Gareth Bezett

Just skipped out half way through a leaderhsip forum for "leaders" in the parish (and me). I am sick, so allowed pity to be taken on me.

We were taken through some "warning signs" for ministers (eg fatigue) and approriate counter measures to combat them with. All complete with scriptural examples. Very well done. I will have to post some from time to time.

It was a little sad, that there was an outburst of chuckling when "disilluionment" was mentioned. I think we were all thinking the same thing: "when did we last have any illusions about church being great?"

Thanks to Sir H C Llenrad for bringing Dying Church to my attention. I have just read a post entitled The Church Must Learn to Die. This takes the concept of dying to self and applies it to the (local) church. I feel like making a strategic plan that for my church that includes zero-attendence and closing the doors. I wonder how it would go down.

Not the mission of God, as you might think, but the Missionary God. This was a major theme in the talks by Michael Frost at the CWCC conference (introductory post 27 July). This expresses a fundamental characteristic of the Christian God, that he seeks out his people and actively works to bring them into relationship with him.

This has implication for how we think about our mission in the world. Frost suggests that we are merely "convening" what God has already "prevened". God is always sending stuff out, his Word to create the universe, his Spirit to create life in Adam, his prophets to lead and rebuke Israel, himself in the person of Jesus to redeem us and now he sends us to be the salt of the earth and a light to the world.

I missed the premier on Wednesday, but it was repeated last night. What a cool program. The main characters are complex and human. I'm looking forward to watchng this on Wednesday nights, especially after the end of Lost which just frustrated me.

This was called "Accelerate" and was put on by Promiseland/Willow Creek NZ for children's ministry people. The venue was Silverstream Retreat in the Hutt and hosted by Lifeswitch which is based there.

I have posted the notes for a sermon (my "very first") that I delivered to the 7pm "Youth" Service at St Philip's in Karori on 23 July. The opening paragraph is below:

When marketing and PR people come up with a tag line for a company or product, they are making a deliberate effort to get across something of its fundamental character, emphasising what makes it unique and desirable. Like McDonald’s “I’m Lovin’ It”, the Warehouse “Where everyone gets a bargain”, Pepsi Max “Maximum Taste, Zero Sugar”, Nike “Just Do It”. Businesses pay a fortune for this sort of thing, but I want to help you have a go yourself. What I’m hoping to sell you on tonight is the idea that each of us has some fundamental characteristics that make us who we are and suit what we are meant to do in life, and that we need to be conscious of this. Our goal should be this: “My Life, I’m lovin’ it”.

Download the Word document

I have just been to an IT trade show. I went to some seminars and looked at lots of product stands. I haven't been a reseller for ages, but it was good to see what's on the market. I went with one of my clients who had been invited by a reseller and helped him talk to vendors about his needs.

When I was into selling things, Ingram Micro was supposed to be the only distributor on the Fortune 500 list. In recent history, they bought Tech Pacific who used to be the premier IT distributor in NZ.

The death of the Anglican tradition has been talked about for some time. This is only close to coming to pass in the West. The growth of Anglican churches in the "Global South" continues and in the current public debate we are now starting to see bishops from Africa and the other Americas taking a stand and being prepared to flex some muscle. I don't feel the need the recap on the current situation, except to say that the UK press is lumping the Anglican Church in New Zealand together with the North Americans and the Scots when they are predicting which provinces within the Communion will not be able to sign up to whatever Anglican covenant is put together.

The question I have is: do I care? For most rank and file Anglicans, I doubt they often think too far outside their parish. They may see their Bishop every couple of years or even attend an ordination service at the cathedral if someone from their parish is being done. How many people care what happens are General Synod in NZ or at any international event in the Anglican Communion? Does the denomination (or any denomination for that matter) offer The Church anything?

I think the Anglican tradition has some value, even a great deal of value, but is that enough to justify its continued existence? Can we hold together Christians of such divergent views in any sort of single identity? If we can, will the effort be worth it? Would the loss of the more liberal provinces help us towards reconciliation with Rome?

In my case, I probably should care. I am currently in the discernment process in the Diocese of Wellington to see if I am called to ordained ministry. At the moment, I can only pray for God's will to be done in this process. I'm not sure I even like being an Anglican, but do I want to be an Anglican priest in a Diocese that isn't in full Communion with Canterbury? My goal is to be obedient to God, but the church may not make that easy for me.

For more posts about the Episcopal Church in the US and the Anglican Communion, see BabyBlueOnline, which is a blog I keep an eye or two on.

I like this video clip.

Please note: it contains the "F Word" in the first few lines.

I have just returned from the above conference in Palmerston North. I'm not sure if this was the motivation to get blogging again, but it may have been. I will take some time to reflect on different parts of the conference's content before I start posting willy-nilly.

The format of the conference was well-concieved and quite well executed. Each session allowed for question time and feedback and each of the two full days included a forum session with all of the three speakers.

I think Central Baptist Church should be commended for sponsoring the event.

This is my scond attempt at blogging. will it stick? Good question.