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Rebels With A Cause

I had a lecture today on women in church leadership. Both lecturers were female ministers, one from the Methodist church the other my Warden at college. It was a predictable agenda and slightly biased as you can imagine as both were pushing women’s’ ministry. I’m not saying that this is a bad agenda to push but in a place of learning where we are shown the situation I would have liked to have seen some opposition. I am very pro-women ministry (probably having grown up in a female dominated household!) So the argument put forward made me just nod my head and say “Yes I get it!” Where, however, was the voice from the opposition? These people who firmly believe women should not have leadership roles in the church, where was their voice? I left the lecture wanting to hear why they believe what they believe…

This is not what I’m wanting to write about so I’ll stop there!

After the lecture a wonderful female colleague of mine exclaimed “No wonder people outside the church think we’re out of touch!” I couldn’t agree with her more but in terms of explaining the politics of the Anglican Church to those who struggle to fit into the religious aspects of our faith, how are we to encourage people to become a part of the church?

I always think of my role as an evangelist is to tell people of the Kingdom of God and to bring them into that. The church is an expression and vehicle for that mission: To get people engaged with the Kingdom of God. ‘Mission Shaped Church’, the most important document to come out of the Anglican Communion on mission certainly this century, talks about the concepts of Kingdom, Church and Mission. The terms are confusingly vague in the document and John Hull has argued against it. My thoughts are that we are called as God’s Church to God’s Mission to further God’s Kingdom and the Kingdom is the end goal.

The theatre community is full of people who are searching for spirituality and are suspicious of religion and establishment. They are a group of people who have deep understanding of the invisible and natural yearnings towards the divine. They are also a group who are almost defined to be radical and fresh and fight against established norms in order to speak into constrictive power structures and give a voice against oppression, etc.

While I sat and listened to two women putting the argument across as to why women should have the call to lead God’s people and they spoke of disagreements and political processes that have hindered the furthering of this issue, I reflected on an artists’ impression of the Church of England. This huge, established, political community could not be any more of a satirical enemy to the small rebellious artistic community. Where do they meet?

In their awareness that there is no good or bad guys. In the appreciation for all voices and an open and honest dialogue. The Church of England is not always good at expressing itself and admitting its need to change. Artists are not always good at patiently listening to other peoples opinions. If we can harness the rebellious and passionate expressions of the artist to the huge political vehicle that is the church we can further God’s Kingdom.

I’m sorry if this post is not as fluid or thought out as previous posts. As way of explanation I’ll explain what’s in front of me; a list of possible prayer stations to use in a prison, a map of Durham cathedral for the Lenten reflection, a proposal for a theatre ministerial placement, a book of dramatic poems to be translated into prose and lots of books on evangelism for an essay… So think of this post as a de-cluttering to prepare for work!

Any Given Friday (part II)

The first draft of the script for the Lenten reflection is almost complete and I’m beginning to consider potential cast. I want this event to be an act of worship and therefore want it to have integrity and power. In order to do this I require experienced performers who will dedicate time and energy to characterisation and delivery. This means I will be sourcing them from the student theatre community in the city. I have joined the student theatre umbrella that oversee this aspect of student life and will be posting out an audition notice shortly.
This is an important step for me and my potential ministry in this place. If I am to ‘rehearse the message’ (see Holy Theatre post) then the people I invite to be a part of the growing community could very well be involved in this event. This has led me to reflect on what am I looking for in these actors? Do I ask for those with a faith, however, vague and undefined? Or do I just ask for actors and use this an evangelistic opportunity? If I am to set up a community of actors and look at how we in the theatre do church I will need some professing Christian actors, or do I?
There is, of course, an element of waiting to see what God has planned and just following Him into this. He knows who He wants and I just need to invite them. We cannot control or predict what God is going to do. Do we stop planning then and become ‘reactionist’ rather than ‘proactivist’? No! God commands us to dream dreams and see visions. We must pray, listening to the gentle prods of the Spirit who will guide us.
This Lenten reflection then has a longer significance than I thought. If I am to invest in this venture, which I believe God has called me to, then the support network that will see this venture through must be gathered sooner than anticipated. I need the wise counsel of others and their prayers as I audition and rehearse with the actors for the Lenten reflection. The script must be filled with the Spirit so that in embodying the text the actors are transformed and are called into worship by them. My relationship with them is to be honest and real and in all that they say and imply I must be looking for what God is doing and to join in his mission.
As I think through the next couple of months (and even years), I’m excited. I have, however, in the past, been someone who sees the next step and runs off into the distance, thinking I know what God is doing. In this situation it is even more important that I watch to see where God is directing me, step by step. It’s amazing at how God uses situations and conversations that seem irrelevant at first, to guide us and show us His plans.

Theatre Church (part I)

I couldn’t sleep tonight and so got up to read. I had been reminded of Peter Brooks seminal work ‘The Empty Space’. This is, for all theatre practitioners, the closest thing we get to a Bible! Peter Brook, for me, was the leading force of the 20th century theatre. He set the pace for study and innovation in the theatrical arts. The text is separated into four sections; Deadly Theatre, Holy Theatre, Rough Theatre and Immediate Theatre. I read the section on Holy Theatre and I wanted to share some quotes. The problem is the whole chapter is superbly observed and to try and do justice to such a classic text by paraphrasing would belittle the immense impact of the work so here some from the first two pages;

‘the notion that the stage is a place where the invisible can appear has a deep hold on our thoughts.’

‘We may make a personality cult of the conductor, but we are aware that he is not really making the music , it is making him – if he is relaxed, open and attuned, then the invisible will take possession of him; through him, it will reach us.’

‘In Coventry, for instance, a new cathedral has been built, according to the best recipe for achieving a noble result. Honest, sincere artists, the ‘best’, have been grouped together to make a civilised stab at celebrating God and Man and Culture and Life through the collective act. So there is a new building, fine ideas, beautiful glass work – only the ritual is threadbare. Those Ancient and Modern hymns, charming perhaps in a little country church, those numbers on the wall, those dog collars and the lessons – they are sadly inadequate here. The new place cries out for a new ceremony, but of course it is the new ceremony that should have come first.’

What you hear throughout the chapter is Brook mixing the language of theatre with church. What it reminds me of is the huge depth of spirituality theatre has and that actors, directors and designers are attuned to. They search for a language for this need of ritual and connection with this invisible ‘energy’. Theatre is already, I believe, their church and has a missionary people we should go into their church and, like Paul in Athens, preach about their ‘unknown God’.

When I was in my ‘spiritual wilderness’ (North London really) I denied God and the Church and immersed myself in the theatre community. I used to read Peter Brook’s ‘The Empty Space’ continually. When I reflect back on my time ‘without God’ (or as I call it my Gap Year from God) I can see that God was shaping me and my spirituality and when I went to Riding Lights’ Summer school (see Riding Lights Theatre Church? post) God had been preparing me.

I want to minister to my brothers and sisters of the stage. I want to help them see God working in their lives, speaking to them through the theatre. When, where and how are the questions I must wrestle with now.

In Angela Shier-Jones’ book ‘Pioneer Ministry and Fresh Expressions’, she sets out some principles of setting up a Pioneer Ministry; Gather support, Rehearse the message, Aspire to greatness, Communicate the vision, Expect success. It doesn’t necessarily have to go in that order (but it helps as it spells out grace and is, therefore, easier to remember.) I spoke before about gathering support and a team (see Riding Lights Theatre Church? post) and I’d like to rehearse the message. What form would this take?

I have thought about going to a local theatre group and rehearsing a play with them and working through some of my thoughts and ‘experiment’ on them. That sounds manipulative and it wasn’t meant to be. I meant I wanted to play and see what God might want to do with a group of actors. The problem with this is that the group has an agenda already; to produce shows. In order for this to work and be a proper ‘rehearsal’ (You can see why I like here phrasing!) the actors need to be aware of what is happening too. I’ll talk to some people and see what doors maybe opening to this. I continue to listen and pray and watch for God’s hand.

My problem is, I can’t wait!

Sacred Space


I just came back from a service set in a school. I know of several church plants meeting in school halls up and down the country. The service was informal and charismatic. It is a lively community who are passionate at proclaiming the good news in their locality and are very welcoming. The worship was honest and sensitive and we heard from an ex member of their congregation who is now training to be an evangelist with the Church Army. Having missed my normal type of worship for some time this was a lovely service where I could really relax and meet with God.

So where’s the usual rant, Ned?

It was difficult, being in a school hall, being surrounded by huge banners proclaiming (not Jesus Christ as Lord) but Year 11’s GCSE success with loads of pictures of celebrating teenagers. I engaged with the worship when I closed my eyes! It reminded me of something Angela Shier-Jones wrote in ‘Pioneer Ministry and Fresh Expressions’. She highlighted the importance of doing a space audit where you go and take note of distracting and unhelpful aspects of the space you’re using for worship.

A worship space must be holy, set apart, sacred. Like a rehearsal room, it needs to be prepared for its use. A rehearsal room must be conducive for the creative purpose. Yoshi Oida in his book ‘The Invisible Actor’ talks of how the Japanese Noh artists would sweep and cleanse the room before a rehearsal to prepare themselves and the space for the holy work they will be doing. This set a brilliant model for Fresh Expressions of church. To pray as they prepare the space for worship. Established churches with their holy buildings sometimes take this for granted but it is clear in Fresh Expressions that preparation of the space is vital.

The impact the space had on the holiness and sacredness of the service came to the fore at communion. At first I thought it was lovely how the distribution of communion was so relaxed and informal. I felt like the community were bonding as they approached the Lord’s table. The unity of the church was celebrated. As it went on, however, the chaotic nature of this sacrament became more and more informal. The holiness and sacredness of this act of worship; the centrality of this celebration and its power was lost as people queued up like it was a fast food joint. This may be too harsh but I felt a lack of respect or understanding of what communion means.

Maybe I’m slowly returning to my Catholic roots… It will please my mum!

Riding Lights Theatre Church? (part I)

I went to Riding Lights Theatre Company’s Members’ Day yesterday. I have been involved in Riding Lights for many years after attending one of their summer schools. It was at this summer school that I reaffirmed my faith and re-engaged with God (it was also the place where I met my wife and many of my closest friends.) I became a member and have continued to give money to their ministry because I consider their work, both theatrically and spiritually, important. They have an amazing way of communicating the gospel that is not ‘preachy’ and predictable but real and direct. They continually look to produce work that is prophetic and beautiful and they are able to do this because of the support, financially and prayfully, of their members.

At this day, which happens once a year, the company tell the members what has happened and the plans for the future but more importantly it is a time to get together and talk and dream. This year they themed the whole day ‘At Home’. It was interesting listening to the staff talk about their dream to make Riding Lights a community through their membership. The language being used was very similar to how churches speak of their congregations; lots of emphasis on how the member’s really made the ministry, the desire to network and use the gifts of those members, etc. It made me think about how a theatre company can be a church.

The acting community is a transient, nomadic tribe, always moving and touring and home becomes a very fluid concept. Actors are needed anywhere there is work and so they spend long periods of time in ‘digs’ with their company. Where do Christian actors make their ‘home’? Where do they get fed spiritually when they lack any community support? Where is the actor’s parish?

The Northumbria community is a network of Christians dedicated to exploration of life. They do this in remote and diverse places. They don’t tend to meet for big worship events on a weekly basis but rather teach a life commitment and your membership is in the way of life you lead rather than where you lead your life. It’s part of a wave of communities studying new monasticism and calls itself an order and speaks of their ‘Rule’. This kind of community really does speak into our transient lifestyles of the 21st century and, in particular, the life of a touring thespian.

I reflected, as I sat in Riding Lights’ base, Friargate Theatre, how this company could feed someone; people who struggle to find a spiritual home in their local parish for what ever reason. Actor’s touring around could be directed to fellowship, through this community, to like minded people and participate in worship that they recognise. Riding Light’s could distribute material that united all those wanting to be part of this community and so, when you’re on the road you can feel part of a community, be worshipping in a place that you feel comfortable in and always feel, wherever you are, there is someone close to pray and support you.

Riding Lights are grappling with how they can involve their members, build this network, utilise this amazing support structure. They spoke of getting members to communicate with each other to go out and do creative things; to get together and be Riding Lights. It was 1 Corinthians 12 all over!

We were asked to write our story with Riding Lights on some paper. At the end of my testimony I found myself writing “Riding Lights is my spiritual homeland” and its true. Their summer school worship is a place where I connect with God. Their approach to liturgy and worship is creative without being forced. Ian, the chaplain (and my father-in-law), does a brilliant job of constructing services using theatrical language and concepts and leading people into the presence of God (You’d think I’m saying this to keep him happy but he doesn’t use the internet much so won’t read this!)

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the relationship between church and theatre. So often when people discover I’m training to ‘be in the church’ after a life of working in the theatre they jump to the conclusion that I’ll be trying to see how the church can do theatre, how to get the church structures to appeal to theatrical types by doing sketches, etc. I want rather to see how theatre can do church. The issue actors who are investigating their spirituality face is; the church, as a concept, is alien. It uses weird language and structures and doesn’t speak their language. They understand the spirituality and love the teaching of Christianity but when it comes to ‘church’ they get suspicious. People talk about the ‘drama of the liturgy’, whatever you call it it isn’t touching the right buttons. A workshop or rehearsal room, there’s somewhere actors feel comfortable. They understand what happens and why. They also understand community, vulnerability and all that goes along with that. A theatre company is so like a church!

So what does a theatre service look like? It’s amazing at the interesting and exciting thoughts and connections I’ve made when you think of a workshop or rehearsal as an act of worship, or even as a worship service.

The greatest discovery I made when trying to write out a potential theatre service is the engagement with the issues. Giving actors room to create and wrestle with themes from the Bible and with life. The rehearsal room is a place of testimony a place of engaging with life, of expressing things in a safe environment. The issue I find when people talk to me about the supposed similarities between church and theatre is that there’s a lot of language used about performance, costumes, and atmosphere. They talk as if it is pretence, a forced situation where a large group of people sit and watch, possibly engage, with a few people prance around and offering them things to consider. It makes the minister and worship leader more of performers who have rehearsed these things that they don’t have to believe in. If church is a performance then it’s not fully real. In a rehearsal room, however, there is genuine engagement; there is a creative energy that leads the participants into deeper knowledge.

It’s all rather exciting, as you can tell! My next task is to collect together a small group of theatre practitioners and Christian brothers and sisters to throw ideas about, to pray and consider.

I’ll finish on something that Paul Burbridge, Artistic Director of Riding Lights, said about creativity (he nicked it from someone else!) He suggested creativity starts with weeping (or any kind of emotional response to the world around us) then it leads to prayer, then to thinking, then to creation. I have had the experience, now comes the prayer and the thinking and onto creating something that God is dreaming of.

Wrestling With Truth (part I)


I went to see Medea last night at Richmond Georgian Theatre (which is a beautifully restored space.) This play by Euripides is a classic text with characters of depth, substance and emotional clout. The play tackles some complex, difficult and intricate human emotions; vengeance, love, hate, sacrifice, disillusionment. Medea as the lead is one of the female actress’ alternative to Hamlet in ‘parts most wanted to be played’ (along with Nora, Hedda Gabler, Antigone, Joan of Arc, to name a few more!) She is brought to a foreign country by her husband, who she has sacrificed so much for, only to discover he has a new woman, leaving her and her boys to deal with it. The play is her acts of vengeance on him and Creon who refuse to have pity on her. I have seen it done well in the past (I cannot remember the company or director) and it tapped into the emotional journey of this female character and did not shy away from engaging with pain and turbulence.

This production, however, was clunky, simplistic, predictable and far too controlled for the play. I spent the hour and a half huffing and puffing at disappointing directorial decisions and shallow emotional involvement by the actors. I don’t want to go on a rant, which I did, regrettably, with my wife and in-laws as soon as the lights went up at the end but I may slip in to it as I go on. Lyn Gardner, sensible voice of the Guardian review team, has made some comments which I agree with on the Guardian website.
As I slipped into my angry place where all things frustrate and annoy me I was reminded of my feelings on so many ‘church dramas’ that I have been witness to (I have even perpetrated some of these for which I am truly sorry!) I reflected as I watched Medea; what is it that annoys and frustrates me about ‘church drama’?
So often the drama in church portrays the factual story in a simplistic way. There is nothing wrong with this in and of itself but when used for people who know the factual story or who will hear it read before or after the drama, it becomes pointless. My wife’s reflections on this production of Medea was she followed the plot, this is a good thing and I would not deny that the story was portrayed but it was only the facts of ‘this happens, then this, which leads to this.’ What this production lacked and what the majority of ‘church drama’ lacks is emotional reality or depth.
A story is engaging when the facts are shown with some emotional resonance. Theatre is about engaging an audience in a story so they can reflect on the character’s emotions, thoughts and actions. So when telling a bible story, we as Christian actors, would rather show the childish, factual, comic book version of the passage rather than engage in why an action happened and why a character did what they did. Theatre wrestles with the why questions and religion, as it is quick to testify to in the science debates of the past, do too. So why do we shy away, in our dramas and portrayal of biblical narrative, from the emotional complexities of human life, the difficulties of life choices. The people in the pews want to have emotional resonances as much, if not more, than those in the stalls at the theatre.
The portrayals in Medea were too simple. Lyn Gardner rightly says that the characters slipped into pantomime. I didn’t believe decisions were rightly made by the characters and the justification for actions were not clear. The issues raised in the story were too easily pushed aside for a clean solution. The director missed out on the truth! They neglected any alternative emotional conflict within characters and so I didn’t believe in it.
Again, I reflected on ‘church drama’. As a director, it was my role to find the truth within a scene or character and draw it out for an audience to see. As a future minister I see a striking similarity in my ministry; to find the truth in life events or personal experiences and drew it out for people to see. We in churches are so quick to preach the simple answers the ‘telling things as they are’ approach and neglect the emotional complexities of life. We portray things too simplistically with predictable and too controlled answers. The people want to engage in something real, truthful and if they don’t want to, for obvious painful reasons, they need to.
The Bible tells a story of complexity and difficulty but throughout it all I hear a God who says ‘Wrestle. For in the difficulties there you will find truth.’
For me the cross speaks into this. God did not take the two dimensional, easily fixed approach to redemption. Instead He delved into the pain, the emotions, the intricacies of life and showed us the fruits of doing so…resurrection and new life. He didn’t just speak the path to God’s glory, He lived it, embodied it so that we could see and follow. The actor can’t just tell us what emotion the character is feeling, they must show it for it to be real and truthful.
So I stand on my soap box and preach: Theatre directors, ministers and all people grasp reality, wrestle with the pain and discomfort, the unknowing for in doing so we find truth. Take up the complexities of life and go deep with them for it is there that you find resurrection and new life! Theatre is about wrestling with life to find truth and so is Christian discipleship and when we begin to use this art form well we shall understand God; who is the way, the truth and the life.
Amen.

Manipulating Response


I’m currently studying the methods of Billy Graham as an evangelist. There has been an amazing amount of research on who made commitments and ‘assurance’ of faith at Graham’s crusades; their church background, reason for making the decision and the follow up program. I don’t want to deny the effectiveness of Graham’s ministry and the impact he has on 20th century evangelism and mission and belittle anyone who has made true and faithful commitments to Christ through one of these crusades. I know of several people who are now thirty years into their walk with Christ who, without Graham’s proclamation of the gospel, would not be the people they are today.

However…
Social scientists are always keen to point the depth of research surrounding crowd dynamics and unconscious pressure put upon an individual to follow the crowd at such events. There is, with our experiences of Derren Brown and others, suspicion on external influences on internal affairs such as thoughts and emotions. Psychology and sociology is now in the public arena and naturally people become suspicious of these grand claims of commitment to a new world view.
As a theatre director/designer it has been my occupation to create atmosphere so an idea or world view will have a desired impact on an audience. This is done through many techniques such as lighting, music, language, tension. So how should I respond to worship services that use these techniques, whether consciously or not? Or even, how should I as a leader of worship services, desiring and praying for a response, utilise my knowledge of creating and ‘manipulating’ atmosphere for an engagement from an audience?
You could argue the use of God’s gifting and say that any atmosphere you create is man-made unless you dedicate it to the Lord or quote Psalm 127 ‘Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain.’You could argue that any response, if done in faith, is led by the Holy Spirit. Where does manipulation stop and God’s Spirit start and can we discern?

As a future minister of God’s people, called to preach and proclaim the gospel and call people to repentance and new life, can I use these theatrical techniques for God’s glory?

Any Given Friday (part I)

I’m currently creating a Lenten reflection that will take place in Durham Cathedral. I was approached by the Warden of my college to produce a reflective journey around the cathedral looking at the story of Easter. After a wrecky of the site (which is such an inspiring place, full of atmosphere and holiness) with the Warden and a fellow student who is to bring the choral music for the evening, it was decided that we should have stations with characters who witnessed the passion of Christ from the periphery. We discussed the use of subversive narrative and exploring the theme of ‘missing’ the importance of Good Friday.

On reflection of this theme I remembered the dramatic poems of Michael Justin Davis in his book, ‘To The Cross: A sequence of dramatic poems’. I used a selection of these for a dramatic reading on Good Friday, last year and they are beautifully crafted. I went through and found some of the missed characters of the story; An old woman, a soldier, Simon of Cyrene, Joseph of Arimathea. The characters who caught glimpses of the story but of whom we know little about. On reading them, however, they are too poetic in structure and haven’t got the human element of prose narrative. There is also a character who I would like to look at and reflect on, Pilate’s Wife for whom no poem was written.

There are a couple of things I’ve been thinking about:

Firstly, the space in Durham cathedral is amazing; full of wide, grand, epic space and intimate, hidden, knooks and crannies. it has imposing columns and vaulting ceiling. I want to capture all of this grandness and juxtapose it with intimate moments, the epic implications of Christ’s death on the cross and the intimate personal side of the story as well. How do you use a holy space like a cathedral or church and keep the integrity of the space? In worship, how do you have intimate moments with God in epic spaces and how do you have souring praise and adoration in an intimate space? I think this is where theatre can aid the worship and ministry of the church.

Secondly, The use of actors. As I am training in an academic, theological environment, my peers and colleagues are not trained or experienced in performance. This is a great opportunity to get new people to enter into our community and engage with this topic which may or may not be familiar to them. The Christian community would be blessed by the skill and talents of the performers and the performers would be blessed by the presence of God. How, as a director and writer, do you create time and space for actors of a non christian/church background to engage with the message of Christ in a sensitive and faithful way? Where does ministry fit in with theatre and the relationship between Director and actor?

Thirdly (and finally), I’ve been reflecting on where theatre fits into the church, liturgically. Usually, drama is securely locked into the ministry of the Word and telling the story of God. this is fine but where does theatre and directed and constructed drama fit into worship and sacrament. This performance in the cathedral is an act of worship. Is witnessing and reflecting on the stories surrounding the passion of Christ worship? Is there a need for response and in what form will that take? If this were a service of communion, where would it fit and how could we shape the liturgy to fit into the narrative structure of the piece?

I’ve sent off a proposal to the Warden and await her thoughts and reflections on my concept. I will describe the outline in detail when things are set in stone.