In a stunning Edwardian structure that has been meticulously restored, the Anglican congregation of St. Mary’s meets in central London.

It appears to be a vibrant, growing expression of the body of Christ. I am impressed by the diversity and the appeal of this church among younger urban professionals. There seems to be a healthy appreciation of the arts and a keen understanding of what life and ministry entails in such a secularized European setting.

St. Mary’s is an fascinating combination of the spiritual vibrancy akin to what we experience in California at New Song Church combined with an emphasis on ministry and giftedness that one would find in a healthy Vineyard, all wrapped up in an Anglican context with a sprinkling of English understatedness.

We look forward to hanging out here in the weeks ahead when we’re in the city.

I was out for a Sunday evening walk here in London, and had the opportunity to pass by and experience three separate churches that were meeting for Sunday evening gatherings. They were across the ecclesiological spectrum …Anglican, to Baptist, to Free Church.

And what I saw was stunning! The hilarious video, “Mr. Bean Goes to Church” is alive and well.

In one cavernous building, fifteen somber, stuffy peopled huddled in silence, while a out-of-tune electronic organ played music that would have made most mortuaries seem like amusement parks. I was dumbfounded why anyone, of any age, would be attracted to such a moribund remnant. It was pathetic, so much so, I couldn’t stand it and snuck out during one of the prayers. It was suffocating.

Such venues are certainly not unique to the UK.  That’s just where I am at the moment.  I’ve seen the same in countless settings all over the world in a mosaic of different cultures including my own.  The tragedy in this context is that these islands of lifeless Christianity are surrounded by a vibrant, pulsating city that is hungry for spiritual reality. What is equally sad is the resources, real estate and assets tied up by these dying religious institutions. I cannot begin to imagine how such waste and deadness must grieve the God whose name they claim.

Patty and I are in London and will be resident here through the end of June.
It is our first stab at living in the UK for several months a year. We’re doing it for several reasons, one of which is NOT the weather …the prevailing damp, gray, cold drizzle is a shock to the Southern California psyche.

However, we feel God’s led us to consider basing out of here because it will give us much greater flexibility for travel into Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and Central Asia. Secondly, CRM has a growing commitment and presence in the UK. We’re adding staff and momentum to the team in London, InnerCHANGE has planted a team in Hackney that will be growing and expanding as a training venue, and NieuCommunities has a team in Glasgow.

Lastly, as CRM CoNext continues to evolve and develop, we would like to base a small, nimble group (separate from CRM-US) in London to serve our CoNext partners worldwide. It’s a healthy move to give a little distance between that function and CRM in the US.

So here we are, diving into the British scene, attempting to adjust to more of an urban lifestyle, and quite aware that we are in a cross-cultural context. The UK is definitely a different culture separated from us Yanks by a common language. Add into that equation the incredible ethnic diversity that characterizes virtually every neighborhood. It all adds up to London being one of the most complex and fascinating megalopolises in all the world.

The future of Russia lies in the emerging generation.

The Harbor is making a small but incredibly effective dent in the pressing needs of that generation. Located in St. Petersburg, it is a transitional living program for young semi-adult Russian orphans, helping them make the journey from hopelessness to productive members of society.

Directed by CRM staff Melinda and Mark Cathy and Alex Krutov, The Harbor meets both the physical and spiritual needs of children, providing job skills and placement, introducing orphans to a living, relevant relationship with Jesus, and modeling a new way to care for street children and those in the new Russia who have been cast aside.

Based on the St. Petersburg Governor’s report, 40,000 street children live in the city and the surrounding area, more than in the aftermath of WWII. The St. Petersburg region has approximately 40 orphanages in the city and another 60-70 in the suburbs. Each orphanage accommodates on average 100 children. At 17-18 years of age, Russian orphans are turned out into society and must find their own way to make it in life…and most don’t. Ninety percent of those turned out by the system end up in crime, prison, and prostitution. Within the first five years many commit suicide.

All of the participants are enrolled in either high school, Technical College or University. The staff of The Harbor work with them daily; teaching basic life skills such as cooking, shopping, and how to study. They work with participants on self-discipline, how to work wholeheartedly, to be trustworthy, and how to care for themselves. In addition, residents participate in regular Bible studies, one-on-one and group counseling, and vocational training of their choice. Some may specialize in sewing; others may choose to specialize in computer classes, English classes, or carpentry. Vocational classes are taught by Russian lay men and women.

This ministry is intense. It is deep and it is thorough. In the section of The Harbor website that lists and describes graduates, results can be readily observed. The unvarnished truth is also there. Every participant has not been a “success story.” Nevertheless, the results and the recidivism rate are impressive.

Our Father All-Merciful!
Don’t abandon your own long-suffering Russia
In her present daze,
In her woundedness,
Impoverishment,
And confusion of spirit.
Lord Omnipotent!
Don’t let, don’t let her be cut short,
To no longer be.
So many forthright hearts
And so many talents
You have lodged among Russians.
Do not let them perish or sink into darkness
Without having served in your name.
Ot of the depths of Calamity
Save your disordered people.

- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

“I’m going out
And it doesn’t matter whether it’s up or down.
Or who’s holding your hand, an angel or otherwise …
The cold has worn me out.”

“People have a lack of hope.
All their efforts are in vain.
They have a feeling of eternal emptiness.”

Thes are words from 21 year-old Russian musician Nikolai Zavada and originally posted on www.mysuicide.ru (now shut down).

I came across Zavada in a stark front-page series in the LA Times on Russia: A Dying Population: The nation is succumbing to a low birthrate, disease and despair. These articles document a country that continues its slide into mass misery and hopelessness. It states:

“Russia is rapidly losing population. Its people are succumbing to one of the world’s fastest-growing AIDS epidemics, resurgent tuberculosis, rampant cardiovascular disease, alcohol and drug abuse, smoking, suicide and the lethal effects of unchecked industrial pollution.”

I believe Russia is one of the most difficult mission environments on the planet. In a conflicted culture where East and West converge but which never experienced the Renaissance nor the Reformation, oppression and suffering are pillars of the national psyche. It is an overwhelmingly sad place. And it is an exceptionally difficult place for the good news of Jesus to take root and thrive.

In the early 90s, mission to Russia was the latest fad as countless short-termers and religious cowboys from the West poured in to take advantage (more…)

I just returned from several weeks in Europe: the UK, Ukraine, Romania and Moldova.

Whenever I travel, I never want to go alone. That’s a waste. Too much can happen relationally during such intense and sometimes turbulent times on the road.

In this cool photo (taken at Spohad, a portrait studio that is a CRM Enterprise business in Ukraine) is the troupe that participated in this portion of the latest trip:

L to R: Ryan (my admin assistant), Deedee (CRM’s VP for Finance), Tim (business guy and chair of the CRM-US Board), Jeri (CRM Enterprise staff living in Romania), Colin (Director of CRM Enterprise), Don (business guy and long-time personal friend/supporter) and me.

Argentine and Shawni are missionaries in Moldova.

He’s Moldovan and she’s from Ukraine. They met in university in Romania and returned to his native Moldova after graduation. She is a medical doctor but prohibited from practicing since they moved. Together, they are part of a team that gives leadership to a nascent church planting movement in this region of the country. Three new churches have emerged from the efforts of this team.

They are quality leaders. Quiet, deep, tenacious, servants committed to multiplying a new generation of leaders and churches in this former Soviet republic and beyond.

Wherever I come across fruitful movements such as this, inevitably at their core are people like Argentine and Shawni. They don’t write books. They don’t spout theory. They don’t blog. They simply do it.

Last week I was in rural Moldova (former Soviet Republic) and had the joy of observing a burgeoning church planting movement.

Pictured here are the leaders of three new churches that have begun to multiply. I had the privilege of spending an evening discussing issues of leadership with this group. This has all happened because of a team of Romanian missionaries sent to live and minister in the region three years ago. (The leader of this apostolic band, Dan, is in the center with the red jacket and translating for me at left). These missionaries come from a similar church planting movement in Northwestern Romania called Ecclesia which CRM has been involved with for many years.

As in most such movements, the core issue is not structure, education, or money. It’s all about the leaders—their character, spirituality, and giftedness—and their willingness to live sacrificially for the sake of Jesus and his kingdom.

It happened this week in a remote town in a part of the former Soviet Union.

With the CRM staff and nationals who work in this setting, we visited a family to whom they have been patiently serving and ministering. It’s a home full pain and woundedness.

The father, Ivan (not his real name) is probably in his late 40s and in wretched shape …eyes bleary, barely able to walk from a plethora of physical maladies, and in a semi-drunken stupor. While his wife, and several in the household are believers, others have been the object or the perpetuators of abuse. One son is in prison. The setting oozed with self-inflicted sorrow.

While actually only an observer and a guest, I realized after an hour into the conversation that all our rational conversation about spiritual needs was falling on deaf ears. The oppression and sense of the demonic in the room seemed (more…)

David (far left above) grew up in Britain and first came to Ukraine when he was 19. He fell in love with the country and eventually fell in love with Katya who was from Ukraine. Today, they have one child (Timothy), live in Cherkassy, a city of about 350,000 on the Dnieper and serve with CRM catalyzing a movement that I believe will eventually affect the entire nation. This movement has two important foci:

1. They are riding a wave of what could be a significant church planting movement. The latent leadership potential that exists in the team of young Ukrainians gathered around them is impressive. (In the picture above, we are brainstorming late at night with this group in David and Kaya’s kitchen).

They exhibit missional vision, apostolic giftedness, and a growing sense of destiny that God wants to use them to reach thousands of their generation with the good news of Jesus through multiplying churches. David and Katya are committed to developing and mentoring these leaders in this pursuit.

2. David is a natural entrepreneur. Because he has seen the misuse and abuse of outside money, he has worked hard to generate funding and resources for this budding movement from within Ukraine not only through generous giving, but through the creation of for-profit businesses. He has begun three which we saw firsthand:

- Cafe Kreative: providing a clean, bright environment with great food, drinks and ambience (pictured above);

- E-Kreative: a growing internet design business that is attracting clients from around the world;

- Spohad: a contemporary portrait studio.

Funds generated from these businesses have also been used to send Ukrainians on mission trips to Siberia, Belarus, Tansania, Tajikistan, and South Africa. This is what CRM Enterprise is all about.

More info can be found at www.kreativity.org

Holiness is “...the beauty of earth and Heaven, without which we cannot live well on earth, nor shall ever live in heaven.” - Ralph Venning (1620-1673)

“The life of a Christian is wondrously ruled in this world, by the consideration and meditation of the life of another world.” - Richard Sibbes (1577-1635)

“...spiritualize our hearts and affections that we may have heavenly hearts in earthly employments.” – Thomas Gouge (1605-1681)

“If God be over us he must be over us in every thing.” - Peter Bulkeley (1583-1659)

“Have you forgot …the milkhouse, the stable, the barn, and the like, where God did visit your soul?” - John Bunyan (1628-1688)

“...there is difference betwixt washing of dishes, and preaching of the word of God; but as touching to please God, none at all.” – William Tyndale (1494-1536)

“The main end of our lives is to serve God in the serving of men in the works of our callings.” - William Perkins (1558-1602)

What could we learn from these English Puritans?

No divide between secular and sacred.
The integration of the physical and the spiritual
Living fully in the present because of the reality of the eternal.
Desiring the kingdom rule of Christ to be extended over all aspects of creation

(Pictured above: Sibbes, Bulkeley, Tyndale and Perkins)

The Celtic movement combined a profound commitment to trinitarian theology with a deeply experiential/sensual/visual spirituality. Celtic understanding and practice of community and holism was exemplary. And their missiology was highly incarnational with a remarkable understanding of apostolic structures. A Celtic monastic community’s purpose was:

“… to root your consciousness in the gospel and the scriptures; to help you experience the presence of the Triune God and an empowered life; to help you discover and fulfill your vocation; and to give you experience in ministry with seekers.”

As CRM develops and multiplies such apostolic communities around the globe, this isn’t a bad statement of what those communities of transformation should encompass.

A wonderful example of Celtic apostolic passion—firmly grounded in trinitarian spirituality—can be found in this portion of the famous Celtic prayer, “St. Patrick’s Breastplate:”

We rise today
In power’s strength, invoking the Trinity,
Believing in threeness, confessing the oneness,
Of creation’s Creator.

For to the Lord belongs salvation,
And to the Spirit belongs salvation,
And to Christ belongs salvation,
May your salvation, Lord, be with us always.

“I will kindle my fire this morning,
In the presence of the holy angels of heaven,
God, kindle Thou in my heart within
A flame of love to my neighbor,
To my foe, to my friend, to my kindred all,
To the brave, to the knave, to the thrall …”

- Celtic Prayer to begin the day from the Carmine Gadelica

“The Celtic Christian Movement proceeded to multiply mission-sending monastic communities, which continued to send teams into settlements to multiply churches and start people in the community-based life of full devotion to the Triune God.”

- George G. Hunter in The Celtic Way of Evangelism

There is much to learn from the Celtic movement as we seek to re-introduce authentic, expressions of orthodox, biblical Christianity in the increasingly postmodern, “neo-barbarian” Western world. Hunter’s book, and other studies, provide provocative case studies of a movement replete with missiological implications for our era.

For CRM, there are striking (and deliberate) parallels between this ancient movement and InnerCHANGE and NieuCommunities. May God multiply all such movements.

Comparing Celtic monastic communities and contemporary (or historical) local churches is like comparing apples to oranges. Monastic communities were not the same as the local churches they created.

A fairer comparison would be to compare local congregations of today with the local churches that were spawned by monastic communities. The diocesan structures actually emerged as a result of the apostolic activity of Celic monastic communities. The historical interplay in the centuries following Patrick between the parish/ecclesiastical structure that evolved and the lingering effects of the monastic communities is a fascinating study in movement dynamics.

Celtic monastic orders were:

Sociologically flexible
Geographically mobile
Relationally transient

These communities were a “way station” for most converts. Except for the “2nd decision” people who made up the core of the monastic community, most participants were transient. They moved through the community and into local churches spawned by the monastic community. For the majority of those who were converted, the monastic community was not their permanent spiritual home.In the early stages of the movement, the abbot of the monastic community was the primary ecclesiastical authority and exercised his leadership over the monastic community as well as the churches the community spawned.

Historically, a shift inevitably occurred where authority shifted from the monastic communities to an ecclesiastical hierarchy. This shift was closely related to the leveling off, institutionalization, and even stagnation of Irish Christianity. Some church historians would probably describe this as “Catholicism in Ireland coming of age,” but in fact, this shift would more accurately be the beginning of an institution gaining ascendancy over a movement, modality over sodality, and the pastoral over the apostolic. (more…)