Andrew Jones, known online as Tall Skinny Kiwi (after his blogging identity of ten years), was the guest speaker at tonight’s Forge Grassroots Festival in Melbourne, Australia.
Andrew grew up in Orewa, New Zealand, before moving to Perth in Western Australia. Tonight we heard about Andrew’s early fundamentalist street evangelism days - the importance of having a go and having encouragement to try things out. Since those days in the early 1980s Andrew has spent time working in and out of the United States, in Prague, in a campervan travelling around continental Europe, and now living in the Orkney Islands, Scotland.
Andrew is one of those guys who has you on the edge of your seat, wondering how it’s all going to turn out. He’s self-deprecating (as Kiwis know how), witty, and insightful, sometimes appearing to be surprised by the gems of understanding he passes on to us.
Tonight’s gems came from an exploration of what church planting looks like from a rhizome framework rather than multiplication model. He talked about the diversity of rhizomes, and the spreading wide rather than building high approach to sharing ideas, values, beliefs and action. We heard about the connection Gilles Deleuze made with the rhizome biology and philosophy, and how that inspired the World Wide Web framework.
Andrew’s thoughts on being prepared to risk reputation and associate with weirdos was a timely reminder to the Australian missional church movement not to be afraid to associate with those American Emergents who have been slated for their sloppy theology. Not that Andrew said that directly. But the message was there loud and clear in his own experience of moving from the position of a fundamentalist Baptist to a more relaxed Baptist who is available to work with whoever God places him with.
Sally Morgenthaler spoke this morning at the Forge Grassroots Mission conference in Melbourne. Known largely for her work in the contemporary worship scene, she’s moved in new directions in the last two years. She took down her web site, sacramentis.com, when she realised that the focus on bigger and better worship experiences was not helping ordinary people connect with ordinary people with the Christian gospel.
This morning Sally emerged with curly hair (blame it on the humidity she said), a few humorous stories about dealing with blunt Australian curiosity, and a down-to-earth exploration of what it’s really all about - the recovery of soul, integrity, being who we are called to be. Sally challenged us not to give in to the pressure to project ourselves as successful effective leaders. The emerging church scene, of the ‘missional’ variety, may be just as prone as any other subculture to the sentiment expressed in the bumper sticker, “Back off! You’re standing in my aura”.
Sally’s sessions this afternoon included a candid discussion of gender and leadership. Sadly, even here in Australia, people like Sally are challenged occasionally about their right to speak about issues beyond children and women’s ministry. Makes my blood boil.
I’m looking forward to seeing, hearing and reading more from Sally, as she develops new resources in the integration of humility, leadership and spiritual discernment. And, hopefully, a fresh approach to how we resource the worshipping life of the church.
Michael Frost, author of Exiles, and co-author of The Shaping of Things to Come, was the opening keynote speaker at the Forge Grassroots Festival. Describing himself as the grumpy guy at the start, he set about challenging the festivalgoers to aspire to action rather than mere insight.
Mike talked about the discovery that Yellow Fever was spread by mosquitos, a cause overlooked by the medical field for many years. Cuban doctor Carlos Finlay made the connection 100 years ago but was ignored. The same thing happens today when we overlook the impact of ‘dullness of understanding’ on the church. When people provide intellectual assent to missional concepts but do nothing with them, it’s like that mosquito. Epidemic uselessness.
