Top 5 of 2011

As we prepare to enter the new year, here's the Sycamore-Fig Top 5 most popular articles, as determined by you the readers.

5. Who could forget the prediction that 2011 would be The End of the world - and the precision of that prediction. (Note: precision is very different from accuracy.)

4. Of my chapter notes on Shane Claiborne's Irresistible Revolution, the notes on the chapter Making Revolution Irresistible were the most read.

3. After seeing the movie Chocolat, i wrote about what i saw in it. Chocolat - A Parable.

2. My thoughts on the effects of Wendy Francis's billboard rage was the second most read thing here.

1. Far and away my most read (or viewed) post of 2011 was the animated video The Big Red Tractor, and i can understand why. When i discovered this one, i watched it several times over. It's a brilliant story, very well animated, with a message for children and for adults.

A Sign of Apathy

A church near me recently had a Christmas concert. Good on them. But on Dec 16, their sign was still promoting the Dec 11 concert.


Then they changed it - to nothing! For a number of days it sat there completely blank. Right into the week of Christmas.


Then for a couple of days it showed the usual sunday worship times (despite the upcoming sunday being Christmas) before someone realised this and changed it (late in the week) to display the Christmas times.

Is there something on Christmas Eve? What time is Christmas Day worship? Is there a choice of times so we go to church before the family get-together? All these questions and more are left unanswered until it's practically too late. Are we trying to keep people away?

Sure, the information has probably been in the church bulletin for weeks. But the general public doesn't get the church bulletin. When the sign says nothing, and the church website looks as though Christmas doesn't exist, it doesn't exactly lay out the welcome mat for someone thinking of joining church the Christmas.

Secret Church

I played frisbee with a friend this week. He told me of his attempted visit to a local church the previous Sunday night. I say 'attempted' because he was the only one there.

He waited around for a while, not sure what was going on, or that maybe the start time had changed. But after standing alone outside the building for about half an hour, he gave up.

It turned out the church had decided to take a week off and go to a Carols event. But they didn't say anything! As my friend told me "They have a website. They have a sign. Surely they can let people know."

It's a real shame, because i'm sure my friend would have loved nothing more than to go to a carols night. But for some reason we often keep things a secret from the general public. It's almost as if we want to keep them away from church!

Reminds me of my experience from Christmas '09.

Labor Pains

In Australia this past weekend the Labor party had its national conference. While watching ABC 7.30's coverage, i couldn't help but be bowled over by the incredible allegory to the church's own situation.


Let me illustrate with some quotes. I've struck out the references to party names to help you imagine the word 'church' or the name of your denomination in its place.

Leigh Sales (Anchor):
And as political editor Chris Uhlmann reports the conference squibbed on answering some of the profound questions about Labor's future.

Senator John Faulkner (in a speech):
We are at a critical point. Our party faces a crucial decision. The situation is now dire. Delegates, our party is in decline. Our membership is small and getting smaller. Our membership is old and getting older.

Chris Uhlmann (reporter):
This 46th conference comes at a time when Labor's membership is haemorrhaging. Its leadership knows that it needs to regenerate but that means that somebody has to give up some power.
(To Doug Cameron): Do some people who have power have to give that power up?

Senator Doug Cameron:
Absolutely. And you know the party can't be run by bureaucrats and apparatchiks. We've got to be a party that's a rank and file, grass roots party. And that's the challenge between now and the next conference.

John Faulkner (in a speech):
Labor has had the courage to change Australia. And delegates, today we must find the courage to change ourselves.

Chris Uhlmann:
But there's no sign that the big questions this conference posed have been properly addressed. How does the Labor Party regenerate and reform for the 21st century?

John Faulkner (in a speech):
Our party has been here for a hundred years. What is at stake is that we ensure we're around for another hundred years.

Chris Uhlmann:
It's hard to see how the small reform steps embraced on the weekend will drive a Labor membership rebirth. And without it Labor's future is uncertain.

It will be interesting to see (and maybe compare) how each organisation deals with its own predicament. What do you reckon?

Paul's Baptism

Last year i started following the group Be The Church. They were donating money to TEAR for each person who (facebook) followed them that month.

Now they've just put up photos of Paul's Baptism:


I have no idea who Paul is, but it strikes me as the kind of baptism i would want (if i was being baptised). As well as being a lot more like what Jesus did, it seems a lot more of a momentus occasion than taking 2 minutes out of a sunday worship to have someone rub a damp finger on your forehead - and then straight back to the normal program. (Why do we turn meaningful events into automated processes? I'm not sure.)
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ps. check out the day's full set of photos - it seems the baptism was the centrepiece of a day of celebration for the church/community.

Alma

"Alma" is Spanish for "soul", but is also the name of this prize-winning animation. I watched it several times, because it kind of rings true for me as a spiritual metaphor. (And because i would notice different things in it each time).

It's difficult to say too much without spoiling it, but i think there's something in it for church goers. What do you reckon?