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SIMILAR
NETWORKS TO FUTURECHURCH
|
emergingchurch.info
A touching place for the emerging church
- an excellent website with discussion,
stories, reflection, blogs and more.
|
emergingchurch.info
The statistics on church growth in the UK and Europe make fairly depressing
reading and the media, when showing any interest in the church at
all, generally focuses in on the negatives, there is another side
to the story.
One of the most encouraging and exciting developments over recent
years has been the significant rise in the number of new expressions
and experiments of christian communities more commonly referred to
as 'the emerging church'.
Discovering what exactly is happening however is no easy task. The
idea was born therefore to develop some kind of forum where stories
could be told and reflected upon as well as opportunity being given
for people to enter into debate on the issues surrounding these new
ways of being church. " |
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Spirited Exchanges is an umbrella name for a variety of NZ initiatives. It grows from a recognition of the fact that many people of all ages are struggling with issues related to faith and the church. For all sorts of reasons, people are leaving the church.
Some leave their faith behind as well, a number even find a stronger, more mature faith outside the church. They have an excellent newsletter and groups that meet in various centres in NZ. |
| Open
Source Theology |
The
purpose of this site is to assist the development of a transparent,
community-driven theology for the 'emerging church'. If you're
new here, have a look at the Introduction to Open Source Theology
and the Rules of engagement. There is an overview of the content of
the site here. This is meant to be a collaborative project so
feel free to collaborate! |
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Call
To Action is a large network advocating change in the Catholic
church - they have a large annual conference and smaller regional
ones, they maintain a register of small christian communities. "we
believe the Spirit of God is at work in the whole church, not just
in its appointed leaders" |
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Explore
Faith - spiritual guidance for anyone seeking a path to
God
"We believe in an embracing, forgiving and merciful God whose
chief characteristic is love. We believe God is constantly reaching
out to us and that we can experience the heart of God through Jesus
Christ. We believe that Christ bridges the chasms that separate us
from God, and we seek to follow Christ's teachings in faith and action".
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Sojourners,
Washington 
|
From the home of
Sojourners Magazine, comes
this excellent e-zine - up to date christian comment on world events,
current news in and out of the church."We are a Christian ministry
whose mission is to proclaim and practice the biblical call to integrate
spiritual renewal and social justice." |
A
New Way of being Church
 |
A
New Way of Being Church is a network who seek to co-operate
with Jesus Christ in the formation of God's new order of justice,
love and peace. "We encourage people engaged in transforming
the places where they live and work into communities of hope. We provide
workshops, publications, a resource library and this website."
UK based group building on the insights of the basic christian
community movement, especially giving workshops in setting up
groups.
Key books include: Walking in the Same Direction - a new way of
being church by Jeanne Hinton |
The
Iona Community
 |
The
Iona Community was founded in 1938 by the Rev George MacLeod.
It is an ecumenical Christian community that is committed to
seeking new ways of living the Gospel in today's world. Over sixty
years on, the Community is still committed to a spirituality of engagement
and challenge and continues to thrive as a dispersed group of members,
associates and friends from many walks of life based all over the
UK and in many other countries. |
|
Faith
Futures Foundation
|
FaithFutures
Foundation: working together for the future of faith.
This is one response to a widely perceived need for new ways to
express and explore the sacred knowledge that we have inherited
from the past through our religions and spiritual traditions. Links,
resources,directory of groups around the world, study guides and
other useful information.
|
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Eremos Insitutute,
Australia A forum and support for individuals and communities
to explore, express and deepen their spirituality within an Australian
context. They run Retreats, have an excellent journal.
'Eremos' is Greek for 'wilderness' or 'desert place'. Begun in 1983
in Sydney, retreats were a major focus of our early days. In entering
the 'wilderness' or 'desert', we discover what is most essential
to us, who we truly are and what we are called to be by our God.
Eremos reminds people that spiritual matters are central to who
we are. We encourage dialogue among Christians of all backgrounds
including voices of those outside of the Church structures who expand
and enliven the dialogue. This community of voices is a unique
organisation. It builds bridges between diverse people. It finds
common grounds for relating.
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|
 Community
of Aidan and Hilda
|
Community
of Aidan and Hilda: this is a world-wide fellowship which
seeks to to live out Christianity as a complete way of life. Being
wholly available to the Holy Trinity and to the way of Jesus as revealed
to us in the Bible, we seek to cradle a spirituality for today: -
weaving together the separate strands of Christianity - healing the
land - resourcing people. In the earthing of this aim, members draw
inspiration from Celtic saints such as Aidan and Hilda. |
| META-NET
UK |
Meta-Net
is Network of Networks There are many networks within Britain and
Ireland that broadly share the following aims:
An openness to new expressions of church
A desire to explore the meaning of spirituality
An awareness of the connections between prayer, reflection, meditation,
retreat, and action for change, justice and peace in the world
an integrated spirituality
A commitment to the pursuit of unity in diversity: to the ecumenical
movement in its broadest form, embracing the whole earth.
|
| ZANY
CHRISTIAN SITES |
The
Ship of Fools
The Magazine
of Christian Unrest
|
The Ship
of Fools is a FANTASTIC and IRREVERENT website
Home of the Mystery worshipper (you can sign up to be one,
or check out comments from other worshippers around the world about
churches near u and how they rate. Eg HTB get 2 out of 10 The
services are friendly enough at HTB, home of the Alpha Course, but
the church's famous chill factor for visitors hoping for a little
human warmth after the service freezes one of our Mystery Worshippers.
Other things presently posted on the front page include:
Notes from a muddy field Welcome to the holiday camp where
men learn how to be "dangerous to the powers of darkness" while
women get to cook, look pretty and keep house. Ms. Sarky Cow
posts her diary from a muddy field.
Ordination and Irrigation Isn't it time you visited the Essene
New Life Church website, where you can uniquely experience the blessings
of both ordination and colonic irrigation? Find out more in the
Fruitcake Zone. Ship
of Fools Cafe where you can chat on line with other sailors.
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de-churched
Surviving Modern Christianity and its Oponents
|
De-Churched
is a NZ born site - "This is a niche site. Occasionally
humour if you're lucky. It requires thinking. Leave now, if you
arrived by mistake." The proposition: A dechurched believer
can have a living faith in Jesus Christ
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Emergent Village
A Generative Friendship Among Missional Christians Around The World
 |
Emergent is a friendship. Becoming a part of a friendship is a quite different from being part of an organization. It's more like joining a conversation.
"We feel that exciting things are afoot, and bright and challenging days are ahead, calling for courageous people and vibrant communities of faith, hope, and love. We hope that you'll become part of this emerging conversation and this growing, global, generative friendship."
"If you are a spiritual leader, Emergent exists to help you help others love God and neighbors in the context of the emerging postmodern culture. This growing generative friendship has enriched many of our lives in profound ways in recent years, and we hear the same from people all over the world. We hope you will find the same to be true in your experience. Welcome" |
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Alt.Worship
in Bradford UK worshipping with honesty, integrity and creativity.
Good resources page, including downloadable images |
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This
Alt.Worship site provides you with a single point of contact
for Alternative
Worship sites worldwide and direct you to resources for understanding
what Alternative Worship is (and is not) Route you through to places
where you can get resources that will help you and those with you
to create Alternative Worship of your own |
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It's hard to describe
Visions
in one sentence! A place where you can be yourself, with all your
doubts, fears and messiness and people will accept you anyway. we're
also a bunch of Christians interested in deepening our faith journey
through discovering and using our talents in the visual arts, dance
music, and technology.
Multi-media resources for sale. |
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One
Small Barking Dog is another UK based alt.worship site with
lots of resources some for sale and ideas on how to create your own. |
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Small
fire
alternative worship photo archive
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Small Fire
has some great photos of about 20 different groups at
worship, in worship, in meeting - fantastic archive. "The movement
known a 'alternative worship' has released the creative and artistic
gifts of many people; but the fruits of their labours often last
only a short time. Environments of startling beauty come and go
in a night like desert flowers, seen by just a few... But photographs
can only hint at the experience - the music, the discussion, the
sense of relaxation, the scent of incense or fruit, the taste of
bread and wine, the presence of God..."steve
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At Vurch.com
you can type in a prayer, read those of others, while a barely present
message flashes "don't go to church" (go to vurch.com). In room with
a view vurchgoers are invited to "flex their theological muscles,
open their loving hearts and join an online discussion of the kind
it would be great to find in one of those buildings they used for
church in an earlier millennium".You can visit the blue room
and the dream room where there is music and excellent guided meditation.You
can add a 30 second prayers 30 second thoughts and 30 second notices
- some great stuff here - definately worth a visit. |
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Reframe
Perth Western Australia
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REFRAME
is a safe place to REFRAME the way we look at church, Christianity,
the whole Kingdom of God. REFRAMERS are people here in Perth,
Western Australia, who try to look at living their Christian life
from fresh perspectives. Who try to recognise God in unexpected places.
Who hope and struggle for more incarnational ways to live, share &
convey their faith. Who are trying to love God with their whole
life, with full integrity. If that's your journey, you know how easy
it is to be misunderstood, and how lonely it can be sometimes.
Well, you're welcome to share roads & loads with us. It's a safe
place to unpack & repack; to deconstruct & reconstruct. We're
here to stimulate & support each other. |
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Godspace
Every month, on the second Sunday, a small group of us run a contemplative
exercise, called "Godspace". We call it that because it's when we
make space & time in our lives to do nothing but practice "attending"
to God, practice listening, or contemplating, or meditating, or silence.
Those quieting activities which give us eyes and ears to recognise
more of God's presence in the whole arena of our lives. The other
artistic / dialogue activities we do help facilitate the Godspace
moments. |
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PROGRESSIVE
CHRISTIANITY LINKS |
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Join this US based Alliance for Progressive
Christianity
Religion doesn't have to be irrelevant, ineffectual, repressive...
Do you find more grace in the search for meaning than in absolute
certainty, in the questions rather than in the answers?
Do you have religious interests and longings but cannot accept the
beliefs and dogmas you associate with Christianity?
Are you repelled by claims that Christianity is the "only way"?
You can become an affiliate either as an organisation or as an
individual, join the mailing list or simply surf the site. Check
out their Key Points
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The
Centre is open to any and to all who wish to explore a more
progressive, open theology and spirituality in a safe environment.
It stands in deep contrast to a general tendency which often requires
that our theology and spiritual journey be built on what should
be believed.
|
International Network of
Progressive Christian Networks |
Links to Progressive Networks around the world More |
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Radical
Faith: Exploring the fundamentals of faith in a changed
world: a Durham based site with good articles and links.
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Common
Sense Christianity You can be faithful to what Jesus
taught, in a way that makes sense, without denying your questions,
or abandoning science, or checking your mind at the church door!
The purpose of this website is to provide a way to hold Jesus central
in our faith-lives, without calling him God, or relying on outdated
and unintelligible doctrines -- and without abandoning modern science,
ignoring the suffering in the world, or pretending that we have
all the answers. It also provides a firm basis for us non-traditional
believers can call ourselves Christians, and explains why we share
the same faith as other Christians even when we disagree on our
beliefs.
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Living the Questions: an unapologetically liberal alternative to the alpha course ...
LtQ is a 12 week program of Christian invitation, initiation and spiritual formation built around the same effective small group processes as Alpha, but featuring DVD presentations by progressive pastors and scholars. The DVD materials are backed up by extensive printed resources that can be downloaded from the internet by registered users.
An Australian gateway |
CHRISTIANITY
AND CULTURE
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These links were originally from the Deepsite.org website which seems to have disappeared.
Karl
Barth Online
Great Britain's
Gospel and Culture homepage
The
Christian Theology Page
Association for Religion
and Intellectual Life
The Australian Theological
Forum
SIFT - Society
for the Integration of Faith and Thought
The Damaris Project
Christian
Faith and Postmodernity
First Things
The Gospel and Our
Culture Network
Mission
Discussion Lists
The
Christian Worldview Webpage Good section on culture -
good link to review about harry potter and why it is different to
cs Lewis
Christian
critic's movie parables Quite good reviews of a lot of
movies, but the christian parable side is a bit thin in my opinion,
with little deep questioning.
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Links
to Resources
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We are passionate
about worship that authentically communicates to today's digital culture.
Our goal for Midnight
Oil is to further the vision of worship for the digital age
through ideas, resources and seminars that work for local churches.
The vision for Midnight Oil began in 1998 and the ministry in April
2002. It is the continuation of a calling that started for each of
us a long time ago, and has developed through our work at Ginghamsbug
Church and Lumicon Digital Productions, as well as through our teaching,
speaking, and with The Wired Church, Digital Storytellers, and our
Fresh Out of the Box series of resources. Keep in touch with new resources
by joining their mailing list. |
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Wild
Goose Publications is part of the Iona Community established
in the Celtic Christian tradition of St Columba, produces books on
social justice, political and peace issues, holistic spirituality,
healing, and innovative approaches to worship, including music (books,
tapes, CDs), short drama scripts and material for personal reflection
and group discussion. info on the iona community also on the site.
Well set up site for ordering online. |
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The
Scriptorium: Building blocks for creative worship Encouraging
the development of personal and corporate spiritual journey by providing
building blocks for creative worship rooted in the christian tradition.
A public Internet based library of original art and other building
blocks that may be freely used for creative Christian worship. You
can upload and download resources for a small fee. |
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multisensoryworship
- a website full of links to Emerging Church sites, multi media resources
and more... |
Links
to Training Opportunities CLICK HERE
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Other
New Zealand Links
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Spiritual Growth
Ministries is a network of people who find depth and meaning
through the Christian heritage of contemplative spirituality. The
Spiritual Growth Ministries Trust aims to enable people to develop
spiritual resources for their life and work by deepening their relationship
with God in Jesus Christ through spiritual direction, formation
of spiritual directors, retreats and other experiences of prayer.
|
Peace
and Justice Links
|
NZ Forum of the Christian Left |
FOCaL is set up to give a forum for those who hold to a progressive Christian faith and ‘left of centre’ political convictions. While not wishing to deny conservative Christians or conservative politicians their right to express their point of view, we feel that our society and the church needs to hear the voices of the Christian left. Set up Aug 2005 |
 |
Anyone can be a peacemaker. The
Bruderhof Peacemakers Guide was created to inspire and empower
you to work for peace, and to arm you with living proof of the power
of nonviolence to effect change and resolve conflicts. Some of the
peacemakers featured on this website are famous, others obscure,
but all have dedicated their lives to building a more peaceful and
just world through nonviolent means. For each you will find a short
biography, an original portrait, and links to further reading.
We've also supplied you with ammunition to help you convince those
who doubt the practicality of nonviolence. In this section you'll
find writings on nonviolence, reconciliation, conflict resolution,
pacifism, and conscientious objection to military service, as well
as freely downloadable e-books on peace-related themes. Don't miss
our popular "This Week in Peacemaking History" calendar.
|
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Word and World is an ecumenical and inclusive moveable institute offering radical education and training, worship and celebration, and community-building for Christian disciples involved in the work of social transformation, endeavouring to bridge the gulfs between "seminary, sanctuary, and the streets,"
The vision for Word and World draws inspiration from such historical precedents as: the Finkenwalde seminary of the Confessing Church of Germany; the Freedom Schools of the Civil Rights movement; the "womenchurch" experiments of Christian feminism; the base community movement animated by liberation theology; the radically biblical "underground seminary" of nonviolent resistance in the 1970s and 80s; and several political models of popular education such as union schools, the Highlander Center and the Center for Popular Economics.
In NZ, contact Anthony Dancer in Nelson |
Other Overseas Links |
Church
without Walls
Scotland
 |
Church
without Walls is the title of the report written for the Church
of Scotland in 2001.
It urges us to think about how we can be the church for a new millenium
in ways which are relevant and meaningful for the people of Scotland.
These pages are an anthology of stories and resources written for,
and by, everyone in the Church of Scotland. Their purpose is to
help churches form networks and find information about Church without
Walls.
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The
Open Door Community
Atlanta Georgia |
The
Open Door Community is a residential community in the Catholic
Worker tradition (we¹re sometimes called the only Protestant
Catholic Worker House!). We seek to dismantle racism, sexism and heterosexism,
abolish the death penalty, and create the Beloved Community on Earth
through a loving relationship with some of the most neglected and
outcast of God¹s children: the homeless and our sisters and brothers
who are in prison |
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Cafe
Church, Glebe, Sydney
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sunday nites @7:30pm-ish
Thursday's @ 8pm in the CafeChurch
space corner of St Johns Rd & Colbourne Ave Glebe, Sydney everybody
welcome
informality reflection listening spiritual
nomads creative idea processing truth seeking jesus
coffee swearing passionate quality music
cake artists dance free parking crying pets
candlelight interactive input speaking love
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Pretty funky graphics
and images and messages from bruce@embody experiments in spiritual
interaction - be warned you need shockwave and flash and other plug-ins
a great site to explore when you have some contemplative time and
are not scared of the technology! |
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MOOT
Creative and explorative
Christian activity in the City
LONDON
|
moot:net
is the online presence for moot at St.Matthews, Westminster,
London, UK
moot is a nascent community of spiritual travellers who are seeking
to find a means of living a life that is honest to god and honest
to now. moot seeks to make connections and find inspirations in
the meeting of faith, life and culture. moot looks to the christian
call for justice, equity and balance as a means of living politically
and ethically. we recognise the inspiration of saints, mystics and
artists throughout the centuries.
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NZedge.com
This site is Kevin Roberts of Saachi and Saachi's way of connecting
the diaspora of NZers around the world. The media section has links
to online journals around the world, and has an excellent section
on spirituality.
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St
Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church, San Francisco meets in a
building specially designed to reflect the community's faith and
the way it wants to worship. Here you find progressive christianity,
liturgy strongly influenced by orthodox and jewish colour and ritual,
built around a philosopy of all being welcome at the table, in a
building filled with icons of dancing saints such as Theresa of
Avila, Harvey Milk and Lady Godiva and her horse. It is FABULOUS,
there is no other word to describe it. Their website says:
Our liturgy includes singing, prayer, conversation,
simple dance, and Eucharist.
Rich Traditions -- Honest Questions --
Shared Experience .
"The one thing truly worthwhile is becoming God's friend."
-- Saint Gregory of Nyssa
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The Labyrinth is an archetype, a divine imprint, found in all religious traditions in various forms around the world. By walking a replica of the Chartres labyrinth, laid in the floor of Chartres Cathedral in France around 1220, we are rediscovering a long-forgotten mystical tradition that is insisting to be reborn.
The labyrinth has only one path so there are no tricks to it and no dead ends. The path winds throughout and becomes a mirror for where we are in our lives. It touches our sorrows and releases our joys. Walk it with an open mind and an open heart. For more about Grace Cathedral Labyrinth project, to find labyrinths around the world, to walk one on line, click here or for articles on this site about the labyrinth click here
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This Labyrinth site has some excellent theology, theory, articles on post modern culture and ritual. from the alt.worship networks. |
