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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The Sea of Faith
The Sea of Faith
Was once, too, at the full, and round earth’s shore
Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled.
But now I only hear
Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar,
Retreating, to the breath
Of the night-wind, down the vast edges drear
And naked shingles of the world.
Matthew Arnold - On Dover Beach
Is this really true? Is the decline of faith some sort of natural law?
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Big Universe, Uncaring God?
On Tuesday 17/7/218 we considered the size of the universe and what it means for faith - or the lack thereof.
It is true that the universe is huge. Staggeringly, vertigo-creatingly vast. But does it therefore follow that any hypothetical God would therefore not care about humans? Consider the question: which is more important to me - the external monitor I am looking at while type this, or the laptop which is plugged into it?
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Resistance!
Cafechurch Session 10 July 2018
Jesus, we are told, went back to his home town. But people there didn't buy his story, and said, essentially: who on earth do you think you are? We have known you forever. And he was amazed to see that he could do no deeds of power there, besides heal a few people (And, really who can't do that? (Joke, obvs.)) (This is my very brief precis of Mark 6:1-6 )
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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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