Mike Arnold writes:

This spring, St Michael’s Church will take two exciting steps towards priorities set in Our Big Project, these being:

1.                  Installing a semi-permanent additional building (a shed!) adjacent to the north of the church for use by children’s groups.

2.                  Installing modern audio visual media equipment in the vicars’ vestry for use by children’s and youth groups.

Just imagine:

*in the new building the children will have learning opportunities with no worries about noise or space. Exciting and meaningful activities can occur, to inspire our younger church members.

* in the vestry a wide range of media will be used to help the children and youth grow in God’s love and we all know how well our youngsters respond to modern media. There will be no limit on the exciting opportunities this will create.

Also, this will ease pressure on the adult congregation during Rolling Worship in terms of space and noise.  In addition the new building may be used for storage or administrative work and the new media equipment will be available for use by other groups in non-service times.

Our Big Project’s first priorities were set by the PCC to develop our work with the children and youth groups and to install modern media facilities. These exciting developments will do just this.

Meanwhile a project manager has been appointed, with a brief to produce a building development plan for the next stage of Our Big Project.

More details can be found on the church website www.stmichaelsgalleywood.org.uk

Mike Arnold
 
Every ten years, vicars get to spend three months having “extended study leave”.  It’s not a holiday, but it is a chance to explore other interests.  I was ordained in 2000, and I’ll be taking my extended study leave from April 9 to July 8 2012.

“What will you be doing?”

*At the invitation of a publisher, I’ll be writing a short book called “Two into One” about how we brought Church on the Common and Church at the School together in 2010.

*I’ll be joining something called the Order of the Mustard Seed- it’s not sinister, it’s just a group of people who vow to live by a “rule of life”.  As part of this process I’ll be travelling to Herrnhut in SE Germany.

*I’ll be visiting our sister church in Poland, and writing and delivering a series of lectures about “being a church in your culture” in Paris.

“So who’ll be in charge when you go?”

*Responsibility for the “spiritualities” (worship, evangelism, prayer, preaching, the sacraments) will be delegated to Stephanie Gillingham, our very able Curate.

*Whether I’m here or not, the care of the physical church building and the maintenance of order within it remain the responsibility of the churchwardens, Anne Gardner and Derek Martin.

*Most other things in the life of the church are the responsibility of the PCC, the elected church council.  I don’t chair this anyway – Phil Preston does – and the PCC will continue without missing a beat when I’m away. 

I look forward to telling everyone all about it in July!

 
300 Years of the Order of the Mustard Seed

 

In 1715, five teenagers at the Halle Academy in Germany founded the “Order of the Mustard Seed”.  They swore a vow not to live for themselves, to be true to Christ, to be kind to people, and to take the gospel to the nations; and they adopted a set of spiritual practices to which they kept each other accountable.  Out of that vow grew

·         A renewal movement within the Lutheran church
·         Europe’s first ecumenical movement (the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Cardinal Archbishop of Paris and the Lutheran King of Denmark all became members of the Order)
 ·         A 100-year-long 24 hours a day, 7days a week prayer meeting at Herrnhut in Saxony
 ·         And the Moravian movement which sent several hundred missionaries around the world.  The echoes from this movement influenced the creation of Methodism in the UK, the Great Awakening in the US, and even the fight against apartheid in South Africa. 

The best-known of the five friends was Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf. 

In the early 21st century a group of young Christian leaders, including Pete Greig (now on the staff of Holy Trinity Brompton, London) and Phil Anderson (now a local councillor in Thurrock) “re-launched” the Order of the Mustard Seed in the UK.  Key texts are Greig’s The Vision and the Vow, Anderson’s The Lord of the Ring (which tells the story of Zinzendorf and the Mustard Seed Order) and the website www.mustardseedorder.com


Four Central Commitments


 1.  “None of us live for ourselves”

These are the words, from Romans 14.7, to be written on a ring worn by the members of the order.  At a time when much church discussion seems to be based on acting for the sake of ourselves (so that we can pay our bills or have the right deployment of clergy or have the style of worship we feel we deserve), this may be the key commitment to make.  If we are a sort of club, we will be a club that exists for the sake of our non-members.

2.  “We will be true to Jesus”

Authenticity will mean something different in different settings and at different stages of life, but being true to Jesus will always be central.  This corresponds to one half of the Great Commandment – to love the Lord our God with our whole being.

3.  “We will be kind to people”

This is a way of expressing the second half of the Great Commandment – to love our neighbours as we love ourselves.   Christianity is a relational religion – and Jesus defined “neighbour” to include those we most strongly disagree with!

4.  “We will take the gospel to the nations”

The Order of the Mustard Seed has always been unashamed to be missional, in obedience to the Great Commission: “Go into all the world and make disciples...”

 

It’s not a better Way

Not all Christians are called to take vows or to join a group that lives by a Way of Life, and those who discern that this is the right step for them are not more spiritual or more “advanced” than those who do not.  So this is not a recruitment drive.  It’s just that I sense this is the right way for me, and I wanted to see if there were some others in the area who were interested too. 

 And it’s not under the sign of the mustard seed for nothing.  It aims to die unspectacularly to itself and be buried for the sake of fruitfulness. 



Other Ways are Available


 There are other groups, communities and orders aiming to do similar things.  In particular, a regional group of the Community of Aidan and Hilda are meeting in the area.  The Community of Aidan and Hilda is a dispersed ecumenical new monastic community of people living by a Way of Life inspired by the witness of the Celtic saints –www.aidanandhilda.org.  For more information contact Rev Carol Smith at St Luke’s Church, Moulsham- [email protected].  If and when the South Chelmsford Mustard Seed gets off the ground, it will cooperate with the Community of Aidan and Hilda to the fullest extent possible.

 


Who I am and how I’m involved


My name’s Andy Griffiths.  I’ve been Vicar at Galleywood for over 6 years, and Rural Dean of Chelmsford South for 5 years.  Before that I’ve worked in France and Hungary, and been in leadership positions both in New Churches and Anglican ones.  I’ve become increasingly convinced that God was calling me to get involved with a local expression of the Order of the Mustard Seed, but that doesn’t mean “running it”, only being a secretary and point of contact.  (To quote the eighteenth century Mustard Seed document, “Every member of the Order is equal in status. When someone is acting as the “secretary”, they are there to be a contact point and to handle correspondence but not to take authority.”)  In 2012, as part of some extended study leave, I have arranged a “pilgrimage” for myself, visiting Herrnhut, Tubingen and other sites, and researching the Order of the Mustard Seed further.  Phil Anderson at Thurrock, author of The Lord of the Ring , has kindly agreed to act as an informal consultant.

 

An Invitation to a Way of Life

The Order of the Mustard Seed has no leader, no structure, no paid employees, no physical base, no hidden agendas and no membership lists.  There is extremely low control.  You cannot send it money even if you wanted to.  Its website (www.mustardseedorder.com), is not regularly updated and has no space for you to post on it.  It has a charism of randomness.

Nevertheless, thisblog post is an invitation: if you live within reach of South Chelmsford, is God calling you to be part of establishing an expression of the Order of the Mustard Seed in this area in 2012?  This call is open to all who seek to follow Jesus, whatever church or denomination you are part of, and whether you’re new to Christian faith or already a senior pastor.

In a first phase, starting summer 2012, we would meet together once a month for a year or so and help each other compose a “Way of Life” true to the four central commitments.  For each person, this would be likely to include

·         a daily rhythm (some people commit themselves to prayer in the morning, at noon and in the evening, perhaps using http://dailyprayersformoravians.wordpress.com/ or www.moravian.org/daily_texts/)

·         an annual rhythm (some people have an annual retreat or pilgrimage)

·         spiritual disciplines (for some, this might involve hospitality, letter-writing, political campaigning, volunteering, financial commitments or regular fasting).

No two Ways of Life would be identical, and no one would have the right to tell you your Way of Life is the wrong one for you!  But it will help to have brothers and sisters to support you as you craft yours.  We may also want to organise “prayer events” in the spirit of Herrnhut.

Then in a year or so, if we’re still sure God is calling us to this, we’ll be ready to take our vows – and wear our rings.  (There is a form of words on www.mustardseedorder.com, but we can write our own).  The vows are permanent.

After we take the vows, the group would continue to meet periodically to keep one another accountable.  This isn’t just another bible study group – we will have given each other the permission to see how our spiritual lives are going.

If you’re interested in exploring this further, please give me a call on 01245 353922 or 07788 299061, or e-mail [email protected]

Thank you,

Andy Griffiths, December 2011



 
First it was St John's Hillingdon in 2006 (slogan: "Come and Go Worship").  Then it was St Michael's Galleywood in 2010 ("Come when you can, leave when you like").  In 2011 there was Emmanuel Baptist Church in Swanage ("Come when you can, leave when you like", with the difference that the break between the sermon and the informal worship is only 5 minutes).  In 2012 Stopsley Parish Church in Luton joins the family (slogan: "Something for everyone"). 

Stopsley's scheme is:
Traditional Choral Communion (replacing their 8am service): 8.30-9.30
Breakfast: 9.30-10
Parish Communion with sermon and children's groups: 10-10.45
Refreshments: 10.45-11.15
Informal worship: 11.15-11.45

What do you think?  It's obviously a more eucharistic sort of church than we are, but we would profit from longer "slices"?  Why not leave a comment and give your views!