The first “Little Revolutions” conference, run by Catch Network, was held last month in Wellington. Their mission is to help leaders grow small groups into vibrant faith communities, built on theological grounding and contextualised to reach local neighbourhoods.
I caught up with one of the attendees – Paul Milson, vicar of Waimea Parish.
Paul: When City to City came last year and did their review, it prompted me to think about where we want to head as a parish. I really felt God leading us to talk about becoming a network of “smaller things” – which is something I'd always wanted to do, but always just thought it would be a side project, not the main thing the parish did.
When I suggested this to vestry, very open-handedly – like, this may not be where you want to go and that's fine – everyone said, "Yeah, this makes sense. This is what we need to do." Because we've seen fruit in the smaller things we've done on the edge.
So, from December through to March, we talked about this idea. We arrived at the vision of making the smaller things we do just as important as our Sunday mornings.
As the vestry were landing on this new vision, the Little Revolutions opportunity arose. Half the vestry came, as well as a bunch of people we are working with or supporting in terms of their own little endeavours. So, we had a team of eight there. Everyone who went really enjoyed it and were positively stimulated by it. But the real value in it, other than actually enjoying the content of course, was God's timing. It fit so well with where we are on our journey as a parish.
Paul: It was primarily about renewal and rethinking the ways we do church in order to bring about renewal.
It was an invitation to people who were already thinking outside the box and perhaps operating a little bit on the edge to find a family that understands them. But also for those, including leaders of predominant-model churches, who are curious about what's happening on the edge, to find out what's going on there, and why people are interested in it.
Paul: The main thing that comes to mind was the worship time, where all these people from different denominations were just singing from the heart about Jesus. There was a real sense of unity that manifested in the worship time, which was beautiful.
From a personal point of view, a Waimea Parish point of view, it was an affirmation about the things we’re trying and about this adventure we're going into.
I'm not the only one.
And if I am nuts – there's a bunch of other people who are nuts too!
Paul: Yes, a lot. Not just around missional stuff, but also around Māori Pākehā Treaty stuff, following on from the Jay Ruka visit. God has been speaking to me a lot in that space, and it was just more revelation and encouragement to grow in my understanding.
For me, as one of the leaders of the Richmond Waimea Ministers Association, there was a really good session on unity that encouraged me to keep stepping towards deeper togetherness. The Ministers Association is really good, but what does it look like to be more united than we already are? That's something I’ve been chewing on.
In terms of content around missional community stuff, there was so much that it’s really hard to pinpoint. However, one key takeaway from me came from a talk by Jeremy Stevens from Tampa Bay Underground. He talked about when you go sea-fishing and you are baiting your hook, in order to avoid feeling seasick it helps to keep an eye on the horizon. Then he went on to say, “Jesus is the horizon. It’s all about Jesus. We are primarily about Jesus – not primarily about microchurches. We do microchurches as a way of glorifying and drawing attention to Jesus. If we make it more about microchurches than Jesus, we’ve become idolatrous.”
Paul: Bishop Justin Duckworth shared this quote in an elective: "First things are impossible, then they're difficult, and then they're done."
I’m probably being over-dramatic, but in some ways the missional community network idea did feel impossible, but not so much now. However, I’m very confident it is going to be difficult! But difficult is better than impossible. So, we’ll step into what we think God is calling us to do, work hard in and around the edges, and leave the results to God.
If the Little Revolutions conference happens again, I’m keen to go. If you’ve got a curiosity around any of this, it might be helpful for you to go too.
Check out other articles in the
series below.
More articles in the
series are to come.
We have invited these writers to share their experiences, ideas and opinions in the hope that these will provoke thought, challenge you to go deeper and inspire you to put your faith into action. These articles should not be taken as the official view of the Nelson Diocese on any particular matter.
The first “Little Revolutions” conference, run by Catch Network, was held last month in Wellington. Their mission is to help leaders grow small groups into vibrant faith communities, built on theological grounding and contextualised to reach local neighbourhoods.
I caught up with one of the attendees – Paul Milson, vicar of Waimea Parish.
Paul: When City to City came last year and did their review, it prompted me to think about where we want to head as a parish. I really felt God leading us to talk about becoming a network of “smaller things” – which is something I'd always wanted to do, but always just thought it would be a side project, not the main thing the parish did.
When I suggested this to vestry, very open-handedly – like, this may not be where you want to go and that's fine – everyone said, "Yeah, this makes sense. This is what we need to do." Because we've seen fruit in the smaller things we've done on the edge.
So, from December through to March, we talked about this idea. We arrived at the vision of making the smaller things we do just as important as our Sunday mornings.
As the vestry were landing on this new vision, the Little Revolutions opportunity arose. Half the vestry came, as well as a bunch of people we are working with or supporting in terms of their own little endeavours. So, we had a team of eight there. Everyone who went really enjoyed it and were positively stimulated by it. But the real value in it, other than actually enjoying the content of course, was God's timing. It fit so well with where we are on our journey as a parish.
Paul: It was primarily about renewal and rethinking the ways we do church in order to bring about renewal.
It was an invitation to people who were already thinking outside the box and perhaps operating a little bit on the edge to find a family that understands them. But also for those, including leaders of predominant-model churches, who are curious about what's happening on the edge, to find out what's going on there, and why people are interested in it.
Paul: The main thing that comes to mind was the worship time, where all these people from different denominations were just singing from the heart about Jesus. There was a real sense of unity that manifested in the worship time, which was beautiful.
From a personal point of view, a Waimea Parish point of view, it was an affirmation about the things we’re trying and about this adventure we're going into.
I'm not the only one.
And if I am nuts – there's a bunch of other people who are nuts too!
Paul: Yes, a lot. Not just around missional stuff, but also around Māori Pākehā Treaty stuff, following on from the Jay Ruka visit. God has been speaking to me a lot in that space, and it was just more revelation and encouragement to grow in my understanding.
For me, as one of the leaders of the Richmond Waimea Ministers Association, there was a really good session on unity that encouraged me to keep stepping towards deeper togetherness. The Ministers Association is really good, but what does it look like to be more united than we already are? That's something I’ve been chewing on.
In terms of content around missional community stuff, there was so much that it’s really hard to pinpoint. However, one key takeaway from me came from a talk by Jeremy Stevens from Tampa Bay Underground. He talked about when you go sea-fishing and you are baiting your hook, in order to avoid feeling seasick it helps to keep an eye on the horizon. Then he went on to say, “Jesus is the horizon. It’s all about Jesus. We are primarily about Jesus – not primarily about microchurches. We do microchurches as a way of glorifying and drawing attention to Jesus. If we make it more about microchurches than Jesus, we’ve become idolatrous.”
Paul: Bishop Justin Duckworth shared this quote in an elective: "First things are impossible, then they're difficult, and then they're done."
I’m probably being over-dramatic, but in some ways the missional community network idea did feel impossible, but not so much now. However, I’m very confident it is going to be difficult! But difficult is better than impossible. So, we’ll step into what we think God is calling us to do, work hard in and around the edges, and leave the results to God.
If the Little Revolutions conference happens again, I’m keen to go. If you’ve got a curiosity around any of this, it might be helpful for you to go too.
Check out other articles in the
series below.
More articles in the
series are to come.
