Neil Finn, Nick Seymour and Mark Hart have joined up with drummer Matt Sherrod to reform Crowded House, almost two years after the death of former drummer Paul Hester, and over ten years since the band last played in concert. The new lineup is working on a new studio album is planning a world tour.
Talking about the decision Neil said “After spending most of last year making music and hanging out with my friend Nick Seymour we are now announcing our intention to reform Crowded House with a new record entitled Time On Earth. It feels right to us that the band should re-emerge at this time and together with Mark Hart we look forward to reconnecting with the audience that we established and for whom we still hold a deep respect. We aim to make the upcoming shows and the new music every bit as vital and spirited as what has come before. We are conscious that Paul Hester was above all a great drummer and we are currently auditioning to find someone special to take that role.”
The band is currently putting the finishing touches on the new album for release later in the year. Tour plans are yet to be announced but the band have confirmed they will play the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in California USA along with Bjork, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Rage Against the Machine.
This Saturday 17th March, the band will be performing new tracks and old favorites for a special live interactive webcast at 10pm GMT (3.00pm Los Angeles, 9.00am Sunday Sydney, 10.00am Sunday NZ), through www.crowdedhouseofficial.com. The band will take time during the performance to read out comments and answer questions from you.
Crowded House is making it possible for a few people to attend the webcast, live in Bath, England. You must be able to make your own way there and back. No accommodation will be provided.
In the last 24 hours Postkiwi.com and Duncans.TV sites have been in serious trouble. Duncans.TV was due to be transferred tonight to a new server but was suspended before I had the chance to do so, for going over CPU usage limits. So I’ve purchased a dedicated server deal. I’ve been trying to get the postkiwi.com sites ready to share the server with duncans.tv and in the process have run into difficulties here. What a pain! Hopefully by the end of the weekend it will be sorted out.
Forge Mission Training Network held its second national Australian summit this last weekend.
I flew in to Melbourne from Brisbane on Friday night, so only got into The Factory (Mitcham Baptist) in time to hear Sons of Korah performing. I missed Alan Hirsch introducing the conference and Mike Frost’s keynote address on dirt and soil. Alan and Deb are off to the western coast of the United States for a few years, sponsored by CRM to resource the missional church scene there.
More on Mike’s book, Exiles, and Alan’s book, The Forgotten Ways, in later posts…
Brian McLaren provided an inspiring and gracious challenge to the churches of the 21st Century, helping us recognise the key narratives found in humanity, such as domination, victim, shame, economic bargaining and withdrawal. Each of these approaches, Brian explained, can be found in the setting in which Jesus operated. So what does the alternative look like? Brian gave us the beautiful story of an outdoor jazz concert in Sydney in which a young boy is joined by others as they celebrate life in music.
I was able to attend sessions led by Wolfgang Simson (hyperbolic metaphoric storyteller enthusiastic about small and effective missional communities), and Geoff Westlake (community developer in WA focusing on the concept of ‘ecclesia’ as community development council).
I enjoyed the session on theological issues for the ‘emerging church’ led by Stephen Said and Randy Edwards.
Stephen Said provided a challenging analysis of the theological strengths and flaws found in the renewal of missional church in Australia. Key themes (strengths) coming through are the connection of Missio Dei (the other-focused nature of God) with the local context, bridging the secular and sacred, recovery of kingdom ecclesiology, and the reminder that mission is integral to Christian community. Holes identified by Steven were in some ways about the same themes. We can too easily separate missional and incarnational. With our ‘can-do’ focus on method we’re still missing out on the Spirit’s role in mission. The Holy Spirit’s work was rediscovered by many churches during the charismatic renewal days but for many there’s not much awareness of the Holy Spirit working outside the worship service. We’re still separating evangelism from social justice. In Australia we tend to have a suspicion of philosophy. We’re too easily caught up in the prevailing consumerist metanarrative of our time - addiction to the collection of experiences.
Another helpful observation in the theology elective, made by Randy Edwards I think, was that we have been over-valuing leadership. It’s almost as if everyone must be in a leadership position of some sort. “You’re not fulfilling your potential unless you’re influencing someone else.”
Here’s another quote from Randy Edwards that stuck with me…. “Protestants don’t know how to give. They only know how to invest”. This was in response to the observation that experimental groups are jettisoned when it appears as though they are not producing high numbers of church members. Permission to achieve is not the same as permission to try and fail.
I attended an all-too-brief interactive panel focusing on consumerism and faith. We could have spent the whole weekend unpacking this subject. Unfortunately we had less than an hour. I was reminded by Dave Andrews (earthy radical discipleship sage) that bold claims to be bucking the trend are revealed as posturing when we compare our incomes and lifestyles with those living in the seventy percent of the world’s population.
Darryl Gardiner, fellow Kiwi bald guy from Wellington, lightened up the atmosphere with his humorous but gritty introduction of the “Dirty Christ”, the one who was born in an earthy stable. Darryl’s carrying on the tradition of Barry Crump, NZ author, with his exploration of “bastards I have met”.
Saturday evening finished with the delightful comedic and insightful poetry of Cameron Semmens, the author of 26 Tales from the Testaments - alliterated Bible passages in every letter of the alphabet.
I must admit I spent most of Sunday in conversation with various people, missing many of the sessions and workshops. I did get to Brian McLaren’s reflections on what we can learn from Emerging Church movement in the United States. This wasn’t one of those “it’s all happening in America” workshops. It was helpful to hear about what other people are learning through trial and error, bitter criticism and collaboration across denominations.
It’s always interesting to hear the the Presbyterian, Methodist, Episcopalian and United Church of Christ described as the ‘liberal’ denominations. I heard one of the presenters at Forge introduce himself as the pastor of an “Evangelical Uniting” church. Clearly for some it is really important to be known and regarded as “Evangelical”. It helps people know what you believe, I guess. The problem is that people who see things differently just become “liberal”. I think we need to upskill in our capacity to relate to Christians who come from different places.
I must say it was refreshing to be part of, and on the edge of, a movement that is morphing. Social justice, concern for the environment, and an honest re-exploration of the Christian gospel, were all included in an agenda in which there was room for ranters, story tellers, poets, evangelists, coffee-makers, conversationalists, multi-media artists and musicians. Forge, like the rest of the Australian church, continues to struggle with the gender balance of its speakers and facilitators. Speaking of facilitators, we could have done with less content and more time to process in small groups.
As with the first Forge Dangerous Stories summit, we didn’t start each session with a time of ‘praise and worship’. I wasn’t sorry about that, though I do enjoy the occasional bit of God-focused “Christian karaoke”. I’d like to see the re-emergence of corporate singing in this kind of environment, modelling some of the broad missional themes being explored by Forge. Another time, another place…
I’m working through Coachnet’s coaching accreditation process with a team from the Uniting Church in Australia, Queensland Synod. First textbook to process is “Coaching 101″, by Robert E. Logan and Sherilyn Carlton (Destination Coaching).
At the heart of Coaching 101 is a process involving five layers: relate, reflect, refocus, resource and review.
The “Relate” layer is focused on establishing a coaching relationship and agenda. I’ve found this helpful in clarifying the relational tasks needed at the beginning of a shared journey, and at the beginning of each coaching session. It’s not just about developing rapport and trust. There’s also a need to focus on how the coaching relationship will work, how each person will operate, the perameters of responsbility and accountability. I find myself coaching people who relate to me in many different settings. The ‘relate’ task will help narrow down the reason for getting together for an hour a month.
The “Reflect” layer is focused on discovering and exploring key issues for the person being coached. Helpful questions here are “What can we celebrate?”, “What is important?”, and “What are the obstacles you are facing?”. These allow for critical issues to come to the surface without heading straight into problem solving. Two more questions, “Where do you want to go?” and “How committed are you?”, provide a reality check for the coaching session, a way to filter out wishful thinking and stimulate realistic planning for action.
The “Refocus” layer is about determining strategic priorities and action steps. Logan and Carlton start this chapter by inviting the reader to consider potential barriers to successful refocusing: resistance to planning, fear of failure, living by ’shoulds’, and negative self-talk. With these in mind, the authors provide open-ended questions: “What do you want to accomplish?” “What are possible ways to get there?” “Which path will you choose?” “What will you do?” “How will you measure your progress?”
The “Resource” layer focuses on providing support and encouragement. Once again it’s a matter of asking open-ended questions. “What resources do you need to accomplish your goals?” “What resources do you already have?” “What resources are missing?” “Where will you find the resources you need?” I found the section on the coach’s resourcing role affirming and challenging. Yes - a coach can make connections and network the person being coached. But there’s a point at which a coach can become overpowering. I’ve made a commitment to get feedback on how useful my resourcing is.
The “Review” layer focuses on evaluation, celebration and revision of plans. The two key questions here are “What is working?” and “What isn’t working?”. I’m challenged by section on celebration to find practical ways to express affirmation for people I’m coaching. This section includes helpful evaluative questions to fine tune the coaching relationship.
Each chapter ends with an opportunity for individual or group reflection, often incorporating a sense of spiritual or theological formation. Many of the coaching examples given relate to people with responsibility for Christian communities. However the principles and questions outlined in the book would be transferable in a wide range of settings, in and outside faith environments.
Duncan Macleod posts on life, faith and culture in Australia, drawing from his involvement in the creative industry, the Uniting Church, the blogosphere, generational research, the emerging church and life on the Gold Coast.
I flew in to Melbourne from Brisbane on Friday night, so only got into The Factory (
I’m working through 
