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In this episode, Al Roxburgh and Jenny Sinclair talk with Brian Fraser. Brian is attentive to the radical shifts in the relationship between church and society, and to leaders of congregations who are asking how to stop decline and how to connect with local communities. Al and Jenny hear how Brian has been forging relationships between his congregation and musicians from the local jazz community, and how this process of dialogical witnessing and learning is revealing the forgiving and reconciling love of God. His story is one of an imagination about being God’s people in a time of significant decline and loss, a journey which, like jazz itself, involves attending closely to the melodies and rhythms of our neighbours. By cultivating interaction between local musicians and members of his congregation, a way of being church emerges where they discover together a new way of listening to the Spirit.

Rev. Dr. Brian Fraser is a Canadian church historian who taught at Vancouver School of Theology at the University of British Columbia from 1985 to 2001. There, he was Dean of St. Andrew's Hall, the Presbyterian college associated with VST. His work has been focused on organizational development and leadership, especially in relation to the formation and reformation of institutional cultures. Brian has been involved in forming, leading and coaching nonprofit organizations for many years and in 2002, founded Jazzthink, a company that uses jazz to inspire and generate flourishing organizations. A Presbyterian pastor, in 2009 he returned to parish ministry part-time with Brentwood Presbyterian Church, Burnaby, BC, where he is helping to forge a unique relationship with the jazz community.

Links For Brian Fraser

https://www.rhythmchanges.ca/brian-fraser-brentwood-jazz-worship-ep-76/

https://www.facebook.com/bjfraser2/

https://www.jazzthink.com/who.html

https://www.brentwoodpcc.com/

Books

Generating a Great Governing Groove: Lessons from Jazz

For Alan J Roxburgh:

http://alanroxburgh.com/about

https://www.themissionalnetwork.com/author/alan-roxburgh/

https://journalofmissionalpractice.com/alan-roxburgh

Twitter: https://twitter.com/alanjroxburgh?lang=en

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alan.roxburgh.127/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thecommonsnetwork

Books

Joining God in the Great Unraveling

Leadership, God’s Agency and Disruptions

Joining God, Remaking Church, Changing the World: The New Shape of the Church in Our Time

For Jenny Sinclair:

Website: https://togetherforthecommongood.co.uk/from-jenny-sinclair

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenny-sinclair-0589783b/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/T4CG

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TogetherForTheCommonGoodUK

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/t4cg_insta/

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