pilgrim blog :: steve jones

Simply... Day 8. Doing things right

Training to Barnstaple in North Devon with Clive today... exloring possibilities of pioneering some missional hubs there eventually... Spending some of the time meeting church leaders in the area to explain what we're about and why we do what we do.. 

It would be easy to just arrive in an area and just start doing 'Jesus stuff', but I'm reckoning it be a lot better to hang out with some church leaders first...

Now it's the end of the day and what a day !! Met a good Anglican friend of mine Simon May and two amazingly encouraging leaders from Grosvenor, James Hyde and Magnus Proctor.. thanks so much for your welcome Barnstaple ... God bless Barnstaple 

CRE - Christian Resources Exhibition

Was helping on a stall at CRE SW in Exeter today... Great fun, met so many coooool people - new and old friends.. I really enjoyed the day - I love encouraging and resourcing and helping folks on their missional journeys !!
Things opening up in Nth Devon too and tomorrow in Barnstaple seems to be coming together ... God bless North Devon !

Simply... Day 7. 'Find out what God is doing and join in.. '

Wandering around my local neighbourhood, praying and chatting to folks ..

I'm trying to get a sense of where people are at and finding out 'what God is already doing!'

Previously, in my wonderfully proud way, I was taught that basically as I go to reach out to the folks around me, God comes with me - sounds good and proper .. And to some degree really true. But we forget that we can't box the creator of the universe into just being our little helpful chum! After all this God is wild and not tame or tamed - the Celtic Christians called Him the Wild Goose - goes where He wants, when He wants, doing what He wants!

Yes He is with me but Yes He is also already where I intend to go and has been at work in people's lives since the day they were born - ever so gently drawing all people to Himself through Christ.

'Find out what God is doing and join in.. '

Simply... Day 6. VentureFX Friends.

Went to London on the train and met some great new friends - other folks freed up by the Methodist Church to develop new ways of being a Christ-follower. Many cool people - I'm gonna love being among this crowd... we unpacked the wonderful and key concept of creativity in life and mission... how so important.. 13 initiatives with 14 Pioneers... in places like London, Cornwall, Inverness, Sheffield, Stoke, more at www.venturefx.blogspot.com

Off to Exmouth today on a train £2.40 return - bargain - the Methodist Church has a large new circuit over Exeter and East Devon so I'm going to chat to a really nice minister called Jonathon about training and equipping for the 1,000's of folks they have in their 'flock'.
I kinda know that within those 1000's of people are amazing and inspirational coaches, mentors, trainers etc... It's finding and developing such catalysts!

Then working in a cafe looking out to sea - then family stuff into the evening - I'm our chef, I'll do something great. My daughter is looking for a 'cool' drama work experience placement if you have any ideas, somewhere in UK??!!

The English church that went up a mountain but came down a hill

I have lived in USA for ten years and UK for five. In both countries I worked for the churches. They are different, the churches in USA and UK, something that became more evident this weekend after Mark Driscoll suggested the UK church was the poorer for not having any well-known teachers. Interview is here.

via tallskinnykiwi.typepad.com

Simply... Day 5. Pioneer Friends..

It was great today to meet up with my friends Billy Kennedy and Roger Ellis from Pioneer... www.pioneer.org.uk.

Pioneer is about 'non-religious Christianity' - a phrase taken from a German theologian called Bonhoeffer. As he saw the German church retreat into insignifance in 1930's Nazi Germany, he grappled with this vision of decline and compared this with what he felt Jesus had originally intended for the church... 'non-religious Christ following' - an organic movement of followers of Christ, filled with the Spirit and seeking to bring transformation and hope to the world around them. As Bonhoeffer went on to explain, we then made it a little more complicated !!!???!!!£££$$$!!

Simply... is part of Pioneer ( as well as being part of Methodism) - a network of networks of churches and projects and other great stuff. We love hanging out with these guys and gals and are popping over to their national leadership conference  in a few weeks .. if you're around in Southampton, come and say hello!

 

Simply... Day 4. Wider than me?

Hey I'm not talking about my belly!  Today I'm off to Barnstaple with my good friend Frank... To explore Simply as a wider movement not just Exeter based... We're training it, as is my custom, (by the way aren't trains great? space, room to chat, to work, to think, much cheaper than car - still- and so much more eco.. I do live 100m from a station though and that helps). I hope to have a good catch up with Frank - he's one of the most thought through reflective Jesus followers I've ever met and we always have great chin-wag. When we get to Barnstaple we hope to pray around the town and chat to folks, getting to know where and how to connect with the town long term.

Simply... Day 3. being well thought through??!!!>???

Well today I'm taking on the challenge of a bit of study... how does that sound to you?  

I'm finishing off an essay that is looking at church as the lens through which we see what God is like.. What an incredible statement and challenge - when I look at the church sometimes the lens is so tainted and darkened I can hardly see anything of God - I sit in some 'church' meetings and Christ isn't mentioned at all. It would be easy for us all i guess to find stuff in the church that really depresses us - the child abuse highlighted by the press, the internal politics, the patriarchal hierarchies, the decline in numbers, etc... but what if the church took on the challenge of being the 'lens' through which people see God. Let the world see the great things we do and are... and if we're not doing Jesus stuff or being like Jesus, why don't we say sorry and start changing?  

 

wow that's come out really preachy ..  well I don't preach a lot now anyway so I suppose it just popped out. God bless in all you are and do !!

Simply... Day 2. Why Pray?

Those of us with an activist mindset wanna get going and we wanna get going now, no messing. Thanks to all those friends and advisors that have said to me, 'start in prayer, Steve'. Why as an activist, do I want to spend most of today praying? 

Prayer is God's way of giving 'spiritual say-so'... it might sound a little weird but I believe that as I pray, God responds and does good stuff. Because God genuinely loves us, He has made Himself 'influence-able', like any good parent,  who gets down on the floor with her child and says, 'well Reggie, what do you want to do today? What do you want to make, to create, to bring into being?' The excitement of walking with a God like that is sometimes overwhelming. That's the essence of prayer, not all that 'stuffy stuff' we sometimes picture.

Prayer is good for my mates  - Because I only pray for good stuff to happen and for encouragement and life to happen for people, prayer is good for my mates and their families and friends.

Prayer is good for me - it encourages me to recognise that it's not all about me. It's about the purposes of God, I'm only alive because of Him, I'm only going to 'do stuff' because of His power working not mine... Basically, prayer humbles me and that's gotta be good 'cos many activists are just plain full of themselves, their 'leadership', their gifts, their calling, blah, blah,!"

Have a good one!

Simply... Day 1. Thinkin' Deep

Today is my first proper day with Simply... going to Plymouth on the train to see my good friend and line manager, Dave Martin. Got my little son with me too so he's all excited by the train bit. Dave and I are going to pray together and chat about Simply... and how we develop it.. I've drafted what some people call a 'Philosophy of Mission and Ministry' - can be helpful because it gets you to think through the essence of who you are, what you are going to value, what you are going to do and how you are going to do it.

Here's a clip from draft - I've called it our 'Everys'.. tell me what you think. Subscribe to Updates too

Inclusive - everyone is welcome

Following Jesus 24/7 - everyone can learn the ways of Christ ( the Jesus Model) and put them into practice

Everyone can play! There is a space for everyone to flourish in what we are good at, even if we don't know what that is yet. It's only as we all make space for each others gifting that we can truly transform and be transformed.

360° - every part of life & culture is important and we seek to engage in the whole of this life - We want to develop through partnerships 'All Things Good' and help to meet the breadth of human needs, whether that’s educational, economical, physical, spiritual, social or environmental.

Viral - everything we do, we design to spread, to multiply, to virally transform for good .. Why spend time developing 'hit & run' projects and friendships with no thought on the long-term sustainability of an initiative? Mathematicians call it the exponential effect - multiplication is so built into the DNA of this movement that the 1 becomes the 12 and the 12 the 72.

Creative - everyone can be creative and lead as we seek to nurture the creative, innovative and entrepreneurial spirit found in each one of us

Happy New Year!

Happy new year to everyone from the Jonestribe !

May you have the best year yet..

'May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.'

Ancient Celtic Blessing

Mountain Biking with Uncle Harvey

Having a super morning out with our wonderful Uncle Harvey Fryer - he's the editor in chief at Argos and Homebase and a wonderful uncle to our kids. We're mountain biking and taking some risks ! Ouch !

Writing essays, reading books, browsing sites, washing up, chopping wood, board games with kids - seems to summarise my Christmas - really enjoying it ... Simply launches on Saturday night around midnight. If you want to know more visit www.pilgrim.typepad.com and put your email in box provided to receive regular updates.

Habits and Movements

There is an intrinsic, deep link between the habits we have established in our lives and the movements we seek to develop - whether that be church, mission, development, business or charitable movement.
Habits are so key to everything we are, in fact according to the old phrase, our character is made up of the habits we have developed, both good and bad.

Habit 'researchers' tell us this is the case - a recent researcher I was reading spoke of the link between habit accumulation and 'success'.
We all know this to be true.
So what if the link with movements ? Any significant movement has at its core some basic practices or habits, especially if it is to last and change the world around it. Think of the early communists with their learned mantras and disciplined lifestyles; think of the Methodists with their 'bands' (small accountability groups) and 'holy' lifestyles; think of the Jesuits and their patterned lives.
Movements need easily replicable patterns to create the viral, exponential dynamics so evident in truly world-changing networks. Without these core practices, the movement flounders in a sea of multiplicity.

What are the core practices for the movements you are part of?
Are they viral, sticky, replicable?
How can we 'exponentialise' and lever our life's effort?

mountain bike fever

My lads have caught a biking bug so today we're off to a mountain bike area in the forest... should be fun. Also starting to write an essay on 'hub-theology' - the concept that church should be concerned and engaged 360* in the community it finds itself. When many of us think of Salvation we think of getting to heaven or 'forgiveness of sin' but the Bible actually sees it a lot broader than that and Salvation touches into the whole of life, relationships and culture - extremely exciting stuff and pretty revolutionary for the way we live our Christian lives. I'll publish my essays on this site when finished - not everybody's cup of tea though. Then the famous Jones Traditional Turkey Curry - so quite a day - have a good one! Steve ps. by the way Simply... is launching next week so if you want to connect or find out what is happening, do fill in your email address on www.pilgrim.typepad.com and you'll automatically get sent regular updates.

Piano dismantling

Been having lots of fun dismantling an old piano in order to get it out of the door... Wonderful old wood and thick, heavy cast iron - a glorious old thing! Recycling absolutely every part ... And feeding our Christmas fire with chunky piano .. The Jonestribe are having a refreshing Christmas break and enjoying things like fires, cinema (saw Hugo, a beautiful movie), DIY - hmmmm, reading and writing an essay about Leslie Newbigin, seeing old friends and cooking some interesting foods.
Can I wish you a happy Christmas and God bless you and yours this Christmas!

I love these goals

The MDGs

This site will track progress on the millennium development goals up to 2015.

Find out more about the goals

The goals

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
2. Achieve universal primary education
3. Promote gender equality and empower women
4. Reduce child mortality
5. Improve maternal health
6. Combat HIV, Aids, malaria and other diseases
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
8. Develop a global partnership for development

via www.guardian.co.uk

the week ahead

a new week begins - what can I focus on to make this week great? what 5 things could I be or do this week that would give me great satisfaction? 1. do the reading for my essay I'm writing at the moment on missional church 2. 2 days of sorting the new house out - it needs some shelves, fire alarms and some cabling ( its that exciting) 3. Give those spare moments to kids ESP. 4. get up real early for study, prayer and focus then get kids and wife ready for schools. 5. have a swim or two, jog or two and cycle everywhere... At the weekend I'm also helping to run a conference around 'Wesleyan Mission Spirituality' - contact me if you're wondering what that is! I hope, Mr/Mrs Reader have a great week too - how can you make it your best ever?

Exeter Demo - lets go campin!

We have a demo outside Exeter - I'll pop in and see them later - seem really nice folk!
I do agree in principle with the protest - the world's financial system does not serve the world - therefore change is needed..
So maybe I'm going camping soon!

things hotting up

Yes we've just moved house so blogs have been a little quiet for a while.. Really enjoying our new space but still living a little out of boxes..

So much news to share as I begin a new chapter in life's adventure - I'm starting as a Pioneer Mission Leader with VentureFX - a national initiative from the Methodist Church. I begin on Jan 1st (or maybe Jan 2nd !) so am really excited by the possibilities.. I hope to blog loads about the journey.. I'll be half time Pioneer Mission Leader and half time Training Officer with SW Methodists.