Author: Halldór Guðmundsson

Finding our way into the future

Unless we are able, as Christians, to discover ways of conducting our life and our mission that differ radically from the Christendom form of the church that has dominated throughout most of Christian history, we shall be doomed in the future to be part of our world’s problem, and not its solution.

…

Perhaps if ecumenism was less concerned about the union of tired, old institutions and more concerned about the calling of the Christian movement in the world as a whole, ecumenicity itself would be more vital to all who take this faith with some degree of seriousness.

…

We Christians, who have imposed ourselves and our faith on so many, for so long, must now earn the right to explain the reason for our hope.

Finding Our Way into the Future by Douglas John Hall.

Religious Life

In her article “Creating a Spiritual World for Children to Inhabit,” Karen-Marie Yust talks about children’s formation and the role of practices, rituals, and ideas. She addresses especially how repetition enforces learning. She takes a helpful example.

An African American toddler boy who repeatedly watches cartoon videos in which the “good guys” with light-colored skin always beat the “bad guys” with dark-colored skin concludes from this observation that light-skinned people are good and dark-skinned people are bad. (A Caucasian child comes to a similar conclusion.) When he is four or five and becomes aware of his own skin color, he will likely experience a tension between his sense of himself as good and his cultural observation that dark-colored skin belongs to bad guys. His white peers will also be more likely to label him as bad when trouble erupts on the playground.

This also applies to gender-images. As part of the childhood culture those experiences that they see in “the adult world” are then “played out” or “tried on.” And here comes the connection to the Religious Life.

When adults act as if religious education is mainly a tool for children’s moral development, children quickly catch on to the irrelevance of religious culture for the grown-up world. They have no incentive for committing themselves to a particular spiritual identity on adolescence if faith is portrayed by adults as something one shed with childhood.

(The Article appeared in Family Ministry, Vol. 18, No. 4, Winter 2004)

Acts in Common

Acts In Common is an organization of Christian believers who seek to renew, resource and empower Lutheran congregations and ministries in African American neighborhoods in the Detroit metropolitan area. Acts In Common (AIC) seeks to assist these congregations and ministries to find creative and public ways to invite others to know God’s love through Jesus Christ. Membership in Acts In Common is open to all Lutheran congregations in the territory of the Southeast Michigan Synod who subscribe to the purpose and goals of the organization.

Acts in Common.

Specific Actions

Church-based organizations do not try to solve problems. Problems will always be there, and we cannot afford to waste our energy fixing unending problems. We do, however, take specific actions on clearly defined issues.

from  Congregation-Centered Organizing: A Strategy for Growing Stronger Communities via The Gamaliel Foundation an organizing institute.

Here I think Mark I. Wegener is not correct. We cannot afford giving in to problems, and just continue to bring band-aid to the wounded. Community organizing is more then running around with first-aid kit, it most address the reason for the wounds.

“Power” is Not a Bad Word

Some people are put off by the blatant appeal to power, which is an integral part of congrega tion-centered organizing. We tend to think of power as manipulative, as domineering, as too political, as “power over” someone else, and we suspect such power is out of keeping with our Christian values. We recall Lord Acton’s famous dictum: “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power tends to corrupt absolutely.”

More recently, however, we have come to recognize that power in and of itself is neither good nor bad. Power is nothing more than the ability to accomplish something.

Whether the goal is to accomplish something helpful or harmful is another question, but power itself is a necessary ingredient for any action. Power is constitutive of life. (Mark I. Wegener)

from  Congregation-Centered Organizing: A Strategy for Growing Stronger Communities via The Gamaliel Foundation an organizing institute.

Adiaphora

Adiaphora in Christianity refer to matters not regarded as essential to faith, but nevertheless as permissible for Christians or allowed in church. What is specifically considered adiaphora depends on the specific theology in view. (WikiPedia)

The question we must constantly deal with is what is essential to our worldview and what is not. It is important to understand that things can be relevant without being essential. This does apply to worship practices, to take but one example. The issue arrises when things stop being “adiaphora” and become “demonic” to our faith and our worldview. Then the real problems start.

Righteous living or Hierarchy

Concerning those who call themselves Cathari, if they come over to the Catholic and Apostolic Church, the great and holy Synod decrees that they who are ordained shall continue as they are in the clergy. But it is before all things necessary that they should profess in writing that they will observe and follow the dogmas of the Catholic and Apostolic Church; in particular that they will communicate with persons who have been twice married, and with those who having lapsed in persecution have had a period [of penance] laid upon them, and a time [of restoration] fixed so that in all things they will follow the dogmas of the Catholic Church.

via CHURCH FATHERS: First Council of Nicaea (A.D. 325).

When reading through The Canons of Nicaea from 325, it is surely interesting how structures and hierarchy take over and questions of righteous and holy living become secondary. As part of that the Canons address very thoroughly the right way of the clergy, reminds us that:

Let all such practices be utterly done away, and let the deacons remain within their own bounds, knowing that they are the ministers of the bishop and the inferiors of the presbyters. Let them receive the Eucharist according to their order, after the presbyters, and let either the bishop or the presbyter administer to them. Furthermore, let not the deacons sit among the presbyters, for that is contrary to canon and order. And if, after this decree, any one shall refuse to obey, let him be deposed from the diaconate.

One wonders how the word “inferiors” made it to a Christian document in 4th Century, and how this rule of sitting in groups fits with Paul.

5 Stages of Grief

In a world where everything is supposed to be doubted, and nothing is as simple as it seems it is interesting how many theories claim to be universal. One of them is E.K. Ross’s Five Stages of Grief. Surely, there is a value in recognizing the various emotional stages a grieving person goes through, and I am not saying that using Ross’s stages can not helpful. It is the universal claim in her book that is problematic. Well here comes the real reason for this post, naming the stages and give the “official Icelandic translation.”

  • Denial (isl. afneitun), or this is not really happening.
  • Anger (isl. reiði), or this is someone’s fault.
  • Bargaining (isl. samningar), or can we make a deal (with God or…)
  • Depression (isl. þunglyndi), or what is going to happen next, or I don’t care.*
  • Acceptance (isl. sátt), or this will happen, the hope of continuing is lost (a new hope emerges).

* The use of the word depression (isl. þunglyndi) is not very accurate in E.K. Ross’s writing. I would prefer using anxiety (isl. kvíði). However, I am not a psychologist.

Contract or Covenant

In When Moses Meets Aaron: Staffing and Supervision in Large Congregations one of the many issues that are addressed is the difference between contract and covenant. The difference between the two can be helpful in addressing employment in the church.
In the book the focus is on employment contract as an utilitarian in orientation, while covenant attempts to protect the least of these. The covenant focuses on protection by the more powerful and cocreation, rather then maximization.

Stories We Tell

In the 1930s an anthropologist Morris Olper recorded that among an Apache group of southern New Mexico, a person who had not acted ethically would be asked, “How could you do that? Didn’t you have a grandfather to tell you stories?” The spiritual and religious life depends on the stories you choose to write and tell and those we do not.

Sandy Sasso writes about her books and the importance of storytelling in an article called “The Role of Narrative in the Spiritual Formation of Children” in Family Ministry vol. 19, no. 2, Summer 2005.

‘Virtual preaching’

The process may sound impersonal, but churches that use high-def video technology say congregants don’t have to lose touch with ministers. They hire other church pastors to serve their satellite locations by leading Sunday morning services and meeting with people afterward.

Those ministers simply exit the stage when it’s time for the sermon and video screens to descend over the altar.

via ‘Virtual preaching’ transforms Sunday sermons – CNN.com.

There are many interesting questions that come up when reading about satellite churches. For one, what does it say when there is only one considered qualified to preach? What does it say about our understanding of community? What is the role of the church pastors, if not to deliver the Word? How does this works if there is a Eucharist? And so on and on.

End of Life Decisions

Which decisions about dying are morally acceptable to concerned Christians, and which ones go beyond morally acceptable limits? Which medical practices and public policies allow for more humane treatment for those who are dying and which ones open the door to abuse and the violation of human dignity? Proposals in various states to legalize physician-assisted death [4] point to renewed interest in these old questions. ELCA members, congregations, and institutions need to address these questions through prayer and careful reflection.

End of Life Decisions – Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is a social message from ELCA to help deal with those questions.

Another more complete resource on End-of-Life Decisions and especially Euthanasia is a book edited by Tom L Beauchamp called Intending Death.

Search Institute

Search Institute® is an independent, nonprofit, nonsectarian organization committed to helping create healthy communities for every young person. Because we believe that “all kids are our kids,” we create books and other materials that welcome and respect people of all races, ethnicities, cultures, genders, religions, economic backgrounds, sexual orientations, and abilities. Our Mission: To provide leadership, knowledge, and resources to promote healthy children, youth, and communities.

Search Institute: 50 Years of Discovering What Kids Need to Succeed | Search Institute.

Of special interest at Search Institute are the well known “Developmental Assets.” The Developmental Assets are 40 “qualities essential to raising successful young people.”

Developmental Disability Ministry

Friendship Ministries is a not-for-profit organization that exists to help churches and organizations around the world share God’s love with people who have intellectual disabilities.

Friendship Ministries.

LDM equips the Church to minister with persons who are mentally impaired. Through innovative programs, we evangelize, develop relationships, model servanthood, and disciple leaders

LDM began as an independent ministry serving the Lutheran Church. However, we understand that the mission of LDM is much larger than any single denomination. We are available to assist any Christian congregation to start intentional programs for people that are mentally impaired. Our programs teach the basics of the Christian faith as revealed in God’s Holy Scripture. As Christians, we are saved by God’s grace through Jesus Christ.

LDM.

Explaining the Belief in God

Jared B. Kenworthy’s research is interesting for various reasons. What caught my attention was the following:

Believers perceived their own position as being more rational than both the in-group and the out-group. Nonbelievers, by contrast, attributed equivalent amounts of rationality to themselves and to the in-group, both of which exceeded that attributed to the believing out-group.

In his research Mr. Kenworthy uses rational reasons and emotionality as opposites to explain why people come to conclusion, where “internal, rational process is seen as positive, and an emotional or external origin for an attitude is seen as negative.”

One could slightly overstate this research claiming that for believers, their faith is rational, but the faith of others is not.

See Explaining the Belief in God for Self, In-Group, and Out-Group Targets.

Benedictine Women of Madison

The welcoming reception, uncluttered space and natural environment offer you a place to discover more about yourself, God’s place in your life and your connection with the world.

Our ecumenical community also invites single Christian women of any denomination to visit the monastery and explore a call to monastic life.

It is our privilege to share our life of prayer, hospitality, justice and care for the earth with people of diverse views and cultures. We invite you to join those who say, “When I come in the door, it feels like coming home.”

via Benedictine Women of Madison.

When Teammates Raise a White Flag

Paul W. Mulvey, John F. Veiga, and Priscilla M Elsass address why teams don’t work in this well known article. One of their findings is that a lack of status symbols inside a team, increases change of success. Similarly, the right size of a group is important, and team members have to be aware of why they are part of the team, if they are to succeed. There is more to it, mostly obvious, but someone has to say it.

JSTOR: The Academy of Management Executive (1993-2005), Vol. 10, No. 1 (Feb., 1996), pp. 40-49.