Exciting times

Everybody seems to be having such a good time with their projects its encouraging to read. Have been reading 'Why we're not emergent' (Deyoung & Klunk) and basically they take 257 pages almost saying if its fun its not church! They accuse the emerging church of being lazy on doctrine and weak on tough issues. I think they highlight the dangers of watering down the Gospel but they fail to see the starting point of emerging church is community, not the Gospel. I think its all about context and agenda. If the agenda is purely to perpetuate the church, then the context will be very different from an agenda that starts with connecting with people, and creating true fellowship where Christ is central. The two are not a million miles apart in Christian thinking, but in terms of method the gap widens considerably. If there is room for spirituality to emerge, then surely we need to trust that doctrine and ethics can emerge too.

My own project was quite exciting last week, not least because I wasn't there but it happened anyway! The charity shop manager so wanted the Hub to continue, she offered to do it herself. The focal point was music and people were encouraged to listen music that lifted them. She chose some really good tracks to play during the hour, including 'Footprints in the sand', 'I hope you dance' and 'Wind beneath my wings'. I was thrilled that she had grasped the concept that inspiring music can be 'spiritual' even if it was not written with God in mind, and was able to tap into the sort of music that would be appreciated by a group of predominantly older ladies. This week everyone is to be given a small stone to symbolically place in a situation that is hard, as a reminder there are people who care.