Alister's Blog
If you are interested in reading more about Cafehchurch-y stuff, you might find our pastor Alister's blog interesting. Rather unimaginatively, it is at alisterpate.com
He is particularly proud of
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Cafechurch, Faith, and Mystery
In a segment filmed for Oprah Winfrey’s OWN channel, author Brene Brown reflects on why she left the Roman Catholic faith of her youth, and how she has found herself back in the Episcopal church.
One of the key points she makes is that she originally “fell in love with the faith and the mystery piece.” However, over time her experience of church, “became less about faith and mystery, and more about politics and certainty.”
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#Spiritus et Locus
We are going to be engaging in our annual photography as a spiritual practice activity this year. We haven't quite decided on a theme yet, but it will be spiritually enriching and even moving. See www.spiritusetlocus.org for more.
Wellness and Christianity
What is the relationship between Wellness and Christianity? What does California have to do with Jerusalem? In this presentation we think about the similarities and differences, and consider how we might integrate wellness with our faith, without identifying the one with the other.
Here is the presentation:
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Emmaus (Luke 24: 13-35) Video
A video of the Emmaus Story - Luke 24: 13-35. The sound file comes from a 2017 Pilgrim College retreat day.
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Deconstruct / Reconstruct
In the second half of 2018, we are going to have our second go at our newsix week course called deconstruct / reconstruct. Alister is blogging about it here. A lot of our members have come out of big Evangelical, Pentecostal and Charismatic churches over the years, and our aim is to take what we have learned about that journey as a community and look at some tools which can help you build a generously orthodox faith which works.
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Your Restlessness Is What Is Right With You
You used to be a real keeny. You prayed for, and attempted to convert, your non-Christian friends. You raised money for mission, perhaps made a short term mission trip. You might even have performed evangelical street theatre. You were clear what you believed, and you were on fire for God! But then… something happened. Something sudden and dramatic. Something slow and gradual and only visible by hindsight.
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What (or Who) We Talk About When We Talk About God
When I glibly thought "I know, we'll spend an evening talking about God!" I hadn't really quite reckoned with what a complex topic it is. I blame CPE brain. So it was a bit of a dense evening, but makes some basic theological and philosophical points that could usefully be made before talking much about God at all. And it drew out some good questions, which we will use for future evenigs. So, on the whole, it was a good evening.
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Baptism and Identity
Right before Jesus heads off to the wilderness, he is baptised and hears God's affirmation: "This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased." But what does this mean for our identity as baptised persons? This session follows the first chapter of Rowan Williams' excellent book Being Christian
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Salt and Light - Matthew 5:13-20
Salt that loses its saltiness? Cities on hills? Lamps? What on earth is Jesus talking about - and what could it possibly mean to exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees? A Cafechurch session from 7/2/2016
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