John, I also want to say thanks for the invitation to join this blog. I'm not especially good at keeping up with these things, but I'll do my best. I'm in London working with Christian Associates on a church plant, also scratching our heads wondering how to establish an 'open community of faith for the emerging culture'. Churning out the slick phrases is easy, making it happen is something else! I'd like to hear more about what Abigail's up to in Sheffield.

What intrigues me at the moment is the possibility of mapping out an area between the church and world, that is neither church nor world, where believers and non-believers can interact in a spiritually and relationally significant way. I have tried to develop this idea elsewhere after the pattern of Herod's temple, which had a large outer courtyard (the Court of the Gentiles) where Jews and Gentiles could mix. I would like to know whether a model like this might not offer a useful way to reconceptualize being church in a postmodern environment. Anyway, that's where I'm coming from - or is it where I'm going? No matter.

By the way, how are we supposed to use this blog? Is it meant to be interactive, like a discussion board? Or just a number of personal blogs interwoven?