A view from the outside in

This month's blog post is by Carol

A few weeks ago, I succumbed to “The Cold” that had been going around.  Sunday Night is the time of our weekly community gathering, but that week found me bolted into my room, lest I share the nastiness all ‘round.  As I gathered a novel and ensured that water and a tissue box were nearby, I glanced outside. There in the golden dusk, two familiar cars had already pulled up in front of our home, and friendly voices drifted toward me.  Gentle laughs, and the murmur of comfortable conversation. 

I felt a sense of warm inclusion.  I had been in this place before.  The previous year, same scenario (another story for another time). I knew what to expect, and I was not disappointed.

Snuggling under covers to rest, the group downstairs feasted on delicious potluck fare (we have amazing cooks in our group!)  Soon, sweet strains of guitar and voice, first one, then many, filled the room under mine: it was a song long-loved and locally written years ago. (By Josh Young, in case you know him.) The voices were unified and lovely. I didn’t sing, I listened and felt wrapped in the beauty and the worship. Another song, and then a new feature in the sonic undulation of the evening: childish prattle mixed with the clatter of many little feet on the stairs.  The children and their guide were running upstairs to “Narnia,” our 3rd floor playroom filled with donated toys of all sorts, but most importantly, large enough to run in.  The next sound, of course, was of a mini herd of elephants just above my room. (We have all boys, but for one spunky girl.)

Then after a while the herd spilled back downstairs, the conversational rumble swirled around finished thoughts and parting blessings given.  I released myself from confinement, to find a friend had left me a week’s portion of my favorite cabbage dish (especially thoughtful as my food choices are limited: that other story for that other time…).

Need I say it? I hadn’t been absent, or missed out on the evening.  I had missed the dear faces, and the specifics of the conversation and study. But I had been wrapped in their presence, and in the love of Christ, who is present “whenever two or three gather in my name.” (Matthew 18:20)

From St Patrick to Lindisfarne

Happy St Patricks Day!

When we moved into our Riverside home, we felt the house needed a name!  We wanted a constant reminder of why we were moving into this neighborhood, and we felt a name could be such a reminder. Moreover, we wanted a missional name for this place, since we were answering a call to mission.

And so, we chose “Lindisfarne.” 

On this St Patrick’s Day, here is a brief outline of the history behind that name – and why St Patrick’s story is important to us here at Lindisfarne!

Sometime around 450 AD, Patrick returned to Ireland as a missionary bishop. His strategy in mission was simple: establish Christian communities using and adapting local customs and habits as the means to express the Gospel of Christ.

Patrick worked with a team of missionaries who planted a lot of new churches by sending teams to villages where they lived among the people and grew organic church communities. The work suffered opposition and threats, but also experienced healthy, organic growth.

Over one hundred years later, in 563 AD, the Church in Ireland sent Columba, another missionary bishop, to reach the scary and heathen Picts, in modern day Scotland. Columba and his team settled on the island of Iona, from where they sent groups to plant apostolic communities among the Picts. Iona used the same model of mission they experienced in Ireland. And new Christian communities were planted.

Then, around 633 AD, Iona wanted to send another missionary team to another land that needed the good news of Jesus Christ.  They chose Aiden to lead an apostolic group to reach the Anglo-Saxons in northeast Britain. 

Aiden and his team established a new community at Lindisfarne.  Aiden implemented the same model he inherited from Iona (rooted in the Irish Church of Patrick).  However, the Anglo-Saxons were not like the Irish or Scots – there was a hardness and hesitation to hear or respond the Gospel, at first. This mission experienced slow growth, with many set-backs and much opposition. However, after over 100 years the church began to grow, and today, some 1300 year late, Lindisfarne is still the site of several a faith communities.

The name “Lindisfarne” therefore represents three important values in our missional life:

1. Live and serve in community – doing life as Christians is not a solo-act.  This is a “team effort” and requires we learn to live with others, to love others, and to grow in grace with each other. Beginning with Patrick, Celtic Christianity was lived out in relationship with others, and the mission of the gospel was always pursued in groups and teams.

2. Be willing to take risks – embracing a call to share the gospel in our culture will be counter-cultural and therefore not always well received.  Patrick’s model of risking-it-all for the gospel is relevant for us today. Are we trusting in God’s provision to lead and guide our lives?  If so, when we try to share his good news in word or in works of compassion, we can expect his “kingdom will come.”

3. Be patient – “making disciples” is a long, organic process. We can’t expect over-night success or quick results. Reaching our skeptical and broken neighborhoods will happen in God’s time. We can be faithful and strong, but we might not see the “fruit” or results of our work in our life time. 

So, here at “Lindisfarne,” we are seeking to live into our Celtic heritage: trusting that God will grow his church as we plant the gospel!