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1. while we ask it of everyone, we are amazed at the different answers -
how would you define the postmodern movement?
I'm certainly under qualified
to answer this from a scholarly point of view but my street level observation
and pop-reading has led me to believe that PMism is a negative reaction to
modernism. Essentially PMism knows what it's against but isn't quite sure what
it is for yet. It's a time of transition to whatever is coming after modernism.
Bringing this closer to home (the church) I think a lot of deconstruction of
models of church life has gone on (ie critiquing the mega-church, liturgical
traditions) but not a lot of positive construction of the new...there are some
good signs and I'm hearing about more and more attempts all the time. I'm
excited for young leaders especially because it feels like we're painting on an
empty canvas. There's lots of opportunities especially for church planters who
want to experiment and try some new things. It kinda feels like the first day of
school or moving into a new neighborhood... lots of unknowns, a bit of fear, but
seemingly endless possibilities. One of my hopes is that as new models arise
there will be lots of room for diversity and blurring of boundaries that
unnecessarily separate churches from each other and the wider Church.
2. given the diversity of our cities, how does vineyard central minister to that diversity?
Not very well I'm afraid. Our neighborhood isn't all that
diverse. Mostly blue collars and white skin. There's a long history of
discrimination in our city (Norwood where I live and serve is surrounded on all
sides by the much larger city of Cincinnati....kind of like the Vatican in
Rome). Our neighbors on nearly every side are predominantly African-American
neighborhoods and ours is predominantly white. This also represents a great
opportunity for the gospel which tears down these walls. So as we are more
integrated racially I think that will speak volumes to our city and to
Cincinnati. An even bigger barrier and one that we're just now starting to see
some breakthroughs in is economic diversity. After 8+ years we're finally
starting to see people who make lots of money relate to those who make none and
rely on church and government assistance to survive. We have some great stories
of people giving cars away, having people in transition (sometimes from serious
addictions) welcomed into member's homes etc. We still have lots of room to grow
in this area but I'm pretty optimistic and see the early signs of diversity in
our church.
3. how do you see the performing arts being used in the
church?
Most drama that I've seen in the church sucks so we don't do it. I've
rarely seen a skit that worked powerfully to convey an idea. Mostly what I've
witnessed is a poor attempt by under-qualified actors who are mostly making it
up as they go along to illustrate a vague point the preacher wanted to make
while everyone in the congregation squirms with embarrassment for their friends
who are making fools of themselves on stage. So I say unless they're done well
(and truthfully I've never seen it... and I've seen dozens), skits are a bad
idea. OK I just needed to get that out... Perhaps after that little tirade of
repressed anger and embarrassment for skits I've been a part of I could say a
couple of things about the arts in general. We recently celebrated Pentecost
Sunday with an arts event called "Grain: A Celebration of First
Fruits." Amy McDonald, one of our favorite poets, and a member of Vineyard
Central organized it (http://www.shookfoil.org).
We had several large installation art pieces, a gallery set up for works to be
shown, a poetry reading, pottery wheel spinning, places for kids to get down and
dirty with art supplies, pottery showings, blown glass and lots of other stuff
I'm probably forgetting. We had a blast and lots of folks who don't normally
come to our church came for the art. So it brought Christians from around the
city together as well as unchurched artists. Sometimes during our larger
gathering (a weekly celebration we call AllGroup) we'll have artists in the back
of the auditorium painting and drawing. We also have art supplies sitting around
in case anyone wants to respond to God via art during our worship in song time
or doodle from sheer boredom while I'm talking.... My dream is to see a real
blending of liturgy and art... I'm not sure what that's going to look like but
I'm excited to explore it.
4. how does vineyard
central help people
develop friendships?
This is a great question and one I was just thinking about
this week. In fact I just printed a copy of an article by Stephen Shields called
"Toward a Praxis of Spiritual Friendship." that I found at next-wave.org
(http://www.next-wave.org/aug01/friendship.htm)
Partially this question is answered by what we don't do....we try not to
overload people's schedules with organized church events so that there's time
for more spontaneous, relational connections. We own and operate a Cafe right
across the street from our auditorium. So after our larger gatherings some folks
wander over there to hang out. We often have a live performance or a poetry
reading and some sort of meal at low cost. Lots of conversations that begin at
our gathering are continued there and new ones are sparked as well. We're also
structured for friendship. To be a vital part of Vineyard Central you'd have to
be in a "house church." Essentially, we're a network of smaller
churches that meet in homes, class rooms, and cafes. Friendships are naturally
fostered in these smaller settings where everyone has opportunity to know and be
known by others.
5. how do you define a "christian world
view?"
Looking at all of life (culture etc) through the lens of scripture,
and historical church teachings. It's what the Apostle Paul calls "having
the mind of Christ." It's a dynamic understanding that grows and changes
over time as our minds are transformed via spiritual exercises like study,
meditation and good reading. I think of it like salvation or sanctification...
it's a "done deal" in the sense that it's been given to us but also
something that we grow into by our involvement in the divine process.
Unfortunately we can't just down load a Christian world view from
christianworldview.com....it's something we have to pursue over a lifetime. >
> 6. what role does tech play at vineyard central? Not as much as I'd like
and way too much for some of our organic, artsy folks. we don't have power
point.... we use a 1950's style overhead projector onto a white wall in the
front of our church building (formerly a Catholic Church). That's
embarrassing....we're trying to figure out how to get our weekly talks from our
Gathering onto an MP3 format and it's taking us months....again, slightly
embarrassing.... We have a web site that we try to update weekly. I still have
lots of our people tell me they're "uninformed about what's happening in
Vineyard Central" because we do so much via our site and email and they're
not willing/ able to use the internet. I tell the staff that this is the last
generation who will feel this way because our 13 and 14 year olds are on the net
constantly and will be entirely used to gathering information this way....we're
just waiting for the church to grow into it, age-wise. Many of us have handheld
PDAs. There's a raging debate between Palm users and Visor users... Visors are
winning! All our staff uses Visors and Macs. There isn't an IBM clone any where
near our offices. Churches split over really dumb issues but the IBM vs. Mac and
Palm vs. Visor arguments are ones I'll fight for =)
7. what do you
guys do for fun?
I see at least one movie a week by myself (I'm pretty
introverted and need my space). We have a few frustrated snowboarders who pray
for snow every year. We have some serious runners, two of which are training for
a marathon right now. People love to go to shows (music) and that ranges from
singer/ songwriter folky types to punk rock to raves. I just did a wedding
yesterday so I can only guess what they're doing for fun. We love to travel. One
couple just got back from Europe celebrating their anniversary. A group of 5
will be literally circling the globe this fall (and calling it a missions
trip....it's called "wanderlust" people!)
any closing
thoughts?
Shameless plug.... check out our web site some time if you are so
inclined... http://www.vineyardcentral.com
Peace to you, Kevin
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