Hello, and welcome to Night-Vision.org! Let me introduce myself, my name is Jon, and until last year I was chaplain to the nightclubs in Bournemouth. This was very possibly the most amazing job in the world - not only did I get paid to go clubbing, but I was also allowed to stay up long past my bed-time whenever I wanted, exploring the possibilities of church and mission among those who live, work and play in the nightlife. So a few years ago, someone came along and asked me if I'd be interested in writing a book about mission in club culture. But to be honest, I didn't really think my experiences deserved a book of their own, and I certainly didn't want to set myself up as some sort of expert who knew all the answers. The thing I thought would be really useful is if someone gathered together a whole bunch of different stories - not promoting a specific model or way of doing things, but simply inspiring us all to get on with the task of discerning the movement of God in our own area, and motivating us all to each develop our own ideas and approaches. Then someone else came along and asked me why I didn't do that instead. And, well, that's how Night Vision: mission adventures in club culture and the nightlife came into being. And that's what Night Vision is all about - all sorts of different stories, from all sorts of people, having all sorts of exciting adventures in mission, all over the place.
Now I hope I don't sound big-headed if I say I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. Not that I necessarily think that's down to me, especially as some of my favourite chapters are those written by the other contributors. (I won't say which though, because I don't want to upset anyone else!) But don't take my word for it - this is what Graham Cray (Bishop of Maidstone, a
nd soon to be Archbishops' Missioner to Fresh Expressions) said:"A variety of approaches are described here... examples to enrich our imaginations as we engage with our context... If you are considering engaging in club or night life ministry, here is an excellent primer. If you are called to a different missionary context, here you will find inspiration for your step by step faith and obedience."
I want to make a couple of things clear though. Firstly, Night Vision isn't some sort of 'How To' book. The idea isn't to tell people how they should get involved in mission in club culture, but simply to show how some other people have done. Secondly, Night Vision isn't meant to be the last word on the matter. Rather it's just a few different thoughts from a few different people; a small selection of the innumerable stories that could have been included. And this is where Night-Vision.org comes into play, because it's here that, over time, a much bigger selection of stories will hopefully be gathered together... So, if you've got any stories about mission adventures in club culture, or if you know anyone else that does, send them our way... If you've got a new ideas for how to become involved in God's mission in the nightlife, get in touch... If you want to contact anyone who has contributed their stories either to the book or the website, to find out more about their projects, drop us a line... If you've been inspired to prayerfully and missionally get stuck into your local club scene, and you want to get in touch with other people who might be interested too, hopefully we can help out...
You see, for ages a whole bunch of us have wanted to see some sort of online meeting space for Christians involved in club mission stuff, and our hope is that Night-Vision.org can be the stimulus for that. Maybe this blog will be enough? Maybe we'll just get something going and then transition into something else later? Maybe someone else has got a better idea for how to do this? I dunno. Let's wait and see, and in the meanwhile let's hear some of your stories!
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