Madison: A Marker Moment for the 24-7 Movement: Page 3

24 hour party-people?

As Jon continues to speak about the great hippy revival of his youth, a cameraman wanders round the room filming a television documentary about the 24-7 Prayer movement which is, according to his female director, more interested in praying than partying. We’ve tried to tell her that we like to party too, but I guess the prayer-thing is a better story. Linnea Spransy, resident artist at the Kansas City Boiler Room, is standing by the door in an Edwardian black hat that comes down almost to the tip of her nose. Last night she told me that she’s just been invited to mount a major exhibition of her work in St Louis, Missouri. “Why’ve I never heard of you before?” asked the man who ‘discovered’ her, and she tried to explain that she’s trying to do things differently – committing to community as well as career.

The Fisher King

A man stands behind me wearing fingerless gloves and a thick, long, Dickensian coat. His grey hair is unkempt and his rugged features frequently crease into a smile as he chuckles along with Jon’s stories. Joe Steinke is one of the most original and passionate thinkers I’ve ever met. His gentle, professorial manner and his love for people percolates through every conversation with slow choreographed gesticulation. He reminds me of a cross between Oliver Twist and Robin Williams’ character The Fisher King. Joe and his wife Angie, are establishing a vibrant Boiler Room community called The Greenhouse here on the sprawling Liberal Arts campus in Madison. They’re also serving the various North American Boiler Rooms.

The camera has picked out a man who’s inexplicably wearing a sort-of windsock on his head, from which erupts a small explosion of blonde curls. It took Andy Wilson 26 hours to drive here from Calgary, the winter-sports capital of Canada. I first met Andy in England when he was the guitarist in a Christian punk band. After an internship with Andy Freeman in the Reading Boiler Room, God called him to Canada where he now helps to lead a community. It’s exciting to see the increasing mobility and connectedness of our generation: people in Lebanon, Calgary and China, prostitutes in Mexico, artists in inner-city Minneapolis, homeless ‘dumper-diners’ in downtown Kansas City, students on more than a hundred campuses praying like never before…

Hey Ho, Let’s Go!

At last my gaze settles on a familiar figure. Lurking in the shadows besides Joe stands my friend and co-conspirator Andy Freeman with his prematurely balding, monk-like tonsure (God’s little joke) and today, I notice, he’s sporting a classic Ramones T-shirt with the words ‘Hey Ho, Let’s Go’ emblazoned on the back. The monastic hair, the meek manner, the passion for prayer and the rock & roll T-shirt. Ever the punk-monk paradox.

I watch Andy carefully and he’s smiling faintly as he too surveys the room. I know why he’s smiling, of course, because he and I have been asking one another the same question all weekend: ‘How,” we whisper, grinning from ear to ear like schoolboys in a sweet-shop with pockets full of change, “how did our crazy little conversation about modern-day monastic communities (which, let’s be honest, is possibly the least rock ’n roll idea in world history) how did such a weird imagining get from Reading, England to galvanise so many communities around the world?” The only answer we have found is that we are – once again – accidentally caught up in something much bigger than us. Could it be that our localised experiments in prayer-centred, mission-motivated community have in fact tapped into something much bigger that God is doing all over the world?

Jon’s finished speaking and I look around the room, one last time. It’s not revival. It’s not yet statistically significant. It’s not the Jesus movement. But it is amazing, to see what God has done in these two years. My eyes fall on Kelly Greene and our newest missionary Jo Wells. They’re talking to Eric the Viking and as I ponder the scene I hear myself humming a song that expresses the reason for my excitement:

“All you need is love, Love, love, love. Love is all you need”.

All together now!

For more information about Boiler Rooms and 24-7 Communities, please visit boiler-rooms.com.

For more information about 24-7 USA, please visit 24-7prayer.us.

Photo for title image and thumb provided by michaeldehaan.net.