futurechurch is people and groups who are moving beyond critiquing the mainstream church,

towards building networks, theologies, communities and practices

that connect faith and life in ways that help us both make sense of

and engage with the world around us, and make sense of our tradition.

It is open and questioning, tending to focus on an incarnational God, and with an openness to encounter God anywhere along the way.

If you are part of futurechurch through your dreams or practice, this gathering is for you.

MORE about the conference ethos

Who was Behind Prodigal Journeys?

The Prodigal Journeys gathering was facilitated by people from the Auckland church communities of Cityside Baptist, St Matthew in the City Anglican, and St Lukes Presbyterian, along with the Futurechurch Project's Rosemary Neave.

Animators:  Brenda Rockell: Cityside Baptist,   Glynn Cardy: St Mattew-in-the-City, Kevin Ward: School of Ministry Dunedin, Margaret Mayman: St Andrews-on-the-Terrace, Rosemary Neave: initiator Futurechurch NZ,  Steve Taylor: Opawa Baptist, Susan Jones: Opoho Presbyterian 

THE FIRST FUTURECHURCH CONFERENCE
……at St. Luke’s Presbyterian Church, Remuera, 12 to 15th October 2005
 
Bruce Tasker reflects
 
Conference sent Kiwis home to every corner of NZ with hearts and minds of renewing inspiration, with contacts, lists of ideas, support and the confidence to initiate. But initiate what? And, what could be so exciting? Among the suggestions was that faith was justified, that they’d found new hope, they were not alone but part of a loving fellowship, that they were challenged and had found their “voice”.
 
I’d been asked to report on Conference and arrived with huge expectations and a dose of cynicism. On the last day I felt excitement and a sense of future for the church.
 
We were a ‘mixed bag’ of Traditionalists, Evangelicals and Progressives. Numbers weren’t equal (ranged between 50 and 100 daily) but the ‘listening’ meant the voices were heard and at the heart of it all was something to do with integrity and relevance.
 
We began Wednesday, making new friends and renewing old friendships. Steve Taylor and Margaret Mayman – with Rosemary Neave facilitating - led us into a discussion on whether to “connect, disconnect, with whom and how,” mostly related to worship. I felt they were missing the boat, that the Spirit in the 21st century was breaking out elsewhere and wasn’t waiting for the church to catch up or make connections.
 
The word “tradition” seemed to dominate the first day. No one wanted to be the one to end traditions. Was that a problem? What was left to be evangelical about? Were the progressives getting left behind just talking to themselves? Were they being left out of the picture being painted by the Spirit?
 
One traditional voice wanted people to “be careful to not criticise….What is the future of church when we haven’t explored current church and lived it out?”  This voice indicates the diversity at conference. ‘Variety’ and ‘range’ were words frequently heard. Tolerance was questioned, and I did wonder whether experienced faith can be nurtured in current church.
 
Steve seemed to see the Spirit working in the secular world; no grand cosmic union or religious theory, but a great variety of inspirational practices. My question for Steve is, “Isn’t it necessary to have a strong 21st century philosophy and theology in order to replace the baggage of Dualism?” 
 
We ended Wednesday wondering what the shape of 21st century church or theology would be, and what direction conference would go in?
 
I loved the food but something in it didn’t love me. Was that going to be a metaphor for Thursday the second day of conference, much of which was to be about metaphor. Some workshops dealt with practicalities like running “Spirited Conversations” in cafes. Others wrestled with the word ‘God’. Still others explored the “Cosmic Walk”.
 
The evening session on metaphor didn’t quite get going. The presenters did well, but had we set ourselves too big a task? Are metaphors, like the non-real, too difficult for humans to handle? I found myself asking, “Is it possible to take “Church” and “God” into the 21st century? Is church, as much as we like it, giving us indigestion?”
 
Perhaps the session on metaphor told us more about ourselves, our history and humanity than it told us about modern metaphor. To me the mistake has been the way the 20th century seemed “hell bent” on objectifying myth and metaphor, on making real the non-real, on proving there’s a supernatural when all is perfectly natural for those whose natural is big enough.
 
Friday was marked by animated groups of 2 or 3, 4 or 5. Out of the sharing of experiences and challenges, the conference began to come together. Participants found that many of them had moved to the fringe of what we were uncomfortably calling ‘church’. We were unfolding wonderful initiatives like E-church (emailing), Surfing the WEB, and Blogging. A ‘Focus on the Sacred’ Group, Silent Group, Walk, Talk and Meditate Meetings. A Garden Group and the two guys who bought a Pub to have their Church there. It was clear we wanted a ‘bank’ of ‘being church’ ideas.
 
Friday ended with a moving moment of enriched contemplation. Can you imagine walking through the side door into the sanctuary like walking through the wardrobe into another world? We passed primal sounds, then followed a circuit summarising traditional sacraments centred into the moment. It wasn’t all happy by any means but touched our compassion for humanity, made us wonder at our heritage in Jesus, and was also a blessing, starting us on letting go to go home.
 
Most of us returned Saturday morning to share and acknowledge our bond in giving and ‘service’.
 
Quote: Steve Taylor page 22 “The Out of Bounds Church”. A Baptist Minister – Evangelical Tradition
 
“…..over time and with the help of our tech-centred world, we have grown to distrust the idea of the overarching story that can be used to make sense of everything. Our thinking has fragmented into many privatised stories.”
 
This looks very secular to me Steve. Is that where we’re going?
 
Could facing up to the 21st century bring evangelicals and progressives together?

Steve’s book, like conference, lists dozens of ways of being church.