Update 1: Monday 08 March, 2010

Just Worship: curating worship that sustains mission, mercy and justice.

Registrations are now open and a form is available here

This is not a conference. It is a gathering of people involved in or interested in designing and delivering (curating) worship that encourages people to engage with God and with the issues facing their world. The programme will allow time for interaction among participants.

The Gathering is intended to shift participants (punters) understanding of corporate worship from being primarily a static and front-led event, to being an art form that is interactive and participatory. Its not about changing to a particular style of worship but enhancing what you already have. It will also introduce participants to ways of creating sacred spaces outside of church buildings.

To expose punters to new possibilities and get the conversations started we have invited a small group of practitioners to show us what they have been doing in worship events both inside church buildings and in public spaces.

Among those introducing us to what they are passionate about and showing us some of the public worship and sacred-space events they have curated will be:

Cheryl Lawrie

Cheryl Lawrie works with the Uniting Church in Australia exploring ways to connect spirituality with our culture and context, particularly with those who don’t find their home in church.

She curates ritual experiences and public installations that engage with everyday themes of life: bewilderment, fear, hope, fragility, and temporality.

She regularly writes on spirituality for the Melbourne Age, and has a secret desire to be a landscape gardener.

Cheryl lives in Melbourne, and blogs at www.holdthisspace.org.au.

Marcus Curnow

Marcus Curnow hangs out with the Urban Seed mob, a downtown Melbourne, Australia,  hospitality and advocacy ministry with marginalised people. 

He also coordinates a network of worshipping missional communities committed to worship that sustains mission. His passion is worship that engages with contemporary culture and issues of justice.

When not curating or sharing child-minding duties with his wife, Marcus specialises in running Laneway Cricket matches between street people and corporates, and making Cornish Pasties.

He has degrees in Nursing and Theology. He believes that Jesus chose twelve in order to play cricket; that Bible study shouldn’t suck; that good liturgy requires risk; that Cornwall (the home of his forebears) is not England and that when in doubt, “Its the Economy of God stupid”! It has often been said that he could use a bit more sleep.
 www.seeds.org.au , www.urbanseed.org

 

Dave White

Dave White is Hamiltonian ie he lives in Hamilton, New Zealand.  His best work is inspired by the taniwha's on every bend of the Waikato river. - slippery, magical, mysterious. 

The last 6 years he has curated large-scale, week long, Easter Stations of the Cross in the public Hamilton Gardens. He also invites the Hamilton community to participate in 'Trees at the Meteor' in Advent. Here, a cathedral and a theatre, linked by a footpath, combine for a nativity journey in South Pacific christmas-tree art, the week before Christmas. 

He likes to do stuff that builds the Kingdom of God in the market places.  Married with children. Also plays music.  www.stations.org.nz , www.treesatmeteor.co.nz/

 

Peter Majendie

Peter Majendie (with Joyce) is world famous, in the world, for his large-scale outdoor, public sacred spaces and worship events at Christmas and Easter in Christchurch.

Their 1000 straw-bale Peace Labyrinth takes over Lattimer Square and opens 24 hours a day for 5 days. Shipping containers, 8 metre lengths of hand-made paper, thousands of pavers and a 1000 umbrellas have been his recent materials for creating worship events inside and outside the church.
 www.sidedoor.org.nz , www.christmaslabyrinth.co.nz/

Other NZ facilitators will also be contributing.

 

The Gathering will be coordinated by Rev Mark Pierson, founding pastor of Cityside Baptist Church and co-founder of Mainstage Music Festival.

Mark currently works with World Vision New Zealand where part of his role is to enable churches to better engage with issues of justice both locally and overseas.

The focus of Just Worship will be station based and art installation based worship events ie the non-singing parts of worship.

Venue is Oxford Terrace Baptist Church, downtown Christchurch. Participants (punters) will need to provide their own accommodation.

Registration fee includes programme and meals but not accommodation.

More information can be gained from Mark Pierson, justworship@worldvision.org.nz

The Just Worship Gathering is a collaboration between Mark Pierson, World Vision New Zealand, the Just Worship Collective, Transient Worship Collective and the Parallel Universe Worship Collective.

From time to time more information will be added to this website.

First Post: 29 November, 2009.

Just Worship: curating worship that sustains mission, mercy and justice.

This gathering is open to anyone involved in or wanting to better understand how to design and deliver worship and sacred spaces that engage people with God and with the issues of our world.

The focus will be station and art installation based worship events ie non-singing worship.

The inclusion of “just” in the title is to emphasise that corporate worship is not an end in itself. Rather that it should sustain followers of Jesus in their engagement in and with the world, especially with issues of injustice. This involves the transformation of both the follower and the world as the economy of God is established.

The event will be built around conversations stimulated by presenters gathered from around New Zealand and Australia who will offer an overview of what they have done in curating worship in regular church services, with small missional communities of faith, in transitional spaces, and in public spaces. These curators are among the best in the world.

The programme will be loose and will allow for plenty of interaction and conversation. Worship events will be offered to the gathering and to the general public.

The gathering will open on Friday evening after dinner and conclude Monday afternoon after lunch.

Venue is Oxford Terrace Baptist Church, downtown Christchurch. Participants (punters) will need to provide their own accommodation. A list of our preferred places will be available here soon.

Cost is anticipated to be up to $140 and includes all meals but not accommodation. Cost will be confirmed in the New Year.

A registration form will soon be available for download at www.worldvision.org.nz/churchevents

More information can be gained from Mark Pierson, justworship@worldvision.org.nz

The Just Worship Gathering is a collaboration between World Vision New Zealand, the Just Worship Collective, and the Parallel Universe Worship Collective.

From time to time more information will be added to this website.