If the hand of God is in the seismic shifts we are seeing in the landscape of our churches then resistance is futile! I believe that as we face the sometimes surprising needs for mission in today’s postmodern world there are tremendous treasures to be found in the roots of our traditions:

• the ways of journeying together pioneered by people like Thomas Helwys and the first Baptists
• the soul friendship and co-housing of people like Aidan and the Celtic missionaries, Benedict and the first Benedictines
• the close conversation and redistribution of wealth central to the work of John Wesley and the early Methodists
• the radical democratisation of initiative represented by mendicants like Francis and Clare of Assisi

My journey with Christ over 29 years and as a pastor/teacher/planter over the last 26 years is one that has drawn vitally from those wells. In them I continue to find relevant ways; strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow. I have also been inspired by the creativity of eighteenth and nineteenth century Anglicans like Selina Hastings of Huntingdon and Thomas Knapp of Portsmouth and the humanity and whole-life spirituality of twentieth century catalysts like Paulo Freire.

Benedict of Norcia, Thomas Helwys and Brazilian educator Paolo Freire - heroes from times when beards were in!

I believe that many of the new patterns of church-life and missional living now emerging around the world are ways to be embraced and strengthened by those of us who are “older brothers and sisters”. I value the creativity of the new and the wealth of spiritual heritage in the old. I am not ashamed of my younger brothers and sisters nor am I ashamed of the Gospel. In the power of his Spirit my desire is to serve whatever the Lord is doing today!

Ultimately, we are all asking the same great questions; questions of what it means to live lives that are godly: missional, communitarian, compassionate, evangelical and contemplative. These questions unite believers from every part of the Church - mainstream, micro, simple, organic and emerging. And they are the thread that you will find running through these posts. Brother & Sister, let us journey together and give glory to God. Amen.