An Intuitive Introverts Guide
to Starting a Church : 4
Mark Pierson : Urban Seed: Melbourne, Australia
[07.05]

May 18, 2005
Second Sunday in and four people turned up to talk values and move a little further into the order of service. (Marcus and I who are working on the project, plus my wife, and a visitor we expected and who had a reason for coming that night and no reason to return!) At this rate of reverse growth we have a shelf life of about a week! It was good to be kept humble. It still felt good to start the ‘service’ on time and work through more of the new liturgy, with a Pentecost flavour.

Popped popping corn in (my) good Pentecost tradition. Due to using only a small amount of popping corn the ‘spray’ effect was disappointingly unspectacular. Definitely my most subdued Pentecost experience yet. (Note for next year: an electric popcorn maker is too noisy and takes too long to get popping. It also needs a full load to shoot popped corn up in to the air. Go back to using a wok and gas ring). The building worked well and we picked up some things we want to do with lighting and stations etc. Pentecost reminded us that it is the Spirit of God who will do whatever happens here. We’re just along for the ride.

Continuing the values list from last time.

Urban Seed:church will:-

l. Strongly value and encourage the integration of creativity and the arts in all aspects of its life and worship.

m. Be trusting and strongly committed to artists in all fields of creative endeavour, looking for uncensored and non-controlling ways to have them use their gifts to communicate and interpret the message of the Gospel as they see it.

n. Be irrevocably committed to a model of worship curators, who would…

o. …enable multiple people to participate in leading elements of the set pattern of worship each week…

p. …constantly invite and encourage participation in leadership by any member of the community in any aspect of worship. Participation that is given authority as well as responsibility and which can literally shape the community. This includes ‘preaching’, which would be contained in the middle of the service of worship and not given elevation in significance above any other element of worship…

q. …expect that the ‘stuff’ of the everyday life and culture of membersn of the community will be incorporated into its worship ie music, movies, passions, hobbies, pastimes, stories, objects. Worship may not include singing and is more likely to include a recorded track by Tom Waits than Hillsong.

r. Shape its overall pattern of worship around the Christian Calender.

s. Draw on the best of historical and traditional practices of Christianity, reframing them for contemporary practice.

t. Encourage any one in the community to start any project, homegroup, small group, mission or ministry at any time without any hurdle or process beyond announcing that intention to the community.

u. Own and fund no programmes or projects beyond it’s worship and administrative life. Beyond this will be the responsibility of individuals and groups within the community who have the vision and Call to do something.

v. Appreciate beauty.

continue the journey >

Mark Pierson is Executive Director of Urban Seed. He is also co-author with Mike Riddell and Cathy Kirkpatrick of the SPCK book & CD-Rom, 'The Prodigal Project' and collator of the CDROM project‘Fractals: alternative worship resources for the emerging church’.