Personal Statement

Personal Statement – Ron Roberts.

 Living the Bible in a Post Modern Context.   11^th July – 15^th July, 2011

In my ministry experience I have enjoyed the process of taking a text and “squeezing the orange” a bit more and a bit more to see what more the text has to offer.  I have never been content with the face value of the text.

I needed to do some catching up with my guided reading in my M.Min and the opportunity was presented to take this intensive.

To be honest, I thought it sounded good fitting with the ‘squeezing the orange’ concept and it looked like there could be content that I could enjoy being involved with, but it was a needful guided reading exercise!

Well, I have to say, that what was offered and what I expected were two different things.

For a start the group dynamic was excellent.  Thanks to each of the group who produced collective wisdom and meaningful responses.  Thanks also to Steve Taylor for the input and facilitation, giving good content and oozing creativity, which quite frankly makes me wish I could be equally as inventive.

My processing pathways, in order are, visual, kinaesthetic and audio.  As the days opened up my senses were being awoken and I began to be drawn into an intense way of not only handling the scripture but becoming intrinsically part of the text.

I think this aspect became very empowering for me.  Rather than learning techniques that would benefit others, my church in particular, I found that the exposure to the text through my senses was taking me on a spiritual journey.

This was more than a learning journey, this was a journey that was actually causing change.

Because it was so personal and was touching my inner being, I got very tired.  This process was sapping my energy and I didn’t want that to happen.  I wanted to remain alert and absorbed.  I was conscious of my need for God’s help and believed that occurred.

Of course Luke 1:39-45 will always connect with this intensive week, but more importantly, how the text can absolutely come alive through the senses has already changed my whole approach to the text.

I wish that I had connected to that years ago, instead of now on the eve of my retirement.

How true it is that my preaching has predominantly been communicated through words with the expectation that people exposed to those words would hear them in all their fullness and be stimulated to action of some sort.

The framework given this week helps make sense of how communication can best be effective.

The word is important, and I have come to a greater appreciation of how dialogue channels the word through the mix of image and community into what should be an environment of receptivity.

I really appreciated the introduction of sound,  touch and smell when dealing with the text.  These are elements that bring a richness and mystery, inviting me to become part of the text rather than just a reader or explainer.

I have already talked with some of our Elders about the need to carefully understand the principles behind ‘living the text’ in order that they might begin to adopt a way of entering the text personally.  I figure that for me and them alike we need to totally enter this experience in our walk with God.  Then, we are in a place to share it wider either in corporate worship or small groups.

When I was reading Bob Rognlien’s piece on experimental worship, I get the fact that an organised process needs to be in place. I have come to appreciate the fact that bringing these innovative ways into worship must not be a gimmick or just a ‘fun’ way (even thought they should be engaging and enjoyable), but a serious process of creating a space where all of us can move from being spectators of the text to participants.

Whilst the personal part of the journey is important, I am involved in communicating an important text, so I want to preach in an experiential, participatory, image base with connectivity as Leonard Sweet puts it.

I am an early baby boomer, and therefore exposed to an upbringing in the church where leadership exhibited the strong top down approach.  Participation by the congregation was minimal and experimentation was frowned upon.

What a joy for me to come to this intensive and have a theological framework for experimenting outlined, and then to be able to go to my church congregation, who will be open to sharing in the appropriate implementation  of aspects like:

• DJ’ing and sampling ( a concept new to me in the context of a way to open the text)
• New ways of being community
• Understanding imaging
• Participating in the touch/smell/sounds of the text.

I have hundreds of stories from the life I’ve lived.  But I have learned this week to be careful how those and others stories might be told. I found the session on story telling challenging, yet I have been telling stories for a long time.  I now look at stories differently.

I really enjoyed Brian McLarens presentation of the woman caught in adultery. I have never heard a better presentation about the Kingdom of God.  The way he crafted that presentation was brilliant and made me stop and think again about audience/congregational involvement and participation with the whole of the text and characters.

Steve’s innovative use of take-aways, presented at IKEA, and the way he uses surrounding people as sounding boards for text presenting ideas, has challenged me into making my preparations extended, in order that these methodologies can be incorporated.

Peter and I thoroughly enjoyed preparing Café Church for the Friday afternoon.  We tried hard to incorporate as many of the learnt skills from the week into that session and even achieved DJing with the music in the background of “What if God was one of us”   Did you hear it?

I have to say that the week has given me energy and insight in a refreshing way to move on from this point in my ministry and hopefully I can make my experience of living in the text, the experience of our church.

Again, thanks to the entire group for a great week.

Who is Ron?

I'm Adelaide born, with a background in Churches of Christ from the start.  In my pre teens, it was not hard to believe from what was being promoted that Churches of Christ was seen by those from within that they were the only 'true' church.  This made for any interesting journey, discovering that this was not so and indeed, the richness of other traditions has become a strong part of my appreciation of the Church.  
Now, many years down the track, having served on many inter-church councils both local and state wide, and having had the privilege of being in ministry in a number of churches, including the planting of a number of churches, I come to the place of facing what retirement might look like.
One can never reach a point where everything is learnt and experienced, and so I look forward to participating in this class and gaining insight from others  which will hopefully mobilize me in new directions and thinking, in spite of the fact that I may be less active than those who have not yet reached retirement age.
I am currently in ministry at the Aldgate Church of Christ AKA The Village Well, and enjoying the challenges of helping the congregation engage with the community, as they grow in their own Christian journey.