High time y’all had some nice pics to go with all the events and excitements of the last few weeks, since the launch of the Dock Business Plan.  On the night of the launch I have to confess I was too busy/excited/hopped-up on stress to remember to take many photos – any at all in fact, except this lonely specimen, taken before the guests started to arrive, of the tables awaiting the distinguished guests and the gourmet food…

What I do have are lots of pictures of the Business Plan.  (And, as you can see from the middle pic, lots of Business Plans – nearly 1000 to be precise, all currently living in the VW Campervan while I try to figure out where to store them…)  I couldn’t be more pleased with the way the BP has turned out – or with the impact it has made even in the few weeks since its launch – emails, phone calls, letters, new contacts, offers of support – even (as you can see) a few missives on very fancy headed paper…

The Business Plan was launched amidst all the excitement of the Maritime Heritage weekend, and if you haven’t already seen the vid (why not?! Click here), these pictures hopefully give some flavour…  lovely to see all the life and bustle around the TQ – a true living embodiment of the vision of all those concept pictures from a few years ago.

That weekend was also a fabulous backdrop for Dock Walking – allowing us to visit the evocative interior of the Drawing Office, walk on a pirate ship, and watch an aerial display of stunt flying.  (When was the last time that happened at your church, eh?!)

More outdoor-church experiences last week – it was great to be back with the friendly crowd from St Oliver Plunkett’s parish in West Belfast to join them for Mass at the Rock, deep in the woods above the Glen Road.  You might remember I was there for the first time (and indeed for my first-ever Mass) last year, and it was powerful once again to worship in the open air in that forest clearing, which had been used to hold Mass in secret when the country was deeply, fatally divided, and is now being used to hold Mass in a time of ever-greater unity and understanding.  Powerful stuff.

Last week, as you’ll know if you follow the Dock feed on Facebook, there was some apprehension that we had managed to choose a day of thunderous weather to hold the ARC BBQ.  I’ll admit that even my optimistic heart had a few qualms when I saw the storm clouds above the apartments…  (as well as getting to see how they clean their windows – it’s done by bungee-jumpers, who knew!)

But in the end all was well, we got the only clear 2-hour stretch of sunshine in the whole day.  Optimism wins again!!

Chris

(This is a summary of the presentation from the launch of the Business Plan – a good chance to clarify The Dock vision at this stage in its development!)

Everyone needs a BHAG.  That’s a Big Hairy Audacious Goal – something big enough to fire the soul, to be impossible in human strength, to be possible only with God’s help.  Here in The Dock we have three of ’em (because just one or two isn’t big enough or hairy enough) – and they are:

1.  A Shared Future Church

It used to be fashionable to knock Belfast as the place where people beat seven bells out of each other in the name of religion.  Anyone who’s lived here through the last decade, or been part of any of the many prophetic, bold church communities who reach out beyond their four walls, knows that simply isn’t true any more.  Time to show the world how much Belfast has changed.  Time to take the unique opportunity offered by the fresh start in the Titanic Quarter to live out a Shared Future expression of church from Day One – together.

We propose a kind of ‘Chaplaincy Sofa’ – a welcoming, relational space where absolutely anyone can connect, find friendship and start a conversation – and where you might find yourself chatting to a Chaplain of any denomination.  A ‘shared medley’ where differences are respected, similarities are celebrated, and faith brings hope and joy into daily lives.

The BHAG is a shared expression of church so bold and loving that visitors across the world think to themselves, “Well if they can do it…”

2. A Community Hub

To build community, someone needs to put the kettle on.  In a busy, thriving area like the Titanic Quarter – filling up fast with residents, businesses, entrepreneurs, filmmakers, students, tourists and many more – life can easily pass by in a blur of work, eat, sleep.  We need ‘thirdspaces’ – neither home nor work – where friendships can grow, neighbours can become more than nodding acquaintances, groups can meet to ask that most basic question of community life: “So, how was your day?”

The Dock aims to kick-start those questions, those conversations and those connections; to completely steal one of the straplines used by the TQ Ltd developers, where once we built ships, now we build communities.

The BHAG is to see a day where people moving away from the TQ cry big snotty tears of emotion to have to leave behind the friends they’ve met and the community they’ve become part of.  To create a place where people belong.

3. A Beautiful Boat

Here’s the sweet part: where will all these chaplains hang out, where will the sofa be located, where will all these community-building conversations take place?  On a boat.  The Dock seeks to buy a beautiful old boat, about 100 feet in length and preferably with more than one deck (restaurant barges, clipper ships and riverboats are all under consideration), and moor it in the heart of the Titanic Quarter at the Abercorn Basin.

The boat will be a cafe space, stuffed with comfy old sofas and offering top-quality fresh locally-produced food – the kind of place you can pop into to grab a quick coffee and read the paper, or meet a friend for a long lingering lunch, or gather with your mates after work, or join a book group, or host a barbecue, or… – you get the idea.  It also offers a space for the chaplains to connect that doesn’t look like a church from any denomination, and so we step onto neutral waters together.

The BHAG is to have this boat moored in the TQ within this next year, so that The Dock can be part of the Titanic Quarter community throughout this tremendously exciting Titanic Centenary year.  Given that we’re starting from scratch, that is big and hairy and audacious – but kind of exciting…

Interested?  There are all sort of ways to connect – through the Dock Walks (a pilot project for living out that shared church), the Meet The Neighbours events at the Arc Apartments (a pilot project for living out that community hub), or by finding out more about The Dock itself (it now exists as a company in its own right, and has recently launched a Business Plan which you can find here).  You can contact one of the two Chaplains who have already been appointed, Chris or Karen.  You can sign up for email updates.  You can join us on Facebook.  You can pray for the vision to become reality.  You can visit the TQ and see first-hand the tremendously exciting the pace of change in the old Docks (Chris works part-time for the Titanic Walking Tours and can wholeheartedly recommend getting out there on foot to see all that’s happening).

However you do it, stay in touch!

Did we ever think we’d see days like these in Belfast?   What a huge privilege to be living through these incredible times for our nation, our churches and our city.

The Dock now owns a brand-new barbeque! Bought from B&Q yesterday and expertly assembled by me (only one bolt, one washer and a small metal clip left over – result!) it’s ready to be fired-up for its maiden voyage at the ARC BBQ on Thursday night.
Sizzling hot dogs and juicy burgers for carnivores (and something wholesome for you veggie herbivores as well), I can’t wait!

Plenty of images from Belfast were beamed all over the world during the last few weeks.  The ones that make the headlines are always the negative ones – pictures of a future for Belfast city that looks crushingly similar to our past.  But there were other pictures being taken in Belfast – in the TQ – over the same few days.  Pictures of a vibrant, busy, fun, family-friendly, safe, colourful, hopeful city.  This is the future we’re living and praying for:

I was just about to post a blog entry with some photos and pictures from the last week – then I noticed this beauty on the BBC website and thought it deserved space all to itself, so I’ll leave mine for tomorrow…

For all fellow Titanoraks: this is a shot of Captain Smith’s bathtub, complete with the lovely old Victorian pipework allowing either fresh or salt water, hot or cold, half-submerged in Titanic’s resting place at the bottom of the Atlantic… what a picture…