spirited exchanges uk web launch...
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Those who have followed the SE UK journey so far, will know that the inspiration for a UK network of church leaver groups came from the work that Jenny McIntosh has been involved in in New Zealand as a response to Alan Jamieson's 'A Churchless Faith'. (The story of the first five years of Spirited Exchanges in New Zealand is told in the follow-up book, 'Church Leavers, Faith Journeys Five Years On'.) The aim is to connect church leavers with each other so that they can meet in a safe agenda-free environment to talk openly about their faith journeys post-church.
At Greenbelt 2005 Jenny inspired a number of us, who attended her seminars, to work towards realising a network of similar but contextually appropriate groups in the UK. It's not been a speedy process and hasn't revolutionised the world, but there are now a handful of pilot groups meeting across the UK, feeding back how this is (or isn't) working in their locality, as well as a growing email database of people who want to keep in touch with SE UK. The development of the website is the next stage in this evolution!
There is no agenda to begin a new brand of groups or roll out a marketable program. Part of what we're discovering is that some SE-type groups have started organically and been going for some time. They may not be called Spirited Exchanges but may want to be part of a wider network so others can know of their existence. If you belong to such a group and would like to feed in to the SE UK network or are interested in being connected as an individual, visit the website and let us know!
Labels: churchless faith
1 Comments:
Tim
thanks for your question - it's great that the group is being launched in Carlisle.
I guess the answer to your question is 'it depends'! The experience of Spirited Exchanges groups has been that when there are such 'certain' people present, it often has stifled the kind of processing space that many others are needing, especially in terms of deconstructing faith. I guess this is because the 'certain' person often feels the need to provide a defence of orthodoxy or to 'convert' the other.
Of course, this doesn't have to be the case but the 'certain' person would need a maturity and security to be able to leave the awkward comments and difficult questions unchallenged and unanswered. The kind of person who may have gone through a process of faith deconstruction and reconstruction, who is now secure in their beliefs but has a faith approaching that of Fowler's Conjunctive Faith would probably be such a person.
So I wouldn't say that an orthodox and certain Christian couldn't facilitate or be involved in a Spirited Exchanges group, but I would want to sound a fairly strong note of caution if the group is to be what it sets out to be.
I don't know if that helps - what do you (or others) think?
thanks for your question - it's great that the group is being launched in Carlisle.
I guess the answer to your question is 'it depends'! The experience of Spirited Exchanges groups has been that when there are such 'certain' people present, it often has stifled the kind of processing space that many others are needing, especially in terms of deconstructing faith. I guess this is because the 'certain' person often feels the need to provide a defence of orthodoxy or to 'convert' the other.
Of course, this doesn't have to be the case but the 'certain' person would need a maturity and security to be able to leave the awkward comments and difficult questions unchallenged and unanswered. The kind of person who may have gone through a process of faith deconstruction and reconstruction, who is now secure in their beliefs but has a faith approaching that of Fowler's Conjunctive Faith would probably be such a person.
So I wouldn't say that an orthodox and certain Christian couldn't facilitate or be involved in a Spirited Exchanges group, but I would want to sound a fairly strong note of caution if the group is to be what it sets out to be.
I don't know if that helps - what do you (or others) think?
I'm Malcolm Chamberlain
from Liverpool, United Kingdom
. I'm married with two young children and, in addition to Liverpool, have lived in Leicester (for the first 18 years of my life), York, Peshawar (Pakistan), Oxford and Walsall. I've been actively involved in the emerging church since 2001, as a founding member of Dream in Liverpool City, and coordinator of the Dream network. I'm currently engaged in research into emerging missional communities, and work as a parish priest and pioneer minister.
commented by
Malcolm Chamberlain, 2:55 PM