'To know Jesus is not an event, a ritual, a creed, or a religion. It is a journey of trust and adventure. We don't belive in religion anymore - including Christianity - but we do believe in following Jesus.'

So says Jonathan Campbell from Seattle, and I like his tone. I like the adventure thing. But he goes on to say:

'We no longer need religion with its special buildings, dogmas, programs, clergy, or any other human inventions that displace genuine spirituality...'

I guess I can see what he's trying to get at, but is he not being a bit teenage about the whole thing?
Is spirituality only genuine when buildings and clergy are done away with?

Get hold of this (Bob Dylan, 'the bootleg series vol 1-3'). Put 'volume 1' in your CD player and skip to track 6: 'Talkin' Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues.'
It's got nothing to do with fresh expressions but you'll laugh a whole lot...

Last night marked a beginning.
Rachel, Ruth, Dan and I met at our place to eat, worship, chew over Acts 2 and pray.
It was the start of this thing. It will be our weekly pattern. Others will join us. We'll grow. The future is exciting...

As this fresh expression is based at the cathedral, I am involved in cathedral worship.
This evening I was 'Deacon of the Eucharist' at Lynne Chitty's ordination. It was a full on kind of event with lots of robes and the like. I have to say, there was an amazing sense of the presence of God.

I'm a comprehensive-school boy with family roots in the east end of London, so it's slightly peculiar as well as exciting to find myself in the creative space that stretches between the history and tradition-rich life of the cathedral and the fluid, open-ended experience of pioneering a fresh expression.

I've been asked to pioneer a Christian community and to locate that in the centre of Gloucester.
I have to do it from almost scratch.

The obvious question is: 'Where do I begin?'

My instinct is to ask God to bring together a core team who share the vision.
Do they come from other churches? Perhaps some do. The really exciting thing though - the thing that makes me passionate about this project - is that whatever emerges will be riddled with surprises.
The core team will be a surprise, not a plan. The way we worship will surprise us and the people we meet and share faith with will be surprising.
My job is to hold this project lightly so that God can do as He likes. I also have to think, of course, and to pray, and to speak and meet and laugh and eat with others.

Dreaming, praying, expecting and being are what are needed here - at this time and in this place. The charge of naivety will obviously come but to be quite honest, I don't know any other way of doing things and I'm not sure that God does either...

Paul Hobbs and I were prayer walking the city centre early this morning. We came across a pile of flowers outside 'Liquid' nightclub.
One of the bouncers, Adam Wyatt, was killed there early on Saturday morning whilst trying to break up a fight.
He was only 20.

It was moving to read the comments in the cards that had been left, although I almost felt like I was intruding.
People's spiritual scrabbling is really apparent when something like this happens.
One card read: 'Adam, hope you're having fun with your new wings.'

Our work in the city centre will touch on the clubbing culture. Spiritual ignorance is so deep that engaging with people about God in any meaningful way is a gigantic task. Obviously a whole shed load of wisdom and insight are going to be crucial.

This morning a hairdresser asked me what I did. When I told her, she asked me why I wasn't wearing my dog collar. I asked her why she thought that was important.
"Because people would speak to you with more respect. People wouldn't swear in front of you, just like I wouldn't swear in front of my mum."

I told her that I was more concerned with people being themselves than showing me some kind of strange respect - which is why I wasn't wearing my collar at that particular moment.

She didn't seem to buy it.
A moment later she told me that she was fascinated with the history of religion.
I asked her why.

"Because so many terrible things have been done by Popes and in the crusades and, you know, the, er, the inquisition and since then..."

I offered an answer about people of faith being people of peace.

"I've got a Faith," came her reply.

"Oh?" I said, "In what?"

"My Faith is nine on Saturday... Ha! It's my daughter!"

"That's a good name." Was all I could manage by way of reply.

There is a sailing ship tied up at the docks in Gloucester. I walked down there early this morning and was reflecting on the fact that rather than being out at sea with a crew where it belongs, the hulking thing is sitting in calm water, going nowhere and gradually rusting away.
It's a shame to see it.

The ship needs an inspired, well led crew with a genuine desire to get back out to adventuring at sea.

Sounds familiar...

I spent some time reading 'Emerging Churches' this afternoon in the cloister garden of the cathedral.
A 900-year-old site of Christian worship struck me as quite a good place to read a book about the future of the church.

I loved this line at the start of chapter 2 by Karen Ward:
'The emerging church is being willing to take the red pill, going down the rabbit hole, and enjoying the ride.'

(you'll need to have seen the Matrix to appreciate Karen's point...)

Perhaps a bit more chewable is this by Kester Brewin of Vaux, London:

'We worship a God of evolving change. It will take time and generations and mistakes and strange beasts. But we will keep at it, not because we think we are somehow the "salvation" of the church - far from it - but because now we have tasted something of this reconfigured body and we simply cannot go back to pews and song sandwiches.'

A whole lot to think and talk about...

On a more institutional note: I was at a meeting of further education chaplains this morning.
As I waited in reception before the meeting and watched the students coming and going, the importance of having a chaplain struck me in a fresh way. So many of the young people looked confused, lost, fed up and generally blank.
I suppose this might have something to do with freshers week, but another part of me suspects it might be something deeper...
I'm looking forward to developing relationships with some of these guys and finding out what God might be doing amongst the students they work with.

after posting on the heroin addicts in Gloucester, I came across this image by London stencil artist, Banksy.

Apparently Gloucester has the cheapest heroin in the country. I've certainly noticed enough users around.

I was speaking to a park warden this morning who said that keeping users out of the park toilets is a constant problem. He interupted a girl at 8am injecting into her thigh.
It's a challenge knowing how to respond. Each person needs years of care and attention to sort themselves out. What can the local church do?
I honestly don't know.

Nothing to do with smack, but I wanted to mention the Jesus Surf Classic. This is the September surf comp that Christian Surfers UK hold each year at Croyde, North Devon. The secular surfing community rate 'the Jesus' as one of the best organised and most welcoming events in the UKs surfing calender.
I'm a member of CSUK and I'm looking forward to getting some Gloucester guys and girls involved. Church built around shared interest. Maybe we'll surf the Severn Bore next time its in town...



check out: www.christiansurfers.co.uk

An hour ago my daughter and I walked past three alcoholics sitting on a bench outside the cathedral.

As we drew level I heard one announce, in a heavy west-country accent:
'Mother nature has her own way of sorting things out...'

This was followed by a thoughtful pause and then the second guy exclaimed:
'The Kingdom of God is in your heart.'

At this, the third drunk sat bolt upright and added:
'So is Satan!'

If I hadn't been with Hannah I would have sat down with them to chat...

Today was spent with other curates doing training on funerals, death and dying.

Although I've been to plenty of funerals, I'm yet to take one so it's all a bit daunting.

It was useful to go through the stuff on the process of grief, mourning, the theology of death and the practicalities and logistics of taking a service at the crem or in church.

I guess it's the sort of thing that you can only really learn about by doing.

I particularly liked this by St Isaac the Syrian:

'Prepare your heart for your departure. If you are wise, you will expect it every hour. Each day say to yourself: "See, the messenger who comes to fetch me is already at the door. Why am I sitting idle? I must depart for ever. I cannot come back again."...And when the time of departure comes, go joyfully to meet it, saying: "Come in peace. I knew you would come, and I have not neglected anything that could help me on the journey."

Yesterday my daughter asked me if Jesus got to heaven in a plane or on a big rope...


I've been interested to meet Martin Hull recently and read his paper on 'Intentional Community'.
He talks about the negative impact of 'non-community', and the way our culture 'actively steers us towards our shadow mission of indulgence, addiction and indifference.'

Hull reckons the three essential ingredients of intentional community are: good people; good leadership; good systems and structures. I couldn't agree more. Getting these things in place early on in a fresh expression of church is crucial to its ongoing health.

I'm preparing to preach at Hempstead this Sunday from Mark 8. It's challenging and relevant stuff...

Jesus told his listeners that whoever wanted to come after him had to deny themselves, take up their cross and follow him. This seems to me to be in direct contrast to the 'shadow mission of indulgence, addiction and indifference' that Hull writes about.
'Denying self' in the UK in 2006 puts Christians in opposition to a culture that tells us it's possible for everyone to live in a tailored universe of their own making.
'Denying self' is different to denying 'stuff', and it is definitely different to 'hating self'.
'Denying self' is admitting that we are designed to put God in the centre of our universe.
'Denying self' means exposing the lie that we can each be at the centre of our own universe.

read this however you like...

I spent yesterday in London meeting with Simon Kirby of Emmanuel Network Church.
Over Wagamammas' noodles he let me in on a few of the secrets gleaned over a few years of getting their 'fresh expression' off the ground.

Whilst I was in covent Garden I visited the photographer's gallery. I love the space. One room, one long table down the middle, work on the walls and a little cafeteria for soup and coffee. The atmosphere is powerful. Being there has confirmed a vision for communal space for our worshipping community as it begins to come to life and grow.

Good to meet Dan Pierce this week. He arrived on my doorstep and told me that months ago God had put being involved in something relevant in Gloucester on his heart. We'll start doing breakfasts together (with one or two others) and praying and see what grows.