The church, like any organisation, is easy to laugh at and it’s healthy that we do.Wherever there are lots of people there is always opportunity for humour. Adrian Plass, a lovely man and a brilliant writer, has had me and thousands of others in stitches with his bestsellers about church life. Laughter, as the saying goes, is often the best medicine.

As a fellow ‘Rev’ I guess a main concern I have is that I regularly meet people who have no idea what church is really like and so base their views on the caricatures in sit-coms or soaps. That’s what I did until I actually went to church for the first time when I was 15 and all my preconceptions were blown to bits. My fear with ‘Rev’ – but its a challenge too – is that it will once again ‘market’ church to those who never go, only confirming in their minds why they should never go. I have never seen the kinds of vibrant, effective, community churches that I’ve had the privilege to know represented on TV. I would disagree with AA Gill who expressed his opinion in his review in the Sunday Times this week and said, ‘It’s not that the audience doesn’t believe; it no longer cares about the church…’ Many, many people do.

I’ll watch the next few to see where it goes. It’s on tonight at 10pm. Any views anyone?

‘Think different’? It’s a brilliant axiom for design and innovation, whether it’s technology, business or church, but the irony about the power of this product was that it caused my fellow waiters in line and I to think the same thing: I want one.

Was it worth the 40 minute wait? Yep. What about the signal issues that have been identified with the new device? No issues so far.

Jay Pathek was the main speaker at the conference, with worship led by Nick Drake. Jay is a young leader from Vineyard, USA, and a humorous and powerful communicator, who was encouraging the 1000 or so leaders gathered to ‘lean’ into the things that God prompts, even if they are considered strange by others.

Jay began by saying that too many church leaders are becoming managers, and asked, ‘what makes a leader NOT worth following?’ His three answers were: leaders who lead with force and power; the ‘super-humble’ leader with an identity crisis; and the Super-hero leader who feels responsible all the time for everything.

Jay then asked ‘what makes a leader worth following?’ I loved his one sentence answer: For a leader to be worth following, they are intentionally out of balance and look insane to nearly everyone.

His premise was basically this: if leaders lean into the things of the Kingdom of God they will be leaning beyond what is ‘normal’ to create a new ‘normal’ for those who follow, who will begin to ‘lean’ into these things as well. Jay said that if a leader looks normal to others, by definition they’re not leading. Jay challenged us to resist bland balance and instead to live with tension, hitting both ends of the tensions as hard as we can.

Jay then ended with a good unpacking of some ‘leans’ that Paul emphasizes in 1 Thessalonians including leaning into the power and presence of God and leaning into perseverance.

What has God asked you to lean into recently? Is it something that – in the words of Jay – might look ‘insane’ to those around you? Have you stepped out in faith and seen him work? Is there something about leaning that is necessary for continued growth and faith?

“Sunday’s Coming” Movie Trailer from North Point Media on Vimeo.

What I love about this video is its source. Northpoint is one of the ‘coolest’ churches in America. It does ‘contemporary’ like no other church I’m aware of and it ‘works’. They are passionately devoted about being a church that non-church goers (in America) want to go to so they can hear about the life of Jesus. And they go, in their thousands. What I love about the bold deconstruction in this video, and by this church, is that it shows us that if the heart isn’t there, the medium is just empty of value, whether it’s ‘cool’ church or ‘hymn sandwich’ church.

The disturbing thing about this video though is that the medium is the message; the gospel is affected by what it is carried in, so I wonder how people perceive God when this is the kind of service in which the message is conveyed.

I got home and spoke to my daughter, about the fact this morning was the last time we’ll be at PBC for a couple of months. She looked bright eyed and excited before saying, ‘Great – we’re never going to church again. Great!’ When we replied, ‘Not quite darling, we’ll be visiting other churches,’ she said with a smile, ‘Great – we’ll go to other churches!’ I think that’s the definition of being easily pleased, and kind of sums up how I’m feeling as I recover from my burnout. If I never went to ‘big’ church again, and instead hung out with a few friends for prayer and the Christian walk, I feel like part of me would be ok with that. But I also know that there is a huge part of me – if it can be renewed and refreshed – that longs to learn a rhythm of living that helps me to be fully alive in the midst of leading a large church with all its potential, joys and sadness that it involves. God knows I need Him to replenish me and help me to recapture that first love for Him, as well as for his Body.

I aim to record lots of my sabbatical journey on here, and I hope you’ll consider staying for the ride. Right, now to finish all my e-mails, tidy the office, write a few letters and close the door…

We reflected on the events today as a Staff Team and captured some great learnings for next year which we’re going to pull into a report and present to the Elders. One of the main points was that this year was real evidence that planning early and empowering the right people in the right roles is the key in achieving a high standard at these services. So much stress that we had last year has been avoided this year by simply planning earlier. I am far less exhausted this year than I was last year, thanks to the great Staff Team at PBC and the wider PBC family. Next year we can consider having a dress rehearsal on the Wednesday night before the Sunday just to iron out last minute things and give us all a chance as those taking part to pray and prepare together.

Well done everyone, it’s a joy to serve with you.