Cultivate Network

Well, our most recent Cultivate Gathering was on Saturday, March 20, 2010. It was a really good time. You can read posts about that specific gathering here. We will continue adding photos, videos, and posts over the course of the next few weeks, so check back.

In the meantime, you should mark your calendars with the date for the next Cultivate Gathering which is being planned for Saturday, October 23, 2010.

Experience: COMMUNION
Anne Campion leads us in communion

(Posted by Steve Calverley)

… A moment of quiet to begin the journey.  Let go.  Quiet your mind to be ready.

“Be.”

… Choices of celebration or community or solitude.  I chose community.

It was very good to experience Jesus and to be with friends on this journey.  It really was a “you had to be here” experience.  Peaceful.  Refreshing.  Warm.

Jesus-y.

Session #3: INNOVATING
Nate Gerber’s presentation on Kingdom In Modular

(Posted by Karen Puddicombe)

What is it? Life is so busy and we all live in a whirl wind of activities. It’s often difficult to slow down long enough to even think about what we feel or think. There are so many diverse images as to what our world means and what difference it makes for us to be part of it. What tools do we need to be innovative in this world of constant change. Nate used the visualization of sound synthesis to help us relate to the concept of the vastness of the data we need to organize. In the past to create we would search for the pieces and just put it together but now the world has such a vast array of pieces that being creative and understanding the volume of options super challenging. We need to seek the vision to resonate with where people are at. We need to be in the space as to where people are at and not just determine what the space is but rather create meaning with the new context in mind. The kingdom is alive and now. Present in the midst of all the confusion and modern thought is a God of here and now. Living within the social context. God spoke to the margin in a biblical context and still speak in and outside the margins today. In the midst of the vast awareness of God is the simplistic individual who is of value and has meaning. Where you are is where God is. Whatever wave length speaks best to you – God wants to communicate to your language. As quickly as the world changes God can keep up.

Session #3: INNOVATING
George Werner’s presentation on working within structures

(Posted by William Stanger)

So now it’s my turn to give some views on the next speaker, George Werner, whose topic is ‘Structures’. This session is based around the topic of innovating and is probably the session I am most looking forward to.

So far it has been a very helpful day for me. This is my second Cultivate Gathering and I haven’t been disappointed so far. The speakers have been informative and challenging. Also there have been some great conversations in the pod discussions. For someone like me who is in small town Ontario (Elliot Lake) working in a different church environment it is great to meet other people who are facing similar challenges, but in different cultural contexts.

George started off his session by saying that we are all probably part of a traditional structure, but looking at ways to innovate.

He asks the question of us: do you think of your denomination as a cell or a safety net; your superior as a cop or coach? Is your denomination a barrier or a bridge?

Why do denominations/organizations exist? Do we feel like we are always being asked to jump hurdles?

Every organization exists for a reason – so that the goals and values can be carried out. We are better together than individually. They exist to ensure good stewardship of resources.

So how does one innovate within structures? There are certain ways this can be carried out. You can shout and scream your way to being heard, but that won’t get you far.

How to innovate within structures:

1. Communicate well… within the context and vision/mission of the organization. People must hear the message.
2. Make the case. Do your research. Be willing to admit that what you are proposing will bring tension, whilst showing it is worth investing in. Give realistic timelines.
3. Own the role. Bathe it all in prayer. Make sure it is something that is from God and not yourself. Build good relationships of trust with those who will invest in you. Don’t be arrogant, be bold, but humble. Never threaten anybody. Show that you have loyalty to the organization.
4. Do what you said you were going to do. Don’t let down those who have invested in you.
5. Communicate well. Things will change. Be open and honest about things that contribute to change. Show gratitude and appreciation towards those who have trusted you with the innovation. Give credit where credit is due.

Excellent presentation in a short time.

Session #2: FORMING
Joe Manafo’s presentation on storytelling

(Posted by Aaron Miller)

Joe’s a guy who planted a church in Sarnia.  It’s a curious thing that several of the folks that I’ve met who are planting interesting and vibrant churches have extensive tattoos.  Just an observation.

As the title of the session suggests, Joe’s talking about the importance of storytelling.  People’s stories matter.

The smell of the unmentionable is the stench of the church.

I can’t believe you would shut down the church for us.  Perceptions changed re: church, Christians.

Saved at 17.  Bible college.  Disillusionment.  Atheists helping with youth ministry.  Life in Christ.

Had to be baptized.  In a ditch.  How do you enact church discipline?  Pull ‘im in even tighter.

Checkered history with God.  18-19.  Dad’s suicide.  Slow journey means change.

Success in the church is collecting stories.  Scripture is the story of people tracking life with God and pointing to life with Jesus.  Jesus mostly told stories.  Scripture is stories.  Today we are hearing, collecting, learning stories.  We are learning to live our lives in the story of Jesus, hand in hand with God.  Bring on the Kingdom.  Real revolution is a new story, that begins in the alternative (not comfortable, familiar) story of the Gospel.  Are we telling stories with God’s fingerprints all over them?

A guy I don’t know just sat beside me.  He’s not sure what this is, or what’s going on, but it’s pretty cool that he’s stopped to hang out with us for a bit.

Stories can be lost.  Tomorrow we might not remember what is told today, but the story of coming together, of being inspired, of hearing others inspire and wonder and tell, will be fresh for a long time.

Buy everything that Robert Capon writes, says Joe.

The gospel is stories, the story of God getting involved in our lives recklessly.

Today we are working at creating space for improv.

Session #2: FORMING
Geoff Ryan’s presentation on community development

(Posted by Randell Neudorf)

So, lunch is almost over and we are waiting for the next segment to begin. Always love the food at The Freeway. The cookies were a big hit. Pernell is now introducing our topic and the speaker (Geoff) so I better stop writing about food.

Geoff is talking about community in the context of worldviews. Also giving some city history of sprawl and suburbs, the result of  this sprawl was that the poor were left in the urban core. Churches were one of the communities that left the urban core at this time. Geoff goes on to talk about urban trends:

Historic city trends:

1. Follow the money: The church went where the people like us went. The people with money left the urban core, so the church followed them.
2. Outsource caring for the poor: The church then created mission organizations and relied on the government to take care of the poor people we left behind. In this phase mission workers now work in the city then go home to the suburbs.
3. Moving back downtown: is a move of the second generation moving back to the core, to work play and live in one place. This new model it is now displacing the poor, and gentrifying the city. The suburbs are now the ghettos but all the social services are in the urban core, creating yet another problem and boundary for accessing help.

Geoff points out that we focus on church development rather than community development, and this has brought us to our current predicament.

in the past, community development came naturally to people because we lived in a neighbourhood of relationships. The church was the equivalent of  a “mom and pop” store verses giant “Walmarts.”

The mission agency model makes us detached from the people we help. They are clients, and not our neighbours and friends. Services fall short for the people who need them (both in the government and in the church), it creates a welfare state…

…I just missed the last couple minutes because a neighbourhood man just came in to The Freeway and asked for a glass of water (we got him a sandwich as well). Although I missed the end of the presentation, I think it would have been wrong of me to just ignore the man who is part of my urban community. It was nice to see the folks sitting in our group welcome the gentleman into their space and conversation.

Session #1: LISTENING
Sue Carr’s presentation on missional chaplaincy

(Posted by Karen Harding)

Sue is personal and up close in her passion for ministry. Being a chaplain for Mission Services in Hamilton has provided her with a forum for ministering to a variety of people from various walks of life. Her compassion that God has gifted her has enabled her to invite people into the chapel of her life. She exudes a humble approach and sees her own fragility as an open door for the inclusion of others-regardless of their position in life. Her ministry is filled with vulnerable communion.

Cultivating in ministry involves embracing imperfection with an expectation that God will work in the lives of people in his own time. She hangs out with others in their context and embraces new experiences. A relaxed stance enables spiritual formation in community that is built as the gospel is witnessed up close and personal. Missional conversations are birthed out of brokenness and by just hanging out–by just ‘being.’

Loving people into the Kingdom is the cry of her heart. She values and respects the reality of people’s lives and allows them to have a voice People are included, accepted and know that they belong regardless of their failings.

Session #1: LISTENING
James Watson’s presentation on reading context

(Posted by Jeanette Eby)

There are many different ways to get to know a community.

Social Network Analysis: A way of understanding community relationships, how people are interrelated… What makes up the nature of their relationships? How do we map it out?

Node is a person, a tie is some form of relationship with another person. It could be friendship, a market relationship, family, neighbour… We can start to draw out or build these connections, starting with ourselves.

It doesn’t really make sense to plant a church where you don’t know your neighbours. What are their needs and gifts? What are their commonalities – the common links? Sometimes there are certain people who are the connecting point to many different nodes, and the network would break if they weren’t there.

“A Person of Peace” – Who is a person of influence within the community you are involved in? Who is it that knows everyone, the person who is always inviting and introducing people? I wish there were more “people of peace” in both neighbourhoods and churches, so that the health of a community and strength of relationships depended on many people who are all invested in each other and are willing to welcome those outside the “network” and bring them in.

“Asset-based Community Development” – Start from the strengths, the gifts of the community. It’s easy to see the needs and faults of communities and try to “fix” them, but there is value in bringing out the gifts they already hold. Like at the Freeway, where right now we have artwork up, created by individuals with developmental disabilities who are often disregarded. Art is one gift they bring to us and we need these people in our community.

Culture. Who are people of influence? Where is the community shifting? How can we discern where to act… sometimes we may need to protest or subvert what is happening culturally.

I am challenged by James’ presentation to see where I fit in my community, to be aware of the relationships and conversations I am a part of and to be constantly challenged to make and re-make community.