johnnylaird

I heard a great quote from Church Under the Bridge’s Jimmy Dorrell.

This isn’t word for word, but Jimmy was having a gracious & affectionate pop at Post-Modern Churches by saying something along the lines of some people thought all you needed for a post-modern Church was

“a couch, a candle and a copy of the Matrix”.

There was no malice, or agenda….it was just a very funny line that had me laughing out loud as I listened to a podcast on my iPod on the train to the office.

More significantly, what Jimmy had to say about Church & Mission & the marginalized was on the nail. Jimmy wasn’t a name I was familiar with so I Googled him, bounced through the Wiki and found the site for his Church Under the Bridge. As I write this, I haven’t had the time to check much of it out, but the things he had to say certainly inspired me. I’m looking forward to finding out more…

A little later in September I’m hoping to head over to Moot – if my diary doesn’t get too rammed – to hear Mustard Seed Associates’ Tom Sine speak..

Tom has just released a new book called The New Conspirators

This should be an interesting evening for all kinds of reasons:

• It’s always good to hear up close what writers have to say about their own work
• An opportunity to see the work of the guys at Moot, a community who seem to be doing some really interesting and creative things
• Another chance to break outside of my tribal box, and hook up with other Jesus followers. I’ve been really encouraged lately when stepping out a little like this. In fact, I’m starting to feel the stirrings of something very special about the opportunities that are coming my way, and the relationships that are quietly building in the background. There’s a feeling of inter-connectedness and authenticity that seems like a God-thing. We shall see…

This London event is free…..but you do have to book your place.

For booking details you can go here

Glad to share this little vid from this year’s Q conference, which Duncan McFadzean posted at What’s your point caller?

The speaker is Karl Martin of Edinburgh’s MBC.

…really good stuff….and inspirational if you are involved in Church transition.

For a little more background, check Duncan’s post here

Thanks, Duncan!

At the weekend, Jan the kids and I shared a great weekend with some good friends in Sheffield. It was fantastic just to hang out in their beautiful home with their wonderful family and just ….chill. Thanks for your hospitality, guys!

On top of that, we were able to bounce around some thoughts about mission, Kingdom, community and what is means to be Church.

Also, it was interesting to hear about St Thomas Church Sheffield, and the way things are done there.

Check our their site to get a perspective, and the vid’s worth a watch to see how they are connecting with the student population in the city.

J