I have just made the following submission to Greenbelt to speak at the Festival. I am delighted that this year the style will be in the form of 20-min TED talks. If you’ve never seen a TED Conferance talk, then you need to: short (<20 min), scriptless, powerful features which serve to inspire and challenge. I subscribe to the TED blog and get all kinds of technical, philosophical and interdisciplinary talks.Traditional Evangelism strategies seem to focus solely on the intellectual arguments for God, for the need for Jesus and ignore the real reasons why people seek out the Paradise Promise: an emotional connection with the unseen, the sacred and meaning in their lives. There aren’t enough words to describe this movement of the heart and this is where the Sacrament life of the Church returns to fill the emotional void of mission. Based upon extensive work in alternative worship groups, youth work and real frontline evangelism with young people for whom a formal course would be meaningless, Fr. Simon Rundell, an Anglican Parish Priest in the Diocese of Exeter, seeks to raise our consciousness towards the mysterious, the sacramental and the numinous whilst connecting with those far outside the walls of the Church. The key question this year’s festival might want to ask is “what or whom are we saving paradise for?”, and how the traditions of the Church can shape the cutting edge of Gospel-shaped mission in the 21st Century.
Fr. Simon and the Blesséd Community are well known at Greenbelt for their wildly sacramental offerings in worship. He was written widely on Sacramental Alternative Worship and Sacramental Worship with Children and is currently developing materials for Frontline Evangelism with Young People.
January 21st, 2012 at 3:28 pm
Nicely done Fr Simon! I spoke at Greenbelt a few times in the late 90s/early noughties and really appreciated the opportunity to interact in that forum, as well has having to be disciplined enough to prepare something worth listening to!
Admittedly me n GB have gone our separate ways over the past few years – mainly because of the arsey structure that was in place by the mid 2000s, but I like the TED talks format idea – is this for all of the talks, or just a certain ‘stream’ (as I do think I would be inclined to listen to McLaren/John Bell/Rob Bell/Rowan W etc for some longer time…
Hope they take you up on the idea!
January 21st, 2012 at 5:34 pm
Can I come and Heckle?
I wonder about talking at Greenbelt, but find I also want to listen so much. Same with the liturgy – being involved last year was great – but simply receiving the year before left me more energized.
Whatever they say to your proposal Fr. – what you have communicated over the years through thoughtful and radical liturgy is to my mind far greater than many of the speakers manage.