Meeting in Ikea today (for the 99p cooked breakfast – what’s not to like?) reminded me that a few days ago on the Walking Tours I met one of the key people behind the recent Ikea refit.

I wish I could tell you his name, but it was complicated and German and so (as with all complicated names) left my brain approx 0.2 seconds after entering it.  What I can tell you is that he was friendly, enthusiastic, really enjoying his time in Belfast, and living for 6 weeks in the Arc apartments in the Titanic Quarter.  Apparently Ikea send him to all different parts of its empire – he’s off to Dublin next, then to Milton Keynes, then anywhere in Europe – to oversee the remodelling of their store whenever a new interior display is needed.

Chatting to Frzgrbbllj (let’s call him Frzgrbbllj for the sake of argument) made me think about the incredible opportunities open to The Dock – and the need to think seriously about what this ‘Chaplaincy’ role looks like.  Most local churches operate on the assumption that the people they connect with have moved into the area and will be around for a few years, or decades, or the rest of their lives.  The Dibley cliche is of a church community made up of people who have always been local, and will always be local.

The Titanic Quarter community seems to be different.  Frzgrbbllj was there for 6 weeks.  Many business contracts down in the Science Park are for a few months, many Citibank contracts are for a year.  The movie studios are operational for a couple of months at a time (the next series of Game Of Thrones is due to start shooting any day).  The Metropolitan College students will be connecting with the TQ for a brief window of their lives.  And many millions will be visiting for just one day – to see Titanic Belfast, visit the Pump House, check out the Public Records Office or (if they know what’s good for them) do the Titanic Walking Tour.

That doesn’t for one minute mean that the TQ can’t be a genuine community.  We all long to connect, to relate.  I’m loving the brilliant, genuine, inspiring people I’m meeting on the walking tours, or over a glass of mulled wine or a cup of coffee at the Meet The Neighbours events.  The chat is mighty.  I’ve met people from all over the world – and new people from just down the road.  It doesn’t look like a traditional community, where everyone knows each other, but it is a tremendously invigorating, urban, diverse way to connect.  Whether briefly or not, we share the fact that we’re part of this new part of Belfast city, that we’re watching renewal in action, that we have a common link to the Boat that Sank.  We’re the Titanic Tribe.

And it’s in that environment that the idea of being a Chaplain rather than a Minister or Pastor or Vicar seems to work so well.  Someone to make the links, to start the conversation, to put the kettle on.  Tribes need connection points.  Something like, I don’t know, a lovely old boat with a coffee shop run by Chaplains from all sorts of different backgrounds…  Hey, there’s an idea…

Anyone else a fan of the brilliant old newspaper strip Calvin and Hobbes?  Calvin’s dad was always forcing the family to enjoy themselves outside, whatever the weather…

So if Calvin’s dad had joined us for the Dock Walk on its first birthday, he definitely would’ve been bug-free… It flipping poured!  Which was kinda neat – as the last time the rain fell for the whole length of the Dock Walk was right back on Day One, exactly a year ago!

Starting from this birthday walk I’d love to share a bit more with you on this blog about the conversations we had out in the wilds of the TQ, and what we’ve been learning together each week as we engage with the Wordlive bible readings – and to keep encouraging you to click on to Wordlive yourself and let these fantastic, complex readings change and challenge you.

Last week the readings took us through the story of Stephen, the first Christian martyr, facing death from a barrage of stones thrown by a mob – a mob whom Stephen forgave with his dying breath.   It’s a story that shows the very worst we can be – the violence that takes hold when people succumb to hate, fanaticism and fear – and also the very best we can be – Stephen shows an almost Christlike assurance as he faces his killers.

Hard to believe, but the Dock Walk has now been a regular weekly fixture of TQ life for exactly a year.  (OK – 13th June – Monday – will be the exact anniversary if you want to be pedantic, but Sunday 12th is the day we’ll mark the occasion!)

It’s hard to express just how much this sometimes unexpected, unpredictable dander on a Sunday afternoon has come to mean to me.  It is now absolutely my local church; the weekly gathering at which I can worship freely, meet with friends who have become family, have my faith deepened, strengthened and challenged.

I look forward to it every week.  Sometimes during the week, if something crops up on the news or in the Wordlive readings, I find myself thinking “I can’t wait to chat about that with the Dock Walkers!”   I love the mix, the banter, the way it’s so natural and unforced to chat with people (even sometimes about the deep and meaningfuls of life) as we walk along together.

I love the buzz of meeting at the Streat at 3:33, never quite knowing who’s going to be there, always wondering if this will be the week I’ll end up walking on my own!  (I’ve always said I’ll happily go for a solo walk if needs be, but it’s never been necessary – someone’s always turned up – sometimes 50 someones have turned up!)  I love the debrief over coffees at the Premier Inn when it’s all over, as we sometimes commandeer the coffee lounge (thanks Premier Inn, and sorry!) with a bunch of happy, weary, chatty walkers finding out each other’s life stories.

I love the way the Dock Walk concept – to become a community of people who connect around the Wordlive Bible resource during the week as well as chatting about it on Sundays – has completely transformed my own discipline and engagement with the Bible.  I love the way people connect to different things – to the conversation, or to the inspiration of walking through the Titanic Quarter, or listening to worship music praising God while standing in the midst of his Creation, or just the chat and fellowship with such a diverse, fascinating bunch of people.

I love the sense that going for a walk together is something so ancient in a lot of ways, and yet is something quite new as a way to do church.  I love that walking carries that sense of journey, risk, adventure that is so central to the Dock.

I love it that between August and April, no matter how bad the weather was during the rest of the week, it never rained on a Sunday afternoon!  (Of course, the very week I pointed this out, one of the walkers commented that rain is actually a symbol of blessing in the Bible. Sure enough, about 10 minutes later it started to rain!)

I love the memories of standing under blazing sunsets, soaring cranes, flocks of seagulls, firework displays, storm-clouds, jet-streams and hundreds of other ever-changing skies, thinking thankyou, God, that this is church.

So – I wonder if you’ve maybe gathered? – I love it!
Happy Birthday to you, Dock Walk
Happy Birthday to you.

Chris

At TQ Ltd today for a gathering of potential ambassadors for Titanic Belfast – the fabulous new visitor attraction gleaming above the Titanic slipways behind the Drawing Office.  We were shown a computer-generated fly-through of the building, given the vision of its designers, and clued-in on its place within the overall masterplan of the Titanic Quarter.

From the ticket desks (modelled on keel blocks) to the escalators (biggest in Ireland!) to the design room (the Titanic’s schematics light up when you walk on them!) to the Shipyard Ride (looks like fun) to the surround-IMAX theatre (imagine you’re walking through the wreck of Titanic on the ocean bed!) to the massive banqueting suite (with replica Grand Staircase for Kate/Leo-snog re-enactments) IT LOOKS PHENOMENAL!

So was I interested in being an Ambassador?  Well what do you think…?

The Dock website was one of the first places in the world to see the first pictures of the interior when they were released a few weeks ago… now there’s a fly-through video to go with them.  Mr Ambassador, with these videos you are really spoiling us…
 

Spread the word – it’s going to be fantastic.

Time to sit down with a nice cuppa and a good book… Dock Book Group is coming up again on Saturday 25th June, meeting at 9:30am at the TQ Premier Inn.

This time round we’re reading Reason For God by Tim Kellor – here’s the link and here’s the cover blurb:

As the pastor of an inner-city church in New York City, Timothy Keller has compiled a list of the most frequently voiced ‘doubts’ sceptics bring to his church, as well as the most important reasons for faith. In THE REASON FOR GOD, he addresses each doubt and explains each reason.

Keller uses literature, philosophy, real-life conversations, and reasoning to explain how faith in a Christian God is a soundly rational belief, held by thoughtful people of intellectual integrity with a deep compassion for those who truly want to know the truth.

Intrigued?  And if paper-and-ink is too old-school, you can track down the Kindle edition, or buy the audiobook on iTunes.