[Written for www.beyond400.net]

I'm thinking about some very different cufuffles (sp?) where change is imaginable and hoped for and almost invariably doesn't happen. I'll concede there may be a small adaptation of the existing, but that's about it - it just seems to be the way the world works, sociologically speaking. There's no conspiracy, none is needed, it's just something about the culture of well-established orders and denominations that they are superb at resisting change.

Those very different cufuffles? Now forgetting the rights or wrongs of them: the recent MP's expense scandal, phone hacking, various protests against capitalism - they all seem(ed) to produce far smaller changes than might have been expected from the size of the storm - and these examples had the added momentum of moral outrage. Now I'm not trying to link our BUGB financial crisis or Beyond 400 to those apart from to make the connection that even at those intensities of desire for change, often not much happens. An established order/culture is usually very adept at weathering the storm and co-opting or domesticating the dissenters even though it often does it at the subconscious level.
Now I'm wondering about my own family, the baptists, who I am very fond of - as I see it the only paradigmatic change our order seems unable to resist is a slow and relentless death over many decades, not something we often talk about. I also see that a change of paradigm magnitude is needed and it makes sense for this to happen whilst we still have substantial resources to invest in the outcome, so we can get on with joining in with Jesus' mission in this country. I'm thinking of other denominations ahead of us in decline who are now panicked into change but they have scarce resources left to invest - too late!

Perhaps an answer is for us to continue to give away/leak resources so the new church streams and post-denominational emerging church can develop, or perhaps we need to wait until a lot more dying has happened on the basis that you can't have a resurrection without a death and we're not willing to let go of the old life as yet.

One problem and also a pleasing thing about baptist conversations and Beyond 400 is that I suspect it will be a diversity of voices. I'm not talking about 40 voices here but all those who join the conversations. Now, I'd have a punt that such a broad spread of voices are unlikely to collectively imagine a cohesive vision for others to gather around, that is unless some in the conversation here and beyond emerge as leaders. I don't mean, they get an office or position in a structure, though nothing wrong in that if you are really strong enough to resist co-option by the prevalent culture, but simply that they lead by who they are through internal authority and in organic ways.

Very occasionally there is a group action in an institution that is good, contagious and timely enough to bring deep cultural change. As the baptist story unfolds over the next 2-3 years I hope we can find ways to form a new, cohesive and radical view, a virus to inject into the baptist host to re-found her. Heaven forbid that we just end up with re-structuring

[My contribution to www.beyond400.net  - a conversation we've helped initiate where Baptists are re-imagining life after the first 400 years.]

A one million pound black hole is projected for the Baptist Union of Great Britain end of year accounts, we can’t continue as we are and it has got people talking. The talk is of change and cuts.

The financial predicament is painful, it will hurt when posts are almost inevitably cut and people tragically lose their jobs. As well as being painful it is bad in other ways: are you worried that difficult discussions about allocation of finite resources may deflect us from more important questions? I am.

But these cuts can also be good news. Let's get real, it’s very difficult for an organisation that spans many centuries, churches, associations, and colleges to undergo deep change unless sufficient destabilising pressures are present. The finances are providing one such push-factor, numerical decline in most churches over many decades another, and there are others. I’m not shouting ‘tipping-point’ but ordeal loosens us up for change. This is painfully good!

In the coming weeks forty people will offer their thoughts to kick-start imaginative hope filled conversations. They include voices of those in the middle and on the edge of our institutions, those from differing contexts and a breadth of experiences. Only they know what they will say. I know they bravely said ‘yes’ to our approaches without knowing who else will speak; as each post is published their identity will be known.

Eight suggestions for ways to help us into the hope filled conversation:

1. Grieve what is wrong
   Blessed are those who mourn, those who are softhearted. Don’t hold back from grieving over things that just aren’t right, things that are dead and things that need to die. I grieve our deep lack of mission.
2. Imagine what is not yet
   Grieving on it’s own sounds like whining. Prophets can have a knack of hopefully imagining and pointing to things that are not yet. This is dissent, a way of offering alternatives to what already is. This might be done playfully or seriously.
3. Baptist poets and artists, this is your moment
   I’m not one but are you? We need your help to recover our imagination. We have given ground to overly pragmatic solutions and the uncritical importing of models. At this point is our imagination more important than our knowledge? Can artists and poets help us with this?
   (Hint: you can upload images as well as words when you comment on this website.)
4. Avoid romanticising our 400 year history
   There was no golden-era. We can learn from the 400 years and rediscover lost ways, but we need to go right back and learn from Jesus. But we won’t find all we need in those two histories, we need to imagine new ways that harmonise with our historic faith, ways that have not been practiced before. This is incarnation.
5. It takes time for right ideas to be adopted – keep speaking
   Prophets are wired to challenge the status quo and organisations rightly focus on maintaining and administering the existing – can you spot the tension! You prophets may be mistaken for a threat but without them you we will congeal and start to die. Be thick skinned when needed and keep speaking.
6. A new idea does not mean a right idea
   Caution: just because it is alternative thinking doesn’t mean it’s right. It may be time to stop speaking!
7. Where are we looking?
   Most of current baptist life at all levels is configured expecting God to speak in the middle but history suggests that God’s renewing often starts on the margins. Where are our margins? Can you share what you see?
8. It’s OK to hit the pause button
   These are tricky matters that need suspended judgment and open minds. Yes we will need to innovate but not too fast. First we need to be creative, dream new ideas, interact with them, and reflect. Big decisions need to be slept on.

A humble suggestion:
Beyond 400 is fairly unique with its openness, degree of meritocracy, collaboration and informality. At this stage it is very much half-baked  but is it in some way embodying something of the future that we are fumbling towards? And if so what?

Peter Dominey, January 2012

Churches don't see it...

1452: Gutenberg invents the printing press, opening the way for the age of the mass printed book. Bibles become widely available and enter the home. The way is paved for the Reformation and the church is caught on the hop.

2011: facebook and Twitter have become common. Truth is reached through collaboration. And the era of truth being the monopoly of the expert, and broadcast from one to many by long talks is looking rather antiquated.  
Why do we train church leaders almost exclusively for a passing era?

As the last part of my sabbatical I visited 7 church plants or expressions of church around Europea the end of November 2010.

1. Basildon UK - Angela Lucas friend of CFS - in the lounge
2. Lisieux France - french church planter inviting the English to come and join
3. Rouen - Reuben - English guy with the Baptist Missionary Society
4. Belgian - Eric Zander - working in networks in his village
5. Belgian - Steve Pitt - motorbike church - Heh!
6. Germany - Wupertaal - Andre transitioning a church to incarnationl mission
7. The Hague, Netherlands -  a CFS team visited here 4 years ago - old friends!

Half old friends and half first time meetings - so many committed Christians, serving in contrasting places - God Bless you all!

We filmed some video interviews which will be appearing at www.incarnate-network.eu which we look after in CFS for Incarnate Network.