In 2016, do you have the wisdom, courage and skills to bridge church and culture? If this is your passion, ‘like’ TRAVERSE on facebook and invite your friends to connect in, also.
Kudos to Dan Paterson for carrying this Malyon College Centre since 2014, and regularly posting RZIM events on the site. Brilliant work! Dan’s influence in Australia and abroad continues to grow, and his partnership with Traverse will *thankfully* carry on! But post-UK adventure in 2014 and post-PhD in 2015, I’ve got a few new plans for this year … and thankfully the time to invest into this key space. So, back to the helm in directing things forward.
I want to invite *you* to join the conversation. Starting this week, I’ll be posting regularly to facebook, with occasional links back to longer articles on the Traverse web-site (as in, the site you’re currently browsing!). The vision for Traverse was outlined in a blog way back on September 10, 2013. This year we’re getting strategic toward this end. Here’s how:
1) FB posts:
My vocation/calling is to think about the gap between church and our post-Christendom culture, and work to bridge this divide in faithful and Christlike witness. Through weekly posts, I want to serve you up a taste of what I’m consuming … in reading, in interaction, in teaching. My aim is to
-GROUND your efforts to traverse with wisdom, connecting you to important thinkers at this nexus
-PROVOKE you toward forming a ‘secular faith’ … by asking tough questions and featuring outsider’s perspectives, we might intentionally become a church that works *for* the world to flourish
-EQUIP you with resources, books, cultural analysis, alongside links to powerful stories, Malyon courses, big events and conferences, you’ll find pathways to more effective and holistic witness in dialogue with others who want to make a difference.
2) PRAXIS consultations:
Once a quarter, I’m wanting to bring key thinkers, practitioners, and interested parties together to squarely face big/complex question at the intersection of Christianity and culture. It’s about becoming a thinking doer, a reflective practitioner. It’s about become a community characterised by truthful action as we learn together new ways forward to love the world. We’ll host the first consultation on Saturday March 5, 9am-12pm, right on topic of “how do we bridge church and culture?” We’ll partner with Christ’s Pieces, my home-church community, and follow a practical theological cycle to explain, understand and change the status quo. See here for more.
3) CONFERENCE:
Scheduled for October 15, this conference is a blend of evangelism, apologetics and ecclesiology in search of a public theology. Featuring interviews and interaction with leading thinkers and practitioners, centred on dialogue, the theme is “A SECULAR FAITH: Becoming a church for the world”. How might we re-imagine who we are as the community of Christ, to be about the mission of God in the here and now?
-Re-Church: what is the church, and how should we approach our mission?
-Re-World: what new metaphors might better frame our understanding of the ‘secular’ as our mission field in which we seek the common good of all. In this time and place, who are we to be for Jesus Christ?
-Re-Connect: Hear inspiring stories and share your own experience of bridging the divide between church and culture.
The day will also include multiple workshops with excellent presenters, sharpening your vision and practice of Christian witness.
Okay, longer than I planned (what’s new?!) … but, if this resonates with your heart, JUMP ON BOARD! … Like the Traverse facebook site, subscribe to the RSS feed for the blog, add your voice to the posts, check out the conferences, and even consider donating some time and money to the cause to keep this Malyon centre on the front-foot.
Blessings for 2016,
Dave Benson