The ‘resourcing consumer spirituality’ aspect of what we propose to do has generated a lot of late night discussion. It’s semantics really. If I dropped ‘consumer’ it wouldn’t be a problem. But it isn’t just semantics. It reflects a deliberate effort to resource spirituality from a Christian perspective, outside of the gathered community of faith, and beyond the scattered community of faith as well. As Pete Ward puts it in ‘Liquid Church’ (a very significant book) ‘I suggest that we need to shift from seeing church as a gathering of people meeting in one place at one time – that is, a congregation – to a notion of church as a series of relationships and communications…a network or web rather than an assembly of people.’ So I see resourcing or funding spiritual formation as a vital element of the life and mission of Urban Seed:church, and one which is achieved both within and outside the gathered community of faith.

I hope to achieve this over the next year partly through a focus on several of the major festivals of the Christian Year; events that are at the core of the Christian story. We will produce some experience that will be solidly connected to the Story and yet linked to the everyday lives of people living and working in the culture. So I’m thinking that we will produce a set of Advent in Art postcards for Advent and link them to the ‘sermons’ those Sundays. These cards will carry an image from the art world, biblical text, a reflection and a ritual. They will be available to people in our community of faith for their personal use and to give to friends and colleagues. Likewise I’d like to do something at Lent, Easter and Pentecost as well as a couple of the citywide festivals that are celebrated here. At Easter we may put together a contemporary art installation based on the traditional Stations of the Cross. This would be open to the public in a downtown venue.

These consumer-spirituality resources will have a multi-layered effect. They will help to connect the spirituality of our congregation to their everyday lives; they will provide opportunity to connect the Christian story with people who haven’t previously connected with it; they are a useful advertising and promotional tool that also has a strong brand awareness element to it; they say something significant about the ethos of Urban Seed:church and how we see ourselves in the wider community; they make a strong statement to artists and creatives about the way we understand Christian faith and creativity; they are a non-threatening way to raise spiritual awareness and engage in conversation. Or if you feel the need you could frame that in language that says they are ‘missional tools that engage the culture’ or ‘pre-evangelistic strategies’, but I don’t feel that need!

Mark Pierson May 4, 2005. www.urbanseed.org
(This column also appears at www.sacramentis.com)