I just finished re-reading my copy of Terry Pratchett’s Small Gods. It is a humrous look at belief, religion, and what happens when it all goes horribly wrong. The story focuses on the Great God Om, and his companion the eighth prophet Brutha. Om is not so great anymore for a very simple reason, everyone thinks that they believe in him, but in reality they don’t. The story is about how Om gets his umph back – and becomes great again. But, its not that simple.

The story is humorous – its Pratchett’s style. But what I found rather ingeneous is how it looks under the rocks of “religion” – fundamentalism, power, money, manipulation, as well as straight forward real honest belief – forcing you to reflect on these things, perhaps from a slightly different (and admittedly irreverent) angle.

Small Gods is not a new book – its been around for a while – but it is one of those books that could very well benefit OC/IC folk because we’ve all seen incarnations of the Deacon Vorbis (a.k.a. “Lord Vorbis”), we’ve all seen individuals in our communities who, because of the nature of belief, how it can, and does “shift” people no longer believe in the God and his teaching, rather in the “structure” of faith, and its mechanisms. But we’ve also seen reflections of Brutha, the simple monk who just wants to tend his garden, but whose calling, and his gift of directness, and openess, takes him down a different path.

Faithlab is a great site that often offers new angles, and different lines of inspiration. Today David Adams posts the “Lay People List” – twenty points “minister types” need to know about the laity.

It’s worth a read – and indeed a giggle or two – especially in our context where small communities are the rule, and in order to be effective communities we need to cultivate an “all hands at the pump” attitude.

This series of three short posts by Bp. Alan Wilson (Anglican) is well worth reading and sitting with. We talk alot both here, and amongst ourselves in other places about the longevity of OC/IC communities – what it means to be “in community” and how we can re-vision some of our ideas about being ekklesia in our context.

Using Benedictine ideas, Bp. Alan explores “obedience” and “stability” placing them at the heart of the life of a community. Have a read – then come back and share your thoughts and ideas.

Matthew Streib writes a post worth reading here at SOMA – one that made me reflect on some of the methods of “outreach” I’ve witnessed in the OC/IC community over the years.

“Be faithful” “Be church” – these are two phrases I’ve used off & on over the years to encourage people to simply be in community, in the moment, NOW – and not spend time and resources going on the attack – thinking that by picking apart the mistakes or differing opinions or practices of other sacramental bodies people will be attracted to my community, or for that matter feel compelled to stay once they arrive. The fact is – this simply does not work, and it ensures that the “community” never moves beyond a loose confederation of whingers.

This can be a tricky balancing act though because we do stand for something, and it is necessary to be able -  within the context of our focussing on the life and practice of THIS community, of striving to be Christ in the World – to express and explore relevant points and issues.

Streib mentions, what I think is a key element in being faithful and that is the role of fear in our attitudes, found in those congregations that do go on the attack. Fear, he observes is a defensive mechanism – one that, in the context of a religious community, strangles the life of faith. The reason for this of course is obvious – “faith” in its essence demands a degree of openness that can be a real struggle to maintain; “fear” is a retraction, a retreat inward on which we close the doors behind us.