Apologies for the lack of posts over the last few weeks. Life has just been too busy. However, I just had to post this. This is my current obsession. Conspirare is a professional choir based in Austin, Texas conducted by Craig Hella Johnson. I have never heard a choir that is this tight! These are extracts from the PBS special featuring Conspirare. I have also posted a brief interview with the director. The piece in the second clip is one of my favourites!
Choice is a good thing? Isn’t it? Surely being able to choose between 10 varieties of bread is better than being able to choose from just 2 choices. And for the longest time we have used that theory in our work in leading and growing churches. Surely we should provide people with a choice of worship styles, times, music, age groups etc. And on the surface it makes sense, but then you, sometimes, you have to wonder. Does it really make that much sense? Here are two presentations from TED.com. One by Malcolm Gladwell and the second by Barry Schwartz.
As I have mentioned earlier, I’ve been reading Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us by Seth Godin. And while exploring the TED.com website, I came upon this presentation by Godin. In a world of too many options and too little time, our obvious choice is to just ignore the ordinary stuff. In this presentation, Seth Godin spells out why, when it comes to getting our attention, bad or bizarre ideas are more successful than boring ones. It got me thinking about how we go about promoting and trying to grow churches. We aim for the center. We are often so scared to try things that are different, out of the box, whacky or weird because we don’t want to fail that we end up doing things more or less the same way we’ve always done them. We retreat into predictability and safety with the occasional minor tweak to quiet the voices wanting something more and something different. What would our churches look like if we did focused on the fringes, on those who are the “early adopters” and those who are passionate about exploring their faith and stepping out of their comfort zones? I wonder….
Most people who know me know that I love my food….both the preparation and the consumption of food. Food is central to my spirituality and my faith. For me, sharing food around he table with others is what being church is all about and what being community is all about. One of my favourite activities is baking bread so it is with some interest that I watched this second TED lecture by Peter Reinhart.
From his bio on Ted.com:
Master breadmaker Peter Reinhart is also a teacher, author and theologian. Through his lectures and numerous cookbooks, he channels the science of baking into deep, spiritual lessons — and dispels stale myths about the nature (and flavor) of good, wholesome bread.
…Peter Reinhart’s food work began as ministry outreach and later became a full-fledged culinary and teaching career. Both an educator and lay minister, his lessons focus on both secular and spiritual education. One of his books, Bread Upon the Waters: A Pilgrimage Toward Self Discovery and Spiritual Truth is first in a series of books exploring nourishment in terms of food and one’s life mission.
In this lecture, “…baking master Peter Reinhart reflects on the cordial couplings (wheat and yeast, starch and heat) that give us our daily bread. Try not to eat a slice.”
Click here in case the embedded video does not work.
Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia , muses on the impossible things we expect from artists and geniuses — and shares the radical idea that, instead of the rare person “being” a genius, all of us “have” a genius. It’s a funny, personal and surprisingly moving talk.
In case you can’t see the embedded video, click here to see it on TED.com.
As I have mentioned, I’ve been reading Seth Godin’s Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us. It continues to fascinate, challenge and makes me think. In this post, I want to focus briefly on the topic of leadership (which Godin reflects on in great detail). So here’s one of the sections that have made me think where Godin is talking about the 7 elements of leadership…
Leaders challenge the status quo.
Leaders create a culture around their goal and involve others in that culture.
Leaders have an extraordinary amount of curiosity about the world they are trying to change.
Leaders use charisma to attract and motivate followers.
Leaders communicate their vision of the future.
Leaders commit to a vision and make decisions based on that commitment.
Leaders connect their followers to one another.
We’ve been talking about “sacred leaders” in religion and popular culture class, so this has tied into some of our conversations there. It has been fascinating using these elements to analyze in slightly more depth some of the leaders portrayed in popular culture – including characters such as Paikea in Whale Rider, Neo and Morpheus in The Matrix and Dr. Gregory House in House, M.D. and others.
Not surprisingly, all this has also forced me to reflect on my own leadership style and that, I have to say, has been something of an eye-opening experience. More on that later….maybe!
In the meantime, from the sublime to the funny, here’s a commercial (I think) for the NZ Bakery of the Year challenge. It is funny and cute and does have some connection (albeit a little distant) to the whole idea of leadership!
All everyone seems to be talking about these days is the economy with job cuts being announced daily, home foreclosures on the rise, large companies collapsing and people losing jobs. No one seems to be immune…not even the church. Margaret Feinberg has provided some steps on how to recession-proof the church.
I like what she has to say, because she reminds us that even in the midst of all this economic turmoil God is in control and she challenges us to see the opportunities that exist even in these difficult times:
Recognize that financially tough times provide an opportunity for the church and the people of God to shine the brightest. Today, more than ever, your dollar can go further and make a bigger difference in the life of another. As Christians, we are called to be the people who run in when everyone else is running out.
…I know of another church that decided that in the face of economic hardship the message of giving was more important than ever. They decided to give their members cash and encouraged them to make a difference in the life of someone else.
Welcome to my personal musings and conversations about the emerging church, postmodernism, culture, spirituality, the journey of life and loads more. A Considerable Speck is a poem by Robert Frost - one of my favourite poems by him, hence the decision to use the title as the title of this blog. I'll leave it up to someone else to work out if it has anything at all to do with the content of this blog.
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Working on sermon for Sunday...looking forward to preaching "at home" again after 6+ years! 3 days ago
My music is the spiritual expression of what I am — my faith, my knowledge, my being … When you begin to see the possibilities of music, you desire to do something really good for people, to help humanity free itself from its hangups … I want to speak to their souls. — John Coltrane
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Leaders challenge the status quo.
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