Know, Grow, Go…Slow!
An Introduction to Living The Seeds Covenant
(chapter headings for a book I will try to live but will probably never write!)
Introduction:
- On Making our Mark : The Story of The Seeds Network
- On Learning to Know, Grow and Go… Slow!
- The Five Marks of Seeds Covenant Communities
The First Mark: ‘The Connections’
Living In Proximity To Each Other And ‘The Poor’
Proximity
- Proximity as:
- Communication
- Geography
- Ideology
- Relationship
- “The Only Communities that work are those of Necessity”: On Walking Distance, Carbon Fired Poverty & Post Carbon “Necessity”
- What different Seed ‘mobs’ do re Proximity…
Defining ‘Each Other’
- Who is my family? Mark 3:33
- Clari-fying Expectations of Community
- The need for Community vs. ‘Communitas’
- The need for Mono-culture vs. Healthy Bio-Diversity:
- The need for Mission Team vs. Therapy Group, Vocation & Intimacy.
- New Monasticism: The Eremitical vs. Mendicant Charism
- On Tepees’, Counter Culture & Christian Community Trendiness.
- The Enneagram & Community Diversity
- Tribes: Traditional vs. Consumer Culture; Kinship: Fictive & Real
- “Lord is there one, whose care will ever be there, in my hour of need” : Dorothy (Day), The Long Loneliness & Activism
- “One of you will betray me”: On Eucharist Community, Disappointment, Failure, Reconciliation & Forgiveness
Defining ‘The Poor’
- Why ‘The Poor’?
- Loving and Hating ‘Poverty’: On The Poverty & Abundance of Enough
- Making Poverty History vs. Making Poverty Personal with Dorothy, Dave, Ash & Jon (Day, Fagg, Barker, Cornford)
Beyond ‘Definitions’
- Fuzziness & Clarity:
- Facilitating the Formal & the Informal
- Onions & Layers: On Being Committed at the Core and Open at the Edges
- Holding The Egg: On Being Wise as Snakes & Gentle as Doves…
The Second Mark: ‘The Conversation’
Talking Slow about Know, Grow, Go!
- Radical Discipleship, Ecumenism and Renewal
- Thinking, Speaking & Knowing in a Post-Modern World: The Conversation with Brian & Tim (McLaren & Costello)
- On Truth & Troth with Brian & Slyvia (Walsh and Keesmaat)
- Orthodoxy vs. Orthopraxis
- Jesus as Questioner of our Faith, Church & World: Organising our Theology by Right Answers or Right Questions?
- The Quaker Legacy: On Testimonies, Queries & Advices
- The Seeds Queries: Why Know, Grow, Go…Slow?
- ‘Forming, Norm-ing & Per-forming’: The ‘How To’ of ‘The Conversation’ within different Seeds mobs
The Third Mark: “The Commitments”
The Embodiment & Public Expression of “Know, Grow, Go.
- Christianity, Embodiment & Incarnation
- The Two Bodies: Personal Body & Body Politic
- Seeds as a Collective Covenant in a ‘Me, My, Mine’ World
- Salt & Light: Private vs. Public Witness
Embodying Know the Word
- Story & Identity between Seminary, Sanctuary and Street: Reading the Bible with Ched, Bill & Stan (Myers, Stringfellow & Hauerwas)
- Consumer Spirituality vs. Radical Prayer:
- Richard (Foster) & Living Streams
- Gospel Prayer: The ‘Our Father’, John & Abiding Love, Mark & Therapeutic Watchfulness.
- Perma-culture & Prayer
- The Word is on the Street: Prayer & Discernment
- “Knowing the Word Beyond Words”: Contemplation through Christian Meditation & Quaker ‘Listening’.
- Gathered Worship: Curation, Creativity & Community Development.
- Rites of Passage: Covenental ‘Bonding’ through Baptism, Weddings, Funerals etc.
- “It’s not a Revolution if you Cant Dance to It!”: On Seedy Songs, Prayers, Written Liturgy & Rhythm
- “The Kingdom Belongs to Such as These”: On Children, Knowledge & Godly Play
- How different Seeds Mobs do ‘Know…’
Embodying Grow Home
- Reimagining the Evangelical Disciplines:
- Poverty
- It’s the Economy of God Stupid!
- Experiments in Economic Sharing & Common Work (see also Go Engage)
- ‘You will never belong!’: On Class, Solidarity Proximity & Alien-ation
- Poverty as Simplicity
- Chastity:
- The Vocation Marriage & Singleness,
- Flesh, Fidelity & Fertility: On Wendell (Berry), Sex and Vegetables
- Chastity as Solidarity
- Obedience:
- Understanding Our Power: On Gender, Race & Class
- Seeds Convenors, Decision Making & Power
- The Spiritual Discipline of Protest & Civil Dis-obedience
- Obedience as Service
- Stability:
- Taking Root through Downward Mobility: Space & Place in a Mobile World.
Embodying ‘Go Engage’
- Transforming Mission: History & Paradigms with David (Bosh)
- Re-imagining the Missionary Instructions of Jesus (Mark 6:)
Preaching:
- On Story Telling, Evangelism & Narrative Therapy
- Parables: “Earthly Stories with Heavenly Meanings vs. Earthy Stories with Heavy Meanings!”
Healing:
- Wholism: Biomedicine vs. Social Symbolic Frameworks
- Healing as ‘Confronting Cause’
- The Wounder Healer: Henri (Nouwen) & Mutuality.
- The Give & Take of Healing Hospitality (Also see the Fourth Mark)
- Wendell (Berry), The Body & The Earth: On Finding Christ in the Compost & Our Non Human ‘Neighbours’!
Exorcism:
- Confronting the Powers Within & Without with Walter (Wink)
- Power, Protest & Symbolic Direct Action
What is Good Work?
- On Genesis, Economics, Creation & Creativity
- Common Work Traditions
- Social Enterprise & Entrepreneurship
Vocation & Voice:
- Work Values, Economy, Community & Identity
- Part time vs. Full Time Work
- Paid vs. Unpaid Work
- Discerning Personal Calling Through Our Common Work.
- Missionary Grow Home: Re-placing Mission in Bio-Regions An Eco-Missiology of Place
- Community Development & different Seeds ‘mobs’ practice of ‘Go Engage.’
The Fourth Mark: Sharing Regular Meal’s
- Seeds: A Taste of Slow… On Carlo Petrini, Jesus, Food & Freedom!
- Meal Sharing as ‘Know’
- Eucharist & ‘Emmaus Type’ Knowing
- Meal Sharing as ‘Grow’
- Eucharist & the Evangelical Disciplines
- Poverty, Common Work & Food Preparation,
- Chastity, Ethical Production & Consumption
- Eucharist & the Evangelical Disciplines
- Meal Sharing as ‘Go ‘
- Eucharist & Feeding the Multitudes
- How different Seeds mobs eat.
Mark 5. Participating in the Network & Broader Movements
- Organisations vs. Organisms
- Economies of Scale: Friends vs. Colleagues; Mobs vs. Jobs; Job Descriptions vs. Personal Calling
- “It takes all Sorts!” On Living with Cleaners, Drivers, Prophets, Protesters, Teachers, Gardeners, Bean Counters, Healers, Apostles, etc…
- The Acts of the Apostles: On Tipping Points, Movements & Theories of Social Change.
- “Blessed are the Fundraisers”: On Financing Movements
- Growing Slow: Depth vs. Breadth
- Measuring Success: Faithfulness vs. Effectiveness.
- Apocalyptic Hope: Holding Our Nerve Amidst the Cycles of Hubris & Depression
- Seeds and Revolutionary Patience:
- The Seed Scattered: Picking out Stones, Sowing Seeds, Reaping the Harvest.
- The Seed Grows How?
- Growing Wheat Among Tares
- The Smallest of Seeds & the Greatest of Trees.
Conclusion:
Unless a Seed Dies:
“In the end only love ever changes anything”
Dorothy Day