Update from Christchurch

An update from Martin Stewart on some of the ongoing mission work in ChCh, post-earthquake...

It is a real pain all this shaking – I really feel for those poor people out east with any hope they might have had of something being closer to normal being erased this week. While the quakes themselves weren’t as bad insofar as the devastating trampoline effect in February (esp the lives lost) in other ways they are more demoralising, especially with winter upon us. There is widespread anger now – wanting some resolution over what will happen with their land and property, but anger at the sense that there may not be any end to this in the medium term. It is scary, hard on the nerves, massively inconvenient, and hugely disheartening.

I do a bit of chaplaincy at a university hostel (well I try – it is hard to get there these days) – I was talking to some students last night who are quite fed up. They have missed crucial parts of their semester but also they are in exam mode with exams postponed and squeezed into a very tight timeframe but also their ability to concentrate in any extended way is very difficult. Some are seriously contemplating transferring elsewhere for next year. I cannot blame them, but it will have devastating consequences for ChCh and the University of Canterbury who are quite worried about their ability to attract new students for 2012 as it is.

The Presbyterians have had fewer problems in this week’s round of shocks – a disused church to be demolished is now demolished (quite convenient as it had historic places issues), another two congregations that were uncertain about whether their buildings could be repaired are clearer now about having to move on from them, and one minister is probably going to have to move from his damaged house.

My little project of having people from St Stephen’s, St Giles, and St Mark’s delivering $200 supermarket vouchers to the homes of people in the Avonside/Dallington area is chugging along nicely. My target of raising $50,000 is now up to $33,000 thanks to two large donations from a Wellington trust and an Auckland parish, along with quite a few $1000 donations from supportive folk. Once I get the $50,000 I will be approaching several supermarkets on this side of the city to buy the vouchers and invite them to match us dollar for dollar.

St Stephen’s is handling this project for the three parishes – we even have a dedicated account:
contact Martin for details of this account: martin@ststephens.co.nz

Pastors and Burnout

Carol Howard Merrit posted a piece on TribalChurch.org which asked, What Causes Pastors to Burnout?
Her concern is that there's a very high attrition rate in the first couple of years after graduation from seminary.  (Note that this is in the USA - the attrition rate is probably less here in those first years; the losses seem to come further down the track for us.) 

Merrit's question is one we post about a great deal on this blog too, and it's one we're working on in the National Mission Team on an ongoing basis.   Some of the answers are obvious, some less so, and in some cases there's nothing anyone could do that would assist the burnout situation.

I like what Martin Stewart from Christchurch had to say about this topic:

1. Stop taking yourself so seriously. Ministry is not all about you and what you do, but about who God is and what God is doing in Christ.
2. Remember that Rome wasn’t built in a day.
3. Ministry is not at people but with people. I have been aware of many colleagues grumbling about the people or church, and often the escalating conflict has been about a leader trying to bully people into something different rather than working alongside, building trust, and finding a way ahead that is appropriate for the people of that place and time. Too often ministers (and sometimes the people) embark on a totally unrealistic set of expectations.

Pauline Stewart on creative kids

The following is extracted from the latest Love Your Neighbour ezine,
Pauline Stewart, minister at St Heliers Bay Presbyterian Church and Community Centre said this in an interview some months ago: “Most of childhood should be joyful preparation for adulthood, but instead we entertain them to the point where they are almost throwing up. Kids really just want to be a part of making something significant happen. Jesus never entertained anyone.”

By giving children opportunities to serve others and through modeling it ourselves, we ensure that others-focused ministry will not just be a wave that passes, but a sustainable movement. When we fail to do so, in the words of George Barna “each generation feels it is re-inventing Christianity”.

Checking back on the interview mentioned above, it's worth quoting a couple of other things Stewart said.

“Lots of programmes let you be creative, but our aim is to help kids produce something of value. Rather than encourage creativity in a vacuum, Stan and I say 'let your ideas explode; but we will help you turn those ideas into something.'

and:

My philosophy is, the church should empty itself in preparing people for the world. We should be preparing people to be the best politicians and the best leaders of this country. Sometimes we think 'I've got to run these programmes so that I can fill up the church' – but you actually have to run these programmes to fill up the world, and then the church looks after itself. I'm totally committed to that journey. I am constantly looking at children to see what they are good at, and I will say to the parent 'he is good at that, you should encourage him'. “

Tod Bolsinger and the emerging church

Martin Stewart of Christchurch writes: I’ve been looking at Tod Bolsinger’s blog recently – he is one among many thinking about the emerging church – I think he gets the balance between mission and theology right in that the two are not seen as separate entities as we often end up making them to be.

Martin referred to a particular post in which Bolsinger quotes Richard Mouw, who asked: "Should we attempt to be communities of interest or communities of memory?"

Bolsinger comments on this question: That is to say, which is more important: restructuring churches to appeal to the outsider who is searching for God and responding to the missional opportunities and challenges present in the culture or insuring that churches remained focused on the liturgical, doctrinal and sacramental elements that keeps the church anchored in it's core beliefs and practices?

Check out the rest of what Bolsinger has to say by clicking here.