In Peace you are welcomed when entering the sanctuary not the building. That means in fact that you can stay in the building for a long time before your presence is being afirmed. That is a part of the problem.
Category: English
Re:Atheism | internetmonk.com
Atheism is just….easier. Occam’s Razor. Theism is too much trouble. It starts to sound like someone is trying to sell you something sight unseen. Isn’t your best move just to hang up the phone and ignore the call?
Douglas Wilson may be witty and William Lane Craig may be brilliant. John Lennox may teach at Oxford and Ravi Zacharias may be able to quote a dozen philosophers, but most atheist young people today are like Brad Pitt. Pitt was a kid walking the aisles in Baptist revivals, trying to find God in that mess when he met a Methodist preacher’s daughter who told him it was OK to just say no to it all. He didn’t have to live like that. He could call the torture sessions off and just be himself.
Emergent church generates talk
A short article about the Emergent Church in Columbus from The Dispatch.
Hugsandi trúgvandi
Exciting thoughts from a theologian from Faroe Islands, in English and “Færeysku”.
The Biblical Mission Statement
The Biblical Mission Statement in 21st Century is probably 1Pt 3.15. It is about readiness to have dialogue not a threatening or forceful claims.
Pet Service after the Rapture
We are a group of dedicated animal lovers, and atheists. Each Eternal Earth-Bound Pet representative is a confirmed atheist, and as such will still be here on Earth after youve received your reward. Our network of animal activists are committed to step in when you step up to Jesus.
via Home Page.
Young Adults as Church Consumers
More than looking for a good performance, young adults desire to connect with the experience of worship. They embrace the future and the past at the same time. Young adults want to be challenged by the message, and they want to participate in a worship experience.
“Political Functions of Storytelling”
In her book After Empire, Sharon D Welch talks about Iris Marion Young’s “political functions of storytelling”:
- Storytelling may bring into public discourse an experience of oppression that is not recognized within existing categories of immoral or criminal activity. The example that Young gives is sexual harassment. Through personal stories, such experiences have moved from being regarded as merely a private matters to a widespread recognition of the social and political ramifications of such an abuse of power.
- When people disagree about what counts as a social problem or how social conflicts can best be addressed, narrative may reveal “the source of values, priorities, or cultural meanings.” It is easier to engage in productive disagreement and conflict when we more thoroughly understand the multiple reasons that people have for holding ideas we may see as erroneous or dangerous.
- Narrative can help us understand the effects that policies and actions are likely to have on individuals in different social situations. No matter how open our understanding, we cannot know the world from all locations and from all points of view. We need the insights of others to overcome our stereotypes and limited vision.
From Sharon D. Welch’s book After Empire. Her thoughts are based on Iris Marion Young’s Inclusion and Democracy (Oxford Political Theory).
Leading Pastors: Men vs. Women
Although there may be differences between how male and female lead pastors see themselves and function, it appears that the nature and challenges of large church leadership shape the experience of male and female lead pastors in ways that make their leadership more similar than different.
To see the survey results, go to: http://www.gbhem.org/atf/cf/%7B0BCEF929-BDBA-4AA0-968F-D1986A8EEF80%7D/CW_LWPP2009results.pdf
To see an analysis by HiRho Park and Susan Willhauck, go to: http://www.gbhem.org/atf/cf/%7B0BCEF929-BDBA-4AA0-968F-D1986A8EEF80%7D/CW_LWPP2009.pdf
Old Norse Texts and other Icelandic Literature
Texts of various Icelandic Materials.
Episcopal Cafe
Welcome to the Episcopal Café, a ministry of the Diocese of Washington.
The Café is collaborative effort by more than two dozen writers and editors, and an ever-growing list of visual artists. Together, we aspire to create a visually appealing, intellectually stimulating, spiritually enriching and at least occasionally amusing site where Episcopalians and those interested in our church can read, watch, listen and reflect upon contemporary life in a context informed by faith and animated by the spirit of charity.
via Episcopal Cafe.
Great Budget Narrative
First Evangelical Lutheran Church in Longmont Colorado does a great job in presenting their Proposed Budget on the web. It is easily understandable. It starts with focus on what we are doing which then is turned into numbers.
Leadership in Small Churches
The preacher is the chief storyteller of the congregation’s story and knows the value of telling and retelling it on the occasion when most people are gathered and receptive to the storyteller’s spell, that is, the sermon. This is especially valuable to small membership churches, where neglect of history to the point of institutional amnesia is a telling symptom of a lack of corporate self-esteem. A small membership church that cannot tell its own story is prey to a fabricated story told about it from outside by an unfriendly critic. For the sake of building up the body of Christ, the preacher must become a determined student of congregational history. Then in an act of strategic leadership, the preacher must tell that recovered story from the pulpit.
As an atheist, I truly believe Africa needs God
Now a confirmed atheist, I’ve become convinced of the enormous contribution that Christian evangelism makes in Africa: sharply distinct from the work of secular NGOs, government projects and international aid efforts. These alone will not do. Education and training alone will not do. In Africa Christianity changes people’s hearts. It brings a spiritual transformation. The rebirth is real. The change is good.
via As an atheist, I truly believe Africa needs God | Matthew Parris – Times Online .
From Definitions and Technical Jargon to Story Telling
The Church is about sharing, living, remembering and repeating The Story. If we understand theology as constantly contextual, we are moving away from the world of definitions (modernism) to a world of stories.
The Aristotelic way of organizing, thinking that the sum of all the parts is equal to the whole, nothing more and nothing less, is not sufficient to understand ourselves or others.
Our task as modern theologians is therefore to move away from our definitions and technical jargon and start telling and listening to stories.
We can actually ask whether Schleiermacher and later WCC in their focus on modern/enlightened theology removed God from the people in the pews, and perhaps alltogether from all of us.
Interesting Resources for Church Leadership
Hyperhistory
Some history buff in Trinity brought my attention to the Hyperhistory-web. It contains timelines and info in a short form about whatever history related.
Race Relations in America – links to articles
In January 2008 I took a course about Urban Ministry in Detroit, MI. An eye opening class for many unpleasant reasons, and few pleasant too. Here are few articles I read in connection to the class.
The Fire Last Time – washingtonpost.com.
THEOLOGY AND THE CITY: LEARNING TO CRY, STRUGGLING TO SEE by Jim Perkinson
Religious Cancer of racism by James H. Cone
Voices of Liberation and Struggle: Conversation with Dwight Hopkins
Like a thief in the night: Black Theology and White Church in the Third Millenium by James Perkinson
Martin, Malcolm and Black Theology by James H. Cone
Mission in Ethiopia
When in Systematic Theology I @ TLS, I wrote a comment in my notebook, about looking further at Gudina Tumsa. Part of that would be to see how and whether a tension between NMS and NLM played out in the formation and the first years of the Mekane Yesus Church.
I don’t remember the reason for this comment but it might be worth examining further.
Gudina Tumsa, Ethiopia, Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus.
The Youth and Family Institute: Bookstore
The Youth and Family Institute has a lot of resources for Family Ministry and Leadership. It might be worth looking at.