Jason Clark

Trying to make safe spaces for diverse and healthy conversations about church, culture, mission, theology and motorbikes

More teens becoming 'fake' Christians?

via edition.cnn.com

I got sent this by a few people, and it's been picked up online in a lot of places.

I know it's a US survey, and mostly about the experience of young people in christian families in the US, but it has a lot in common with faith practices here.

Two areas the article picks out from research that have a connection in all western contexts:

1. Families: Unless parents are living 'radically', which the article suggests might be letting your kids see you not choose a job just because it pays the most money. Our western consumer dream is the 'vision and mission' for most Christians.

Great job, great house in a great location, and relationships that support 'me' in that is what life is often reduced to.  No wonder when Christian parents order life around that reality their kids do too. And Christianity becomes about therapy and support for that reality.

2. Church: Unsurprisingly and related, what are churches (traditional and emerging) modelling and ordering life around. A radical commitment to the Gospel or support for a way of life in consumer society. Families located in radical communities, helping each other live radically, is what we need.

And again that radical is so unglamorous, putting others first, placing our work and where we live in service of a life together for mission. Is our form of faith and mission, still all about us, our happiness, or the transformation of the world? What are our kids seeing our lives ordered around?

Can you help us discover and tell a bigger missional story? #dmingml

Our new Global Missional Leadership learning community that I am leading for George Fox Seminary, kicks off September 1st.

You can follow along online, or meet up with us in person, with all the reading, lectures/teaching and conversations from the programme being made available online.  You can help us discover and tell a big missional story.

*** If this new learning community grabs your attention and interest, please do help us spread the word through your Twitter, Facebook, and blog networks.  Do add the tag #dmingml to you posts/tweets so we can track them, thanks.

George Fox have invested heavily in some ground breaking social media technology, enabling content creators from all over the world to tell a bigger global missions story. I'll write more about this in a post later this week.

Some big headlines for this week:

1.  dmingml.com is the site to visit and book mark, that pulls through all the blogs, Facebook, and Tweets that relate to the Global Missional Leadership community.

2.  Face 2 Face:  If you want to join us in person we are at these locations and dates, 2010.

1st September: Rippon College, Oxford.  
An afternoon with Martyn Percy at Rippon College.  Martyn will be talking about congregations and missions. Jim Belcher author of 'Deep Church', and Dr Michael Moynagh author of Emergingchurch.intro is also joining us for the afternoon.
To register for this event please email jason@jasonclark.ws

Dr Cathy Ross who is moving from CMS to LST, will be with us talking about missiology from a woman's perspective.  Dr Caroline Ramsey, lecturer in business management at the Open University, will be talking with us about the nature of 'reflective practice' itself within leadership and mission.  And we have Antony Billington, head of faculty at the London Institute of Christianity, talking with us about cultural hermeneutics, and discipleship in a post-modern context.
To register for this event please email jason@jasonclark.ws

3rd September: Ridley hall, Cambridge
We'll be meeting with David Male, to explore Fresh Expressions and mission, and with Dr Maggi Dawn, who will sharing about her new book.
To register for this event please email jason@jasonclark.ws

4th September:  London, UK
Social Media Boot Camp, hosted at London Institute of Christianity, in partnership with EA UK and, LST. The Social Media boot camp will explore, safely, personally and simply: What is Social Media, why is it here and why is it important; The main popular tools of Social Media including blogging, Facebook and Twitter; How you might better use Social Media for your own communication and life and How your organisations, church, and ministry might engage strategically and meaningfully with Social Media.

More details and registration for this event is here.

6th to 7th September:  Nuremberg and Erlangen, Germany.  
Meeting with Dr Peter Aschoff,and exploring mission, culture and church history.

So you are all welcome to join us at any of these venues to take part in the events scheduled.  Also around the events we'll be exploring the locations we are in. Making plenty of space and time to talk, eat and explore, to which all are welcome.

New missional 'open learning' community UK & Germany Sept 2010

So the Global Missional Leadership Doctor of Ministry programme that I am leading for George Fox, is due to start 1st September.
I've written about the program previously, and details are here.
 
But you don't have to be a student on the DMin program to take part with us. In fact we are hoping that this program will resource a much wider learning community, centred around the theme of the program, on missional leadership for 'reflective practitioners'.
 
All the materials from the programme, reading, online resources, recordings from events will be put online for anyone to follow along with us.
 
In terms of events, we are meeting at the locations below, that anyone is welcome to join us at.
 
1st September: Rippon College, Oxford.  An afternoon with Martyn Percy at Rippon College.  Martyn will be talking about congregations and missions. Jim Belcher is also joining us for the afternoon.
 
2nd September:  London School of Theology.  In particular Cathy Ross who is moving from CMS to LST, will be with us talking about missiology from a woman's perspective.  I've attached one of her papers to this post fyi.
 
3rd September: Ridley hall, Cambridge.  We'll be meeting with David Male, to explore Fresh Expressions and mission, and with Maggi Dawn, who will sharing about her new book.
 
4th September:  Social Media Boot Camp, hosted at London Institute of Christianity, in partnership with EA UK and, LST.
 
6th to 7th September:  Nuremberg and Erlangen, Germany.  Meeting with Peter Aschoff, and exploring mission, culture and church history.

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