NATIONAL
URBAN MISSION CONFERENCE
ADELAIDE
SEPTEMBER 24-26 2013
I really enjoyed this conference and there was much that I found interesting.
These rough notes were taken at the time
by me for my own interest and probably with many inaccuracies.
If they are useful to you, feel free to read them! J
Dr
Chris Baker of the William Temple Foundation, Chester UK. An updated version of
Chris Baker’s CV and current interests and research is accessible through the
web sites; Chester University www.chester.ac.uk/departments/trs/staff/baker and
www.chester.ac.uk/cfpp
Tuesday morning- 24th Sept
2013
Dr Chris Baker
- London,
English context, UK intense discussion about religion, people keep talking and
researching about it.
A four step dialogical hermeneutic.
- Experience
(of being the church in Australian society)
- Analysis
(spatial, cultural, philosophical, political, economic)
- Theological
reflection
- Action
(what strategic actions emerge from process)
- What
sort of community/society/public space do we want to live in?
- What
kind of assets or capital do we (or the church) bring to that vision?
- What
sort of church are we called to be in society?
A journey into the unknown?
- From
enchantment to disenchantment to re-enchantment?
o
-we are losing our ability to believe in
enchantment, in meaning and mystery. Yet
people wish to connect with ethics and values.
The consumer world is no longer fulfilling. How do we get balance back in the public life?
- From
the religious to the secular to the post secular
o
Up to 1500’s the religious was the only way
to understand life. Then secular and we
are now in the post secular age.
- From
Christendom to post Christendom plus
o
Where does Christianity fit in now?
- Bruggerman-
from promise of the land, to possession of the land to the loss of the land and
to exile.
o
If you substitute the land for culture does
that express who we are?
o
Yet are we in exile? Is it useful???
o
People disengaged?
- From
self-imposed exclusion to confident participation?
- From
loss of identity to rediscovered identity.
- Can
we respond to the challenges and ethical imperatives of the post secular space/
What
is the post secular …a group discussion..
Religious-1 to 10 secular how does
Australia fell and why?
Between 1-5
- is
it possible to be a non-religious?
- We
are a religious space.
6-7
- Friends
from child care get baptised and go to church occasionally.
- Council
conserved about reshaping space and collectively. Public space and community
- Australia,
spiritual attachment to the land.
- Multi-faith
culture.
8-9
- Public
sphere – long history of secularism. Yet long history of religious faith
- Secular
debate 1960’s
- Religion
belongs to the “lunatic fringe” old takes or fundos.
10-
Post-
secular – not institutionalised religion, feelings of community, harmony &
moral framework
Secularisation theory.
- The process
by which sectors of society and culture are removed from the domination of
religious institutions and symbols (Berger)
- The destruction
of the sacred canopy – a meaningful order or worldview that ….
- Brian
Wilson – religious institutions actions and conscience lose their
significance.’’
Steve Bruce
- Declining
importance of religion for the operations of non-religious activities (i.e. politics
and economics.)
- Decline
in social standing of religious institutions.
- Decline
of religious practices , display beliefs and believers conduction ther lives in
a manner as if informed by beliefs.
Emergence
of the post secular –
- Christian
Caryl – “Strange Rebels” 1979 & the birth of the 21st c.
1979 collapse of the cold war and communism. etc.
….
- Jose
Casanva – De-privatisation of the public sphere
- Peter
Burger – de- secularisation, resurgence of “furious, supernaturalist” fundos,
etc
It
is not about reversing the process of secularisation, after all secularism as
an ideology that is not going without a fight.
But it is about the re-emergence (or new visibility) of religion.
Habermas –
we need to adopt a postsecular understanding of society as whole in which the vigorous
continuation of religion in continual secularization …..
- So
the secular and the religious have to share the public space., anything else
discriminated against religious people after all secular people don’t have to
modify their discourse or identity.
- “ a
devout person purses her daily rounds belief if not a doctrine but a source of
energy
Religious
sources – pre-political.
- So
we need a model of symbiosis rather than domination.
- Religion
infuses the public pace with normative concepts such as responsibility etc…
- Secularisation
turns the content of biblical ideas for concepts accessible to the general
public of other faiths and nonbelievers for example – human dignity.
- No
longer a sterile faith vs reason
- The “one
size fits all” public space is no longer fit for purpose.
Charles Taylor a super nova of positions
in the public square.
– Public space, like a big bang super nova. 18th
c.
- A
galloping pluralism on the spiritual plane between militant orthodoxy &
unbelief…
-
Empirical
evidence of the post-secular. “Global North”
84%
religious
- 32%
Christian
- 23% Muslim
- 16% Nones – no religion
- 15% Hindu
- 7% Buddhist
- 6%
folk religion
- .2%
Jewish
Median
age of the world is 26. … Christianity
will decline and Muslim & Buddhism will increase.
UK –
Nones
– 25% up by 12
Christian
– 59% down by 12
Muslim
5%
Other
4 %
Let
us look at the NONES-
The
typology of non-believers is fluid
6
types of atheists-
- 37 %
Cultural non-believers – educated, intellectuals
- 23%
Activist atheist. Agnostic, gltbi, feminists etc.
- 15% Anti – theists or new atheists Dawkins
- 12% Ritual theist/agnostic, lack of belief but
find utility in trads & rituals
- 7% Seeker agnostic- search for scientific
wonderful things
- 4% Non- theists – apathetic and non-active
- Less
than half would be actively opposed to religion or belief. Religion is seen as a social/ethical source.
SBNR
– spiritual but not religious ….
In
from the cold – have a place at the (political) table?
Yet
it has its down side….
Before
we get too carried away…
- Mainstream
religions are getting older …
- Loss
of religious literacy.
- Media
as the source of info about religion.
- Postsecular
paradox…
Tuesday
afternoon- Graham McKerracher
“Where
theory & action intersect”
- Don’t
want empty theorising or mindless active rather we want active engagement – “to
be intimately involved in the daily struggles of ordinary people “…
-
Question
of consciousness.
What
is community development?
Questions of Gaze & lens-
- Nothing
is neutral
- Common
sense contested
- Received
gaze & developed gaze
- Race,
gender, religion, politics, ideology, modernist, postmodernist, relative,
absolute ….
- My
own lens …
Questions of everyday life
- Strategies
– the actions of powerful institution and the effect on everyday life of
individuals. Control behaviour & limit freedoms
- Tactics-
personal acts to subvert strategies …”the art of the weak” lack the capacity to
actually change strategies – “making do”
To make a difference we need to understand them & there context
- Transgression
– breaking of the social norms …where do
we draw the line? …is there a time when “rules are made to be broken ?….
- Heresy
becomes orthodoxy …… graffiti projects, pirate radio, nasper …
Questions of space
- Ownership
- Impact
of behaviour
- Impact
on how we feel
- Control,
- freedom
Questions of psychogeography
- understanding
the physical environment and the effect on behaviour
can be vague or focussed, long term or short
etc
- Something
we can do to explore the world. A tool for understanding the world.
- We
can support our congregation to do this ..
- And
we can invite people to do this to increase their levels of conscientiousness
- Understanding
the local helps us to understand the global.
Discussion of the walk- looking at local
spaces
- We
have the illusion of choice. You can have any sort of soft drink – as long as
you want to buy a multinational
- Use
of public space- i.e. vacant lots used for other things with public art,
displays etc. ..
- Easy
to get classist – looking down at others … what are own tactics? ..
- Albert
Einstein on a bike ..
- Parking
transgression
Wednesday
morning,
Urbanisations of hope
politics and mission the role and contribution of faith.
What
is the urban spaces are emerging and configurations about how we are thinking
about church.
What
does it mean to be engaged in urban mission?
What
are the cross over points of people of faith and people who would say they have
no religion – how do we create a sense of hope??
Coldplay
video “every tear drop is a
waterfall” cf Isiah blossoms in the
wilderness. Captures the heartbeat of the city. Filmed in Silverton? in east end
London, classic waste land, one of the last areas left for redevelopment.
What does urban regeneration feel like
and what is it like?
- Where
are the places and spaces of despair in the city.
o
The people sleeping under the veranda, no
privacy. They were told they had to pack up
…
o
Port Adelaide- wharf area, and it’s becoming
more and more run down…
o
Mansfield Park area renovated into Westwood…
church created a community gardens
o
Adelaide’s west park lands …south park
lands…. Homeless people vs council
harassment…
o
Yet, some homeless people are really quite
happy with it … this is their community.
o
Refugees, Centrelink and immigration, people go
in hope and leave in despair ….
o
Social isolated- emotional despair - physical
and mental. the micro-spaces of individuals
o
It is also about our perception … some places
that we think are despairing may be community for the people involved we have
to not jump to conclusions.
- where are the places of hope …
o
Gold coast – everyone comes from somewhere
else, it is a place of second chances ….
o
The pigs in rundle mall
o
Redevelopment Darwin coast
o
Shopping centre – can be both. Can we
humanise them? West Lakes can be a
gathering place for older folk.
o
Co-create Adelaide …creative energetic stuff
… look it up on web.
o
Adelaide redevelopment.
o
Refugees from Africa – shop Afros? Back of
Adelaide, all the stuff that they can recognise. Ie smoked fish that the African lady knew how
to cook…
o
Places that people can met and they can
express their culture, nexus of connection, public art, alternative political
spaces, co-creating new networks,
The big story – is space as flows
replacing space as place?
1-
4
dynamics of 21st century urban change (sociologist models)
All
these models are interconnected and derive from the basic premise that economic
globalisation …. ….. has powerful
influenced the function and form of cities
Castells
, Sassens sociologists.
- Virtual
networks leads to clustering of knowledge and financial hubs
- Goes
to the cheapest global location
- Global cities (post-industrial
knowledge and innovation) vs mega cities
(global mass production city)-
- Pressures
of gentrification and the new urban elite
Is space replacing place?
- Hypermobility,
flows and fragmentation characterise the network cities
- Combining
trajectories creating ‘space as flows” and gaining domination over the local
(solid) space that acts as a boundary of significance from human identity ..
2-The mongrel city Sandercock
- Listening
to the voices of pluralisation, diverse post-colonial city
- Planning
from the bottom up, importance of narrative over technocratic universalising
(male) master plan
- City
as cosmopolis – inclusive
- “My
imagined utopia” – a construct of the mind
…need to subvert it it is always in the mind, on the making. There is no
rigid city – the recognition of intertwined fates
- But
managing globalised localities is hard and delicate work- not least is the
backlash against difference
- Voices
from the borderlands- the insights and practices of the immigrant ….
3 the new bohemian City – Florida and
Harvey
- Linked
to gentrification and “boosterism” (selling something , boost it up) – how do
you retain the knowledge experts , innovators and investors – the creative
class (the new bohos) who will give you the creative edge in Network/Matrix
- Linked
to global tourism
- New
bohos – the super creative class – 20s 30s- high disposable incomes and need to
be flexible- high expectations of self-expressions and being entertained….
- The
city of liveability – innovative, exciting, creative, and safe place to live
and visit , to play and consume in
- But
also a synthetic city – a “city lite”- strangely familiar and ahistorical –
repackaged.
-
4 the locally liveable city – Amin
- Minimal
interference – low expectation of social interaction- but the importance of creating spaces and places
of encounter- working with the grain of how local networks are formed and being
alert to their possibilities
- Lowers
the hype, A good enough community , people can live side by side
- Micro-
publics – banal mundane spaces – schools, workplace, colleges neighbourhood
house –( & religious groups)
- Overtime
‘ we overcome feelings of strangeness in the simple process of sharing tasks
and comparing ways of doing things
- Developing
a local accommodation with a difference.
Adelaide
– has a touch of all 4 models - liveable,
networked around the world with a touch of boho?? Where Adelaide is in these models are they
helpful? What are our stories and
contributions?
Second session
Providing a surplus of urban hope-
engaging our religious social capital.
What
is distinctive about faith based involvement in urban life?
What
are the overlaps with other agencies and institutions and why are we
distinctive?
What
is the added value that you think you bring to the public sphere compared with
other organisations and how do you express it? Structures, methods and your
religious identity …
- Pilgrim
vision statement – a public theology & creation of public space.
Engaging the social capital debate
- The
perceived need to reconstruct civil society – localism, big society. Civil society is the Third Space beyond the
control of the State and the Market and it involves activities that counterbalance
the worst excesses of either. To build a
strong civil society you need to build up strong reserves of social capital.
- That
is the importance of relationships, networks, and norms that can be used to
enrich individuals and communities – i.e. communities of belonging and trust.
- Modern
era – dwindling reserves of social capital as indicated in decline of
volunteerism, participation in community, voting, decline of anchor institutions i.e. - political parties, trade unions,
churches, etc.
- What
is to blame? – increasing mobility and materialism – the retreat into the home
(Putham- Bowling Alone 2000)
- Poverty
and inequality – leads to breakdown in trust and social cohesion
So
if you want to build society, they need to build networks, community and
understandings of is normative and acceptable.
- Derogatoryly
expressed as “communitarism” but it is about creative inclusive and not
exclusive,
- How
do we construct social capital – there are different types.
1- Bonding –
reinforcing exclusive identities- family, ethics, class and gender-ties in this
group are strong. I.e. mafia
2- Bridging –
outward looking relationships that works with other groups of different
cultural and sociological …
3- Linking –
refers to groups that …. “patronage” etc
- Government
and local government are happy with the
‘what’ of faith groups but not the ‘why’
Churches
in urban regeneration – asked not only what they contributed but what did
regeneration mean to them?
What does regeneration really mean?
- Transformation,
personally and spiritually
- Values
of personal stories
- Belief
that God is at work
- Accept
that there is a lot of emotion felt and expressed when working for healthy
communities
- Values
of self-emptying, forgiveness, transformation, risk taking and openness to
learning
- Etc.
The importance of spiritual capital –
the why that drives the what…
- Social capital
- The what - Religious capital – is the
practical contribution to local and national life made by faith groups.
- The why - Spiritual capital – “energises
religious capital by providing a theological identity and worshiping tradition
but also a value system, moral vision etc.
Operationalizing
the virtuous cycle of religious and spiritual capital as part of social capital
n 3
ways of church based engagement in the city
- Being there –
mundane space of engagement – coffee mornings and other things that church
do (Bonding?)
- Mainstream –
formally accept that they will partake in state initiatives or partnership
schemes …… learn the language of business , institutions
(Bridging?)
- Alternative –
consciously pitched to either develop new technological practices of engagement
or actively participate …diverse
groups coming together , highly entrepreneurial . (linking?)
Is this analysis helpful?
- Wednesday afternoon
The “peter
and jo show” with Peter Mc Uniting Communities & Jo H, Marion Life.
The
story of the depressed man and his garden that led to a gardening group. It
started with a discussion about needing a depression support group but his two
most positive things in his life is his dog & his garden. A beautiful, beautiful garden so they started
a gardening group and never needed the depression group! J
What
are our assets?
What
are the tools in out tool box? I.e. meeting agenda or ….How to be consultative
in how we use it ….and what other ways can we do stuff?
Sometimes
we need to be creative, maybe even close things down for a while …
What
is the most important question to deal with at the time …
Where
the passion and experience... is it related to that question or is it in
another direction…
Community
development, people explore faith when they find commonality..
How
do we co-create with the community.
Wednesday morning.
Session 4 : the city as
text: towards a urban practical theology.
- So
far we have done much to construct a practical urban theology – the how when
why of what we do – being reflective.
- Modality
(practise) social impact charism
(gifts)_
Being there bonding solidarity
Mainstream bridging advocacy
Alternative linking prophesy
This is of course, it not exclusive but
messy
- What
church can the church give to the wider world?
-
Missio
Dei
(gen 12:1)
- Barth-
mission is understood from the trinity. God sends Son, God & Son send Spirit, then God sends the Church
…Movement from God to the world …
- If
God is fulfilling divine mission in the world do we need the church- 1960s …what is the role of the church.
- Yes,
we do need church our role is to participate..
- incarnational approach
- Centrifugal
– the mission is always pushing us outwards, pushing forward.
- “I would
rather be a comma than a full stop: Coldplay song – “Every tear is a waterfall
….
- Performative Apologetics (1
Peter 3:1) how do we advocate for the
Christian faith, expressing the “hope that is within you”
- Testimonies
of faith in order to consolidate Christian identity.
- Narrative,
- Critical
intellectual debate
- Evangelism
& socio political involvement both part of the Christian duty
- Arises
from the shared life, generates a practical wisdom that gives shape to the
world and orientates Christians in their actions and behaviours.
- The
invitation is not to “believe” but to embrace a world view …..
- Knowing
that vs knowing how
- If
Christian apologetics is an invitation to others to join us publically in a way
of life then it has to be dynamic and vibrant etc.
- elements
of performative apologetics
§ Solidarity. Inc. lament
§ Advocacy-
not only binds the wounds but also helps heal them. Sticking your nose where it is not wanted.
§ Prophetic witness. 2 things – speaking truth to power. Bringing
the religious imagination into the stuff about being human, making the powers
to be squirm..
- Progressive localism
(Jer 29.7 seek the peace of the city ...) outward facing, and wanting to promote the
health of the common good for everyone
- Living
our spiritual capital …
- Doing
something about something
o
Localism UK
government strategy. It will come here. Rolling aback stuff to local rather
than have the government doing their work???
(my words) neo-liberal agenda about cutting costs
- Spaces
of postsecular
rapprochement (coming together), spaces of religions and non-religious
people coming together, willing to work together. Thus creating new spaces of
how to be, politics and poetry.
o
One off spaces of outrage.
o
More long term welfare projects
o
spaces of ethical identity
o
Myriad spaces of recognition and tolerance at
individual & group level.
- Why
Progressive? Not liberal but looking
outward.
- A secular expression of Missio Dei –
creating spaces of boundary – spanning encounter and praxis.
Should I stay or should I go?
- Comfort
vs risk/fear
- Status
vs change
- Atrophy
vs flow
- Barrenness
vs promise
- Continuity
vs discontinuity
- Rooted
vs uprooted
-
“This
decision is bugging me!” – The Clash – “Do I stay or do I go? Sometimes we can
get paralysed between these conflicting desires. Existential dilemma. Don’t
lose your authenticity.
Peter Mac – CoCreation Adelaide,
festival of CoCreate, Adelaide …….
“The Reformed Church is always
reforming”
- Reformer
theology is not about confessional statement, or infallible stuff …. “permanent
reformation” - Moltmann
What
key idea and visions that have emerged from this conference do we want to note/
put on a future agenda?
What
does a postsecular, post-Christendom church begin to look like?
Thursday afternoon.
Peter
- next process.
Yesterday
we did a “open space” process.
Today
a “world café” process
In
addition, there are many resources available for new World Cafe hosts,
including free hosting guides, an online community of practice, and World
Cafe Signature Learning Programs.
Although we didn’t do a further process with the
material generated to come to conclusion
such as a “dot democracy”
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