Dog Collars and Rabbit Corpses

Aggregation, Congregation, Conversation

Went with Liz to Blah Manchester tonight and listened to Andrew Jones aka Tall Skinny Kiwi. The night was entitled "Aggregation: The Emerging Church According to Manchester.” Again the welcome was pleasant red wine, white wine and various juice, however the olives previously experienced had been replaced with more common snacks like bacon nibbles. Perhaps my previous comments had been noted and this was an attempt to reach a wider range of clientele and stop being as middle classed or perhaps they fancied a change.

Anyway found the whole thing rather good tonight, thought provoking and stimulating. I have to say I actually disagreed with some of what was being said. My concern with the emerging church movement has and sadly after tonight still is, that it only reaches a specific group and is to focussed on the discussions around post modernity and the churches response to this western phenomenon.

Andrew tonight was talking about new media and its impact on the way societies now interact with each other and with information. He made the point that his children were more likely to enter a google search when researching for school than pick up a book. This I do not disagree with and have experienced with my own children.

He went on to relate this to society and church, society becoming more of a get culture (how post modern) and the church being able to advocate a giving culture (at least I think that is what he meant).

He went on to talk about aggregation and congregation. Congregation being the way we have always done church, gathered together in one place to be church. Aggregation was a more dispersed way of doing church, making links connecting from one to another going off in unexpected directions, looping, linking a new way of doing church.

Some of what he said is good probably for some people a true way of ‘doing church’ but I have to admit left me a bit cold. I recognise that the aggregated community he talks about has much to offer, this blog is part of such a community, my informal conversations with friends, meals shared and so on are also part of aggregation however no substitute for the church which I feel is important.

Now I realise that many would disagree and I am not looking for an argument these are just my thoughts and what I believe works for me and I suspect some others. A big part of church for me has to be the aspect of community, a community that meets face to face, a community that cares and supports, struggles and strives, gives and receives.

I feel that when Andrew uses the word 'get' he puts upon it many negative connotations. The word get makes me immediately think of self centeredness, the me,me,me attitude. Yet surely church is a place where people can come when they need to receive. Receive is a word that for me suggests safety, refuge and need rather than individualism. The church is a community where these things should be at the heart of its community. A place of community, refuge, safety, hope, incarnation and yet I recognise that so often this is not the case. I am reminded however of the words of Jesus in Matthew 11 "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest."

I don’t intend this blog to give any definitive answers or suggest I alone know the way it should be done they are simply my thoughts as another who continues to wonder and struggle with how we will be church in years to come. I am though becoming more sure of the need for us, whichever way we decide to be church, to be more of an incarnational people. For as we are reminded in the Message bible "the word became flesh and moved into the neighbourhood"

posted by Stuart @ Tuesday, July 26, 2005