Jenny
McIntosh – A Spirited Exchange continued
Interviewed by Paul Fromont
[04.06]
What could established churches learn from those who have been, or are a continuing part of Spirited Exchanges?
I think Spirited Exchanges people help to keep the church honest. It’s a bit like when you leave the church a light goes on – you get a different perspective on all the things that you have just blindly accepted and regarded as part of the faith package.
I think the church can learn to be more respectful of people and their journey, less judgemental, and hey, even increase the size and shape of their image of God. God is so much bigger and broader than typical Christian practise lets us believe. Churches could become less controlling and more concerned with freeing, enabling, healthily nourishing, accompanying, and resourcing growth and change in the lives of their members.
What are some of your hopes or dreams for the future of Spirited Exchanges?
I would like to see Spirited Exchanges normalised as a place / resource for people in faith transition. I’d like to see a wider understanding and acceptance of people in this space. I hope that groups will multiply and in doing so provide resources for many more people. Ideally I’d like to see churches take up the challenge and responsibility of supporting more carefully and lovingly those in their midst who are experiencing what I have been describing.
We are starting to see those, for whom Spirited Exchanges has been significant, offering themselves to others who are in the same place. People can do this by supporting Spirited Exchanges financially, by facilitating groups, or by getting alongside those individuals and really caring for them.
The future of Spirited Exchanges will reside in these supporters and in those who have re-shaped their faith paradigms so that they are again engaged with their faith and creatively living it out in those contexts where God has placed them.
Finally, how, if at all, did your recent experience in England validate
and enlarge your sense of the journey that Spirited Exchanges has been
on since its beginnings?
My time in the UK strongly validated the work of Spirited Exchanges. What we have learnt here strongly resonated for people there. In fact a group of about ten key people, concerned about the future of the church have formed a committee there and are proposing to seek funding for a co-ordinator position similar to my role, for the UK.
Everywhere I went I encountered people who were either themselves grappling with faith / church issues or knew someone who was.
Spirited
Exchanges still has a place and will continue to develop resources for
people outside of the church. I think it also has a role in encouraging
churches to care for potential leavers, and also in challenging unhealthy
church models. This latter role could really develop in the future as
we become a lot more confident in who we are and what we provide.
If you would like to find out more about Spirited Exchanges in the UK, you can go to the website http://spiritedexchangesuk.co.uk or email Joanna at spiritedexchanges@btinternet.com
If you would like to receive the Spirited Exchanges newsletter which has articles of interest, people’s stories, and book reviews etc. Previous issues can be viewed on www.spiritedexchanges.org.nz and you can go on the mailing list by sending your email address to spiritex@central.org.nz
Paul is based in Cambridge, New Zealand and collaborates on a blog – ProdigalKiwi(s) – with Alan Jamieson @ http://prodigal.typepad.com. In the interview Jenny mentions the significance to her of an essay written by Alan. For those who might be interested, a number of Alan’s essays around why people leave church, faith development etc can be found by way of links on ProdigalKiwi(s). Look under “Interviews, Articles, and Essays etc by Alan.”
Jenny was recently in conversation with Steve Taylor (EmergentKiwi) and
can be heard briefly describing the ethos of Spirited Exchanges and also
discussing the one thing men could do and the one thing women could do
to increase the place of women in the emerging church. Steve writes, “I'm
biased but I think it's one of the most helpful and challenging conversations
I've had in a long time and I think anyone serious about the future of
the emerging church needs to listen and ponder.”
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