New Monasticism as Fresh Expression of Church

New Monasticism as Fresh Expression of Church Edited by Graham Cray, Ian Mobsby and Aaron Kennedy. (Canterbury Press – £14.99)

The truth is, you can get away with an awful lot in ecclesiastical life in Scotland by explaining away whatever mischief you are up to as being genuinely, authentically Celtic. In England, they’ve had to invent a new expression upon which people can project their wistful longings. Its called, “Fresh Expressions of Church”. There are few things that Christians can come up with in England which can’t be justified by calling them a Fresh Expression of Church. This is a book wherein those twin traditions meet with the kiss of peace. For quite a few of these Fresh Expressions of Church that the authors are promoting, they explain away as a return to Celtic tradition.

For all that, this book is an interesting and quite compelling read. The basic theme is that the values of monastic life are very much things that contemporary people are seeking. The success of programmes like The Big Silence on television recently and the yearnings that lead modern people to attempt community living suggest that these ideas are not only alive and well but may be just the thing that people are seeking.

Why can’t people be honest about what they hope for and argue for what they want without having to invent a fey Celtic fantasy from which to justify their desires though? Much of monastic life was about hierarchy and power. The Celtic experience was as much about reciting the psalms whilst up to your oxters in cold sea water as it was about the things that are represented in this book.
Notwithstanding that, I know enough people interested in forming, founding and shaping new ways of living the Christian life with others that are outside or beyond of the immediate expectations of the nuclear family that I’ve a notion that God’s spirit might be at work. This book represents some of the experience of those being called to something new. Some of them feel that the Christian mission in these islands depends entirely upon the ability of the churches to embrace different structures to those of family and congregation which have reigned hitherto.

They might be right.

Buy from Amazon: New Monasticism as Fresh Expressions of Church (Ancient Faith, Future Mission)

Book Review: Re-shaping Rural Ministry

Here comes another book trying to persuade me that life in rural churches has a different set of challenges, presumptions and priorities to those which apply in an urban setting. To articulate that is also to articulate an uncertainty about who this book is aimed at. It might be written to encourage others engaged in rural endeavors. On the other hand it might be written for the very purpose of convincing the wider church (ie those decision makers who live in towns and cities) of some kind of perceived special needs of the rural church. It it is the latter, I fear I am not yet convinced.

This is a book (like many being produced currently) which many hands have contributed to. Different people (bishops, directors of ordinands, rural officers) from around the rural scene in the Church of England have each made their contributions. It is perhaps not surprising that these are most contentious when it comes to areas dealing with ministry. Once again, the rural strategy outlined here seems to be to find ever more inventive ways of providing ministry on the cheap to ensure that rural churches die more slowly. Once agan, collaborative ministry and ordained local (ie relatively under-resourced and undertrained) clerical ministries seem to be the answer.

It is the generalisations which stick in the mind long after reading this book. Apparently, for those living in these special rural places, in contrast to those living in towns, time may be “seen as cyclical…based on the seasons rather than just linear”. Has the author of this section (Amiel Osmaston) never met the academic year? “Rural spirituality,” she tells us, “was forged by those who were in touch with the soil and the seasons.” Is that paganism she is talking about or not? “In rural areas faith is often implicit, shown in practical works and relationships within the community”. Is that supposed to mean that it isn’t elsewhere?

Those of us who live in areas which are not deemed sufficiently rural should be rightly indignant at these holier-than-thou attitudes from those who live in the countryside. There can be no doubts at all that the experience of Christian Faith is shaped by its context. However, that does not justify such condesension towards the places where most people actually choose to live, as we find in this volume.

The truth is, the more that people make a case for the church developing strategies (and setting aside budgets) for the rural church, the more one remembers that Christianity started in a city and was passed from city to city in the ancient world. It is undoubtedly true that there seem to be a number of recurring neo-pagan spiritual responses that modern people make to being in the countryside. However, whether the church should encourage the notion of a distinctive ministry in such places is less certain. That rural ministry should be possible, is no doubt cause for celebration. That it should take up the time and energies of synods and assemblies is far less clear.

Re-shaping Rural Ministry
Edited by James Bell, Jill Hopkinson and Trevor Willmott (Canterbury Press £14.99)