Well, it’s the largest of the buildings in my patch Nine Elms Vauxhall.
Not the tallest, but definitely the largest …
(… prints of the image above are at Paul Catherall here …)
And the future …
Battersea Power Station
Category: CREATIVITY
Community Hub in Nine Elms Vauxhall
In an earlier post I published a draft template for a new parish church (or Christian community hub). It makes for a very different conversation with Local Authority representatives or councillors if you ask for 13,000 square feet of space instead of pitching in with some general idea of supporting the local community. So I added space standards.\r\n\r\nFor a zoomable version click …here \r\n\r\n
Memorabilia
A New Parish Church?
We hear a lot about new models of church planting, and the benefits of ‘network’ churches formed around networks of people. Establishing a new parish church along traditional lines is generally out of favour, because of the initial set up cost – the Church of England no longer has the resources available to it in the 19th century – and the running costs to future generations.\r\n\r\nBut if I could get hold of sponsors/investors or some discounted D1 community space I would go for it, a new parish ministry built around a sustainable multi-use facility. Why? Because for all it’s faults a good parish church works beyond networks and responds to the the particular grain of its surroundings. This offers great opportunities for effective service.\r\n\r\nAnd who else would do it?\r\n\r\nSomething like this. (For zoomable image click here …)\r\n\r\n
Emerging Communities Group
The Emerging Communities Group has come out of my work to build community and support mission in Battersea and Nine Elms, the largest redevelopment site in London. With over 30,000 new residents and 25,000 new workers moving to the area in less than ten years, how can these new communities flourish? And what about existing inner city communities, and churches? We’re looking for members, sponsors and collaborators … (zoomable version here …)\r\n\r\n
Holy Trinity and St Stephen’s
These links connect to some recent projects carried out in church mission, ministry and development, and some links to creative projects in arts or design.\r\n\r\nThe first four links on the top row connect to some strategic work, thinking creatively about some contemporary church issues. The first is a church plant proposal for Bristol Harbourside described by Professor Eddie Gibbs of Fuller Seminary as “one of the best proposals for church planting I have seen – a clear and transferable model”. The links on the second row connect to larger projects in urban theology and mission, including a simple teaching guide ‘Being a Christian Means …’\r\n\r\nTaken together these works form part of a larger project to find ways for the church to create realistic strategies for mission in cities.\r\n\r\nThe icons on the bottom row connect to images of different kinds of work, from writing to art to building transformations.\r\n
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The key skills of a priest-missioner
A couple of years ago a friend applied for a post in a new urban village in east London. The role was headlined as a priest-missioner, working to establish a new church community in the area.\r\n\r\nBut the headline title of Priest-Missioner was only part of the requirement. The relationship with the Diocese was not typical, the relationships with key stakeholders were complex. And on top of this there was no church building and no permanent place to live.\r\n\r\nSo it was complicated, and I think the key skill required was not primarily in theology or mission, but in … administration.\r\n\r\nMy diagram of the post looked like this (the full version can be seen here…)\r\n\r\n
Starting the church
I’ve heard debates about when the Church began.\r\n\r\nWas it when Jesus breathed on the disciples in a room in Jerusalem and said receive the Holy Spirit?\r\n\r\nOr was it on the day of Pentecost, when Jesus breathed on the disciples in a room in Jerusalem in a more dramatic way and 3,000 people became followers?\r\n\r\nI’ve never heard anyone say that Peter’s first pronouncement to his fellow disciples was the start of the church, but in some ways it had all the hallmarks of a functioning church.\r\n\r\nPeter’s first recorded discourse concerns the appointment of a new member of the ‘senior leadership team’, the Apostles. He stands and recounts the disappointment of Judas, framing it in scriptural terms, and drawing the conclusion that led to Matthias being appointed as the 12th Apostle.\r\n\r\nOne observation we can make is that by this time, between Jesus leaving and the Spirit coming, there was a strong sense of Assignment and Designation.\r\n\r\nPeter says that Judas had an ‘Assigned place’ in the ministry of Jesus, and his replacement has to be someone ‘Designated…as a witness to the resurrection’.\r\n\r\nThe Administration of the Designated calling of individuals to an Assignment to serve the community…\r\n\r\n… sounds like a church to me.
Music and Song
\r\n\r\n… QuincyJones
…just because its spring …
On Sunday we took a quick stroll around Tyntesfield’s gardens. What a treat.\r\n\r\n