Police and clergy walkabout in north Etobicoke

Every Thursday evening, a group of pastors heads out with some police for a community walk. It's mostly to get to know people in the community, to show support for the police, and to build some goodwill. I went for the first time tonight.

We went to a park in the Dixon Road corridor, a high-density area with a huge Somali population. I've been at Richview eight years, and I've never been in this park once before, even though it's only two kilometers away. It was packed with people, including a lot of fairly small kids but not many parents. The centerpiece is a basketball court donated by Vince Carter when he was still a Raptor. You rarely see so many people out in a community park on a hot summer night in Toronto.

We were a bit of a sight - a couple of police in uniform, and pastors with clergy collars so we'd be recognizable. It's safe to say that the police guns and handcuffs got more attention than the pastors and their collars.

I was amazed by a number of things. The police we had with us were amazing. It's different for them to show up to play basketball with kids and to hang out, rather than just showing up to respond to a call.

It was also amazing to see how many kids the other pastors knew. It's easy to talk about community ministry, but some have been doing it for years, and it shows. I heard stories tonight. I realized how out of touch I am with a lot of stuff that's been happening. The only way to find out is to be out there.

Ministry sometimes involves just walking around and hanging out. That can lead to all kinds of other things, but that's where it starts.

Someone on the Resonate list said the other day that the best thing you can do is to just go out and talk to a homeless person. The same thing is true here. I learned more tonight about Dixon Road just walking and chatting than I'd learn in hours anywhere else. And I think I'll go back.

Long Journey Home discussion

Jonathan & Naomi Johnson, friends of mine here in Toronto, are starting a summer reading club:

Jonathan & Naomi Johnson are interested in hosting a summer-time reading club, to study LONG JOURNEY HOME. Together, we will forge our way through to thinking well – or at least better – on the Meaning of Life & the plethora of religions and religious views available to our neighbors, our co-workers, our young adult children, and their friends. It will be work, but, thanks to the impeccable work of thinker and communicator Os Guinness, the really hard stuff has already been done for us. Too Busy this Summer? So are we! That’s why we’ll plan minimal get-togethers (probably only 3 or so) packed with maximum quality and content. This will be a working study, but we can all plan to take away increased understanding of some of the core issues and problems in connecting with seekers, as well as increased ability to relate to them, intelligently, where they’re at. We’ll even develop our own thinking and communicating skills – together!

More information here (in PDF).

Bono Fatigue

This is for those of you who think I post too much about U2.

Fitch on preaching part two: not much hoogly here

The last time I linked to a post by David Fitch on preaching, Paul Martin commented, "Really, Darryl. You liked this post? I thought it was bunch of hoogly."

Well, Fitch is back with part two and I declare it to be 99% hoogly-free. I love where he goes with this. Samples:

1.) QUIT EXPLAINING AND START PROCLAIMING. Let us preachers quit explaining the text so much. Instead let us proclaim the reality revealed in the text so that we all might live in it. In other words, let us preach to unfurl the reality revealed in the text that we could not see apart from being engulfed in the story of God from creation to redemption. We will no doubt, need to explain some things in the text. But the primary task of preaching on Sunday morning is “proclaiming” the reality of the world as it is under the good news of the gospel that renders all things new...

2.) PLEASE, LET’S COME TO SCRIPTURE AS DRAMA NOT A TEXTBOOK. Let us preachers resist all modernist temptations to see the Scriptures as a propositional textbook of religious facts. Instead, let us see the Scriptures as alive. Scripture is real accounts, testimonies and witnesses of God’s people, through the prophets and the apostles, to what God has done and said and will do. So let us read and speak as ones invited to see ourselves as invited in to participate in the continuation of all this! This might mean we might have to see the Bible as a Narrative (as became so popular in the 80’s.) More recently von Balthazar (Theo Drama), Sam Wells (Drama - Improvisation) and Kevin Vanhoozer (The Drama of Doctrine) have all taught us to think of Scripture as Theo Drama where we become the participants. This is the metaphor I believe we must follow in our preaching.

The whole thing is worth reading. Some very good stuff here.

A Networked Conspiracy

One of my favorite local bloggers, Bill Kinnon, has released a new book called A Networked Conspiracy, along with a splashy new blog to go with the book.

Bill writes:

First it's a combination audio book and softcover 55 page booklet featuring the entire text of the audio book - including 50 reference links...

The book was partly written as the result of frustration with "modern" church leadership. We've become great at "delivering services" while ignoring the incredible potential that exists in the people to whom we "deliver those services." In the Cluetrain universe we now inhabit, many, if not all people want to be involved. They want to both listen and be heard - they want to engage and be engaged. The one way communication of most "churchianity" just doesn't cut it for them/us - and we not only want to be heard...we will be heard.

Looks good! I'm adding this to my next book order.