Picture from Arturo

Mr. Gramling’s Flamingo Road Church, which has a weekly attendance of 8,000, is based in Broward County, Fla., where he records his sermons on DVD for screenings here, as well as at three branches in South Florida. Each church uses the same distinctive music, banners and logo — a white cube bisected by a black curving road. Mr. Gramling says he tried to copy the success of Starbucks by assembling a creative team to hone “the look, the feel, the branding idea, of what Flamingo Road is.” Like Starbucks, Mr. Gramling is thinking big. His goal is 50 churches world-wide, 100,000 members and a $150 million-a-year budget.

From inspired by Starbucks from the Wall Street Journal.

Flamingo Church is an example of a church which is influenced by the Purpose Driven model (its minister has written on this here). We’ll be talking about this, as well as other models of church including the emergent church on Thursday. This is a taster to get you thinking before then…

ELIZABETH II Dei Gratia REGina Fidei Defensor

meaning

Elizabeth II, by the grace of God, Queen and Defender of the Faith

There has been some discussion of New Monasticism recently. The movement seeks to do what it says and to reinterpret classic monasticism in light of contemporary culture.

According to newmonasticism.org the twelve marks of the movement are:

1. Relocation to the abandoned places of Empire. (This is interpreted as the inner-city and places overlooked by the State)
2. Sharing economic resources with fellow community members and the needy among us.
3. Hospitality to the stranger
4. Lament for racial divisions within the church and our communities
   combined with the active pursuit of a just reconciliation.
5. Humble submission to Christ’s body, the church.
6. Intentional formation in the way of Christ and the rule of the
   community along the lines of the old novitiate.
7. Nurturing common life among members of intentional community.
8. Support for celibate singles alongside monogamous married couples and their children.
9. Geographical proximity to community members who share a common rule of life.
10. Care for the plot of God’s earth given to us along with support of our local economies.
11. Peacemaking in the midst of violence and conflict resolution within communities along the lines of Matthew 18.
12. Commitment to a disciplined contemplative life.

If you want to investigate further, then it is worth looking at the writings on the New Monasticism site.

The Anabaptist Network and Northumbria Community recently held a conference on New Monasticism and some of the papers are available:

• re-monking the church after Christendom
• Twelve Marks of New Monasticism – ‘Mind Map’ Questions & Feedback
• Conference Summary

You really should have a look at the information on Post-Christendom on the Anabaptist Network website. Stuart Murray-Williams has posted a lot of information and it provides a good way in to the material.

Go read.