What’s the problem?

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, hierarchic, authoritarian, and monlogic.

In some sense I like this thought from Brueggemann from his article Preaching as Reimagination. The problems are two. The church has great issues with separating between theological absolutes and the proper practices it has, and secondly I think theological absolutes are under more public scrutiny than often before.

ELCA is not the church, by Luther’s definition

Also, for Martin Luther, the real church consisted of people who hear the Gospel and proclaim it, Croghan said. The institutional church arose to aid that mission, “but institutions are not the church.” And, when to ensure their continued existence, such institutions compromise Gospel truth, they can be readily shed, Croghan said.

“The ELCA is not the church, by Luther's definition,” Croghan said.

In an article about congregations in South Dakota leaving ELCA, I came across this quote about ecclesiology. The rest of the article is good too.

via Gay clergy vote splits South Dakota Lutheran churches | argusleader.com | Argus Leader.

Cause-Effect

Cause-Effect thinking is a useful tool, or at least it can be. However it is usually automatic re-active thinking rather than pro-active. The world is unfortunately more complicated than cause-effect.

Being a reactive thinking it tends to call for bigger hammer, nicer packaging, or a new program instead of getting us to think about the whole.

“Political Functions of Storytelling”

In her book After Empire, Sharon D Welch talks about Iris Marion Young’s “political functions of storytelling”:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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).

Communication Strategies

W. Graig Gilliam talks about need for lessened anxiety and listening skills to create community.

For communication to occur, some level of communion or connection is a must. When those two comm words happen, a thirdcomm word constellates — community. Listening openly and honestly is a powerful way to communion/connection. In the silence of listening, we feel this comm, the silence of oneness. 

Leading Ideas: A Resource for Church Leaders.