Friday 30 August 2013

Kingdom Culture

Surfacing, again, after time away, reading, odd things, August.



One thing, with all our talk about culture and context, which has struck me, over and over, again, during the summer, is how little we speak about our constant context, which needs to be a biblical/theological/kingdom one.
How good it's been, therefore, to see Woodlands (Bristol), preaching a series:  Kingdom Culture. I've dipped in, mainly because my children are all connected with Woodies and, also, we're exploring how we plant together, in an area of Bristol, but some of their titles:

A Culture of Spiritual Warfare.
A Culture of Servanthood.
A Culture of Spiritual Ambition.
A Culture of Non-Religious Christianity.

All available, to listen, via: https://www.woodlandschurch.net

Monday 19 August 2013

WE:networks?


We've wondered a few times, whether to change the name of our 'association'? It's always struck me we have a gift - being named 'West of England' spells 'we', which is such a powerful word and gets into the heart of Baptist ecclesiology. We say we are more about networks than organisation, but I'm wondering whether our very name (keeping 'Association' in the public face) is nowadays a barrier to communicating this fact? WE:networks?

So far, we have .....

Pros:

It says on the tin what we claim to be.
It's a word, which makes sense in today's language.

Cons:

We risk upsetting the traditional perceptions.
We risk stepping out on a limb (every other 'association' has kept the word).

Answers on a postcard, or e-mail if the stamps are too much.