Readings 3

Spirituality in the City
Andrew walker (Editor) (SPCK 2005)



In this as so many areas, the education of the spirit is inseparably bound to highly practical challenges. If - as St Frances de Sales is supposed to have said - spiritual direction begins when people are helped to walk more slowly, talk more slowly and eat more slowly, then the life of the spirit in the city will entail asking about the size of rooms in public buildings, the flow of traffic on the streets, the levels of atmospheric pollution, the maintenance of parks, galleries and libraries, the space available for children in public - and countless other matters where decisions are regularly taken as though none of these could possibly be an issue. (Rowan Williams in Spirituality in the city, p24)

In recent times studies on space and place have seen an integration of the discussion of cities which usually focuses on planning, architecture, and economics, to incorporate the need to address the philosophical, theological, and spiritual aspects of cities. Albeit that this set of essays reflects much upon cities in Britain, this is still a very interesting little volume to read and reflect upon the every expanding city-scapes in New Zealand and the implications for faith. This book was specially commissioned by the London Centre for Spirituality and invites nine writers to help engage us with the nature of ‘spirituality’ and the urban environment of the city.
Each essay provides a different facet to spirituality in the city and offer more than a ‘sentimental’ celebration of the city. Rather, these essays are a serious attempt to understand ‘urban spirituality’ and a politic, if you like, of the built environment where insights of the work of God are discerned or made visible. So Mark Oakley writes of ‘Reclaiming Faith’ exploring the ‘intimations of the sacred –rumours of God’ (7,8) that shape faith in the city. Hence, each notes in their own way the ways in which ‘Urban life,… is at once dangerous and creative…’(R. Williams,17).
I especially appreciated essays from:
Rowan Williams, ‘Urbanisation, the Christian Church and the human Project’. Williams seeks to offer a ‘rough sketch’ of the themes and concerns that might inform an ‘urban spirituality’ with the role of the church needing some careful thought. Reflect upon the challenges he notes the use and organization of time, the question of ‘character’, life lived under the ‘sign of anonymous exchange’.
He tells us that:
We need to rescue spirituality from some of the ways in which it has been domesticated,. …. It becomes only a code for techniques of making people feel a bit better about themselves… where the Spirit makes people ‘uncomfortable about themselves and their environment, critical and creative, open to things being different. (24)
Williams wants a Church to know it has something distinct from the surrounding culture and yet has something distinct to offer society that is more humanizing.

Philip Sheldrake, ‘Cities and Human Community’; considering a theology of place, in particular aiming to hold together urbs (the physical place, buildings, etc) and civitas (people and their life together). HE offers a ‘perspective’ that considers the crisis of place engaging with writers such as Augustine, Sennet, and Augé. In regard to De Certeau he takes up the practice of the city and ‘resistance’ to systems that leave no room for otherness. In conclusion he notes some spiritual issues especially the city as a place of reconciliation.

Bernadette Flanagan, ‘Urban Spirituality, One size does not fit all’, provides an excellent overview of six models of contextual spirituality, based upon Stephen Bevans snapshots of the ways Christians go about exploring the presence of God in different contexts they find themselves in. Flanagan provides helpful insights to each model with examples. This is a very concise, yet provocative essay with wide theological and social awareness beyond ‘new ways of being church’.

Andrew Davey, ‘The Spirituality of everyday life’. HE asks what is so different about prayer/spirituality in the city? How does the urban context affect the way we pray; and vice versa? What strategies and practices might we adopt?
Davey notes ways in which our ‘Location is vital. The places where we live, work, worship and encounter others are an essential part of the formation of our spirituality and theology.’(106)While the context(s) may not be very conducive to spirituality he does admit that ‘Cities are places of possibility and encounter’ (108) in which congregations can create spaces.

Andrew Walker, ‘Urban Possibilities for daydreaming’. Seeks to take the prayer of Examen and explore the dynamics of this as a suitable and apt form of prayer to the demands and pressures of urban life. This essay is well worth consideration as it is easily applicable to adapt to any urban context and its challenge for reading the cityscape environment, but in relationship to God.
There are some repeated themes throughout and some essays will strike you more than others. While each writer is aware of the dangerous, more negative side of the city, on the whole each is hopeful of the city. I wonder about the marginal voices and what they might say about spirituality in the city and whether they might take us to other depths not greatly expressed in this work. Furthermore, this volume may have benefited from an attempt to draw out the common themes, and identify the agenda more clearly as a way to indicate ways forward. However, this is a worthy collection.

Readings 2

Church After Christendom

Stuart Murray (Paternoster 2004)



In this book Murray continues his helpful analysis of post-Christendom churches. Part 1 explores issues of ‘Shape’ taking Acts 11 v1-18 as a paradigm to consider the shifts from Christendom to Post-Christendom. The key question is How might the church emerge or evolve? Murray teases out the issues of belonging, believing and behaving after Christendom and the complexities of this. I especially found helpful the clarity of his analysis and critique of the notions of centred, bounded and fuzzy set models of how we understand church. In particular, he considers the degrees of alienation and the language we make use of here, e.g. Semi-churched, de-churched etc. Rightly, I think, perhaps because I personally have issues about such language, he states,

‘This language is problematic, not least in its omission of any reference to other faith communities and its Christendom-orientated assumption that ‘churched’ is the cultural norm, rather than a counter-cultural experience. And it categorises attitudes towards church rather than Christian faith.’(25/6)

There is a chapter that critiques matters of leavers and joiners, which picks up on the works of James Fowler, Alan Jamieson and others. Murray then explores matters of church emerging or evolving. In some ways this is irresolvable at present, but I did like the probing, questing and the search for wisdom that we might learn from both inherited and emergent church.

Part 2 takes Ephesians 4 as biblical paradigm and Murray wants to ask the question What kind of church can survive and flourish in post-Christendom? The chapters that follow explore mission, community and worship. Within each, Murray takes terms and phrases that have become common use language in today’s church scene eg. Maintenance to mission, institution to movements, etc.. Across these chapters he considers evangelism, church discipline, leadership, rhythms and resources. He concludes,

Post-Christendom is a new environment…Ephesians 4 envisages a church united in hope(v4) confident in its destiny (v13) and getting on with the simple day-to-day business of speaking the truth in love (v15) and doing works of service (v12). If the church does survive the demise of Christendom, it will surely be a church sustained by simplicity and hope. (231 italics mine)

I say yes to that. I reckon that this second book (to what is now a series) is an invaluable that should help us frame our questions better in the new environment we find ourselves in. I appreciated the deep challenge, yet the refreshing ways that Murray provides open, honest analysis and critique. I found I couldn’t put this book down. It is a book I will probably need to keep returning to.

Readings 1

Been a while, but among other things I have been looking and planning ahead to Advent out in the community and whatb this might be for us.(More on that later. I also undertook some reading of new books this past month. So I will offer some review/reflections.

Post-Christendom Church and Mission in a strange new world.
Stuart Murray (Paternoster 2004)

In this book Stuart Murray seeks to move the discussion out of post-modernity/ism and to explore the other term that has become part of our vocabulary in recent times ‘Post- Christendom’. Murray offers an interesting perspective and seeks to make a case for ways the Church should respond to its changing status in society. He highlights key moments that were significant cultural and theological shifts that impacted the church’s mission for centuries. There is actually a necessary, though lengthy, historical introduction which helps set the context for his discussion. In the whistle-stop historical tour we move from the coming and expansion of Christendom where Augustine is figured as the significant figure in the Christendom shift, to the disintegration of Christendom, where Murray is particularly looking at the Reformation. In his reading of the reformers he states that ‘they introduced important changes but did not challenge the Christendom mindset’. Hence, as Murray points out; oaths, infant baptism, tithing, just war, use of Scripture to support the dominant culture, Old Testament taking precedence over the New, the marginalizing of Jesus, a ‘clergy caste’ who ‘performed services’ and an increased ‘dominance of monologue preaching’ and the operating with a ‘hermeneutic of order’ rather than justice, concern with church discipline, all reflect how the Reformers ‘hoped to transform society from the centre, but challenged none of the essential components of Christendom.’
It is perhaps at this juncture Murray’s Anabaptist perspective radically prods at those of us who are of a reformed tradition or background. Nonetheless, the book highlights how inaction, denial or hope in out-moded revivals are simply no longer options and calls for the church to accept that radical change is needed in all areas of mission and ministry. Indeed, it shows how a new mindset is required for actually 'being' church.
The legacy of Christendom in the vestiges and mindset that persist – ecclesial and social, Murray outlines some responses that we need to move beyond – denying, defending, dismissing, dissociating, demonizing, disavowing, disentangling, deconstructing, disembarking.
For all Christians concerned with the present and very real issues, Post-Christendom is an informative, hopeful and important account. However, its historical introduction, whilst necessary for setting the book in context, is overly critical and lengthy, and the book as a whole does perhaps betray a particular historical reading. Nevertheless, this does not undo the worthiness of this book.
The final chapter as he acknowledges, is not so much about resource answers, as matters of keeping on questioning. In conclusion, it rests upon a fresh encounter with Jesus at the margins of church and society, ‘since that is where Jesus is so often found’.
The helpful thing as you read through this book is that Murray persists with rigorous questioning that I think is vital to connect our inherited past (Christendom) with the present we encounter. This book challenged me and the questions raised should continue to engage us in our own context here in New Zealand, where perhaps some of these questions are more pointedly being faced. The post-Christendom of New Zealand is an interesting anomaly that has some huge deep running tensions within and among the churches. Also, post-christendom here has much to recover from, in a way, due to a very colonial christendom and how things have developed historically. This is too simplistic and otehrs will know much better, but...we need to do a similar reading for here(Unless osmeone can guide me to a source I am not aware of ).