Book launch – ‘i, church’ – the MC’s

Three book launches, three MC’s to walk you safely through them… and just TEN DAYS TO GO til the first…

Focusing on one of the strong themes of the book, ‘i, church’ that the church is far more about the people than the place, we decided that the MC’s of the book launches should reflect that. Thus i invited people who are both important and significant to my life to host the events from the front and help keep the times short, sharp and interesting.

Theran Knighton-Fitt

Theran Knighton-Fitt i have known ever since the day i was subbing in for his grade 6 afrikaans class and he came and asked me how to spell a particular word. i can’t remember what the word was but i immediately started spelling and he was carefully writing down the letters W…O…O…R…D…E…B…O…E…K… When i was done i said to him, “What does that say?” and he replied, “Woordeboek” [Afrikaans for dictionary] and i responded with, “Correct, go and look it up.” [Which is perhaps why i am no longer allowed to be a teacher]

i have always known Theran as someone who takes life and spirituality seriously, not content to be spoon-fed answers or ever satisfied with the status of the quo. He and his wife Debbie and their growing family have just returned from a long stint in Canada where he studied theology at Regent College and it is great to have them back in South Africa.

He [or at least his alter ego Faran], was also largely the inspiration for my silly Dangerous Things You Can Least Expect character, Brad Fish. So you can know you will be in for a fun, entertaining and philosophical evening.

Theran will be hosting the book launch at Vovo Telo, Thursday evening the19th, starting at 6.30pm – only 18 spots left and so imperative you RSVP to brettfish@hotmail.com soon if you are hoping to make this one.

Arthur Stewart

Arthur Stewart is an American-African [my description!] who i met many years ago when he was running an intentional community up in Pretoria and i was interested in hearing more about that. Since moving to Cape Town we have connected on a number of different occasions from Warehouse events and Selah reflection days to Generosity Dinners and more. With a huge heart for pastoring and drawing alongside Christian leaders and others, as well as seeing the kingdom come in real and transformative ways, Arthur is someone who tbV and i share some substantial D.N.A. with.

Arthur also kindly stepped in and facilitated a time of listening and prayer with some of our favourite people, when we were looking for a place to stay, which really helped give us some direction and affirmation at an important time. So with Arthur the mood is likely to be reflective and thought-provoking.

Arthur will be hosting the Saturday 21st March morning launch at The Warehouse, which is at 12 Plantation road in Wetton and which will be starting at 9.30am. There is still considerable space at this one, but please stilol RSVP to brettfish@hotmail.com so we know how much coffee to coffee.

tbV aka The Beautiful Val

Often referred to as ‘The Lovely Val’ by people who didn’t quite get the tbV memo, this lady probably needs a little less introduction, but my amazing wife Valerie will be taking on MC duties for the Stell/S West leg of the Cape Town launch.

Val has been hugely supportive in creating opportunities for me to finish the book [pre-Americaland] and then touch it up, finish it off and get it into book-resembling being’ness and it will be an absolute pleasure having her as one of the MC’s. Her tendency to challenge ideas and refusal to settle for the way things have always been has been hugely helpful in terms of formulating some of my own ideas on things as far as church is concerned and we try to figure out this thing together. With tbV at the helm, expect light-hearted, provocative and eloquent all rolled into one. [And maybe even a foreign accent if we’re lucky!]

Valerie will be hosting the book launch in Vlottenberg on Tuesday 24 March at 6pm at Clubhouse, Digteby Estate, Vlottenberg, Stellenbosch.

So there you have it – the clock is ticking and we are so looking forward to hanging out with all of you – please feel absolutely welcome to invite friends and anyone else you know who might be interested in hearing what this is about. Just please get them to RSVP to brettfish@hotmail.com so we can expect their arrival… see you soon…

[To see a little bit of the journey from Surreal to “Hey, i have a book”, click here] 

an open letter to the church in South Africa: invite them to dream

hey there church of South Africa,

how you doing? just thought i’d take this opportunity to catch up a little…

my wife, tbV and i have been back in South Africa after three years working with non-profits in Americaland and it’s been fun and interesting taking some time to visit different sunday congregations and see and hear about some of the stuff God is going around Cape Town. i have really enjoyed the diversity in a number of congregations that we visited. that feels like a good direction we have been heading into and hopefully we will see more of that and dive much more deeply into this race-reconciliation-united South Africa thing, which i’m guessing might be a lot more of a spiritual activity than some of you think.

on Saturday we attended a small gathering called un-Fence that happened at the Warehouse in Wetton and as tired and non-amped as we were to go after another crazy event-filled day, we decided that it sounded like it fit in with our vision and our heart and included some of our favourite people and so we decided to suck it in and go. i’m so glad we did.

it was nothing huge or dramatic or flashy, but it really had a deep impact on me, just being there with those people in that place sharing thoughts and impressions and pictures we felt were from God and worshipping and dreaming together.

i wanted to share one particular one that i had with you and i hope that if you feel it is significant, you will pass it on as well.

The picture i had was of the Israelites and two scenarios they were involved in:

[1] The Israelites in Egypt where, as far as i can imagine, the best they could dream about was that tomorrow would be a better day than today – ‘Maybe i’ll find the material to make the bricks a little bit faster today so that i will be done a bit earlier.’ ‘Maybe i won’t be whipped quite as much.’ With no sense of a greater picture or anything to aspire to [it didn’t seem like those Egyptians were going away any time soon] it would have been a focus on today and just doing my best and trying not to cause trouble and making it through the day.

[2] Jump forward to the Israelites in the desert and suddenly there is a picture and a vision and call to this thing known as ‘The Promised Land’. They had been given some descriptions of it – ‘a land flowing with milk and honey’ and been told that God had prepared it just for then. And it motivated them to be able to walk around in the desert for 40 years and to keep on going – because of the thing that was ahead.

For me that feels like a picture of South Africa. In some ways it feels like a lot of South Africans are in Egypt – read comments sections on any race-related posts, or my blog. People just trying to get by without too much trouble and hoping to be kept safe from violence and not to be around when the impending violent revolution happens [which many people seem to fear].

But every now and then, you come across a South African who has managed to escape from Egypt, a small group of them who have made it into the desert and when you stop them and ask them why they seem to have hope and life despite wandering around in the middle of what looks like a desert, they will tell you they have been given a dream, a vision, of what might be.

And that, dear church, is what i want to share with you today.

If you have fallen into a place of focusing on teaching people to avoid being bad, then i want to encourage you to direct them towards a way of thriving in the area of living well.

i literally just read this on Facebook and it sums it up:The Gospel isn’t about escaping the world, it’s about transforming it.

i wrote this on my song sheet on Saturday night as i was in a place of just listening and trying to connect with God:

i don’t know if i’m interested in a church that doesn’t have any kind of active involvement in/pursuit of racial reconciliation and unity in this country.

in some ways i imagine it must have been easier during apartheid times to see where the line was drawn in terms of being a church that engaged with the societal evil that was taking place all around it, or if as a body of people it was easier to bury your head under the metaphorical sand and just go about the business of sunday meetings.

i could be wrong on this, but i feel it so strongly. Something about ‘Love God, love your neighbour.’ Even love God, love your enemy for some of you who may feel like your neighbour is your enemy. It doesn’t seem like there is an easy way to escape this. And this was the number one Jesus command, right?

So what i want to invite you to do as a local church congregation that is part of a broader church body in South Africa – the hands and feet of Jesus – is to start [if you haven’t already, and many of you have!] praying and preaching for a dream to be in the hearts of your people – for that vision and picture of the promised land – we already know the geographic location of it, now we just need to see it take place.

Speak about it. If they see and hear you doing it from the front, then they will know it’s okay for them to do it as well. Don’t relegate this to the ‘Religion and Politics should be kept separate closet’ – this is kingdom vibe right here.

There are many, many people in this country who are not living a ‘good news’ kind of life [and let’s be honest for a second, most of them are black, and it is not because of Zuma and Nkandla! It is not helped by them perhaps, but the majority of it is remnants of the apartheid legacy] and we are meant to be a ‘good news’ kind of people.

¹⁴ What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? ¹⁵ Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. ¹⁶ If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? ¹⁷ In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

¹⁸ But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.¹⁹ You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

James 2

Come on church, let’s take those words off the screen and start really living them:

‘Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.’

‘May our homes be filled with dancing, may our streets be filled with joy, may injustice bow to Jess, as your people turn and pray’

‘May we be a shining light to the nations’

‘i want to take Your word and shine it all around, but first help me just to live it, Lord’ 

‘May we be a healing balm to the nations’

What words did you sing yesterday?

This is not a criticism, by the way. It is a call to action. Some of you are doing this stuff so very well and we need you to show the rest of us how we can be better at it. Up til now, i have mostly been trying to create space on my blog for other voices to give us some of their ideas on what first steps towards this unified country might look like. Soon we hope to host some dinners and get people face to face around the table for more idea sharing. And hopefully soon there will be action to speak of.

But in the meantime we must dream. Of a land that is possible. Where we embrace the notion that ‘Freedom is not freedom until it’s freedom for all.’ A tough one to embrace when i look to my right as i drive to the airport.

This will not be easy. There will be a cost and that cos may involve comfort and privilege. It may really involve stepping back from the microphone so that other voices can lead and direct and just showing up. Or by handing over mantles of leadership to those who we have built relationship with over the last few years that we can see are ready to lead. It will likely be messy. But it feels important. It feels crucial. And this is not a church-only thing by any means. But with our name and our mission and the calling that has been placed upon us, we really should be found in the front lines of what is to come.

So how about it, church of South Africa? Are you willing to dream of what might be and rally your troops together to being moving towards that picture of promised land?

There is going to be a revolution, some day soon. It is just the nature of it that we may have some influence over.

love brett fish

Book launch – ‘i, church’ – the teaser

So by now you may have heard that we had three Cape Town book launches and one in Durban [with one coming up in Oakland, Americaland in June and then hopefully at a later stage one in Pretoria ad Johannesburg], but what exactly is it all about?

Besides church…

To give you an idea, i thought i would drop a little bit of a teaser so you can get an idea.

In many ways this is a book written for people who love Jesus but have been hurt by the church somewhere along the way and so are a little wary of being associated with one any more… trying to be ‘christians without church’…

In other ways this is a book written for those who attend a church service once a week and yet are not necessarily seeing the transformation in their lives and in the lives of those around them and so on some senses might have slipped into a kind of ‘going through the motions’…

And for everyone in between, this is hopefully a challenge or an encouragement or a breath of fresh air or some inspiration towards some ways you can get your creativity on in terms of life to the full and seeing the kingdom of God grow itself here on earth as it is in heaven.

Not all of it is for everyone, but if you are a follower of Jesus, then i’m pretty sure there is at least something in here for you, hopefully of a significant nature.

Here is a short taste from early on in the book.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

‘That is maybe how it is with the church sometimes. That it is not always intentional. Sometimes it is just through not saying it as opposed to deliberately holding it back. Usually it is because the church is made up of messy, broken people who have been hurt and who hurt, all the while trying to get it right, for the most part.

And so we end up at a place that, if we’re completely honest with ourselves, looks a lot like Augustine might have suggested when he said, “The church is a whore, but she’s my mother”.  One of the biggest problems we face, I think, is that some people get way too hung up on “the church is a whore” part while others get way too protective  of  the “church is my mother” bit. So we are left with a ‘them’ and an ‘us’ no matter which side we stand:

# The church is the best thing in the world, ever.

# The church is the worst thing in the world, ever.

Both sides are right. And both sides are wrong.

The purpose of this book is to hopefully invite each side to take a few steps close to “the other” so that we can move away from that kind of language and mindset altogether. There are enough people both inside and outside the church, who  are  quick to throw  stones  at it. Whether we see it  as the building   or   the   people   or   the   meeting   or   the   tradition,   it   has become an easy target.

What is going to be more helpful is if we can take a step back from the muck, put any kind of frustrations or anger or resentment or bitterness aside,  and start to look a little harder, listen a little more closely and return to the One who this church thing is all about. Maybe then we’ll truly be able to kiss hating [or just really, really, really not liking] the church goodbye.

You see, it was never meant to be a concept… or an organisation… or a meeting… it was meant to be an organism – living,   breathing, causing revolution, pointing people towards Jesus, and turning the world on its head.

Maybe you don’t see it like that. Maybe you’ve never seen it like that. I urge you to read this book with an open mind. Head back with me to scripture and see what God says about the church – His plan and idea and mission for it.

Because maybe once you’ve really seen that, you will find a whole host of new reasons to love being an active engaging community­transforming member of this living Church.’

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

i would love to see you at one of the Book Launches… and if you’re in Oakland, USA, or Joburg/Pretoria, get hold of me, cos we are hoping to be dropping in there for a book share of your own…

[To find out how you can host your own Church Q & A with me and some of your friends, click here]

[For an excellent post on the idea of your church map possibly being wrong, take a read of this one]

The Book Launch: i, cover words

So, the brett “Fish” anderson written book, ‘i, church’ is coming soon and the teasers and pre-show snacks will continue to drop to hopefully give you all a taste and make you excited for what is to come…

i was hoping for an end Feb release, but in the interests of not rushing it and having the perfect launch i am now looking at the end of March and hoping this is the final date shift. Still some small mistakes to be fixed like an horrendous one you might find in this book cover pic, but otherwise we are good and ready to go.

Hopefully launch details will follow soon – definitely be a big party in Cape Town once i can figure out the venue and possibly an intimate one in Stellenbosch/Somerset West and then if i can find a not-too-crazy-expensive way to get to Durban, a launch there and ditto for Joburg/Pretoria…

i showed the cover pic last week which still has some tiny tweakage to be done, as does this back cover, but this is largely what it is going to look like, come release day.

i am super stoked for the work of my team [Heather Bailey and Linda Martindale with a class cameo performance by Kirsten Sims on Cover Design and big help from tbV with the wording] and something that was ‘pretty decent and ready to go’ even just a month ago feels like it is heading towards ‘Really great looking and feeling and can’t wait to release this on the masses.’ Which, as the author, is obviously a great feeling.

Does this look like something you’d be up to reading? Coming soon to a coffee-serving place near you…

Journey to Robben Island: Part i – an open door

i never particularly wanted to go to Robben Island. in fact, to be honest, for a time i particularly didn’t want to go to Robben Island.

Something about growing up in a not too politicized environment perhaps and then later not really seeing the point or perhaps thinking it was a ‘flavour of the month’ kind of vibe with everyone going and it being such a touristy thing.

But then somewhere along the line [maybe when i was in Americaland and we would drive past Alcatraz on the bridge and i’d think, ‘Well, i can’t go there cos i haven’t even been to Robben Island] it changed and it was ‘a thing i would like to do someday’. but it always seemed booked up and quite expensive and so never became an actually planned reality.

WHY THE CHANGE OF HEART?

On the 27th of November, tbV [the beautiful Val] and i received an email that contained this invitation:

“SACLI’s youth team, Freedom Mantle, is putting together a small event (about 20 younger leaders) on Robben Island for young Christian leaders who are passionate about coming together to transform the nation in their generation. I have attached some documents that give more details. The head of the Freedom Mantle team is Siki Dlanga, who is based in the Eastern Cape. 

The young leaders will aim to discern what God is doing in the nation at this moment, specifically around the identity of this new generation of leaders and the calling we have to achieve in our lifetime. The outcomes of the Imbizo will hopefully provide the beginning of some foundations for a deeper and broader process of discernment as we clarify how we understand the movement God is initiating in our nation at the present time. At this stage the participants are a mixture of artists, activists and academics. 

Could you join us on Robben Island from the morning of 5 December to 7 December and be part of this discernment process? December 5 is the one year anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s death and the 90th anniversary of the birth of Robert Sobukwe and we will include some symbolic spiritual acts around committing to picking up the Mantle of the older generation of Godly leaders in our nation. We will be sleeping in the prison. Most days will be facilitated prayer and conversation. On Dec 5 Archbishop Njongonkulu, who was a prisoner on the island for 10 years, will join us to lead some symbolic actions committing ourselves to picking up the leadership mantle of our elders.”

The invitation combined two things i am absolutely passionate about – God and South Africa and so it was a no brainer. The trip was fairly pricey in terms of what we’d want to spend on a weekend, but it included the expensive tickets to and back from the island and so was an easy purchase.

i imagine, in the next few days, as i try to put some words together to try and adequately give some kind of glimpse of the depth and significance of this week to me and us as a group, that i will fail dismally, but i will try. Suffice it to say it was an incredible group of people, some deep and involved conversations on a number of issues facing our country and the church, and some incredible food and profound experiences.

One of the highlights for me was getting to hang with my friend Nkosivumile Gola who has written a number of times for this blog, such as this piece on First Steps towards a Really New South Africa, to be able to eat together and have some back and forth conversations. And he was just one of the legendary young leaders that were brought together for this Indaba.

So glad i went – many reflections to come [both online and privately] and a copy of ‘Robert Sobukwe: How can Man Die Better’ by Benjamin Pogrund to dive into, as i start to increase and diversify my knowledge of the South African story thus far.

[To continue with this journey and read about my identity as an African, click here]

These Dry Bones can live again: a glance back at October Leadership 2014

One of my favourite weekends of the year, when i’ve been privileged enough to be a part of it [which is quite often!], is the weekend known as October Leadership.

i have been part of at least ten of them and spoken on about 8 of those and it has never failed to be a life [and hopefully school etc] transforming weekend.

Run by Scripture Union, the purpose of October Leadership has been gathering together the Christian Union committees from the various high school around Cape Town and training up the leaders to lead the Christian groups and impact their schools for the year to come.

The two pictures above are of October Leadership as i remember it to be, 7 to 10 years ago, when we had the campsite at close to full capacity with close to 20 different schools represented, and then camp this weekend which must have been about half the size.

[Apparently last year they only had about 30 people and only had to make use of the top half of the campsite]

With the theme of Live Out Loud [LOL, but not really] this year felt like another significant time of inspiration, challenge, opportunity to deal with the crap in our lives holding us back and being handed the question, “WHAT IF?”. Inviting the young people to start to imagine and dream and wonder – what if God pitched up* at your school? What would it look like if the kingdom of heaven really broke into your school in a big and real way?

[* where by ‘pitched up’ i am not suggesting for a second that God ever left but for me the idea of God doing some discernible and very noticeable work]

So i have no doubt that it was a significant weekend for a number of the people who attended. Hopefully everyone in different ways.

But, during worship on Friday night, i did something i really don’t do all that often. [We’re talking once every ten years, if that, although i would be more than okay if it was more]

I started to cry. 

Looking around at the people who were there, it was almost more obvious to me who was not there. My old high school, Westerford, was one of the schools that was not there. S.A.C.S. and Bishops and i think Wynberg Boys were not there. Rondebosch boys was represented by one person. Most of the schools from the Stellenbosch and Somerset West side. Parel Vallei. Fish Hoek. Many more…

The worship session followed a time when the young people had gathered in their CU committee groups and written down a little bit of their current reality and they shared that with the big group. What added to my breakdown was hearing from some CU groups that used to be really huge and influential in their schools who now had more people on their committee than attending meetings. Listening to at least three schools that had to bribe people with biscuits or chips to come to their meetings. Schools represented that didn’t even have a Christian group of any kind.

It was quickly obvious to us that something had gone wrong. Someone somewhere had dropped the ball. Somewhere along the line, people had just started taking this camp for granted or had just not had a clue about the significance of it. And these poor kids [and many of those not represented and possibly a bunch of schools in the Western Cape who have struggling, dying or non-existent Christian groups] had been caught in the crossfire.

THIS IS NOT OKAY!

Val and i had a bunch of conversations about a lot of the reasons that may have led to this and hopefully i can tempt her into writing a post to express some of them more eloquently than i did. What resulted was that she ended up doing the last talk this morning and just hitting it out of the park in terms of confession and being able to name some of the things and being able to inspire, challenge, encourage and hopefully give these young people something to work with.

God showed up [as He does when you create space for Him and invite Him and step out of the way] but it should have been such a more significant weekend for a whole lot more individuals and schools represented and something needs to change to get us back there. Who in the Western Cape will stand in the gap to help Daryl Henning [old mate of mine who has just become the leader of the SU work in the Western Cape and who i am so grateful for and know has some great plans in mind to head things in the right direction] and others lead this thing back to a great place? i have heard that Schools United are doing some great vibes and there are some cool youth ministries and leaders around. But the legacy of strong schools ministry feels like something that should not be let go too easily.

The one passage that followed us around the weekend and is one of the inspiring pieces we held onto as we said our goodbyes and moved out was this passage from Ezekiel 37:

The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. ² He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. ³ He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”

⁴ Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! ⁵ This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath^[a] enter you, and you will come to life. ⁶ I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”

⁷ So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. ⁸ I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.

⁹ Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” ¹⁰ So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.

¹¹ Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ ¹² Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. ¹³ Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. ¹⁴ I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’”

 

Can you describe this ‘local church’ to me?

So i’ve been writing some challenging [hopefully] pieces on church of late and it’s time for your input.

A lot of people have got this vibe of, ‘You HAVE to belong to a local church!’ otherwise… well i’m not really sure what the otherwise is, but the being part of a local church seems to be a pretty insisted upon thing.

And what i am trying to figure out – and i really hope you can help me – is this: Just what do you mean by ‘local church’?

i am hoping a number of you who feel so passionate about this thing [and i think it’s great that you do] will jump in here and tell me your opinion – not a cut-and-paste off the internet or your pastor’s idea or a link to a podcast of a preach you once liked the title of. From you, your perspective and your opinion…

When you say, ‘It is important that you are a part of a local church’ what exactly and specifically do you mean? [List a bunch of things in terms of the essential elements not so much the this-would-be-nices]

For example:

Are you talking about something that happens on a Sunday and has to?

Does there have to be  building?

Does it mean a full-time and other staff?

Must there be singing there?

What else? Please be as specific and exhaustive as you are able.

i am really hoping to get a number of responses from a range of people to be able to get an idea of what YOU understand when you say the words ‘local church’ to me.

And go… [Thank-you for your time!]

Some of the posts which led up to this one if you didn’t see them:

[My take on the question, ‘Did you go to church today?’]

[Is the local church you are a part of inviting of questions and critique? Here are some of my ideas about that]

[As a church, do we ever get caught up in majoring on things that seemed to be less of a priority for God? Click here for some thoughts on this]

[Excellent passage by M Scott Peck on Why Your Church Map might be misleading]