The Path of Disciplined Grace

I knew I'd get ya with that blog title... This, essentially, was what Jeff Pratt, our teacher from last week, taught us about. The topic of the Spiritual Disciplines was the official title of the week's teachings. Jeff, himself, has founded a sort of urban monastery in New Haven, Connecticut where he invites people to commit to a three-month monastic internship where one engages in daily rhythms of prayer (a.k.a. a daily office) as well as other disciplines (fasting, confession, celebration, study, etc.) and daily serves a marginalized people-group that he or she feels called to. It's really a new, and yet old (in the ancient sense) way of living out one's faith. I was just speaking with a man named Nick Brotherwood today about this very idea of hearkening back to what Christian antiquity has deemed essential. Basically, it comes down to making (and therefore, first, becoming) disciples. Now, what does that mean, exactly? Aren't all us Christians always trying to "make disciples"? How is that anything new? Nick explained to me today that although we may have always tried to "make disciples", that could mean a lot of things over the years. Nick is an ordained Anglican minister who has witnessed (in the province of Quebec) a drop from 93,000 Anglicans to less than 13,000 over the last sixty years. In other words, he's witnessed a centuries-old church be brought to its knees and, now, to its death bed. Because of this, Nick has been given the unique, exciting, and scary task of exploring new manifestations of church and the Christian-life. The Anglican church (with its very traditional tradition) has been humbled enough by this seemingly irreversible secularization to finally be open to something new, something experimental, something unorthodox. For the last 10 years, Nick has been spear-heading a church called Emerge Montreal, which has provided him and his friends a laboratory to really ask: What are we here for? What the hell is Church, anyway? Where does Jesus' life and how he lived it come into play here? Needless to say, having a discussion with this guy is an edifying experience. If I've received any insight in talking with people like Nick, or Jeff Pratt, or Mark Scandrette, it seems that the future of the church is largely mapped out by the past, the distant past--through Jesus' Way and through those who followed that Way after his bodily departure. By following that Way (roughly a balance of prayer and service), we will inevitably make disciples of ourselves and, therefore, of others. If this sounds vague to you, you're not alone. It's hard to exactly say what this new expression of making disciples (church) looks like; but what's not vague is our Western culture's slow-but-steady denial of anything religious, and, thus, we must respond (somehow) in a way we think Jesus would.
Speaking of "What Would Jesus Do?", check out this relatively short but insightful article on what one Catholic priest thinks Jesus would do, and is doing:
http://www.thesunmagazine.org/issues/402/what_jesus_would_do

First Half of November

So, as usual, it's been too long since our last blog. Unfortunately, not having internet at our apartment poses a problem for frequent blog updates. Lauren and I decided not to get internet for two reasons: it's too expensive and, without it, family time is much improved. So, we made a commitment to keep our home-space free of internet distraction, which has been rewarding and challenging at the same time.
So, as the previous blogs mentioned, we had a great trip to Toronto, with lots of interesting discussions with interesting people. We were glad to get back to home-sweet-home Montreal and keep practicing our French. That has been one major change this year with our school being so Francophone (French-speaking). Lauren and I have been thrown headlong into a mostly French-speaking environment day-in and day-out. Last year, most of the students were English-speaking. This year it's the opposite. It's a great challenge and we love learning more and more each day, but it's not all sunshine and happiness. It's hard!
The first two weeks of November were non-teaching weeks, which means the students had more time to explore further possibilities for volunteering and an internship. For Lauren, lil Denny, and me, it meant some more home-improvement and preparation for my big concert, which took place last Friday. The concert went really well; I had a good turn-out of friends there to support me and played 2 sets, about 17 songs in all. I'll put a few of them up on the video bar to the right. Hope you enjoy.
As far as home-improvement, we're getting ready to host (starting today) our school's teacher for the week, whose name is Jeff Pratt and comes from New Haven, Connecticut. Jeff is simply an amazing person to get to know. We had him for a week of teaching last year, and got to know him a bit through that. But this year, he's staying at our apartment! We're looking forward to some more in-depth conversations with the Pratt-Master, as Lauren and I like to call him. Here's a link to the community that he runs in New Haven (www.ywamaxiom.com). Lots of great opportunities there for young folks looking for a chance to deepen their faith in a new place.
We're really looking forward to a great week! We'll be updating again sooner than last time, so keep checking!
Peace.

Mid-week update

We still have one meeting left, which will happen today with Jim Beverly, a well-known authority on world religions. We've met with all the others earlier in the week, and everything was great. Two of the organizations we met with were focused on poverty and caring for the economically poor. Another was focused on art and artists, asking: how can art play a bigger role in our Christian faith and vice-versa? The last one we met with was focused on homosexuals, asking: amidst the wide spectrum of Christian opinions on homosexuality, how can we offer those dealing with it a safe-haven for discussion, counseling, and understanding? Of course, this has offered all of us, individually and collectively, an abundance of fodder for thought and discussion. For me, it's been nice to meet with these organizations a second time because I'm not swept off my feet with each new place we visit. Last year, these people were so insightful, compassionate, and dedicated to their causes, after each meeting I was convinced their respective cause and perspectives on that cause were the only things that mattered. This year, having become "a bit less vague to myself", I'm more certain of my personal goals. Nonetheless, this year's visit to Toronto has still had a significant impact on a few beliefs of mine; specifically, what Geoff Ryan at 614 Salvation Army shared about our undeniable call as Christians to identify with the poor. Geoff, his wife, and their 3 or 4 kids live in Regent Park, one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Canada because of the poverty and gangs that are present there. He has chosen to live in this neighborhood because he believes there's no other way to have a significant impact on it. So, his kids go to school there at a sub-par inner city school, and when there's a shooting or a fire in the middle of the night and everybody is outside, he and his family are outside, too--immersed in all the action of the neighborhood, living side-by-side with these people. Of course, the difference is that he and his wife have chosen to live there, the others have never had a choice. He explains that Christ had all the choices in the world, he was God!, but he chose to humble himself and become one of us, and absorb the sins of the "neighborhood". This is how Geoff theologically explains his calling to the inner city, and it's a passionate one. Just one example here of some of the amazing things we've come across this week. We pray that amidst all the info-influx, we are able to personally take steps towards making these ideas and concepts concrete realities in our own lives. Thanks for reading.

Toronto this week!

Tomorrow we leave for a week-long trip to Toronto with our school. Altogether there will be 11 of us (six students, four staff, and one baby) on the trip. Fortunately, we've made some great connections through friends to be able to stay at some nice houses while we're there. I (Denny) have taken on the responsibility of planning what we'll be doing and who we'll be visiting during the week. Last year while I was a student we went to Toronto, and this year will be very similar. We'll be meeting with Yonge Street Mission (http://www.ysm.ca/), a ministry in downtown Toronto working with the poor, and John Franklin, the executive director of Imago Arts (http://www.imago-arts.on.ca), an organization that exists to "to engage in promoting artistry of high caliber that will be both enriching and carry positive influence on the Canadian cultural landscape". We'll also be meeting with Geoff Ryan from the Salvation Army along with his Ignite interns (http://www.614network.com/regentpark/) to learn more about the intensive, amazing things he and his team are doing in an area of Toronto torn apart by gang-violence and poverty. That same day we'll travel out to Mississauga to meet with Wendy Gritter (http://www.btgproject.blogspot.com/) from New Direction, an organization doing some amazing things related to the homosexuality issues within the church. I encourage anyone to check out her blog, very interesting stuff all the time. Lastly, we're meeting with our friend Andrea's father, James A. Beverly, who happens to be a significant authority on world religions within the evangelical Christian milieu. In fact, he recently finished a book, Nelson's Illustrated Guide to World Religions, which Hans Kung (a world-renowned Catholic theologian) has given his illustrious commendation to. I wrote him to ask if he would meet with us humble YWAMers and he replied saying only because his daughter said he should. I appreciated his honesty! We'll meet with him on Friday to discuss how we as Christians can gain new perspectives on other religions and learn to live side-by-side with people of other faiths in our immigrant-rich context. Amidst all of that, we'll find time to do some sight-seeing and walking around the big city of Toronto. It's the biggest in Canada, with roughly 4.5 million inhabitants. A staggering statistic we heard this week is that 47% of people living in Toronto were born outside of Canada. That's a lot of immigration! So, we're looking forward to an engaging, motivating week. When we return, we'll be looking forward to a bit of a calmer November than October. Lauren has finished and passed her French course, so we're getting better with the language obstacle every day. It's really exciting once you get over that hump, language-wise. So, when we return, we'll be able to really get settled in for the long haul and continue this wonderful journey we're on together. Our funding is really tight, but we know we're where we're supposed to be. We'll write again soon. Check out the links I listed above if you're interested; all the organizations are really interesting to learn about. Love ya!

Quick Update

Well, we're about finished with the first two weeks of our school, and, of course, it's been a whirlwind of activity. Lauren is almost finished with her six-week French course and has really benefited from it. Next week we're in for a great week of teaching on urban missiology. The week after that we're headed to Toronto to meet with a few great ministries out there. By the time we return, we'll be ready to settle into more of a routine, getting involved in both of our volunteering responsibilities and continuing to run the school. This morning it was 30 degrees outside. There were actually a few flakes of snow falling from the sky! It's October 15th! Despite the prematurely freezing weather, we're doing great! Enjoying the excitement of being on our own and learning our rhythms as a family once again. I (Denny) have my second Montreal gig on November 13th, so am beginning to practice/prepare for that. Of course, there's much more to tell you, but we must be patient. Thanks for following!

School starts this week!

Voici! Our second blog since touching down here in the Great White North. Actually, it's not so white just yet. Of course, we know it's coming, though, as each morning gets a little brisker. We're excited for the winter, which is good, because we probably won't be for long once it sets in. But, hey, it's only September 28th, we got some good sunshine ahead of us before we have to cross that bridge. In fact, next week, our little house-church community, Curieux, is headed an hour outside the city for some apple picking at a monastery! That will be a really fun field trip. Not only will we be apple picking, but we'll also be discussing the future endeavors of our little community. Being a part of this church has really been a great experience for Lauren, Dennis, and me. It's definitely more of an alternative type of church, where sermons never happen, music only seldomly, the location changes each week, and there's always a delicious potluck meal to enjoy. The first time we went we fell in love because it was so easy to have Dennis there. It's very similar to a lot of communities across North America and Europe who are sort of experimenting with what it means to be a church and/or community of beleivers. Now that the founding members have moved away, the core group of us (about 12 to 15 people) have the exciting task of asking once again who we are, and where we're going. Curieux started as an alternative type of church that reached out to those in the arts scene. David Brazzeal, the founding member, saw a disconnect between artists and the church and so started Curieux (which means Curious {plural-adjective}) to reach out to artists of faith. Now, we're presently asking ourselves how we can maintain our natural, very social environment without compromising the impassioned faith that we all share and long to espouse in various ways. It's kind of like stripping down everything that usually means "church" to the western mind, keeping our foundation as Jesus-followers, and rebuilding something new from that common foundation. It's truly an exciting process to feel a part of and be able to contribute to. We'll keep you posted as things develop.
Our school starts this Friday. We've had a good month settling in to our new home for the next two years, and are ready to begin our work for this year. Thanks for keeping us in your prayers as God guides us, as a family, through this time of transition.

Getting Settled

So, we arrived Wednesday night at 11 after our flight was delayed for about three hours. In the end, it was a blessing because half of the flight got redirected to other flights so that by the time we reboarded we had 6 seats for the three of us! This made the flight a lot easier for Dennis, which, as all you parents know, made the flight a lot easier for mom and dad. The latest video posted will show you our home for the next two years. We're really happy with it, although it's really empty. Through our great friends Andrea and Julien, we have multiple connections around the neighborhood with people who are willing to just give us stuff to furnish our home. So far we have a fridge, a stove, a desk, a table and chairs, a queen-size bed, a futon mattress, and a rug (which is the only thing we actually have purchased thus far). So the last 3 or 4 days have been filled with organizing boxes and suitcases around the apartment, trips to the park, meeting new and old friends, and acquainting ourselves with our new neighborhood, Parc-Extension. The neighborhood, of course, is unlike anything Lauren and I have ever lived in. We're just beginning to learn about it, but we do know from our friends who have been here for three years that it's about 50% South-East Asian (meaning Indian, Bengali, Sri Lankan, and Pakistani) and the rest is a pretty even mix of Africans, Chinese, South Americans, and caucasians. The neighborhood used to be inhabited completely by Greeks, but most of them are older now and there kids have moved to other areas. Nonetheless, their influence still lingers as there are a few Greek Orthodox churches still alive and well. As with most very ethnic neighborhoods, it's not an upscale area, but the many immigrants here have many kids, which makes for a safe, playful feeling on its streets. We're excited to become a part of this community and learn from the cultural diversity that is unavoidable here.
Our YWAM school will be starting next month, so in a week or so we'll have our first few meetings in order to prepare for the six students who will be attending: 4 girls and 2 guys from France, Germany, Switzerland, and Montreal. Our little church, Curieux, met last night and we were welcomed with much enthusiasm by our closest friends out here. Of all the confirmations that Montreal is where we're supposed to be, our little church has been the biggest one of all. Over and over again we have been blessed by that community, and look forward not only to more blessings but also to what we can give back over the next two years.
So, things are off to a great start out here. Once again we find ourselves on the precipice of an adventure, now with the knowledge of last year's experience, our enthusiasm is bubbling within us as all the possibilities and potential present themselves. We continue to ask for all your prayers and support as we discern what God can and will do through us these next few days, months, and years. This is really fun.