Out of the Ordinary? 

How might the Methodist Church’s Christmas Short film, ‘Out of the Ordinary’ help us to pause and reflect on our practice as faith-rooted community organisers? Please take a moment to watch it here, if you haven’t watched it yet…

In the opening a scenes, a young woman is doing some grocery shopping in what looks like a local convenience store or corner shop. She looks tired and uncomfortable. It seems she is having to watch what she spends- perhaps money is tight. The shop assistant seems bored and disinterested. There is little Christmas cheer here.

When we are exhausted and overwhelmed, we can feel stuck. Perhaps, you recognise this feeling.  When we are feeling this way, we can begin to think of organising as ‘one more task’ rather than what it is; a series of practices which are life giving and remind us, and others, of the ‘out of the ordinary.’  

Yet we know that God is still present even in the most difficult places, and as Christians, we are called to live our lives as people who know that to be true.

How might we live as people who are able to both recognise the challenging reality of the ‘world as it is’ and yet, still, hope for and work towards ‘the world as it should be’?

Think about all you’ve learnt over this past year about the reality of the world as it is in your church or community. Hold that before God.

Now reflect- where are you seeing glimmers of hope? A sense of God at work somewhere, perhaps in unexpected ways?

Later, we see the same young woman pause outside a Church- perhaps, we might be wondering, someone might pause and say hello, welcome her in?

But it doesn’t happen.

In their book ‘Being Interrupted’, Al Barrett and Ruth Harley talk about the importance of recognising the bumping spaces and edge places in our community. Bumping spaces are those areas where people might naturally meet and where there are opportunities for conversation and relationship building.

In relation to community organising practices, it’s identifying those places in our own communities and churches is one of the most important first steps- because it is here that we can begin to slowly, intentionally, build relationships.

But what if the spaces we think will be points of connection, actually aren’t?

When a place we assume is going to be welcoming and friendly- the local shop, or even our church- actually isn’t?

The reality is that whilst we often talk about being a welcoming church; but do we really know each other, beyond the small talk over coffee? We know that can be really difficult, when we are under pressure, but without these deep, trusting relationships, how can we discern where God is leading? 

Reflect for a moment:

What’s getting in the way of doing that more? What might you try to do differently in the New Year (for some ideas- you might want to check the ‘micro organising practices blog post).

The young woman goes inside the empty church, drawn in by a sense of something out of the ordinary. Whilst she is there, something beautiful happens- she sees herself as ‘out of the ordinary’ – precious in God’s sight.

For me, this section of the film reminds me that God is at work, in our communities, sometimes in unexpected ways, through unexpected people. I find myself wondering, as the film ends- what happens next?

Will she find herself drawn to go back to the church- and if she does, and she wants to talk- will there be someone there who has the space to listen to her story, and to share something of theirs?

Imagine for a moment- that it’s your church, or community space, that this young woman walks in to. If you were to have a one to one conversation with her – how open would you be to what God might be saying in and through her? What parts of your story would you want to share in response – maybe you, too have had a similar experience of encountering God?

Our hope and prayer for you this Advent and Christmas is that you will make space, yourself, with family, with your church, with your community, to discover the extra-ordinary in the midst of the ordinary.

Kerry Scarlett