on demand. Advent draws us into the timescape of faithful waiting, in which our faith matures. In this timescape, when past and future begin to meld together, we are drawn a little closer to the mystery and power of God, who is faithful to us. At Christmas, we glimpse the most astounding sign of that faithfulness – the birth of the Christ, who is God come to live among us, in God’s world. And in Advent, we look beyond Christmas, to the time when Christ comes again, to end time and space as we know them, and to initiate a new heaven and a new earth.
F.D. Maurice, 19th century Anglican priest and theologian, wrote this about the season:
“Christmas Day declares that he dwelt among us. This is the festival that makes us know that we are members of one body; it binds together the life of Christ on earth with his life in heaven. It assures us that Christmas Day belongs not to time but to eternity.
From the November Magazine...
OR BACK TO THE COMMUNITY, EVERY DAY?
A Back to Church campaign will not work, unless coming back to church is a positive experience for those who’ve been persuaded to take the risk. And there’s our Church’s challenge.
A more kingdom-building focus would be a Back to the Community campaign - the Church returning to the High Street, where it always should be. “Back to Church” sounds like the slogan of a maintenance culture. “Back to the Community” locates the Church in the context of its mission. The five elements of the 1986 and 1990 ACC Mission Statement (proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God, teaching, baptizing and nurturing new believers, responding to human need by loving service, transforming unjust structures, safeguarding the integrity of creation) all have an outward thrust – from the community of faith, out into God’s multi-cultural, multi-faith, angst-ridden, but still hopeful world. A Church that is not visible in these transformative works of faith, is not going to be the place where people want to come back to. Unless the Church is visible, tangible and real out in the community, it shrinks into a worship club.
In a curious but powerful way, the Canterbury earthquakes have challenged the churches to re-assess how they see their mission to their local communities. In times of natural disaster, do people react by streaming “back” to the churches? In my experience, no they don’t – but they are more likely to consider doing so, or engaging with at least some aspects of church life, if the church in their locality has taken a step or two in their direction. Some parishes have been busily taking such steps: providing meals, supplies of water, donating funds, food, heaters, clothing and furniture. In these practical ways, Christ’s love is being made known in hurting and anxious neighbourhoods.
Once the sense of immediate crisis is over – as it seems to be now – what will happen to all this generous energy? In Kaiapoi, the most destructive quake happened nearly a year ago (4 September). Crisis has given way in the town to weariness, prolonged anxiety, and day-to-day struggle. Householders battle with cold, leaky and damaged homes, and have to continue waiting for final certainty about the future of their land and houses. Over 900 homes are due to be demolished, and many will almost certainly have to be rebuilt on a different site, in another part of town.
How can churches continue to reach out to the community in the longer-term? For if they do not, their lack of action may reinforce a popular perception that the Church is ineffective and irrelevant. This perception challenges the churches to reappraise both their identity and their mission. The Kaiapoi churches have, in some aspects, worked to co-ordinate their response. After the June earthquakes, for some weeks there was a roster of drop-in centres hosted by the local churches, where refreshments were provided and people called in to seek company and talk about the latest problems. Most churches are also providing volunteers, so that when the Waimakariri District Council needs to send out door-knockers to assess local needs and pass on the latest earthquake-related information, the churches come to the party. This visiting programme is being organised by Rev. Ken Light, whose retirement has now taken a new direction! Anglicans provide the greatest number of door-knockers, just as they came to the fore, from all over North Canterbury, during the weeks of crisis after September 4.
Local people have seen an on-going Christian presence in their midst. A huge amount of visiting is being done. Transport is provided for those without; food still flows into the local foodbank, community meetings have a visible church representation, and churches work to connect struggling people to the District Council, social welfare services, counselling, the foodbank, childcare centres, and other places where the community meets for mutual energizing and support. And of course a good deal of prayer is being offered, around the needs and hopes of local people.
It has taken a series of earthquakes to achieve this community-facing focus. But the connections we are making between church and community may fade, as people become more tired, and increasingly concerned with their own particular anxieties. We will have to look not only at our community-facing ministry, but at the suitability of our church buildings for the needs of the 21st and 22nd centuries. For parishes that will have to rebuild their churches and halls and offices, this discussion is of huge relevance. Many halls were designed for a vanished age of parish dances and concerts. Many churches were designed for formal worship, without too much concern for adequate comfort, light, warmth, or flexible space. What sort of churches will people want to come “back” to? The opportunity has been thrust upon us, to re-design our worship and hospitality space, to support the main hopes behind the “Back to Church” initiative. But it’s clear that the initiative, if it is to grow our shrinking church, needs also to step purposefully towards the community.
Adapted from an article posted in September on the “Anglican Taonga” website.
From the October magazine...
Let No-one Despise our Youth
Writing to his young
co-evangelist Timothy, probably from Ephesus, Paul
It was not
surprising,
Earthquake related
upheavals have been very hard on many of our young. Some are losing homes, o
In
Given such a problem,
and that it is unlikely to be addressed very much at all in
- strong support
- positive mentoring
- encouragement to regard
- invitations to take part in all aspects of
church life.
- teaching about
- trust
- practical help, especially regarding
education and employment.
The prophet Joel had
a vision of