benedson

Post Greenbelt thoughts

I had a fantastic Greenbelt - in case you didn't know Sanctus1 led the main communion service. There is a flicker set here.

I took a lead on it and it all went as well as i could have hoped for. The weather was beautiful and all involved really played their part to make in a fantastic service. Half way through we had a balloon release which was stunning (loads of photos on the GB site).

I think that my highlight was the final song, How Great Thou Art. The gospel choir were in full voice and from the stage you could look out over the thousands of people and see a celebration. It was at that moment that i was aware of the uniqueness of the event and the rare opportunity it is to lead worship for so many people. I had been working on the service for about six months and it came to a climax at that point (partly as i knew that the service had finished and it had all gone to plan). I felt like weeping, as a felt great relief but also a great sense of God and being in the people of God.

Technorati Tags: Ben Edson, Greenbelt, Sanctus1

Greenbelt...

It's that time of year again when I head off to Greenbelt. It'll be fantatstci to hook up with some old friends, and no doubt make some new ones. And I've got a massive new tent...i think that next year it could be the main stage!

This year I've been involved with the programming of the New Forms Cafe - the main alt. worship and emerging church venue at GB. We've got a couple of groups this year who are exploring worship that seeks to be an authentic british asians experience - so that should be fascinating.

Sanctus1 this year is leading the main communion service - so I'm rather nervous about that - but i think that I'm as ready as I could possibly be.

Sanctus2nds (Sanctus1's intergenerational service) are also leading a service in the new forms cafe on Sunday.

Technorati Tags: Greenbelt, Sanctus1

Mr Manchester dies

Tony Wilson died yesterday after a battle with cancer. Factory records were personally hugely influential for me, the Madchester scene of the early 90's was one of the things that attracted me to Manchester. He signed bands such as New Order, The Happy Monday's, Northside, commisioned Peter Saville to do some stunning design work and then launched the Hacienda.

He was such a purist that gave artists such as Joy Division total creative freedom. This meant he made no money and on record's such as New Order's best selling 12 inch 'Blue Monday' he lost money on every record sold.

I saw him a few time in town, buying coffee in 'Love Saves the Day' - he'll be missed.

Technorati Tags: Manchester, puppy, tony wilson

My Entrepreneurial Hopes - Heaven in Ordinary

I've been reflecting further of my previous post regarding the role of the entrepreneur in the church. I think that entrepreneurs are vital for the present and the future of the church - We've always had them always will. Am I one? I don't know?

I also been reading about this years GB theme 'Heaven in Ordinary' and found this quote from John Davies quite helpful.

'Christians get allured by the extraordinary: in mission, ministry, and witness the pull seems to be away from the ordinary towards the new, the exciting and the innovative. But maybe the real challenge of our times is to learn to affirm the ordinary things very deeply, doing our church and our theology and our praying whilst deeply engaged with these basic building blocks of life. This is a call for us to deal with the mundane things in our lives, but it is not a calling to dullness - it's about discovering new possibilities of being creative, with the ordinary things of life.'

I think his is the real challenge for the entrepreneur, not to get drawn off into the exciting, risky, extraordinary, but to develop an entrepreneurial spirit in the ordinary. This may go against the spirit of the entrepreneur, but if the entrepreneurial vocation is to become the vocation of the whole church, as i believe it should, then it must begin with the ordinary - developing the extraordinary within the ordinary. If it does not the entrepreneur can easily be dismissed as 'an interesting extraordinary experiment' - this can be damaging both to the entrepreneur and to the vocation of the church catholic.

I think that is why i am challenged by the entrepreneur, I have worked over the years to connect Sanctus1 to the ordinary everyday life of the church in Mcr. Sometimes that is hard work, sometimes it's mundane, often it's frustrating but to have an entrepreneurial global church then the extraordinary churches must become ordinary. The entrepreneurial churches must stay connected to the church catholic, or the potential danger is that the entrepreneurial churches become to focused on empire rather than kingdom.

Technorati Tags: emerging church, entrepreneurs

Johnny Cash and Rick Rubin share communion

I'm quite a Johnny Cash fan - even managed to get Sanctus1 to do a service based around the man in black - there was a fantastic programme on Radio 4 last Tuesday exploring the relationship between Rubin and Cash. It is a fascinating insight into their relationship including how they used to share Eucharist over the phone - with Cash presiding! Rubin says 'It was a way of keeping him connected on the earlthly plain after June had passed'. It explores Cash's faith, his relationship with Rubin and how the death of June changed him. Listen here.

Technorati Tags: Rick Rubin, Johnny Cash