conjectural navel gazing; jesus in lint form

befuddled already

To whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.
~ Northumbria Community,
Morning Prayers

My class schedule has me befuddled. I think I might not sleep very much this term. Reading. Writing. I'll have to ration my time online, perhaps focusing more on the blog than Facebook and Twitter. I'm a social media junkie, but that's where many of my friends (old and new) hang out. Heh.

Seriously, I'm struggling to get things done already. I need to reshuffle some things around here. So, be prepared. Well, pray for me at least. I need to get these ducks in a row. I'm taking three classes, TA-ing for another and working part-time at the church. It's a bit daunting.

I'm being asked to synthesize so much information at this point. My brain hurts. The good news is that I'm doing it and I'm finding new language all the time. The trouble is that I use these social media portals to sort through the new ideas, to test them out. The more ideas, the more time I spend online. This system is breaking down. So...I don't quite know what to do. And, no, meeting with "fleshy" people on a regular basis is not an option. We're all in the same boat. Working. Studying. Compelled to network etc. So...a cuppa jo and some interesting ideas just doesn't happen.

Alas...

Christ, as a light
illumine and guide me.
Christ, as a shield
overshadow me.
Christ under me;
Christ over me;
Christ beside me
on my left and my right.
This day be within and without me,
lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.
Be in the heart of each to whom I speak;
in the mouth of each who speaks unto me.
This day be within and without me,
lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.
Christ as a light;
Christ as a shield;
Christ beside me
on my left and my right.

I shall keep on keepin' on.

toward a [baptist] theological aesthetics of music

Towards a Theological Aesthetics of Music: One aspect of "faith seeking understanding" is regaining strength in recent years: the notion of God as beauty, and our apprehension of beautiful as essential to our process of believing. This course offers an introduction to the subject of theological aesthetics with a particular focus on music, (composing, arranging, using music in Spirituality) in comparison and dialogue with other art forms, especially those actively involved in the creative process, or in reflection on the various areas of theological aesthetics and the world of the arts. The underlying aim of the course is to bring together the worlds of art, creativity, music, spirituality and theology. Ignatian Spirituality invites us to "find God in all things" and one area of human life in which many people are finding God is precisely in art, and in particular, music. By integrating the creative process involved in art and music with theological discourse, this course seeks to address and include (sometimes neglected) dimensions of the human person/human life, such as the aesthetic, affective, and corporal-incarnated nature of our lives and thought processes. Therefore, alongside the content of theological doctrine, importance will be given to composition, performance, and the intersections between theology and the practice of the arts. Students will be invited to reflect on the role of music both in Christian spirituality and in theological methodology. The class is focused on artists, musicians, composers, and those actively researching areas interrelated with Theological Aesthetics or use of the Arts in ministry.

I am slowly getting it together for this new semester. It's going to be a decidedly musical semester. Last term was more theoretical and while this semester has plenty of theory it's more about practice, about actual music-making. I'm terrified and thrilled and, and, and...

I've included the description of one of my classes for you. I don't know if this interests you at all, but it's pretty much where I want to live for some time. I have responsibilities in my PhD area to fulfill in theology, methodology, and history, but this is where it's all going to land, I hope. Finding Baptist language for this is challenging. So much of scholarship to this point has been from and within the sacramental traditions (Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran, Episcopal etc). We baptists talk about emotionality or the lack thereof, but don't really speak theologically about music-making. Theological language will, of course, include language about human emotion. My hope is that finding some baptist language will help keep mindful of how we occasionally use music manipulatively in worship...Presently we either exclude music or turn to entertainment/performance modes of presentation to avoid manipulating the congregation. I find this inadequate to say the least. Thankfully, we have had the ecumenical movement and the related liturgical reform movements to help us out. This is a great post from a theologian at Gardner-Webb.

Baptist hymnals are arguably the most significant ecumenical documents produced by Baptists. They implicitly recognize hymn writers from a wide variety of traditions throughout the history of the church as sisters and brothers in Christ by including their hymns alongside hymns by Baptists....[In addition to numerous] patristic hymns, Baptists receive through their hymnals the gifts of Francis of Assisi and Teresa of Jesus, Martin Luther, the post-Reformation Roman Catholic author of 'Fairest Lord Jesus' from the Münster Gesangbuch, the Methodist Charles Wesley, and more recently the Pentecostal pastor Jack Hayford, to name a few hymn writers whose ecclesial gifts Baptists have gladly received with their voices and hearts.

I made a similar argument in my liturgical history class last term. We're including the Creeds and other texts and prayers in our hymnals now. It's lovely and I'm glad for it. But I wonder how the baptist theological voice might actually contribute to the ecumenical conversation about music, theology, and aesthetics. I think we have much to offer that Augustine in De Musica simply doesn't address.

What I'm looking for right now is some constructive theological language of music-making in worship. Without sacramental theology (Catholic etc) or systematic (Reformed etc) what we turn to is constructive theologies. We can exegete the community-in-song.

We'll see how it goes. I'm excited for what the term will bring. Oh, Begbie is already on it...of course.

Political Crooning #AlGreen2012 #LetsStayTogether

Let's, let's stay together
Loving you whether, whether
Times are good or bad, happy or sad
Rev. Al Green

You've seen the video, right? The video of President Obama singing a little of Rev Al Green's "Let's Stay Together"? The Commander-in-Chief has a nice voice and I want to start calling him the Crooner-in-Chief but I am afraid that some will take it as yet another opportunity to talk smack about Presidents not being serious enough. Reagan and Clinton were famous for their senses of humor and playfulness in the Presidential bully pulpit. I'm glad Obama sang. Take a listen.

I, I'm so in love with you...

Rev Al Green sang earlier at the event. I love Al Green's music and his voice. Here he is at the Apollo Hall of Fame many moons ago. The gold scarf cracks me up, but, hey, it was 1993.

It's the chorus that gets me. And though you may call me a sap, I decided then and there that I want Rev Al Green to run for President of the United States of America. I want his political slogan to be "Let's Stay Together." I want to hear the words to the chorus in the stump speech.

Let's, let's stay together
Loving you whether, whether
Times are good or bad, happy or sad

What would be the political rhetoric that could mirror that statement. What will it take for the GOP or the Dems to say, "Let's get together"? An overhaul of the American political conscience? Maybe.

I know. I'm being idealistic. We have real problems and enormous disagreement in this country. That's fine. And I know that it's a common political strategy to make hay with those disagreements...especially in a Primary. We'll knock each other down and then try to make up afterward. I get it. I'm not entirely naive. I'm just, you know, ready to hear something else.

I love the American people...even those who disagree with me on how to handle the challenging economic realities of this country.

That is why I am asking you now to stay with me. Let's stay together.

Do you have a neighbor who is struggling in bad times? Stay with them. Do you have a neighbor who is enjoying good times? Stay with them. That's what neighbors can do. That's what we can do for one another.

There's a lot in this world we cannot control, but there's much we can do. I will do my part. I will seek ways to change the systems that need changing in this country. And likely it'll get worse before it gets better. So, I need you to do your part. I need you to stay together. We have problems in this country, but I am here to say that I intend to stay with you, all of you, the American people when times are good or bad or happy or sad. Will you do the same?

Let's not bicker and squabble. Let's stay together.
Let's not lose sleep over ideology. Let's stay together.
Help your neighbor. Share your dinner table. Let's stay together.
Have the neighbor's kids over for a homework session. Let's stay together.
Feed those who have nothing. Let's stay together.
Share your homes. Share your lives. Let's stay together.

My name is Al Green and I'm running for President of the United States of America.

I guess I need a Crooner-in-Chief right now and not a Commander-in-Chief. I need someone who will remind us that life together needs a love song and not a fight song if we truly wish to rally everyone around a common cause...the dignity of every human being and a world worth living in.

Let's stay together.

cranky spirituality #ftw

Here's the mission statement for Wedgewood Baptist Church. Love it!

Wedgewood is a group of folks trying to walk the path of Jesus, the path of humility, the inward/outward journey; to be a social justice oriented, GLBTI inclusive, incarnational, contemplative, irreverent, ancient - future church with a progressive but deeply rooted theological imagination. The Wedgewood theological zoo includes humanist spirituality, quiet spirituality, activist spirituality, cranky spirituality, honest faith spirituality, intellectual spirituality, a spirituality of simplicity, poor as dirt spirituality, psychologically–oriented spirituality, labyrinth spirituality, and other non-listed spiritualities which are not listed because of space requirements and because we don’t know who is arriving in the near future.

I don't know them. I don't have any affiliation, but this, this made my night.

Book Review: The Accidental Pilgrim, Maggi Dawn

Shall I take my tiny boat across the wide sparking ocean?
~ Ascribed to St. Brendan the Navigator before sailing across the Atlantic p. 50, The Accidental Pilgrim, by Maggi Dawn

Have you ever been for a long walk? I spent much of my childhood in Virginia. I have these vivid memories of long walks in the woods during the autum. The leaves crunching underfoot. The wind blowing through the bare leaves - clack, clack, clack as the branches knocked together. There's something about walking through the leaves that insists that I pay attention. These walks were occasions for introspection and occasions to take notice, deep and abiding notice, of the world around me. It was on walks such as these that I would find God sneaking up on my in some surprising display of divine playfulness...

...sometimes shocking, sometimes heartbreaking, these walks and the experiences with God that sometimes accompanied them still frame my faith journey. Perhaps this is why I was drawn to Maggi Dawn's spiritual autobiography, The Accidental Pilgrim, so comfortable, familiar, and inspiring.

Maggi shares her own stories of spiritual transformation in her travels to the Holy Land and along the ancient pilgrimage routes of Europe. Her stories are vivid and humorous. Maggi is also an academic so, every now and again she throws in some history to keep the reader on their toes.

What's most compelling is the spiritual revelations that come when she cannot complete some of the pilgrimages she intended on making. When she has a child, her aspirations of lengthy camping tours of Europe change. And when illness comes and suddenly Maggi has a choice, either let the whole enterprise go or to make the pilgrimage in the interior landscape of her imagination. She chooses the latter revealing one of the great truths of making a pilgrimage: They can teach us to pay deep attention to the world around us and the deep world of the spirit within us.

Maggi writes of Brendan and Ignatious, Colerige and Xavier De Maistre among others. She relates stories of the many pilgrims of medieval Europe through the lense of Chauser's Canterbury Tales. Pilgrims are common folk, people like you and me. There's nothing mythical or inconceivable about the pilgrim. Pilgrims are simply people on a journey. I encourage you to thumb your way through it and discover for yourself what is on the pages.

Since my childhood wandering the autumn woods of Virginia, I've been on other journeys, other pilgrimages, to retreat centers and abbeys, and to far away places. Iona. Chatre. Notre Dame in Paris. St. Martin in the Fields. Oxford's pubs...you know, holy places. Today I find myself rather surprisingly (By accident?) in Berkeley, CA working on a PhD in Liturgy navigating all the challenges and opportunities that arise on such a journey.

Pilgrimages are inward and outward expressions of divine love, both by the pilgrim and the God who meets her on the journey. I'm glad Maggi has taken this moment out of her journey to share what she's learned. Pick up a copy of her book and consider what journey on which God may have already called you.

First Thoughts: The Wisdom of Creative Freedom

The Handcuffs
hitRECord
Kumbination aka Horbawrong Studios
The Disseminary
Sojourners
Unvirtous Abbey
Follow them on Twitter, too.

Thanks to Sojourners for picking this up. It's been a good break! I guess this will all stop once classes get going, huh...

Insomnia...

...sucks.

coffee shops, campfires, and intellectual property

He observed that the people drinking alcohol would just get drunk and sing and be jolly, whereas the people drinking coffee remained sober and plotted against the government.
~ Stewart Allen

They say it's going to rain. For weeks on end even. Since we arrived in August we've had all of four days of rain and even they weren't days per se, more like parts of days where there was some light rainfall. The weather is interesting out here. I dig all the sunshine (and the girls all get so tan, etc...well, south of here they do...). It's done wonders for my general attitude. I need the sun. The fog and darkness of my beloved Chicago was going to be the end of me.

So, let's talk about coffee, revolution, and why we can't let the internet become the target of government control. You see, to me the internet is like a coffee shop. Yes, a coffee shop. People gather. They talk. They share stories and songs. They go about their day with their friends or alone. They may even get a little work done (though that's pretty rare). It's a coffee shop. It's a place where communities gather. It's the public square. This is why SOPA and PIPA have us all bent out of shape.

The entertainment industry either doesn't get it or simply doesn't know what to do about it. We're just talking. It's like being on a street corner and swapping tunes or sharing phone numbers and ideas. This is why it's so challenging and unpopular to change the way we do things online. It's the public square. If you want to get us to shut-up. Well, that's gonna cause some trouble.

The entertainment industry is screwed in so many ways right now. Think back to the old days when if you were an artist and you wanted to record an album, you had to spend tons of money to get into a studio and have some one record your album. Then there was the touring and the distribution challenges. Now, well, hell...It's not that there's not enough music out there or that the music is no good, it's that there's now more than ever and it's easier and cheaper than ever to produce it and artists are simply doing their own thing...musicians, film makers, actors...they are doing their own thing without the industry. The fans are taking care of distribution. It's amazing.

This is not to say that it's not also troublesome. Neil Gaiman's open letter is actually helpful in framing the conversation.

We are deeply concerned that PIPA and SOPA's impact on piracy will be negligible compared to the potential damage that would be caused to legitimate Internet services. Online piracy is harmful and it needs to be addressed, but not at the expense of censoring creativity, stifling innovation or preventing the creation of new, lawful digital distribution methods.

Chloe Orwell, lead singer of the Chicago-based pop band, The Handcuffs, posted this on Facebook today:

Here is a tangible example of why actions for the "greater good" MUST win out out over "individual wants" when we live together in a civilized society. As someone who makes a living from creating and selling intellectual property, SOPA would be extremely beneficial to me. After our songs were featured on "Gossip Girl," we discovered that our songs had been illegally downloaded many thousands of times (we lost count after 100,000 illegal downloads - yes, you read that right, now do the math). There are still plenty of bootlegging sites out there (and they generally have a counter of showing how many times the song has been illegally downloaded, as if they're gloating!). The amount of lost income is pretty staggering, right? HOWEVER, SOPA would be disastrous to the world. It would literally be a war on information and free speech, and we would all be casualties. Our easy access to information, research, news, reviews, commentary, most everything we take for granted, would be gone or severely restricted. The Wikipedia and Google blackouts are just a drop in the bucket, people. Imagine your life without Facebook or Twitter or YouTube or your favorite blog or your favorite alternative news site or your favorite podcast or..... I am willing to sacrifice my personal gain for the greater good. It's THAT important. How much will MY life change if SOPA is enacted? Well, I might be wealthier. Yet, I'm still anti-SOPA - because SOPA is anti-humanity.

Artists get it.

What we're talking about is an enormous challenge to the way we've been able to do business and understand property for a very long time. I think, however, that the time has come to change the fundamental definitions of intellectual property and how it's used, shared, presented, preserved, etc. Digital technology has changed it all, helped us go back in time in some ways. We're no longer able to effectively guard the product. We're all sitting around campfires and swapping tunes. We're not waiting for the next record to come out at some convenient time for the label executives. We're making our own way again.

Once upon a time the labels made sharing music to a wide audience possible. They helped artists be heard. They made sharing easier. Now we don't need them any longer. They are going to have to figure out how to join us in the conversations in the coffee houses and around the campfires. Otherwise, they will simply cease to exist or incite revolution by insisting that their way is the only legal way.

wish I had written this, but glad he did...

You know, sometimes I just get happy reading something. My friend and former congregant, Chris, sent this my way. This summarizes my own experience of coming to faith. No one "convinced" me, per se. I was simply shown and was left on my own to decide. ‎

My induction into the tradition, through words and silences, ritual and architecture, implanted in me an interpretation of reality - a fundamental hermeneutic. Nobody offered 'evidences' for the truth of the Christian gospel; nobody offered 'proofs' for the inspiration of the Scriptures; nobody suggested that Christianity was the best explanation of one thing or another. Evidentialists were nowhere in sight! The gospel was report, not explanation. And nobody reflected on what we as 'modern men' can and should believe in all of this. The scheme of sin, salvation, and gratitude was set before us, the details were explained, and we were exhorted to live this truth. The modern world was not ignored, but was interpreted in the light of this truth rather than this truth being interpreted in the light of that world.

The quotation is Nicholas Wolterstorff, from his essay "The Grace That Shaped My Life." He's also written on Christian aesthetics. I'll be reading his work on that subject this term. Lord help me.

first thoughts: public displays of tebow

I know it's late.
I know you are done with the guy.
Still, I have a question for you.

the place of patriotism

What do you think of this: "Christians dwell in their own countries, but simply as sojourners. As citizens they share in all things with others, and yet endure all thins as if foreigners. Every foreign land is to them as their native country, and every land of their birth as a land of strangers...They pass their days on earth, but are citizens of heaven." - Letter to Diogenetus, ch. 5, A Roberts and J. Donaldson, The Apostolic Fathers: Ante Nicene Christians Library Translations of the Writings of the Fathers Down to AD 325 Part One, Whitefish: Kessinger Publishing 2004.

theological gatekeeping and choosing religion

Over the last week or more I've been pondering the dynamic we've come to call here on the blog, "policing theology." What does it mean to be a theological gatekeeper? What does it mean to choose a religion (and all the traditions, ritual, intellectual and interpersonal therein) or for a religion (again with the sometimes nasty interpersonal) to choose us...or un-choose (un-friend?) us? It's a sticky wicket. So, let me offer a little humor to lighten the mood.

I have been asked if I think we should police one another's theology. The answer is, "No." And yet I have had the job of being the theological gatekeeper as the pastor of a Christian congregation. That job description included:

Holding the center so that members could explore the edges
Serving as the memory-keeper of the tradition
Providing reminders and education about the tradition
Communicating to the outside world the community's shared beliefs
Guiding theological conversation from the pulpit, in committee meetings, and educational settings
Defining terms on behalf of the community or at least getting the party started on defining the terms

So, was I a theological police officer? I don't think so, but it sure felt like it at times.

The table above is a silly reminder that there are boundaries to every community (though I think hummus may be a universal). Those same boundaries can be challenged and I think they should be. That said, at some point, Christianity, for example, ceases to be Christianity and becomes, I don't know, Zoroastrianism or the Kiwanis Club...or someone's very individual belief system. These boundaries are all about distinctives between traditions. To be one is not to be the other. Somehow that needs to be okay while at the same time encouraging and affording people the opportunity to ask why and push.

This is not to assuage some need to "faith (s)hop" but to let people grow within a tradition. If they choose to abandon it, so be it. If they choose to challenge it, so be it. A challenge can be healthy for everyone. It may be a needful corrective when all the gatekeeping agencies and persons step outside of their own boundaries and usurp territory either belonging to another tradition or is simply antithetical to their stated tradition.

I wrote in a previous post that religion is a way to shape society. Yes. And this is why, historically, agencies have policed even the intellectual product of a religion. I believe that religion still shapes society...and some religious agencies still attempt to police society at every level. Let me state, however, that the society I desire (and that I see spelled out in Christian tradition) has no room for thought police. None. What we have instead is forgiveness...constant forgiveness. Merciful forgiveness. Why? Because none of us ever get it completely right.

If you want to kick one of us out, we'll have to toss out everyone. So...yeah.

But there's a balance in that. It might be the right and kind thing to ask someone, "Are you sure you still wish to be here?" How we do this has to be without coercion. It has to be a question and an implied observation. And, yes, it will likely suck to have this conversation. More forgiveness will be needed.

Is this policing? I don't know. Maybe. I don't see it as a form of punishment to let someone know that they might be happier in another Christian community or another religious community or in none at all. Again, why do we "demand adherence" of people at all? It's foolishness. Communities fall apart when the visions of society articulated in theological language cannot exist in harmony, but instead become adversarial in some way...Does the harmony of the community trump theological discord? Maybe.

I think of being a pastor and the responsibilities to communicate a distinct set of theologies as a form of spiritual mentoring. I have a language. I participate in a tradition of rituals and thought. It's okay to stay within them and explore them, to challenge them and enjoy the challenges they afford. It has also been my job to provide an environment that affords the same opportunity for others.

I think this post could go on forever. I'll leave it here for now. Thoughts? Concerns? Questions?

Cee Lo, Tebow and American Fundamentalisms

Cee Lo Green got himself in some pop-culture hot water on New Years Eve when he changed the lyrics to John Lennon's "Imagine." You would think he was changing the Bible or something, but no, it was much worse. He changed the lyrics to a John Lennon song. "No religions" became "all religions" and all hell broke loose.

Huffington Post reported the scandal and the various tweets Cee Lo offered in explanation.

The Wall Street Journal carried the story as well. Their website ran this story in "Speakeasy." You can read the comments there for the debate.

Suffice it to say that people were put out. They defended Lennon's unchangeable artistic canon. Supporters of Cee Lo suggested that all art can be reinterpreted...even John Lennon's. Personally, I didn't find it offensive at all. Instead, I thought it was a thoughtful (if momentary) update to the iconic pop song. Given the religious strife in the world, expressing a love for humanity through all the world's religion was generous and very appropriate for a New Year celebration.

Alas, no. We're beset by fundamentalisms of all kinds (Lennonists?) and on all sides in this nation of ours. We're sufficiently afraid of Religiosity that we've turned anti-religiosity into a religion and musicians become gods and their three minute songs become scripture...unchangeable holy writ.

We're afraid and that fear strips us of our compassion.

I have seen something similar in the Tim Tebow phenomena. His Tebowing (genuflecting on the football field) is offensive or laughable to many people. I laughed at the SNL skit where Jesus appears in the Broncos locker room. The situation could indeed use a heavy dose of humor, too. People have become more critical and cruel than is helpful.

Tebow does, however, have supporters. ESPN journalist, Roy S. Johnson writes,

"Christianity teaches us to believe and have faith in God, and to trust that He will not only provide for our needs but also bless us in ways our minds cannot fathom.

And He shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

Tebow has essentially embodied these tenets, steadfastly, even in the midst of public scorn and mockery.

Tim Tebow's life story (his confessions, if you will), Through My Eyes was a top seller in 2011 outselling Love Wins by Rob Bell (Sorry, Rob).

Personally, I don't know enough about Tim Tebow's Christianity to fairly critique it here. I know that some put him in the prosperity Gospel camp. And some sports journalists connect Tebow's faith with his success. Alan Rudnick has recently written about this.

"...the media has injected so much speculation and unnecessarily inflation of God’s involvement in Tebow’s success. Tebow’s passing statistics for the Steeler’s game was 316 yards. Quickly, the media associated 316 passing yards with John 3:16, one of Tebow’s favorite Bible verses.

It is our culture that has placed God’s favor upon Tebow. Tebow never said, 'I win because I believe in God.' However, those words have been put into the quarterback’s mouth.

Tim Tebow is more than ideology and somehow we have forgotten this. He has established a foundation. Under their "Core Values" is this:

Throughout his collegiate career, Tim was known for the Bible verses he wore on his eye blacks during football games. One of his favorite verses is found in the New Testament in Paul’s letter to the Church in Philippi. In Philippians 4:8-9, the Apostle Paul writes, "whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – meditate on these things... and the God of peace will be with you."

He's young and famous and it might be easy for him to get caught up in himself. Fortunately he has a community that will help him stay grounded. Would that we were all so fortunate.

How we speak and write about religion in our country needs a serious once over. Tebow is by no means the first famous football player to express his faith on the field. It happens all the time, I wonder if we've forgotten how to speak publicly about religion with any kindness.

If you look to Troy Palomalu and how his faith (He's a fairly recent convert to Orthodox Christianity) is reported, you might find a helpful start. The Pittsburg Post-Gazette has this great article on Troy's faith. They published:

"[Troy] and Theodora converted to Orthodoxy about five years ago. His background was Catholic and Protestant, hers Muslim and Protestant. They were Christians in search of a deeper, more consistent experience of God.

"Orthodoxy is like an abyss of beauty that's just endless," he said. "I have read the Bible many times. But after fasting, and being baptized Orthodox, it's like reading a whole new Bible. You see the depth behind the words so much more clearly."

"An abyss of beauty..." this phrase will stay with me for a long while. Maybe that's what we should be looking for in all of this debate about public religiosity.

Our fear or disdain is making fundamentalists of us all. The public debate about religion in its various expressions is uncovering competing fundamentalisms in this country.

John Lennon, during the Cold War, asked us to see the world as something beautiful, to imagine it so. Cee Lo Green, in his interpretation of Lennon's classic, asks us who are embroiled in global conflict shrouded in religiosity, to see religions as something potentially beautiful.

What if we were to see our variety of faith traditions and expressions as potentially beautiful? Imagine that for a moment.

Then we might know what it is we're really afraid of and speak to that with compassion and fairness.

Imagine.

Note: This post has also been published on God's Politics Blog.

@seaburynext and the #GreatAwakening of seminary education

Almighty God, look with your love and favor upon Seabury Western Theological Seminary. Let your blessing rest upon all who are responsible for it's foundation an for its continuing life and growth. Guide and direct this community with your enabling Spirit. Grant us wisdom, understanding, and compassion that we may become fit instruments for the fulfillment of your purpose consecrated to you for the proclamation of the Gospel of Your Son Jesus Christ. To him, to you, and the Holy Spirit be all honor and glory, now and forever. Amen.
~ Seabury-Western Prayer‎

At first I thought this would be two distinct blogposts, but as I've been thinking it through, I think it's best if this is one post; an entire tale of one seminary and not two. This is what happens when we take Resurrection seriously as part and parcel of institutional functioning as well as a personal spiritual reality. We die that we might live. What is true for our spiritual and physical selves is also true for our institutions though we fight this tooth and nail, hoping that our institutions will embody an unchanging permanence.

Today Seabury held their leave-taking service. They are moving to a new space with a new chapel and are presently and will in the future offer new programs for training Church leaders...yes, both lay and ordained. All the baptized share in the call of Christ. I wish I could have been at the service. The space holds special memories for me, but nothing lasts forever. Ministries have life-spans. Seminaries and congregations move or close. They die and are reborn.

Seabury has been working through this change in fits and starts, in sudden transformation and sometimes heartbreaking loss. But they are making the transition. They are journeying into something unknowable: the future. They are doing so with intentionality. I could not be more proud.

Over the weekend, preceding the leave-taking service, thet hosted a conference called "The Great Awakening." Diana Butler Bass has written another book about this time in American Christianity called Christianity After Religion and is a riff on some good scholarship on The Great Awakening. The conference is named to reflect this thinking. Diana, Brian McLaren and Bishop Jeff Lee were presenters. From the twitter feed, it's clear that it was an interesting time. I was able to follow on Saturday morning. What follows is the feed from @seaburynext. Good stuff abounds.

McLaren was the first to present. He began by welcoming all who were present. I am glad that he did this. As much as this was an Episcopal gathering, we need to spend more time working together, finding ways of responding together.

Brian McLaren at #GreatAwakening welcomes people from Methodist, Lutheran, UCC and Baptist churches to this #Episcopal gathering.

I've edited the tweets down a bit to make them easier to read. They each shared the hashtag #GreatAwakening. You can still search Twitter by that feed if you wish and find even more stuff posted there. Seabury is all over Twitter right now. McLaren continued by talking about the kind of crisis we are all in (including evangelicals) and how such a crisis really can be an opportunity. And though he spoke specifically to Episcopal concerns, it is clear that there is much for all of us to consider and learn.

BMcLaren: In every crisis an opportunity. He is an outdoorsman. Uses renewal of Y'stone environs after fire as metaphor.
BMcLaren: old paradigm of mainline decline and evangelical growth passé. All in same boat. Just on different sked.
BMcLaren: Churches facing four crises. One is a crisis of authority. People don't just take leaders word for it anymore.
BMcLaren: Second crisis is one of economy. Generation ago could run a church of 80 people effectively. Now need 200 or so.
BMcLaren: Third is crisis of identity. Denomination loyalties waning. Seeking differentiation some become hostile to others.
BMcLaren: Fourth crisis is of possibility. Sense of decline constrains creativity. Nostalgia, grief, anxiety come to fore.
BMcLaren: Crises make it possible to take risks.That is Seabury's story in pioneering a new way of being a seminary.
BMcLaren: #Episcopal advantages include via media mindset, Celtic (nonimperial) mindset, diverse and liturgical mindset
BMcLaren: #Episcopal disadvantages include upper class, institutional, Christendom mindset.
BMcLaren: #Episcopal Church needs to be more entrepreneurial, innovative, a "we're beginning again spirit."
BMcLaren: People are not seeking religion. They are seeking a life in connection with good and others
BMcLaren: How can we leverage considerable existing assets to create church of future.
BMcLaren: "Friend says 'We have to smoke what we are selling.' Some of you won't understand that." (audience laughs.) .
BMcLaren: If model if equipping laity for ministry, change flows through system, affecting role of clergy and bishops.
BMcLaren: The gift of feeling our crises can push us forward into the zone of opportunity.
BMcLaren: Best way to bring change is not imposing change on those already there. Create zones where new things can happen.
BMcLaren: Says "Fresh Expressions" movement in Church of England is example of new "zone" where things can happen.
BMcLaren: In renewing church it is essential to attract, protect and support very young leaders.
BMcLaren in response to Q: diaconate may be a place where #Episcopal church can train and protect young leaders.
BMcLaren: We should make a distinction between church work and the work of the church.
BMcLaren: We've tended to look for leaders doing church work, but not work of the church.
BMcLaren: How did BP oil execs not know they were agents of Jesus Christ in the world bfre sign off on unsafe conditions?

I had an exchange with @seaburynext online about issues of young leadership, but the thread is not nearly as informative as this simple response by a "young leader" at the conference. I think it serves as a great reminder of just how important the existing traditions are even in the midst of the clear need to change how we express (or preserve) those same traditions.

Young leader: structure of #EpiscopalChurch attracts us. We want community; don't want to throw out baby with bathwater.

Our ways of being community matter to us. No one is advocating callus, unthinking change. I think Seabury is a great example of profound change that has been discerned in community over time. It ain't easy and some decisions are painful. Mistakes will be made, too.

Diana Butler Bass was next. I love Diana and I like what she's given to all of us in the Church. Her latest book and her more recent presentations have been challenging, realistic and hopeful...This one was no exception.

Diana Butler Bass: Even as I was studying vital congregations, I was concerned for future.
Diana Butler Bass: Many ask: How do you create a community of practice when people only come into bldg once every few weeks?

I'll freely admit that these questions are the ones that plague me. What kind of leadership is needed, formation offered, or programs developed that can speak to the needs and mission of congregations today? How do we get at this?

DBB: What is changing in world around us that makes it hard to sustain church communities?
DBB: 9/11 blamed on religion. Religion became equated with violence. Then in 2002, Boston Catholic sex abuse story broke.
DBB: So religion equated with both violence and unspeakable abuse.
DBB: In 2003, the fight--not the consecration, but the fight--over the consecration of +Gene Robinson made us look mean.
DBB: Another blow to religion's image. In 2004, 83% evangelicals voted for Bush, giving him the election. Reaction followed.
DBB: Part of reaction against evangelical support for Bush was that evangelicals' children left their churches.
DBB: Glum about religion then saw poll: Tween '99 and '09, swing from religious only to either spiritual only or both.
DBB: Shorthand says religion is about institutions and spirituality is about experiences. That is what people think.
DBB: Lots of mainline trashing of "spiritual but not religious." But 48% say they are both. Where do they go to church?
DBB: Do our churches lead people into experience or focus them on institutional issues?
DBB: The 3 Bs--Believing, Behaving & Belonging. Different approaches to religion emphasize different Bs.
DBB once asked a group for first association with word religion. Someone shouted out Roberts Rules of Order. Wasn't joking.
DBB: Not as many people now care what we believe, how we behave and how you join our church. Less interest in the 3 Bs.
DBB: People now more often ask How. How do you believe in a God raised from dead, other points of theology.
DBB: Our culture has hazy Christian memory. Simplistic sense of what Christians actually believe.
DBB: People also asking What Are We Going to Do? How do we engage God's work in the world?
DBB: People are asking what kind of ongoing experience comes from an engagement with faith. DBB: People asking "whose" we are. With whom do we have relationships? Especially people who r spiritual but not religious.
DBB on neither spiritual nor religious: a blip, or beginning of Euro style erosion of belief in God? She thinks the latter.

Diana's historically received flack for being too positive. Lately she's getting flack for being too depressing. She's trying to tell us two stories at once, two intertwined stories of the truth of how Christianity is changing in the United States as well as the success stories of the communities that are meeting those changes head-on, honestly, and creatively.

Now, the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago was next. This is what I would like to see more of from our ABC leadership. We should all be so honest. Let the experts speak. That's great. Then what? What's next? What do we do with all the information. By bringing in the Bishop, Seabury is answering the "what's next" question. He begins with a homiletical move:

Bishop Lee quotes Leonard Cohen: Ring the bells that still can ring, forget your perfect offering, ...
Bishop Lee: There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in.
BishopLee: God doesn't need the #Episcopal church or any church to draw all people to God's self.
BishopLee: Reconciliation is God's project, not ours. Will be accomplished with or without us. Forget your perfect offering.
BishopLee: The job is "to light fires and issue permission slips." So what do you need permission to do?

He then moves on to some substantive ideas and ways that he'd like to see the tradition move forward. We have allies in the world, partners. There are seekers who might find community of this kind edifying, enriching, and truth-holding.

BishopLee: Struck by E. Weiner's book, Flirting w/ the Divine. How to speak to seekers who aren't finding home among us.
BishopLee: Creed is less a statement of belief than a love song. Augustine: If you can understand it, it isn't God.
BishopLee: Getting beyond rule-keeping religion. Beyond polarization that mirrors our angry politics.
BishopLee: New member told him what mattered most in catechumenate was how he was--physically-touched. Laying on of hands.
BishopLee: Believers undermine church's appeal in a million and one ways. Like Bad Vicar: link
BishopLee: One of the terrible things we have done to Christ is reduce him to a formula for who gets in to heaven.
BishopLee: God doesn't send anyone to hell. Read your CS Lewis. But some people will choose to go there.
BishopLee: We begin from the premise that everyone Belongs to God. (Getting back to the three Bs) Behaviors flow from that.
BishopLee: Belief (the third B) flows from Belonging. Not the other way around.
BishopLee: We teach things that don't change their lives. (Like the colors of the church year.) Rather than going deep.
BishopLee: We need to get beyond education and into formation. The deeper stuff that happens in group like EfM and others.
BishopLee: How obvious is it on a Sunday morning that your church is conducting the business of dying and rising with Jesus?
BishopLee: We need to recover the catechumenate. Ezra Pound said: Never describe, present. Good advice for poets & church.
BishopLee: Sacraments don't make things true, they make things real.

From here he returned to the substantive again. I wish I had been there among the Baptists and such who are trying to move into something new...creative directions. The Bishop showed his cards.

BishopLee: Secret plan for a baptismal pool in St.JamesCathedral deep enough to drown in. Deep water and plentiful oil.
BishopLee: What do we do now? Reframe reality--there is more than enough. Reclaim questions. Practice. Never bore people.
BishopLee: On your tables are foldover cards w/ words "permission slip." What is the permission slip you need to receive?

Seabury is on the move. The Diocese of Chicago is on the move. We have a choice...we can pretend that everything is the same, that nothing has changed in the culture, that we are just the same country as we were in 1950 and find ourselves underwater and surprised, or we can practice rigorous honesty. We can seek the seekers and join the journey with all the gifts at our disposal. Arise and shine...We have God's love and light. We all do.

I am glad that Seabury is taking such a role. I am glad that the Diocese of Chicago is taking a public stand and that people from other traditions were present to witness and contribute. I know that there are risks and that many of us who are so invested in our communities will face loss and grief. Seabury is no exception. I'm no exception. Still, I remain hopeful. So...what's next? Let's do that.

Note: Thanks to The Episcopal Cafe who posted a link to this blog in The Lead.

Theology, a poem

Theology
MAURICE MANNING
Spiritus 11 (2011): 128 © 2011 by The Johns Hopkins University Press

In the low woods, in the old dream
of the old, hard land’s dream
of its own darkness turning darker,
and so returned to the first dark
in its first time, the past not past,
I am not now by being here,
nor will I be, but then; I am
for a moment dust of the first God
in the woods in the first dream and the dark
of that dream which I remember and reach
by remembering and being here,
and once and many times again
I fell out, out of the dream,
because I wanted to love my love
and even lost from the dream I found her,
for she was in the holy dream
and loving her means I will die,
which is sad, though love is worth the fix,
so when I pray I say to the God,
Old Man, I understand the dream.