pilgrim blog :: steve jones

My queen !

Like thousands in exeter yesterday we saw our queen - I'm becoming quite a royalist in my mid-age !

Simply... Day 23. Drifting around the patch

I'm out today with my new friend Sam from the YMCA Exeter - lunch together then 'drifting' around the local community - praying for the area, making friends and telling stories... just Simply does it!

Been away in London with the tribe for a few days house-sitting in a lovely vicarage belonging to a good friend of mine Steve Rees.. Checked out Olympic Village, Open Top Bus Tour, Whipsnade Zoo and caught up with in-laws... Loads of good stuff

Broken down with 4 'happy' children in the back !

Somewhere between Exeter and Bath, the Jones family are stretching the concept of harmonious family!

Simply... Day 17. Offering some love...

I'm off meeting folks in my Exeter patch today. I'm offering particularly two ways of connection...

1. I'm wanting to meet dads who want to be better dads. I'm a dad of 4 and it has been the biggest challenge of my life so I always need to get better and want to meet some dads in my community in a pub for a chat and an opportunity to encourage one another
2. I'm also seeking out unemployed young people to work with ... As a trained Life Coach I would love to work alongside some young men who want to break out of the cycle into a new reality..  

 

Simply... Day 11 .. North Cornwall Coast

You might be wondering why there is a scary Goth type Gal as a photo ... It's my own off-spring, my daughter who played the Queen of Hearts in a school
Production over the weekend.. Scary !

This week with Simply... I'm going to Cornwall to get to know the Methodist community down there better - i'd love Simply... to be a whole peninsula thing one day ... So gonna hang out on surf beaches of north cornwall - meeting some friends, old and new - and spend time with a missional leader called Gerard Kelly. Today with my new friend Jon Curtis and praying/chatting with Clive - plus some adminey stuff. Oh and eating lots of hot chilli cabbage soup !

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.

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.

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

I love this time of year

one of the reasons I love this time of year is the new start and the looking back...

2010 last year was a year of ...

1. highest family in England for 2 minutes in August

 

 

 

2. handing over Nightchurch.org.UK and it continues to develop as a congregation of Exeter Cathedral.

3. trained over 1000 leaders in various things and spoke to over 3,000 different people on changing the world.

4. laid some foundations for a movement of missional networks of churches in SW - coming soon in 2011

5. great hols in cornwall with family in summer

6. seeing Exeter Street Pastors established with 60+ folks on the streets on Fri/Sat evening

7. helped to open a new suite of offices in Exeter as a Mission Resource Centre.

8. starting a base for masters degree in missional leadership in Exeter for SW - 7 students at the moment.

9. rebuilt a derelict sailing dinghy, joined a local club and went for it !!

 

 

 

 

for next year 2011 I'm...

1. looking to push my business [generous] up a level or two to become more 'viral', more 'profitable' and more influential... www.generousvirus.com

2. looking to do some work in Cornwall in some way.

3. losing some weight and doing a triathlon with my daughter in the summer

4. having a greats summer holiday with kids and Larissa

5. blogging so much more especially around missional habits, developing simple life and starting movements to change the world ... www.steve-jones.org

 6. help to launch a movement of missional networks in the SW with Methodists and Pioneer. www.catalysts.org.uk   www.pemd.org.uk   www.trainingtuesdays.net   www.pioneer.org.uk

7. hoping to train more leaders (+1,000) and speak to 2000+ folks in some way or another.

8. looking to develop some great habits like early morning stuff, fitness stuff and some simple habits - sometimes forgotten - like being a friend, being a caring and gentle husband, reading books to my kids, slow meals with people I care for, praying and reading Bible ..

9. continue my research into missional leadership and movements to change the world www.springdalecollege.org.uk

 

 

Haven't blogged for ages

Some people have said , are you still alive Steve? Well....yes! I would love to write more on this blog and thoroughly enjoy sharing insights ... The last few months have been busy (not necessarily a good thing) and have been starting a new load of study and reading around 'movements that change the world'... One key part of starting movements is the need to simplify life so that it becomes 'viral' - a complex life or church will never seem attractive for the very reason that it isn't achievable by the vast majority of people - folks are put off planting new churches ( I would say only a handful have been planted in SW England in the last few years) ... When I write it would need '10,000 small missional churches to significantly impact the SW',(http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=668920121&v=info) it might seem like pie in the sky to some - and yes it is unless we evolve into new paradigms and ways of doing church and life - ways that are viral and easy to multiply.. Some people say why mention such a crazy numerical goal - it has a demotivating effect on folks! I'm guessing I'm going public on the need for a God-intervention in our region, unless He shows up Im going to look very sill over the next 20 years. And that is the other key - a commitment to longevity - to decades rather that years or seasons.. John Wesley spent a good 40 + years doing the same things day after day to feed the movement he founded... Travelling, coaching, training, speaking, writing, discipling, praying, - it's not rocket science, in fact not a lot of this Christ-following life is .. We make it so complicated.. Have a super day and God bless