Tag: emergent

Darkwood Brew

Á Wild Goose Festival í sumar hlustaði ég tvívegis innlegg frá Darkwood Brew, sem er nokkurs konar netsjónvarpsþáttur um kristna trú, sem blandar saman helgihaldi, guðfræðiumræðum, tónlist, viðtölum við merkisfólk og margt margt fleira. Darkwood Brew er sent út á netinu á sunnudagskvöldum kl. 23:00 að íslenskum tíma.

Trúin á Guð, unglingar og þroski

Innlegg fyrir foreldra fermingarbarna á fræðslukvöldi, líklega í Grensáskirkju, fyrir 10 árum. Lítillega lagað með tilliti til augljósra villna. Þegar talað er um Guðstrú, trú og trúarvissu, er að alltaf átt við kristna trú eins og hún er boðuð í þjóðkirkjunni.

„Hver er ég?“ og „Til hvers er ég?“ eru grundvallarspurningar unglingsáranna. Sem unglingar uppgötvum við að foreldrar okkar eru ekki fullkomin. Heimurinn er ekki eins einfaldur og við héldum sem börn. Continue reading Trúin á Guð, unglingar og þroski

Biskupsframtíð og tvíþætt köllun

Fyrir þremur árum sat ég með tveimur ungum guðfræðingum í Bandaríkjunum og við ræddum vítt og breytt um framtíðina í kirkjunni. Þegar talið barst að prestsembættinu nefndi annar þeirra hugtak sem ég hafði aldrei heyrt áður, talaði um “bivocational” presta og sagði framtíðina verða afturhvarf til fortíðar. Presta í ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) biði það hlutskipti á næstu 30-40 árum að þurfa á ný að verða bivocational, hafa tvíþætta köllun. Fjárhagslegar forsendur yrðu einfaldlega ekki til staðar til að söfnuðir gætu greitt boðleg laun fyrir presta og þeir þyrftu því að sinna prestsskyldum sínum meðfram öðrum störfum. Continue reading Biskupsframtíð og tvíþætt köllun

Bréf Páls

Lestur Biblíunnar kallar á margskonar vangaveltur eins og ég hef nefnt áður hér á vefnum. Að mörgu leiti eru bréf Páls einföldustu og aðgengilegustu textarnir í ritsafninu. Hér er um að ræða sendibréf frá einstaklingi til einstaklinga eða hópa. Í mörgum tilfellum kemur nafn sendanda og nafn viðtakenda fyrir í bréfinu. Í bréfunum er jafnframt í einhverjum tilfellum tiltekin ástæðan fyrir skrifum viðkomandi bréfs. Tímasetning flestra skrifanna liggur einnig fyrir +/- 10 ár.
Continue reading Bréf Páls

1. Mósebók 14. kafli

Við lesum hér um átök milli mismunandi ættflokka við botn Miðjarðarhafs. Við lærum að borgirnar Sódóma og Gómorra hafi verið rændar og íbúar hnepptir í þrældóm, m.a. Lot frændi Abram. Þegar Abram heyrir tíðindin safnar hann liði og ræðst að sigurvegurunum að næturþeli, bjargar Lot og endurheimtir eigur fólksins (konungana sem töpuðu orustunni í upphafi). Continue reading 1. Mósebók 14. kafli

Bækur sem vert er að lesa

Ég er stundum spurður um hvaða bækur ég hef lesið nýlega sem vert er að glugga í. Á næstu vikum og mánuðum hyggst ég birta nokkra bókaumfjallanir hér á vefnum um misspennandi bækur sem ég hef rekist á. En þangað til er e.t.v. vert að benda á nokkrar bækur á sviði starfsháttafræði sem er vert að lesa fyrir áhugafólk og sérfræðinga um kirkjustarf.

Israel Galindo gaf nýlega út bókina “Perspectives on Congregational Leadership: Applying systems thinking for effective leadership” sem tekur á því sama og “The Hidden Lives of Congregations” nema í styttra formi. Ég hef hins vegar ekki gefið mér tíma til að lesa þá bók.

Thoughts about the “Tribal Church” by Carol Howard Merritt

When a young person walks into a church, it’s a significant moment, because no one expects her to go and nothing pressures her to attend; instead, she enters the church looking for something. (16)

Tribal Church is one person’s attempt to put it out there; her thoughts and feelings about being a parent, a spouse, a seeker, a rostered church leader, a young adult, a person-in-debt, all while living in a world of constant changes and uncertainty. She addresses the struggle of being a follower of Christ in a world were young people outside the church walls “seem much more gracious, loving, and responsible, more consistent with Christ-like behavior.” (2) Continue reading Thoughts about the “Tribal Church” by Carol Howard Merritt

The Church & The World in the Decade Ahead

The early church was on the margins not only of Judaism, but of society generally. Given this setting as the occasion of the writing of the books of the New Testament, we might begin to suggest that the New Testament actually has more to say to us when we find ourselves on the margins than it does when we find ourselves at the center of society. It’s at this point that we cast a glance at the Old Testament and realize that the bulk of it, too, is addressed to a people who finds itself on the margins, not in control of their political situation. We might even look anew at passages concerning the downtrodden, the oppressed, or the outcast and imagine that they might not be talking about someone else, but about us — and without having to spiritualize the message to get there.

The Church & The World in the Decade Ahead is an interesting blog post with familiar thoughts about the church.

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.

‘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.

Toward a Theological Understanding of Postmodernism, by Daniel J. Adams

It is obvious that modernism as an ideology of Western culture is in serious trouble. At the present time, however, no one knows for certain what will arise to take modernism’s place. The postmodern is the name given to this space between what was and what is yet to be.

Still another aspect of the postmodern is what one social scientist has called the “unsecularization of the world.” Not only are new religious movements coming into being, but even more significant is that traditional religions are experiencing revival and renewal.

via Toward a Theological Understanding of Postmodernism, by Daniel J. Adams.

Daniel J. Adams offers a readable and accessible overview of postmodernism, calling theologians to avoid the tendency of fragmentation.

The Real Reason for Decline

The mainline denominations do seem to be weak in the sense of being unable to generate and maintain high levels of commitment among a substantial portion of their adherents. Although we are skeptical of Kelley’s argument about the relation between strictness and church growth, he is right that weak churches are in a precarious position as organizations because further weakening may diminish their members’ commitments to the point of noninvolvement.

via Mainline Churches: The Real Reason for Decline.

Benton Johnson, Dean R. Hoge, and Donald A Luidens look at the mainline decline, and come to the conclusion that people don’t show up because it does not matter.

The Association of Religion Data Archives

The Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA) strives to democratize access to the best data on religion. Founded as the American Religion Data Archive in 1997 and going online in 1998, the initial archive was targeted at researchers interested in American religion. The targeted audience and the data collection have both greatly expanded since 1998, now including American and international collections and developing features for educators, journalists, religious congregations, and researchers. Data included in the ARDA are submitted by the foremost religion scholars and research centers in the world.

via The Association of Religion Data Archives.

Preaching as Reimagination

It is not that the church’s theological absolutes are no longer trusted, but that the old modes in which those absolutes have been articulated are increasingly suspect and dysfunctional. That is because our old modes are increasingly regarded as patriarchal, hieararchic, authoritarian, and monologic.

Walter Brueggeman asks how this affects our way of preaching in “Preaching as Reimagination.”