AUDIO
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Phillip Jensen speaks on Anger as part of a series on emotions in the Christian life, delivered at the Australia Day Convention 2010
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Small is beautiful - the US Marines Counter Insurgency Field Manual says so:
Remember: Small is beautiful
A-48. Another tendency is to attempt large-scale mass programs, In particular, Soldiers and Marines tend to apply ideas that succeeded in one area to another area… Often small-scale programs succeed because of local conditions or because their size kept them below the enemy’s notice and helped them flourish unharmed...Keep programs small. This makes them cheap, sustainable, low key, and (importantly) recoverable if they fail. Leaders can add new programs - also small, cheap, and tailored to local conditions - as the situation allows.
We too easily under-estimate the force of really good simple and small ideas. Here are 3 brilliant small and simple ideas I have heard in the last week:
- The Hallway Challenge - how simple is this idea? Have a pile of gospels on your landing pad where you keep the mobile & wallet. Before you head out door, stop & pray for opportunity to give one away that day.
- Invite mum to church for Mothers Day - gotta be a no brainer, but I didn’t think of it. Did you?
- start a running group. No link with this one yet as its in it’s infancy. Pete was talking to me about this one after church on Sunday. He’s a keen runner (we’ve got a few at church.) He’s been thinking about how to connect with his mates and talk to them about Jesus. Why not start a running group? He could work out a training program that would help them finish City to Surf and maybe go on to the Blackmore’s Half Marathon. We could maybe even tap into Anglicare’s winter appeal for the charity support side of City to Surf. Get fit. Get to know that Christians aren’t as weird as you may fear. Connect with locals that are unchurched - that sounds good. We could even have a Celebratory Sunday the week after City to Surf - get someone from Anglicare to say thanks and talk about what they do. Preach about ‘physical training is of some value..’ You can see there’s some work to do on it yet. But its simple, small, local… and it might just work.
Last week, I copped a bit of flak for the story on Mars Hill Global being too negative. Some comments asked where the positive ideas were.
OK. Here is your chance. Give us your one small simple idea. How can you best connect to the tribes around you? It can be something you’re doing, something you’ve heard of, something you’d like to do.
My wife and I have been trying hard on the last point...serving our neighbours; bringing in their bins, mowing the nature strips etc.
that resurgence link is gold - worth a click. The first idea is one David Mansfield convinced me of years ago & would change the Diocese if we did it:
I tend to agree...we held a driveway BBQ with our 3 neighbours who share our common driveway at Christmas. It was excellent and we'll do it as an annual event, but we need to do meals more often in casual/less organised ways.
We've advertised through the local school newsletter and are looking to promote our initiative in the local press also. Word of mouth has also started getting around about what we are doing.
To date we have 'blessed' two gardens and have a number lined up for the coming six weeks or so.
We've also had a running group going for the last couple of years and this has been a great way to build friendships within the church and reach out to others. Getting a group together for the City to Surf is a great idea and fundraising for Anglicare is a great incentive and excuse to get out and promote your church and what you're doing. Just imagine if 30 or 40 churches entered teams of ten or more in the race this year, with each team decked out in singlets and t-shirts advertising their church and their web site? Anglicare also runs an outreach event at the end of the race each year in partnership with St. Andrews in Bondi.
For those interested in checking out the USMC/US Army Counterinsurgency Field Manual without forking out the big bucks, an online version (13.64Mb) is located here.
According the Sydney Morning Herald today the neighbourhood BBQ is now very counter-cultural.
Hugh Mackay picks up on the theme of Australians' lack of participation in community in the latest edition of the Griffith Review. Two of the key reasons he suggests for the breakdown in community is the dramatic increase in the number of single-person households and the increased 'mobility' of Australians - moving house every five-to-six years on average.
The most important ingredient in establishing connections in the community is one we seem to have so little of these days: time. How often these days when you ask some one “How are you?” do you hear the reply “Busy!” when in the past it was just “OK”?
I think we need to be really intentional with how we seek to build relationships in our communities. Finding time to have a dinner with neighbours is great, but planning to make time for ongoing and meaningful interactions with folks will require planning, paitience and sacrifice.
Even counterinsurgency guru David Kilcullen would agree that small-scale activities at the local level will only achieve the desired effect if they are part of a broader and synchronised campaign to which adequate resources have been directed.
It meets on Saturday mornings at 6:30am and runs for 40 minutes - we have a great coastal location here. We do 'out and back' courses where we al turn at 20 minutes, which means that slower and faster sub-groups still tend to finish at about the same time.
We have a coffee afterwards - those who can stay - and solve the problems of the world. More talking.
Now some older retired guys at church have started a men's walking group. Same basic format. At this stage only guys from church - however again that's really good for relationships, which men sometimes need help with! But plenty of potential to invite friends along.
St Mark's West Wolllongong have had something like this for ages.
some good ideas
Sandy - I was encouraged to realise there will be a need for some very slow back markers in this running group - I may have found myself a niche ministry.
Carlingford has had a walking group for a few years - did great things.
Michael
Has Connect 09 got people doing things they wouldn't have done anyway?
In regards to whether Connect09 is making a difference, it certainly is to me and some others at St Michael's. Check out our church's blog here, where we have started to let people share ideas and activities.
If Driscoll can vodcast, so can we.
The person currently doing taping can add one gadget to his collection, namely, a video camera pointed in the right direction.
We don't vodcast.
We are progressively developing and adding bits of video content to www.stmarks.com.au with the idea that people who are thinking of coming along get some sense of what they will experience. This is the logic behind our FAQ page as well.
So far we have a 'welcome from the pastor', a 'taste of our children's ministry' and a video promoting our 'Jesus: an introduction course' that is starting this week. Our video stuff is nothing flash, but then neither are we.
most of us aren't flash & I suspect you're ahead of the pack in having video content - so thanks for helping us all
have you got feedback from use of video?
do you have to have/be a boffin to make this work?
Michael
more simple ideas?
In April we did about 170,000 audio and video downloads.
Nobody has singled out video, but first timers often comment on how much they like the website (stmarks.com.au) which is a little bit ironic because it is only supposed to be a 'temporary stopgap' one until I get around to initiating a proper project. I suspect that the video is a part of that.
We have a guy who is a video sub-editor working on documentaries and another enthusiastic amateur. They both have their own gear. The welcome video we did early just to get my face up there and we did it in about three takes (which kind of shows). The Jesus: An Introduction promo took about half an hour to shoot and I'm told the editing was pretty straight forward. The Kids one took longer noth to shoot and edit.
Ultimately the plan is to have a little video for youth stuff, TRAX, play group, Growth groups plus some testimonies from members.
Craig
www.stmarks.com.au
If so does it fit in the context of connecting with the community?
Connect 09 has given me a new way to think about what I might have done anyway. Refresher tennis lessons in 2009 (I loved tennis and played comp as a teenager) has meant reaching a personal goal and also a great connection to the community. My fellow students are from vastly different racial and social backgrounds. I have started giving one lady a lift to class and meeting another one for practice on the weekends with our kids. I see this is as a brilliant way to connect with people, do things we all love and really get involved in each other's lives. (And get some exercise as well.)
In allocating my time I have been trying to keep a balance (!) between what I do within the church community and what I do in the wider community. I think this is key to making sure we remain in touch, rather than losing perspective because we are surrounded by too few influences.