excellent

Churches Join to Urge Aid to Africa

by Warren Vieth
Los Angeles Times 6-28-2005 WASHINGTON —

In an uncommon display of political unity, leaders of the U.S. evangelical movement joined with moderate and liberal religious groups Monday to urge President Bush to boost development aid to Africa.

Evangelical leaders said they hoped their participation would increase pressure on the president to announce a significant increase in U.S. aid before or during next week's summit of the world's wealthiest nations in Gleneagles, Scotland.

"We would like to see the Bush administration turn a good record on Africa into a great record on Africa," Richard Cizik, vice president of the National Assn. of Evangelicals, told reporters. "We are lending our voice to this cause in a way never before done."

Read on!

living @ the intersection

What does it mean to live at the intersection of faith and politics? This, I believe, is a question worth pondering. I have heard that many of our politicians are playing in its waters as well. It seems that many of them are seeking ways to engage the American people at this intersection. Politicians want to know just why the interaction of faith /belief and political agendas is so powerful and (thusly?) so attractive.

I, however, am beginning to wonder if the question is at all appropriate. It just may be accurate if the prevailing understanding of the relationship between faith and politics is that they are indeed two separate routes that occasionally converge, merge or intersect. If that is the understanding that faithful people have of the relationship between the two, then the question works. I am simply not yet convinced that this is the case. I am not certain that this is the common understanding. Does anyone honestly separate faith and politics to a degree that the two can only intersect? Speaking for myself, I think of faith as politics. And I am sure that some people think of politics as a faith.

In general, I am more and more convinced that, for the faithful person, faith and politics are the same. One difficulty that arises is the great plurality of allegiances that compete for our attention. It a (mostly) two-party system, when there is such competition for votes to support ideas and platforms, then a language that deals with allegiances may be more helpful. We see how allegiances have shaped the American political landscape...we have a Religious Right and a growing Religious Left. They are demanding allegiance from more centrist voting groups of faithful people. Here faith competes as politics and perhaps with politics in a power struggle for the minds and hearts of the people. It has been an unhappy marriage thus far.

So, of course, I have several questions. If we are not allied with a political party, then with whom is our allegiance? Is Wallis right? Should we even pick a party? Perhaps we do need a new language entirely. Should I vote only in allegiance with my faith tradition? If that is the case, then as a Baptist, voting for Carter, Clinton or Jesse Jackson makes some sense.

The trouble is the very nature of our political system. A democracy is based on competition and not consensus. It compels us to choose sides and ally ourselves with ideological systems and individuals that cannot embody fully any one faith tradition much less a cornucopia such as our country posses without falling into hypocrisy or a staid absolutism.

Am I on to something here or is this completely bogus? What do you all think? Am I overestimating the consistency of the faithful of America? Perhaps the initial question of intersections makes more sense after all..."notional" belief may actually be more common than "disciplined" belief*.

As a chaplain, another question is coming to mind..."Why now?" Why is this so important now? Why was it not so important thirty years ago?

That's enough with the questions. Let me know what you think.

*I borrow this from Barna who suggests that notional Christians are people who attend church or claim Christianity out of habit and not because they are disciplined adherents of a tradition, claiming that tradition as the sole informer of their life choices.

live aid redux

I have been wondering about the Live8 concerts coming up. It should be an interesting media event if nothing else. I remeber the tragedy of Ethiopia and the work to put an end to hunger back in the 1980's. This newest effort has been referred to as an idealistic ego romp for groups like U2. To be honest, I am not certain what to think yet...at least not about the concerts. I am supportive of the efforts. That is why there is the ONE ribbon on this blog and why I have installed the Live8 badge to your left. There are one or two facts that are compelling.

50,000 people are dying every day of extreme poverty.

That one has me floored. It is not that there aren't poor people everywhere. But there is an issue of sustainability that I wrestle with. Can people sustain themselves on the income they earn? If not, does all the blame/responsibility fall upon the local or national governments of the poor nations? It is such a complicated issue. This latest effort to end world hunger, Live8, has impressed me with the way that they are trying to come up with sollutions to complicated issues and allowing the issues to remain complicated. Geldoff and the others are actually bright people who have a deep understanding of the issues.

And somewhere along the way I started to trust their voices. Lately, this kind of trust is rare in America. I am slowly trying to overcome my own cynicism.

Let's see what we can do. Tell your congressional representative what you think.

Also, go to this post on the Technorati site to see what they are up to. That is where the badge and the tag came from.
Joe Trippi said this.
Power Line said this.
live8 edinburgh

"no one is safe"

My wife said that this morning. "No one is safe." It will make more sense after you read the article published in the Chicago Tribune. Incredible. I am surprised I did not wake up with all the commotion. Neither of us did.

Actor shot in head on North Side

By Josh Noel
Tribune staff reporter
Published June 27, 2005, 8:49 PM CDT

With his dark eyes, lean frame and low, sonorous voice, actor Dan Proctor made a good stage villain.

But on Sunday the longtime musical theater veteran was the victim, found by police on a North Side residential street, badly wounded by a gunshot to the back of his head.

With no suspects or apparent motive, friends and colleagues struggled with questions as Proctor, 37, lay in a bed at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center.

Proctor's mother, from Indiana, opened his room to all visitors, allowing Chicago's theater community to his bedside, where he remained unconscious Monday evening.

"There's been a parade all day," said Ray Frewen, artistic director for the Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook Terrace, who has known Proctor for 15 years. "He worked non-stop and made a living doing it. He went from one show to the next. Once he established himself in the community, he could just keep working."

Police found Proctor about 3:15 a.m. Sunday on the sidewalk in the 1400 block of West Carmen Avenue, in Uptown near the Andersonville neighborhood, police spokeswoman JoAnn Taylor said.

Proctor, who lives in the 900 block of West Gordon Terrace, was taken to Masonic in critical condition. Police have not offered any theories about the crime, but several of his friends said robbery seems unlikely, because Proctor still had his wallet.

Frewen said Proctor has become a staple at Drury Lane, shining in roles such as Bernardo, the leader of the Sharks street gang in "West Side Story," or in villainous character parts, such as the evil wizard in "Aladdin" and Stromboli, the sinister puppeteer in "Pinocchio."

"The bad guy came easy to him, but there was a lot he could do," Frewen said.

Proctor is known as a triple threat, colleagues said: able to sing, dance and act. He primarily considers himself a singer, Frewen said, but dancing led to much of his work.

"There's a brilliance in the way he could move and dance," Frewen said. "The sense of style he brought was just unbelievable."

Proctor was raised in Indiana and attended Indiana University, friends said. He has been acting in Chicago, mostly in musical theater, for about 15 years. He has taken part in at least 30 productions, and is cast in the October production of "Once Upon a Mattress" at Drury Lane.

"I think he was really happy with Chicago," said Diane Van Lente, Drury Lane producer. "He's a professional actor and would always go where the work was. He loved it. He loved working in the theater and entertaining people."

The night before he was shot, Proctor worked as a last-minute replacement on the crew for a performance of "Tintypes" at Drury Lane and stayed at the theater until about 11:30 p.m., Van Lente said. Friends said Monday that they did not know what his plans had been for the rest of the evening.

Kathryn Lamkey, central regional director for the Actors' Equity Association, said Proctor's friends sent word of the shooting via text messages Sunday and "every greenroom in the city received messages."

Friends are not optimistic about his recovery--or the case being solved, she said.

"It seems so very random, and that's very frightening for everyone," Lamkey said. "Police have quite a job ahead of them. It will take miraculous police work to figure this one out."

m.i.t.

AKMA pointed to it. I merely filled in the bubbles.

for righteousness sake

Here is the sermon I preached yesterday at North Shore. I preached something very similar at Reconciler later in the evening. When I can, I will tweak the text to reflect the specific congregation.

Peace!

For those of you who do not know, I am currently serving as a chaplain at Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, IL. It has been an incredible year of service. I have been stretched and pushed in more ways than I can begin to describe. After reading this week’s lectionary, I am moved to share with you one of the more powerful encounters I have had.

The program I am in has us on rotations of four months each…one in a general medical/surgical unit, another in pediatrics and finally one in critical care. During my critical care unit over the winter I was working in the Emergency Room. Lutheran is a big hospital. We serve many people. Forty percent of the patient population is Catholic. Twenty percent is Jewish. The remaining forty percent covers the rest of the population in and around Park Ridge. A growing percentage of that final amalgamation is Moslem.

One day a patient came in from a local nursing home. We will call him “Sayed.” Sadly, he had passed away there. The ambulance crew was bringing him to Lutheran to fulfill several different legal obligations some of these nursing homes have. The patient was an elderly gentlemen, his age hard to pinpoint. He simply looked ancient. His beard was thick and white. His face heavily lined. By his appearance, I thought he could be Moslem, but I did not know for certain.

Typically, the Moslem families that come to the Emergency Room bring their own religious leader, an Imam. I don’t have the same interaction with them as I would with a Christian patient. I do my best to be a good host, however, facilitating the specific family’s religious and emotional needs per the direction of the Imam. I get water, tissues, make certain that all who would like to speak with the physician have that opportunity.

Sayed’s family did arrive shortly after he did. The nursing home had contacted the eldest son to let him know the bad news. He arrived, and the attending physician and I met with him in the family room to discuss all we knew and to figure out together what the next steps would be. Sayed and his family were actually Moslem. I asked his son if there was anyone I could call for him, if there was an Imam that we should contact. In my experience ,it seemed the most appropriate course of action. When someone who is Moslem has passed away, the tradition is to bury them within a day. There are certain prayers that must be said. And any signs of medical treatment, such as an i.v., must be removed from the body before they leave the hospital. Typically, all of this is orchestrated by the Imam.

This, however, family was new to the country and had no Imam. There was no mosque. There was no one to turn to. I said to Sayed’s son, “I am a Christian minister. I will help you where I can.” The son said to me. “We are the children of Abraham. Today we are brothers.”

Times of crisis and change have been known to create barriers and divisions, but they can also break them down. “Whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person, will receive the reward of the righteous.” We are the children of Abraham. Today we are brothers. That day, however briefly, I would serve as Imam to a Moslem family.

Today’s Old Testament passage is one of the more famous. The Sacrifice of Isaac is one of the first scripture stories we teach our children. I remember learning about this very early on.

You may know the song…”Father Abraham had many sons, and many sons had father Abraham. And I am one of them, and so are you, so let’s just have some fun…”

And I encountered the story again when my wife Trish was involved in a theatrical production of the work of Bruce Felier entitled Abraham’s Calling. Feiler’s work and the play were explorations of what the three Religions of the Book, Judaism, Islam and Christianity, had to say about Abraham. Feiler is interested in reconciliation in the Middle East. He is interested in discovering what the traditions have in common that might be helpful to bridge gaps and ideological distances.

Perhaps our common heritage in Abraham would be that bridge. Both the play and the book don’t really come to any conclusion. They illuminate the differences, and try, as best as possible, to tell the story of three faiths who share a common ancestor.

Isaac and Ishmael are brothers. Both have been given the same promise. In the Moslem tradition it is Ishmael who goes to the mountain with Abraham, not Isaac. So, there are some important differences in how the story is told...but the story is told. The identity is shared.

The differences may end with the particulars of the story, however. You see, one possible interpretation of the story of the Sacrifice of Isaac for Christians is simply the great example that Abraham sets for us. This is obedience. This is an obedient man…and he will remain so. And God rewards him for it.

The Moslem tradition speaks about this story a little differently. Islam means “submission to God.” For the Moslem, this story is about submission. In some retellings, Ishmael is older in the story than Isaac is in ours and he allows himself to be bound. Both Ishmael and Abraham willingly submit to the will of God. Ishmael is obedient. Abraham is obedient. They submit.

The trouble with the story as it has been handed to us, is that God can seem like a big bully. At least that is the complaint that I have heard. God can seem sadistic and cruel. To be honest, I am not sure how to rescue someone from that complaint. I have had the same complaint and I certainly wrestle with it.
But I feel, by engaging the focus that the Islamic tradition has, that I am beginning to understand more. The word “obedience” is not as popular in our culture as it once was. And certainly the word “submission” is equally unpopular. But there is more to the story, and more to the language than submission.

The root for the word “submission” in Arabic is seleme. It is both the root for the word “submission” as in “Islam”…submission to God…and the root for the word that means “peace”…salam. For those of us from the Judeo-Christian tradition, we might make the logical leap and hear the word shalom in our heads. Hebrew and Arabic are in the same language family. We should hear shalom when we hear salam.

It is interesting to think about. The correlation between submission and peace is implied. They share the same root. One comes naturally from the other. They both rise from the same word, the same root.

To submit to the will of God is to find peace. To seek for peace is to submit to the will of God.

Frustratingly, this still leaves us with a bullying deity testing his friend Abraham. Today, I still have to say that I don’t understand how to reconcile the seemingly cruel nature of this story…except to say that my getting hung up on that one interpretation gets in the way of my own ability to hear the promise of peace that comes with obedience to God.

In the story of Abraham and the Sacrifice of Isaac, Abraham is not only sacrificing his son. No. That would be hard enough, impossible enough to imagine. In reality, Abraham is being asked to sacrifice much more. He is being asked to sacrifice his promise. He is being asked to sacrifice the promise God made to him.

God said to Abraham that he would lead him out of Ur and to a promised place. From Abraham’s line, God would people the whole world. Abraham’s relationship with God runs deep. Abraham is the only one who is called God’s friend in all of scripture. They are friends. They are that close.

And yet, by what we witness in this story, God is still The Almighty Lord God who in the beginning of the book of Genesis breathed the entire creation into being. Abraham is still only a man. He is the man who will offer up his wife Sarah to pharaoh as a slave. He will cast out his own child Ishmael. Abraham is a human being. Perhaps this is a quality to the relationship that I too easily forget.

You see, not even the promise of a son, of continuance, of immortality is Abraham’s possession. Even the relationship that he has with God does not belong to him. When Abraham is asked to sacrifice his son, he is being asked to give up everything…even the very core of who he is, enshrouded in the friendship and promise of God. He does not even belong to himself.

To submit to God is to recognize one’s place in the cosmos. We do not belong to ourselves. Peace comes with this knowledge. Our very faith is not our own. It is not our possession. It is God’s. We are God’s. Our conversion lies in this knowledge.

Matthew understands this.

Whoever welcomes you…welcomes me…and welcomes the one who sent me.

The relationship is that close. Our relationship is to Christ and through Christ to God. In this passage he is speaking to his disciples. The “you” is them. The “little ones” are the disciples. Christ is laying claim on his own. His disciples do not belong to themselves. They do not even belong to one another. They belong to God. Those who recognize and honor this relationship…giving them a cup of cold water, perhaps simply having compassion upon the followers of Christ, will receive their reward.

Whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous.

“We are the children of Abraham. Today we are brothers.”

Righteousness and submission are wrapped up in one another. Righteousness, obedience/submission and peace are parts of a whole. They all point to relationship with God and knowing who we are…

This takes me back to my experience in the Emergency Room…and my very brief, and very special, career as an Imam.

The doctor and I went with the man to see his father, Sayed. There we all wept. The son prayed in Arabic. He led the doctor and me through several different rituals to prepare the body for burial. The doctor removed all the signs of treatment. I gently turned Sayed’s head so that he faced to his right…as not to look directly upon God.

More family would eventually arrive. I spent several hours praying with this family, assisting them in what they needed. And when they had all gone home, hours later, the doctor and I looked at one another in amazement. We spoke briefly about everything that had happened. Neither of us had ever experienced anything like it. We were both deeply moved and honored.

Now, I don’t want to be too dramatic here, but the correlation is too clear for me, to real to be passed up. Sayed’s son, the doctor and I were all led to a mountain top that day.

Sayed’s son could have said “No. You will not do. I will hold on to my tradition and demand that we get an Imam. I will not give that up.”

The doctor could have said. “It is not my job to remove the i.v. The funeral home does that. I have more important things to do…other patients to see.”

And I could have said, “I am a Christian. I am Baptist. I am not an Imam. I cannot help you in the way you need to be helped. It is not my tradition. I will not be your Imam.”

Instead, we all were willing to sacrifice who we are…our roles, our identities. God intervened and provided a worthier witness. Through that witness of shared grief, pain, compassion and faith we were all made righteous.

Righteousness comes from being willing to sacrifice ourselves, our identities, our own story to God. God’s promise is not undone by this willingness to sacrifice. God will bring the sacrifice. Instead, righteousness works for the salvation of all the world. It brings peace.

This is what righteousness does.
It does not build up walls.
It builds bridges.
It does not isolate communities.
Righteousness brings people together.
Righteousness fulfills the promise of God…the promise that God made with the first breath that brought about all creation.
It feeds the hungry with good things.
It gives hope to the poor.
It causes wars cease.
By righteousness, the slaves are freed.

Our identity is not our own. Who North Shore is does not belong to North Shore. Who I am does not belong to me. I believe that I must continually be willing sacrifice myself, even my own faith, to God. When I have done this, it has always been returned to me, richer, more fulfilled…my salvation more real, more present.

And this is the promise of God to this church. God will not strip your identity from you. Far from it. Through you, your identity in Christ, God will work your salvation, the salvation of this neighborhood, and the salvation of this city.

Here is my hope for you all this morning, that for righteousness sake, you will be willing to come to the mountain top and lay down who you are before the altar of God. For God’s promise to you is true. God’s ways are generous.

Welcome the prophet.
Welcome the righteous.
Welcome the little ones…God’s poor.
Welcome this neighborhood…

…for none of you will lose your reward.

Amen.

pawn shops and jerry falwell (this is a preemptive post)

Well, it occurs to me that I have not told of my adventures to the Motherland for the wedding more than a week ago. It was quite the eventful trip for me and my guitar.

But before I begin, I need to express my deepest appreciation for a giant of a pawn shop in lovely downtown Lynchburg, Virginia. Here's a big shout to L. Oppleman at 909 Main St. If ever you need anything...a guitar, jewlery, firearms, lawn equipment, or even good advice on where your mother should get her hair cut, this is the place for you.

[Editor: So, you know, it's like this...I can't post on Saturday. I have no internet at home. But I can post on Friday and date it Saturday. How much of a loser am I?!]

So, getting to the airport went without a hitch. I had my guitar with me in a hard case...strings loosend so they don't snap with all the temperature changes...and one other bag with clothing. The guitar was my focus. Nothing but the guitar mattered. Nothing.

So, I arrived at the ticket counter with all at the ready. The plane was going to leave late, but I was not too worried. I had a book and was ready to pass the time. The gentleman at the ticket counter informed me that there was no way that I would make my connecting flight in Charlotte.

*gulp*

So he decided that I could take a flight with another airline...direct to Lynchburg allowing me to arrive at the Roanoke Airport two hours ahead of time. O, Frabjous day! I hustled down to my new ticket counter, guitar in tow.

I went through the line without insident. The large Pakistani family infront of me were tring to get to Cleveland. They had two tickets for six people. Their travel situation was much less rosie than mine. Anyway, I walked up to the counter and the lady went pale.

"You want to check the guitar?"
"Yes, please."
"Well, here are the 43,571 waiver forms. Please sign here, here and here."
"Okay. No problem" I said, signing the paperwork and wondering how good my insurance really is. The lady at the counter's color returned as I signed my life away.
"I'll give your guitar to Jimmy over here. We cannot place your guitar on the conveyor belt as it is an unusual size. It is likely to be destroyed."
"Well, Jimmy sounds better and better all the time."

I left to go to my gate. With the change in flights I had just enough time, or so I was told, to get there.

Just as an aside, I spent and extra twenty-five minutes with a guard at the security checkpoint. He was very kind. American Tourister, however, will be getting a letter from me about how their luggage sets off the explosive materials sensors. But that is another story.

I arrived at my gate with enough time, I thought, to get on board. But, alas, more waiting was in store. The flight was delayed. I thought to myself "Well, this is good. Jimmy will have plenty of time to get my guitar to the plane." and went to get a cheeseburger. Changing flights at the last minute has always made me hungry.

The plane arrived. We boarded. A horrible storm arose. We sat on the tarmak for many minutes...no air-conditioning on the plane...waiting for the lightening to stop. Somehow an unair-conditioned metal tube does not feel as secure in a lightening storm as one might imagine. The most disturbing thing was the bags that were left out on the tarmak. You see, the people who work at the airport don't go out when there is lightening. This makes all kinds of sense, of course, but the moans and wails that were uttered as the plane pulled away from the bags will haunt me forever. They were the posessions of a college group that had left China the previous day. This was their final switch. Gloom, despair and agony! And thank God my guitar was not left out in the rain on the runway. Good ol' Jimmy must have come through for me.

Alas, good ol' Jimmy did not come through for me.

Due to the delays, we arrived in Lynchburg at the same time I would have if I had gone to Charlotte. My mother and Trish were waiting at baggage claim. I showed up with the explosive luggage and a hopeful demeanor. I just knew Jimmy had come through. Those poor pitiful collge kids' stuff was left behind, but not mine. Oh no!

By 01:00 in the a-friggin'-m I began to worry...actually, I think the term is "ponder the demise of baggage handlers from Chicago to Virginia." Eventually someone from the airline found us and, through the miracles of modern computing, discovered that my guitar was not in Chicago.

That is all. It was not in Chicago. The more banal technologies of looking around the baggage compartment revealed that my guitar was not in Roanoke either. Wondering who I needed to baptize to get my guitar back in time for the wedding that was to take place in 16 hours, we all left for my mother's house.

"I am sure that the guitar will get to you some time in the next two days!" said the airline rep, smiling.

Oy.

Later that morning, Trish arose and made her way to the brunch to inform anyone but the bride that my guitar was missing, probably on tour with a band called "Jimmy and the Conspicuous Delay". Mom and I made our way to the porch where there was coffee. I thumbed through the phonebook and discovered the three listings for music stores in Lynchburg (no hyperbole, people). I called L. Oppleman. They said that they would rent. "Excellent!"

We had also gotten a call from Trish's mother saying that they had found a guitar that would work, but as things kept going awry, I figured that renting would be fine if it did not cost too much. I learned very quickly in this trip, that one cannot trust Jimmy. This guitar sounded like a Jimmy to me.

We arrived in downtown Lynchburg...plenty of parking...and found L Oppleman's. Incredible. It was a pawn shop. It was the friendliest pawnshop ever. You could buy a great Martin or a used weedeater. They were freindly and set me up with a $900.oo Alvarez cutaway for a $20.00 rental fee that included the use of a gig bag. I may have to get me one of them Alvarez guitars one day. It was a great instrument to play. And the gang at Oppleman's was all that and a bag of fritters. They helped us find a place to eat breakfast. They told mom where she should go to get her hair done. All was right with the world.

The wedding went well. My guitar arrived the next day. The delivery guy, not Jimmy by the way, tried to deliver the guitar to mom's neighbor, but my mother cought him in time. We returned the rental to the pawnshop on Monday. This is a respectable establishment. They are closed on the Lord's Day and sponsored a big charity tennis event the Saturday of the wedding. When we returend the guitar, they remembered us. This is remarkable because three other people purchased guitars when I rented the Alvarez. They were busy and yet they remembered.

Incredible.

So, if you are ever in Lynchburg, go to Oppleman's. As you can see from the link. They are also online. I think that I will try to get that 1947 Martin mandolin some day. That would be great.

There is a story about Jerry Falwell and expensive end tables, but I am tired and this post is far too long as it is. I'll get to that one some day.

Y'all be good!

good things

I posted some things annoying me yesterday. I thought I would try the opposite approach today.

Dear Jesus,

You asked that I let you know from time to time when things are going well. It appears that I forget to do this. So, in the interest of praise and adoration, here is a list for you.

1. I have been given the oppotunity to integrate my thesis into my work here at the hospital. This means that I will be able to write it here. Can anyone say "done by the end of August?"

2. My conversation with the pastor at Journey went well last night. Pastor DuVall seems like a nice guy. This bodes well.

3. One of the Girls may have a couple more gigs at Chicago festivals. This is great news.

4. I am teaching guitar lessons in the adolescent unit.

5. I am having dinner with friends tonight.

6. Tomorrow I am going underwear shopping with my wife...and three of her friends from her new musical. I should be good and confused by the time we return home.

7. A good friend is coming to Reconciler to preside at the altar this Sunday.

8. I have written three new mandolin tunes this week.

And thus, all manner of things will be well. Thanks for all your hard work.

Yours,

Tripp Hudgins
Heretic

remarks at a funeral

A bit ago I posted about the death of a professor of mine at the University of Richmond. One of his children is an Episcopal priest in Ann Arbor. Susie knows him and let him know about the blog. In the comments of that post he was kind enough to share the remarks he made at his father's funeral. I found them moving and asked for permission to post them here. He agreed. Read on if you wish.

On behalf of the Rhodenhiser family, thank you for coming to celebrate the life of my father, Dr. Bill Rhodenhiser. My father knew that as we live life out of relationship to the Holy One, the more we live as Jesus lives, the more grace-fully our lives resonate profoundly, as songs of praise and meaning.

I want to share a bit of his exploration. Particularly to bless and challenge his grandchildren and the rest of us to make our lives resonate with the God of wonder and blessing. My dad was fond of quoting the prophet’s promise,

Be still and know that I am God.

My dad challenged people to experience the holy more fully. To be liberated from neat theories, of the right or the left, that ignore messy complexity and close doors to growth, greater reality, and the human compassion we owe all people.

My dad used to preach country revivals at Baptist churches. He also taught hundreds of people and college students to meditate, borrowing freely from eastern faith traditions. Not many college professors were comfortable in either of those contexts. But for 37 years at the University of Richmond, my father spanned a variety of context, teaching Bible, Psychology and Religion, and Eastern Religions .

My dad was critical of all groups and ideologies, and generous with all people. When Longwood College in Farmville integrated and a black pastor’s daughter wanted to attend the local Baptist church where he was interim, he was not allowed to speak at an emotionally charged church meeting. After the congregation voted not to welcome black students to worship with them, he was then asked to give a benediction.

He declined, saying, how in good conscience could you ask any Christian minister to bless this assembly? And walked out, pursued by angry and upset people into the street. He did return to preach on Sunday.

My dad saw God at work in all the great faith traditions of the world. He saw Jesus as the ultimate revelation of God. He took me to the most Pentecostal gathering of my childhood in Richmond, which was led by orthodox Hasidic rabbis who danced and sang before God with hundreds of our Jewish brothers and sisters. And culminated in all of us numinously, joyfully dancing in the in the aisles. We were the only Christians in the room.

My dad saw God in India, and his beloved Hindu mystic and guru, Baba Faqir Chand. In the Buddhist Dalai Lama, whom he was privileged to meet. In his teacher and mentor, the great Baptist preacher Dr. Cousins. In his long time Baptist foreign missionary friends, Anne and Lloyd Neil. In his former student and personal confessor, Pastor Ray Allen. And in all of you.

To those who wanted to restrict God’s love and activity to one in-group, or one religious system, he would quote Acts 14:17, God has not left himself with out a witness in doing good among any of the peoples of the earth.

My father knew that God was the transcendent other, beyond our feelings or ideas. As the Holy Spirit within, and beyond, God leads us into more resonant lives of grace.

In this 21st century, post 9/11 world, fruitful people learn to love and relate across boundaries of ideology and faith tradition. And to stand with Jesus in loving embrace of the outcastes. In the words of Jesus, the measure we give will be the measure we receive.

Gut check: which outcastes are you afraid of? Muslims? Religious liberals? Fundamentalists? Gays or lesbians? Democrats? Republicans? In the words of 1 John 4:18, God’s unbounded love casts out fear. We who lives as captives to oppositional energies have not yet been perfected in that love.

I pray that in each of his god-gifted grandchildren, and you his god-gifted friends, my father can behold lives dedicated to knowing and serving a generous God. Who defies our attempts to tame or limit his love, justice, and holiness.

"new progressive group to counter religious right on christian terms

This is another interesting article. I do so love receiving articles through the ABC press.

[Editor: Cliff ranted about this on his blog.]

New progressive group to counter Religious Right on Christian terms

By Robert Marus

WASHINGTON (ABP) -- A new left-leaning advocacy organization wants to
carve out a niche for itself in an increasingly crowded field of groups trying to counter the Religious Right's rhetoric.

Leaders of the Christian Alliance for Progress held a formal launch
event for the group, which is headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla., at a June 22 press conference in Washington. Aiming to "bring gospel values back into the political sphere in the United States," co-founder Tim Simpson said the group had its origins four months ago, among a group of progressive Christians in the Jacksonville area. Simpson, a Presbyterian minister, is also the editor of the Journal of Political Theology.

Patrick Mrotek, a Jacksonville businessman and an Episcopalian, said the group is intended as an explicitly Christian response to the politics and policies of some of his more conservative brothers and sisters in Christ.

"We're here because the language spoken by the Religious Right is
Christian," he told reporters. "This requires a uniquely Christian
response."

Noting the alliance's mission "is to reclaim Christianity" from
outspoken religious and political conservatives, Mrotek said that his
group would also differ from already existing groups in other ways.
Although organizations like the Interfaith Alliance and the Clergy and
Laity Network also aim to provide a faith-based response to the
theopolitical right, he said, his group would be a grass-roots movement.

"I am not a thought leader," he said, pointing out that the alliance was started outside of Washington, in a conservative part of a Southern state.

Kathleen LeRoy, the organization's vice president for operations, said
the alliance would work on establishing a "grass-roots field force" and would cooperate with other progressive groups in publicizing progressive religious ideas in communities across the country. The group would operate as "a collaboration between progressive 'think tanks' and feet on the streets," she said.

LeRoy also said the three were the group's board members and that it had already hired a staff of seven and established an office in
Jacksonville.

Mrotek, who grew up in Montgomery, Ala., during the civil-rights era,
said the group would be non-partisan and follow Martin Luther King Jr.'s model for political involvement. "We speak to the government as
conscience; we do not seek to be the master of government," he said.

Nonetheless, Mrotek added, the group would not "shy away" from sensitive issues. The group's website, www.christianalliance.org, lists six general policy positions. They include advocating for "equality for gays and lesbians" in the civil sphere, "effective prevention vs. criminalizing abortion," calling for "health care for all Americans," and "pursuing economic justice."

cooperative baptist fellowship seminaries: who is in, who is out

This is an interesting article. I have been keeping up with these developments over the years since I went to BTSR briefly after I graduated from college.

Read on...

CBF's theological 'partner' schools await details of who's in, who's out

By Ken Camp

(ABP) -- Leaders at theological schools that receive financial support
from the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship generally agree the Fellowship
needed to reconsider how it relates to such "partner" institutions.

But "the devil is in the details," one administrator said, particularly for schools that stand to lose money if the CBF approves recommendations from a partnership study committee.

The committee's recommendations create three tiers for theological
schools -- identity partners, leadership partners and global partners.
Schools in each category would be eligible for scholarships and
collaborative-initiative funding, as well as "relational resources" such as job references and referrals. But only identity partners would be eligible for ongoing institutional funding, and no more than six of the 14 partner schools could be designated as identity partners.

The committee's report does not assign the existing schools into tiers, but notes: "Criteria for defining of these institutions will include factors such as enrollment, the number of graduates in congregational ministry, level of support for CBF, geographic location, willingness to self-identify as a CBF-affiliated school and historical connection to CBF."

The initial limit of three-to-five identity partners was raised to six
when the committee revised its recommendations in May. The committee
also raised the funding cap that would apply to all partners -- from 20 percent of an organization's annual revenue to 25 percent -- but none of the theological schools receives more than 10 percent of its revenue from CBF.

The Fellowship's Coordinating Council will discuss and vote on the
committee's report at its June 29-30 meeting, prior to the annual CBF
general assembly in Grapevine, Texas. If the council approves the
report, CBF moderator Bob Setzer of First Baptist Church in Macon, Ga., plans to ask the general assembly to affirm the action.

The partnership study was triggered in part by a concern CBF was
spending too much money on theological schools at the expense of its own ministries, the Coordinating Council was told in June 2002. The
Fellowship spends about $1.5 million a year on theological schools --
about 17 percent of its undesignated receipts.

At least one freestanding seminary -- Baptist Theological Seminary in
Richmond -- fully anticipates being named as an identity partner based
on its historic relationship to CBF and its size.

"I assume [Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond] would be one of the identity partners since we have been one of two institutions funded by CBF from the time of the adoption of their very first budget," said President Tom Graves.

"We are also one of the largest of the seminary programs, enrolling over 325 students in our courses last academic year. We are proud of our relationship to CBF and are glad to be identified publicly as a
CBF-related school."

Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond receives $241,216 annually from CBF, which amounts to less than 10 percent of the school's total budget but makes the Fellowship the seminary's largest denominational source of funding, Graves noted. The seminary also receives $177,424 from the Baptist General Association of Virginia.

Graves voiced strong support for the study committee and its report.

"The financial well-being of CBF is a key to our own well-being," he
said. "We do a disservice to jeopardize the financial stability of the
CBF for the benefit of some of its related agencies. It is wise to
understand that there must be limits to what the CBF can do for its
partners."

Of the remaining three freestanding seminaries that partner with CBF,
Baptist Seminary of Kentucky appears sure to be a leadership partner,
since its only funding from CBF is three leadership scholarships
totaling $15,000, said President Greg Earwood.

International Baptist Theological Seminary almost certainly will be
designated as a global partner, possibly along with Baptist University
of the Americas, a theological university in San Antonio, Texas, that
focuses primarily on training Hispanics for ministry in multicultural
settings. Global partners are schools developing leaders outside the
United States or leaders within the United States whose first language
is other than English, according to the study committee's report.

Among freestanding seminaries, that leaves Central Baptist Theological
Seminary, which hopes to be identified as an identity partner, according to President Molly Marshall.

"We are focused on the same strategic initiatives as CBF -- faith
formation, building community, developing leaders and missional
outreach," she said. "We are grateful for the sustaining support CBF has offered to Central in the past and trust that we will continue our
strong partnership."

Central Baptist Theological Seminary is seeking to align theological
education with congregational needs, as demonstrated by its teaching
church initiative, she added. First Baptist Church in Oklahoma City,
Okla., and First Baptist Church in Murfreesboro, Tenn., are part of the initiative to offer theological education in a local church context.

Marshall affirmed the Fellowship for "grappling honestly" with the
matter of partnerships.

"I believe it is good stewardship for CBF to be asking how funding of
theological institutions contributes to the goals and objectives of CBF partnerships. Calling partners to accountability is a constructive way to align the whole organization for greater effectiveness," she said.

Six divinity schools or schools of theology at Baptist universities are CBF theological partners -- Baylor University's Truett Theological
Seminary, Hardin-Simmons University's Logsdon School of Theology, Mercer University's McAfee School of Theology, Gardner-Webb University's White School of Divinity, Campbell University Divinity School and Wake Forest Divinity School.

Leaders at Truett Theological Seminary "have some reason to believe
Truett will get favorable treatment," said Dean Paul Powell, newly
appointed special assistant to the Baylor president for denominational
relations. "At least I hope so."

With 391 students enrolled, Truett is the largest theological school in partnership with CBF, Powell noted, adding that the school also has
produced the most graduates. Truett has graduated 386 students since its founding, and it graduated 80 students last year.

In 2004-2005, Truett received $167,348 from CBF.

Alan Culpepper, dean of the McAfee School of Theology at Mercer
University, reported holding a preliminary meeting about the report with CBF Coordinator Daniel Vestal and Terry Hamrick, the Fellowship's
coordinator for leadership development. "But we did not talk about its
effect on the allocation to McAfee," Culpepper said. "We have not yet
received a formal invitation to be an identity partner, and I do not
know what effect that might have on our budget status. I am sure all of this will be worked out in due time."

Other observers expressed confidence that McAfee and Truett likely would be named identity partners, probably along with Campbell University Divinity School and White Divinity School at Gardner-Webb, based on the criteria outlined in the study committee report. If so, either Hardin-Simmons' Logsdon School or Wake Forest Divinity School could fail to be named as an identity partner.

Wake Forest understands that its ecumenical identity-expressed in its
mission statement as "Christian by tradition, ecumenical in outlook, and Baptist in heritage"-will make the school a "second-tier" entity in the CBF's eyes, said Dean Bill Leonard.

Wake Forest Divinity School currently receives $20,000 from CBF, all of which goes to scholarship funds for students preparing for ministry in CBF-related churches, Leonard said. The school's total annual budget is about $1.5 million, and Leonard has "no idea" whether funding from CBF will increase or decrease, he said.

Since its founding in 1999, the divinity school has graduated four
classes of students-nearly half of them from CBF-related churches.

"Since 2002, we have given an average of $75,086 per year to students
related to CBF," Leonard said. "The total average scholarship awards to CBF students for a three-year cycle is $225,259. This means that the divinity school is raising its own scholarship funds that go to students connected to the CBF and carrying them financially far beyond the funding provided by CBF nationally. ...We will continue to work as best we can to secure scholarship aid for CBF related students who choose to join us."

Irma Duke, communications and development director for Campbell
University, affirmed the partner study committee and its work. Duke, who serves on the CBF Coordinating Council, said she believes the committee "tried to provide more flexibility and accountability in the funding levels, and I sense that this is being accomplished."

Campbell University Divinity School clearly asserts its identity as a
CBF-related school, and it promotes CBF missions and training
opportunities to students and alumni, she added.

"CBF has been generous to us, and we are appreciative," she said. "I
hope that funding for the school and our students will not be reduced
because it has allowed us the opportunity to do some things that we
would have, otherwise, not been able to do. As a new school, the
operational funding has been particularly helpful."

Likely losers under the proposed three-tiered approach would be the
Baptist studies programs at non-Baptist universities.

Duke Divinity School's Baptist House of Studies expects to lose $20,000 in institutional funding since "there is little question that the Baptist House at Duke will not be an identity partner," given its formal relationship to the United Methodist Church, said Director Curtis Freeman.

By that understanding of the committee's criteria, Baptist studies
program at Texas Christian University's Brite Divinity School and Emory University's Candler School of Theology also would fail to qualify as identity partners. Brite is affiliated with the Disciples of Christ and Candler with the United Methodist Church.

Duke's Baptist House already is making contingency plans to cope with
the anticipated funding cut, Freeman noted.

"Our board of directors discussed the funding change at our spring
meeting. We are in the initial stages of talking with churches and
individuals who can make up the difference," he said. "It may take a
little time, but we're discovering that our students make the best case for why Baptists need to support Duke. We're hopeful that in the long run they will own the value of theological education for Baptists at Duke."

Freeman took issue with the approach the partner study committee has
taken in its proposals. The committee chose to base partnership on a
school's self-identification with CBF rather than the value a school
brings to CBF-related churches, he asserted.

"My suggestion to the CBF leadership from the time I got to Duke was to consider funding partners based on the resources they provide to CBF and like-minded congregations. This seemed to be consistent with their stated aim to move beyond denominationalism," he said.

"What I proposed was for CBF to assess the level of their support for
our partnership based the on value of those leadership resources to CBF and like-minded congregations. The study committee has chosen a
different direction, one that by contrast is most-denominational rather than post-denominational, as partnership will be defined primarily in terms of institutions that identify themselves as CBF entities."

If CBF eliminates institutional support for Duke Divinity School, "The
only relationship between us and CBF besides shared ideas and
convictions will be some scholarship support for students -- right now
at $20,000," Freeman said.

"This is a good thing, but to put it in perspective, in terms of
scholarship support for Duke students, CBF would rank either third or
fourth behind several other organizations. Conversely, there are three or four congregations whose support for Baptist House together will be significantly more than CBF's support for scholarships. So all this will give us some pause as we reassess what partnership means for us, and how we understand our partnership with CBF."

-- Ken Camp is managing editor of the Baptist Standard of Texas.
Associated Baptist Press receives financial support from the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.

more on politics and faith

I read Christianity Today. Yes, it is true. It is my way to open myself to the thinking of those with whom I sometimes disagree. The magazine is much more conservative in reputation than I find it to be in actuality. Though still more conservative than I on some issues, I find it to be a good read.

So, this morning I was paging through the recent issue and found one or two interesting articles and columns on politics and faith. It is interesting to see how even this conservative magazine is being pushed around. I must send a letter of appology to the editors. I seem to have slandered them from time to time.

Both of these quotes fund their way into the "Reflections" feature.

I don't want to see religious bigotry in any form. It would disturb me if tehre was a wedding between the religious fundamentalists and the political right. The hard right has no interest in religion except to manipulate it. - Billy Graham in Parade (1981)

And...

The separation of church and state does not require banishing moral and religious values from the public square. In fact, America's social fabric depends on such values and vision to shape our politics - adependence the founders recognised...God is always personal, but never private. - Jim Wallis, God's Politics

And perhaps my favorite...

That cannot br a true religion which needs carnal weapons to uphold it. - Roger Williams, The Bloody Tenant of Persecution

I find the inclusion of these three quotes encouraging. For me it means that the gulf between liberal and conservative American evangelicalism is perhaps not as wide as I imagined. These are excellent quotes for reflection. They are presented in the magazine without comment. Lovely.

Here is a link to one article worth reading. It is about the "political priorities" of Christians. It is interesting to say the elast to have Neuhaus and Hauerwas quoted in the same article in agreement with the other.

George W. Bush is not Lord. The Declaration of Independence is not an infallible guide to Christian faith and practice. Nor is the U.S. Constitution, nor the U.N. Universal Declaration on Human Rights. "Original intent" of America's founders is not the hermeneutical key that will guarantee national righteousness. The American flag is not the Cross. The Pledge of Allegiance is not the Creed. "God Bless America" is not the Doxology.

Sometimes one needs to state the obvious—especially at times when it's less and less obvious.

And, just for kicks, beyond the extended link is another article about W's speech to the SBC gathering. I am off for more group work. I hope you all have a great day!

Bush highlights CBF church in speech to Southern Baptists

By Analiz González

ORLANDO, Fla. (ABP) -- President George W. Bush mistakenly praised a church affiliated with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship during a speech to the Southern Baptist Convention June 21.

College Park Baptist Church in Orlando, Fla., sent money to the SBC from 1928 to January 2004 but now affiliates with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, which is composed largely of Baptist churches opposed to the SBC's rightward shift.

In thanking Southern Baptists for their support of his controversial
faith-based initiatives, Bush lauded the Orlando church as an example of a "faith-based charity" receiving government funding. "For example, my administration awarded College Park Baptist Church in Orlando, Fla., $5.8 million to build 68 homes for seniors," Bush said in his live satellite address.

The Southern Baptist Convention has backed away from doing social ministry in recent years. Ironic? College Park pastor Ron Crawford thinks so.

"The SBC has been moving away from social ministries, and I think they may have something to learn in that regard," Crawford said. But he predicted, "Bush's mistake is not likely to change their ways."

Crawford said he is not offended by Bush's reference and he hopes Bush is focused on issues weightier than whether or not College Park Baptist sends money to the SBC.

"I am proud the President had good things to say about our church and
ministry," Crawford said.

The church received government money for its social ministries beginning 22 years ago, long before Bush's faith-based initiatives, Crawford noted.

Crawford said the church's staff has had fun with the new notoriety and with a call from the White House. He joked that the secretary who
answered the call from the White House thought someone was calling from "the white house across the street."

urggle

Dear Jesus,

Before I begin, I would like to remind you that you said that I was to bring all things before God. So, I am. Be ye warend therefore.

Here is a list of things that bother me today.

1. I find the current political landscape in the US irksome.
2. I left my lunch at home. Thus my lunch will be the three Hershey kisses I just inhaled. Have I mentioned to you how much I hate money?
3. I hate money.
4. I hate that I love Italian sausage as much as I do. It leads to the ever-expanding waistline.
5. candied almonds
6. deadlines
7. employment uncertainty
8. apartment hunting

Thank you, Jesus, for your kind attention to my whining.

church and state...liberal and conservative

[Editor: Here is another article about the same speech that suggests the kind of political strangeness that exists right now in W's relationship with the SBC. Thanks to Mike Kear for the heads up! You can find the text to W's speech here.]

Yesterday Susie sent me this link to a NY Times article/interview with Billy Graham. My grandfather, a life-long Baptist minister, was a huge fan of his. So, i am pretty familiar with Billy Graham's ideals and attitudes and his incredible integrity. Though I may not agree with him, he has always been able to impress me. He is humble and forthright. This passage from the article jumped out at me.

Mr. Graham promised not to talk about politics, and though several reporters tried to draw him into the subject with questions about evangelism's growing role in American political life and the pros and cons of international debt relief, he stayed on message till the end.

"If I get up and talk about some political issues," he said, "it divides the audience. What I want is a united audience to hear only the gospel. There are many times I went too far in talking about such issues. And I think that this time I want to stick only to the gospel."

What Graham is getting at and expressing is the same thing that I am aware of in our current political climate. Right now liberal and conservative alike are claiming (proclaiming?) the gospel. Some are claiming it as the sole property of their agenda. This is happening on both sides of the fence. Some are proclaiming that the other stands in opposition to the gospel.

Billy has it right. The gospel and American politics do not always mix. In fact, one can go to far and mistakenly preach a political platform and not the gospel. Billy admitted that he has done this. And, in his wisdom, suggested that it is a mistake to do so.

This leads me to another article. This article is from the ABC press. It is a report of the current President's speech to a Southern Baptist gathering. You can find the full text of the article in the extended link.

The exerpts from the speech challenged me on many levels, but the one that I found particularly interesting was the passage about compassion and helping the homeless etc...

"Finally, building a compassionate society requires that we mobilize our nation's armies of compassion to help the poor, the sick, and those who hurt." Faith-based institutions change hearts every day, but the government has discriminated against faith-based programs, he said. "That's why I signed an executive order that said that faith groups providing social services are entitled to the same access to federal money as other groups."

Now, I don't want to go into the whole separation of church and state debate too quickly. That quickly becomes an impossible morass to navigate. What interests me is what may be an attempt of the President to make helping "the poor, the sick, and those who hurt" the property of a specific political (read: conservative Republican) platform. Such social progressiveness has historically belonged to religious groups...liberal and conservative alike. Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker Movement is a great example of just this kind of social gospel. Political issues such as the minimum wage, child labor laws and other political innovations are a reflection of the work of religious groups. Desegregation, prohibition, the abolition of slavery, and even the women's sufferage movements all are related to one or more religious groups. These movements are not the property of a political platform...

Bush is right to praise that work. What I wonder is if he will also go to the next UCC conference or even to a Habitat for Humanity gathering and praise them as well. One would assume he would. My fear is that the current trend for one party or the other, one political ideation or the other, to claim the "religious right" (Not the conservative Religious Right), will only serve to dislocate the church from social dialogue or make it even more the property of political pundits who are not necessarily interested in the Church but are instead interested in polling results.

Now, I don't know what Bush is interested in. I will not even begin to guess in this post. But I find myself watching with horror as Conservative pundits and Liberal pundits struggle for ecclesial squatters' rights. This is not some "land grab" but I see that we may be crafting one for ourselves.

Bush addresses SBC again, praises 'army of compassion'

By Tony Cartledge

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) -- Touting his desire to build a "more compassionate society," President George W. Bush thanked Southern Baptists June 21 for being "soldiers in the army of compassion" who make a difference in America and the world.

Bush spoke to the Southern Baptist Convention by live video from the
White House. This marked the fourth year in a row that Bush has
addressed SBC messengers -- all by live satellite except for 2003, when he sent a taped message.

Appearing relaxed, often smiling broadly at the cheers, shouts, whistles and applause he was receiving, Bush had to motion for quiet before he could begin his 11-minute speech.

Bush thanked SBC president Bobby Welch for his military service and
expressed appreciation for a Southern Baptist campaign to send postcards to troops in the field. "Our men and women appreciate it even more," he said.

He added that he and First Lady, Laura, "really appreciate your prayers, the prayers of our Baptist friends that have sustained us and uplifted us."

Bush quoted George Washington as saying that America's Baptists were the "firm friends of liberty." "Today another president George W. thanks you because more than two centuries later, you remain firm in your dedication to God and country."

"You believe that the ideal of religious liberty is a free church in a
free state," he said, defining freedom as "a divine gift that carries
serious responsibilities" to build a more compassionate society.

Bush touched on four elements known to resonate with many Southern
Baptists -- a proposed "family amendment" designed to prevent
homosexuals from marrying, continuing legislation to curtail the
practice of abortion, the appointment of more conservative judges, and
government aid for faith-based organizations.

"Building a more compassionate society begins with preserving the source of compassion: the family," he said. "Southern Baptists are practicing compassion by defending family and the sacred institution of marriage," he continued, to loud and sustained applause.

"Because marriage is a sacred institution and the foundation of society, it should not be redefined by local officials and activist judges," he said, to another round of cheers.

"For the good of families and societies, I support a constitutional
amendment to protect the institution of marriage," he said, then paused for more extended applause.

"For the good of [the] legal system, I will continue to nominate federal judges who faithfully interpret the law and do not legislate from the bench," Bush said, calling for all of his nominees to get an up or down vote on the floor of the U.S. Senate. He thanked Southern Baptists for their "strong support" in that effort.

"Building a compassionate society also depends on building a culture of life," Bush said, one that "defends its most vulnerable members at every stage of life" and "supports principles of ethical science."

Ethical science must preserve human dignity, Bush said, citing his
opposition to cloning and partial-birth abortion. "A compassionate
society will not sanction the creation of life only to destroy it," he
said.

"With your continued dedication and work we will continue to build a
culture of life in America, and America will be better off for it."

"Finally, building a compassionate society requires that we mobilize our nation's armies of compassion to help the poor, the sick, and those who hurt." Faith-based institutions change hearts every day, but the government has discriminated against faith-based programs, he said. "That's why I signed an executive order that said that faith groups providing social services are entitled to the same access to federal money as other groups."

Bush said billions of dollars had been made available to faith-based
groups, citing a $5.8 million grant to College Park Baptist Church in
Orlando, Fla., to build 68 homes for low-income seniors.

"Faith based groups should never have to forfeit their religious liberty to get federal dollars," he said. "We want your help, we want your love, but at the same time you do not have to forget the mission of faith or ignore the mission of faith that calls you to action in the first place."

"Southern Baptists are the soldiers in the armies of compassion at home and abroad," Bush said. He noted Southern Baptists' emphasis on sexual abstinence, which is credited with helping Uganda reduce HIV rates, and touted a recent $674 million government grant to provide emergency assistance in Africa.

"Service to others is a Baptist tradition," Bush said. "As you work to
feed the hungry and provide shelter for the homeless, you are changing
America and the world for the better -- one heart, one soul, and one
conscience at a time."

Messengers responded with a lengthy standing ovation.

They followed up Bush's speech with a "God and country" observance that included patriotic music and a pledge to the American flag.

Let me know what you guys think.

the cat pee papers

This is not the title of the next great mystery novel. Oh no. This is the result of a particular feline and his inability to figure out how to turn around in a litter box.

Mike, the ever-cute dolt that he is, cannot figure out how to use the new covered litter box. He steps in, squats and leaves. He does not turn around. Instead, his butt hangs outside the litterbox. He is cute. He is not bright. The other two cats have it all figured out. And they too are insulted by the cat pee that does not make its way into the litter box where it belongs.

Mike is unpopular in our house and I am glad that I keep the majority of my writing backed up on disk.

Ew.

a sacramental baptist?

I have been working through some of the Baptist literature on the eucharist and sacramental theology. Molly Marshal (pdf) has some good stuff that she has released recently in Joining the Dance: A Theology of the Spirit. I want to share what I found. Read on, MacDuff!

Zwingli

Baptists have focused mainly on anamnesis - remembring Jesus in a memorial meal - following the instruction of 1 Corinthians 11:23-26. We have thought of this remembrance as a cognative activity of bringing to memory Christ's death for us. The draping of the table often has connoted a funeral image: his body laid out before the congregation, whose chief action in the meal is to be somber. Laurence Hull Stookey reminds us that there is a lot more to remembring: it is not mental recall, but doing the meal. (p. 85)

It is good to know that I am not the only one who made this same connection after reading Stookey's Eucharist. I remember the day in Ruth's liturgy class when this dawned on me. Incredible.

Marshall continues to muse of the common meal and what it means to recognise Christ. For her, this is the opposite of simple re-cognition or recollection. She points us to the gospel and Acts accounts of recognising Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit: Mk. 16:14-18, Lk. 24:13-53, Jn. 21, and Acts 1:4-5. She wants us to pay special attention to the Luke narrative. For Marshall, the experience of the hearts of the disciples' burning is a reflection of Moses and the experience of the burning bush. This may be a stretch, but what she is attempting to underscore is the understanding of the present of the Spirit being that of flame. Pentecost certainly comes to mind here. The burning of understanding and recognition is suggested by the disciples as affirming the presense of Christ in the midst of a shared meal.

Marshall also states that the presense of the Messiah heals blindness. In the case of the Luke passage, spiritual blindness. This is a reminder of the healing nature and acts of Jesus. It is a promised parallel healing. They believed the Messiah to be dead, but through healing the spiritual blindness, they are made aware by the Spirit ("burning in our hearts") that Christ is indeed alive.

Her final statement about Luke's narrative is the one I like most. In the breaking of the bread, it is "only be the Spirit do we recognize the risen Christ." Once our sense come to light, Christ vanishes. This is to suggest strongly that "rational congnition will not suffice." I think this is a wonderful was to contradict the prevailing Baptist theologies about the presense of the risen Lord (read: Zwinglianism). As a Baptist, Marshall wants to reside in scripture. It is the only way she can argue with any authority that a sacramental undestanding of the eucharist is appropriate. No patristic argument will help her. No extra-scriptural sourse will suffice. Thus, by leaning heavily on this tale of the Risen Lord, the spiritual blindness of the disciples, and their fleeting recognituion of Christ, she can begin to challenge the prevailing cognative approach in Baptist eucharistic theology.

She also plays the experience card well. "Our experience in Communion is like that of those who journeyed to Emmaus. The concrete practice is what brought about spiritual recognition. The ritual recollection brings about spiritual remembrance...the re-entering the moment in the Upper Room. For Marshall, the continuing practice of the rite throughout the ages is a strong argument for the continuing and constant presense of the Risen Lord in the meal. The shared experience of God in the midst of the gathered for two thousand years affirms the truth of the scriptural account. Experience matters.

She continues with several more significant ideas that I really don't have the time to go into right now, but I'll throw them in your general direction:

1. At the meal, Christ is within us by virtue of our conversion.
2. At the meal, Chirst is "in our collective midst."
3. "It is the Spirit who re-members the baptized as the Body of Christ." This, again, is anamnesis. Though it is Marshall's more accurate reclaiming of anamnesis than the hyper-cognative understanding that is so common within our tradition.

At times, we conduct the meal as if all the meaning depended upon our right action in how we prepare and serve and receive the elements. But our actions cannot make the practice a means of grace; rather we live into the reality of a self-giving God embodied in the feast spread before us.

It is important to pay close attention to this issue of right practice. For with this trouble that she mentions, we repeat the mis-practice that our tradition was attempting to reform. The eucharist is a gift. We respond to the presentation in the anamnesis that is the Lord's Supper. This responding is what keeps a neo-platonic dualism out of Marshall's theology. I must admit that when I read this chapter in the book there were times when I thought that Marshall was overly "spiritualizing" the meal. Calvin runs into some of the same difficulties as well. And Marshall mentions Calvin at the begining of the chapter. There is a certain "ambiguity," states Marshall, to the communion rite. The meal is, quoting Calvin, "in a matter present and in a manner absent." There is union with and through the Holy Spirit (synaxis in the Lord's Supper that embraces the whole church. The Body is physical and is knit together in the Spirt. It is made possible through the meal, our anamnesis and our praexis. This is liturgy, the work of the people.

The table calls us to justice. Marshall suggests that there is a connection between all other tables with the Table of the eucharist, with the eucharist Meal and all other meals. Who gathers with you at table or at Table? Who has nothing on their table? Do we recognise (remember?)our shared identity through the eucharist with them? In good southern fashion, Marshall reminds us that there are "table manners." There is a justice and a mercy proclaimed at the Table. This is reflected in the context of the struggles with the church in Corinth...and Paul's reason for reminding them why they gather at the Lord's Table.

This connection is clear and should not be brushed aside as some "liberal whitewashing." Marshall quotes Fred Craddock. There is a real hunger in the world - "a hunger beneath and behind all other hungers." The communuion meal is temporal, real. Christ's presense is real, temporal and eternal...and there are more than the two disciples who need feeding...there are more than the five thousand. The call and demand of the eucharist is relational - a response to the Spirit and a call from Christ to "go into the world proclaiming good news." But the news, as in the case of the church in Corinth, is not only for the poor.

It is not surprising that [we] do not really know what we hunger for - our market-driven culture weaves a web of seduction. "Consume" is the categorical imperative of our day; meaning has been reduced to economy. And we buy and eat, and eat and buy...and still we hunger. It is never enough, for it is perishable bread. Only the bread of life, Jesus, can fill us as we commune with him in the meal...The Spirit helps us discern our true hunger (our hearts burned) and nourishes us in the common meal, where Christ always meets us. We hunger for belinging, a place of welcome. We hunger for intimacy, to offer ourselves to someone who will receive us, who will know us to our depths and delight in us. These things Christ does, though our brothers and sisters who are brought into union through the Spirit. (p. 87)

She refers us to John 6:24-34 as a guide to understanding this.

Finally, Marshall sounds a little like Aquinas when she summarizes that the presens eo fteh SPirit in the eucharistic meal is continually "rebirthing" us as we were reborn at our baptism. Our identity is birthed in the Holy Spirit. The eucharist is a vehicle for such grace.

two minutes

Susie says that dinner will be ready in two minutes. I am having risotto with Susie and Luke tonight. There will most likely be a movie involved.

I have been thinking of blogging about some political issues that have been on my mind lately. I have been hesitating because once one set of statistics come out they are offset by another, contradicing set of statistics. I simply cannot keep it all in my head. But lately I have been thinking that perhaps it does not matter so much that I be right all the time about these things. I need to speak and let the conversation sift out the facts.

What do you all think? Should I start throwing some political issues out there?

interesting news

This is some interesting news regarding the current Anglican/Baptist dialogue. It is not a good article...well, it does not get into the nitty gritty of the conversation. I think I will be in touch with these people again. I occasionally email the Baptist representatives from the WCC. I hope I don't annoy them, but they are providing much of the theological underpinnings of our work at Reconciler.

It is good news.

Thanks to Jane Ellen for the information.

Anglicans and Baptists show way forward in co-operation

The Anglican Communion and the Baptist World Alliance will publish an account of five years of innovative dialogue later this month.

Conversations Around the World offers its readers the chance to share in a "deeply serious, yet joyous, enterprise". The book is an account of conversations between Anglicans and Baptists across the world, conversations that covered the entire spectrum of Christian faith, comparing and contrasting how the two traditions approach their Christian discipleship. It describes the many ways in which the two denominations share a common mission, a common witness to Christ.

Conversations Around the World is the fruit of five years of unique and hopeful ecumenical process. In order to ensure the inclusion of Christian voices from every continent, dialogue participants were appointed from within each of the six regions where the meetings were held. Only a small 'Continuation Committee' -- under the chairmanship of Paul Fiddes (Baptist, Lecturer in Divinity, University of Oxford) and Bruce Matthews (Anglican, Professor of Comparative Religion, Wolfville University, Nova Scotia) --attended all of the meetings. In this way, a variety of cultural contexts were taken into account. Each regional group was aware of the discussions of previous groups,but was free to contribute its own concerns and insights regarding the issues under consideration. At the conclusion of the series of discussions, all participants received a draft final report for comment, and for confirmation that the many regional voices had been properly considered.

This new approach to ecumenical dialogue was enriching and inspiring. While differences remain, the two traditions are "surprisingly close" on many fundamental theological issues and have a great potential for practical collaboration. Remarkably, within the context of these discussions, even divergences between the traditions were not seen as hopeless barriers of division, but as encouraging signs of Christian devotion and faithfulness.

"They discovered that Anglicans and Baptists have a great deal in common, and much to celebrate", said Canon Gregory Cameron, Director of Ecumenical Affairs at the Anglican Communion Office in London, UK. "In both traditions we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord, and this fact calls us into closer relationship. The work represented by this book gives an example of how Christians of different denominations can seek to understand each other and work more closely together."

The book will be launched at a Reception on Friday, 24th June, during the meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council in Nottingham, the United Kingdom. Media and representatives of the two traditions are asked to contact Robert Bergner at obert.bergner@anglicancommunion.org if they would like to be present.

smite...

I appreciate the well-wishing. I do. Thanks.

I emailed a friend about the refusal to fund the proposed position and he suggested something that made me laugh out loud.

Sorry to hear about your grant. That truly sucks. Can't you have God smite somebody? Nothing too horrific mind you. Maybe a rash or bad hair cut.

Ah, would that this were possible. I imagine that the Pastoral Care Department would never have a budget crisis.

"You want to trim the budget where? The last time a CEO tried that his car turned into a field of pansies and his wife took up bird watching...in Estonia! We don't mess with the chaplains. Let's see if radiology really needs that third MRI machine."

Yeah, something like that would be fun.

In other news, OotG has a gig this Saturday evening at the Small Bar. I hope you can all come. The gig this past Sunday at the Andersonville Midsummerfest went well. I was sad to have missed it, but maybe we can play again next year. In the mean, come this Saturday. We will go on at about 10:00pm.

mission and ministry consultation statement

Here is some more about how the ABC is wrestling.

American Baptist Churches USA
MISSION & MINISTRY CONSULTATION STATEMENT
June 8-9, 2005

We unapologetically celebrate our identity as American Baptist Churches USA. As a people yearning to be centered in Christ, we are eager to move forward with the exciting mission that God has given to us. While we lament and grieve the splintering that has occurred within our denomination, we must not yield to a loss of vision, mutually destructive attitudes and actions, and an increasing threat of division.

In 1992, the General Board adopted the following statement: “The practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.” In 1993, the General Board called for continuing dialogue on issues of human sexuality, and recognized that there is an ongoing difference of opinion among American Baptists on the issue of homosexuality. Today we have deep divisions around our understanding of biblical interpretation, human sinfulness, and the potential of ministering together. We further acknowledge that not all churches consider this issue to be central to mission and ministry.

During a 24-hour period of reflection and discernment on June 8-9, 2005, approximately 50 members of the American Baptist family came together from a wide geographical and theological spectrum. We celebrated our denominational priority of mission and ministry. We affirmed the vision drafted at the Seek It! Summit of June 2004, trusting in the wisdom of the gathered community under the guidance of the Spirit:

The heart of the gospel is God’s redemptive love. In our life together, the world will see the power of forgiveness to overcome alienation, the strength of love to transform hate, the power of grace to break the bonds of guilt, the triumph of hope over despair, and the victory of faith over doubt.

We affirm the new horizon that God set before us when we called Dr. A. Roy Medley to a pastoral and prophetic ministry as our General Secretary in 2001. We share his vision that American Baptists can be instruments of reconciliation through the cross of Christ that creates a new humanity in a world of increasingly hostile divides (2 Cor 5:17ff). We are grateful for the momentum in mission and ministry that God has brought among us through new churches, baptisms, nurturing of ministerial leadership, strengthened partnerships in global mission, and revitalized and transformed congregations.

We give thanks for our historical biblical commitment to congregational freedom in Christ to wrestle with challenging issues of ministry in our contemporary world. Within the local church, believers work together to discern faithfully the biblical witness on the issues that divide us. This congregational principle should always be linked to striving for the unity of the whole Body of Christ. We understand our mission as articulated by the statement of the Seek It! Summit:

Through the cross of Christ we embrace the world as neighbor. Our vision for mission energizes a multitude of servant ministries of evangelism, discipleship, leadership, new church development, social justice, healing, peacemaking, economic development and education. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, we work together in mutual trust, humility, love, and giving that the gospel might be preached and lived in all the world.

We urge all members of our Baptist family to find a more excellent way through:

• Deliberate personal and communal prayer
• Careful Bible study
• Respectful discourse and dissent
• Commitment to maintain the bonds of love and the unity of the Spirit
• Repentance from our alienation from one another and from God
• Moving forward in mission and ministry

Let us together commit our lives in service and hope to radical discipleship in Christ Jesus.

May the love of God and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and participation in the Holy Spirit be with us all (2 Cor 13-14).

June 2005

bugger that

Well, I heard about the grant. No go.

There are lots of understandable reasons for why it did not go through but I am more disappointed than I can express. It is frustrating and maddening.

Anyone looking for a Baptist minister? I would like to stay in Chicago, but any town with a lively theater scene would be great.

home

I am back in Chicago. Virginia was great. I'll try to post about the trip later. Suffice it to say that Adam and Jen are married. The country music Trish and I had to sing at their service was not the end of me.

Oh, and someone invited me to come to Dr Falwell's church and speak.

Honest.

I am not lying.

I'll explain later.

Oh, and to add to the confusion, Beth pointed me to this test. How? Why? Can it be?

You scored as Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan. You are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God's grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavly by John Wesley and the Methodists. Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 93% Roman Catholic 71% Emergent/Postmodern 64% Neo orthodox 61% Classical Liberal 50% Modern Liberal 50% Charismatic/Pentecostal 46% Reformed Evangelical 43% Fundamentalist 39% What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

posting hiatus?

Hey.

I will be in Virginia the next several days. I am not sure I will have access to the internet during that time. My brother-in-law is getting married. This is good news. And my mother has recently moved to a new city. This too is good news.

The potentially difficult part of all this good news is that my mother has moved within 25 miles of my in-laws. They are all lovely people, but wow. The world just became very small for me.

See y'all around.

god's willingness

Wow.

I found out this morning that the grant committee will meet Friday to approve (or not) the grant for the Trauma Fellowship. I should know one way or another some time next week.

Did I mention that I am leaving town Friday to go to Virginia to see my brother-in-law get married. Trish and I are singing in the wedding. I will return Wednesday...and will be back in the hospital Thursday. Oy. Waiting is quickly becoming a skill of mine.

Keep all in your prayers...a good marriage, a happy family and gainful employment.

May they all be God's will.

god grant thee rest

This is from the obituary.

Dr. Rhodenhiser, professor emeritus and former chairman of the department of religion at the University of Richmond, died of pulmonary problems Friday in a local hospital. He was 83.

I graduated the year he retired. I took three classes from Rhody. He was gentle, kind and smarter than most people. I think he used text books in two of the classes I took from him all with the caveat that they were for us, so that we felt like we were learning something. He tought without notes, from memory. This meant that we could get away with a lot. We would read the NY Times in class, pass the crossword puzzle around. We were idiots.

Of all the classes I took in college, I remember more and use more from the classes I took with him. From Rhody I learned obedience to a call, honesty, curiosity and respect for things and people I do not understand. I also was able to read the Upanishads and get an intro into contemplative prayer. He was a most unusual Baptist.

My father and I spoke of him this past Sunday. Daddy had him for classes as well and had the same things to say.

Thank you, Professor. Well done, good and faithful servant.

During the 1970s, Dr. Oscar William Rhodenhiser widened the spiritual and cultural understanding of college students, laymen and clergy members with his teachings in contemporary Hinduism.

He had lived in India for a time and studied under a guru, said his longtime colleague at the University of Richmond, Dr. Philip R. Hart. What he brought back to his classroom and to teach in churches and groups in Richmond was typical of his penchant to push students to a wider view of life.

Dr. Rhodenhiser, professor emeritus and former chairman of the department of religion at the University of Richmond, died of pulmonary problems Friday in a local hospital. He was 83.

A memorial service will be held Tuesday at 2 p.m. at Grace Baptist Church, 2400 Dover Road.

A Stonega native, he earned a bachelor's degree at the University of Richmond, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa honorary scholarship society, and a doctorate in theology from Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, Ky.

He became assistant professor of Bible at the University of Richmond in 1955 and was promoted to associate professor of Bible in 1959. He became a full professor in 1967.

Dr. Rhodenhiser was named George and Sallie Cutchin Camp Professor of Bible and also to the Solon B. Cousins Chair of Religion at the school in 1988. He retired in 1992.

"My father was an adventurer," said his daughter, Ann Verlander of Kiln, Miss. "He liked to travel. He invited international students to our house for meals and got to know them and invited them back."

In addition to his many years as a religion professor, he served as pastor of Baptist churches in Kentucky, Virginia and North Carolina and had served more than 20 interim pastorates.

Survivors include his wife of 58 years, Nancye Haymes Rhodenhiser; two sons, William Rhodenhiser of Richmond and James Rhodenhiser of Ann Arbor, Mich.; another daughter, Linda Rhodenhiser of Richmond; a brother, Robert Rhodenhiser of High Point, N.C. ; and nine grandchildren. link

summer reading?

Cliff posted about a suggested reading list. He states: "Human Events Online, two years ago, contacted twenty-eight scholars to ask them what ten books every college student should read. They explain the weighting given to the compiled lists, and the rationale for each book." Cliff has everything hyperlinked. I am too lazy to do that now, but the list is interesting.

1. The Bible
2. Alexander Hamilton, et al, The Federalist Papers
3. Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America
4. Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy
5. Plato, The Republic
6. Aristotle, The Politics
7. (tie) Aristotle, Nicomachaean Ethics
8. (tie) St. Augustine, City of God
9. St. Augustine, Confessions
10. Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France

And here are the honorable mentions, according to ranking:

• Natural Right and History by Leo Strauss
• The Conservative Mind by Russell Kirk
• A New Birth of Freedom: Abraham Lincoln and the Coming of the Civil War by Harry V. Jaffa
• Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
• The Illiad by Homer
• King Lear by William Shakespeare
• The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis
• Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton
• Aeneid by Virgil
• Hamlet by William Shakespeare
• Modern Times by Paul Johnson
• Oedipus Trilogy by Sophocles
• Ideas Have Consequences by Richard Weaver
• Idea of a University by John Henry Newman
• The Road to Serfdom by Friedrich von Hayek
• Animal Farm by George Orwell
• Gorgias by Plato
• A Humane Economy by Wilhelm Roepke
• The Public Philosophy by Walter Lippman
• The Roots of American Order by Russell Kirk

Here is what I read from the list.

The Bible

The Illiad by Homer - some in the original Greek

Aeneid by Virgil - some in the original Latin

Hamlet by William Shakespeare - also read in High School

Oedipus Trilogy by Sophocles

Animal Farm by George Orwell - also read in High School

I went to a good school, was a religion major and did all the reading assigned to me in college (that did not interfere with my always-exciting social life). How about you all? Are there teachers out there who would ammend this list?

Also, I think it important to mention that these are not necessarily the books these people actually get to teach or students get to read.

I also read The Mayor of Casterbridge in all of its Thomas Hardy happiness. Please don't make me read it again.

telewhat?

"Self care" is a term that we toss around a lot in clergy circles of late. The previous post mentioned pastoral care to pastors. That concern is part of the whole "self care" phenom. We are speaking about it in churches, seminaries and in the hospital. It is All Important right now.

I met with my Supervisor today and we spoke about it. I came away from our meeting with this thought.

Self care is teleological.

from the alban institute

What Congregations Need from Middle Judicatories

From Transforming Congregations for the Future by Loren B. Mead

Congregations need help when they get into trouble. Middle judicatories need to develop a capacity to help congregations clarify what's at the bottom of the trouble and work out a strategy for dealing with it. The middle judicatory does not need to be able to solve the problems.

Congregations need to be left alone. For the most part, when congregations are not actively asking for help, middle judicatories need to leave them alone. Most congregations have programs in place and energy harnessed to their tasks. Most congregations have a pretty good working relationship with their pastors. The point here is that middle judicatories need to operate strategically in terms of their primary task--strengthening the congregations within its bounds.

Congregations need to be jacked up when they are off base. Congregations need somebody to hold them accountable (which is different from calling the shots). The middle judicatory needs to get involved, ask questions, and if necessary put congregations on the defensive and make them think about what they are doing.

Congregations need pastoral care. Congregations need grief-care when facing the loss of a pastor or key lay leader, when the building burns down or is flooded--as well as needing someone to be there in the moments of celebration and the marking of milestones.

Congregations need pastoral care for their pastors. The pastoral care needed from middle judicatories is the kind that make people the first class professional leaders they intend to be. Middle judicatories need to be aware of the heavy stresses and try to make resources available for the clergyperson temporarily overwhelmed, seriously depressed, or ill. But they need to exercise a bias toward health, giving clergy additional challenges and resources, not sympathy.

Congregations need help with leadership development. The most serious gap is in the inadequate training support middle judicatories give when clergy and lay leaders are starting up a new leadership team. A lesser opportunity is available every year when new board members are selected for the congregation; every such change is an opportunity for new team building for the congregational leadership. Middle judicatory executives need to push congregations to act on these needs.

Congregations need technical assistance. Basic planning skills and knowledge about how institutions work are important for congregations in changing times. Congregations often also need help from outside to understand what is going on in the world in which they minister.

Congregations need a sense of their place in a larger mission. Too many congregations get locked into the local sense of mission with such enthusiasm that they turn their backs on needs beyond their boundaries. The middle judicatory has a special responsibility to help the congregation widen the horizon for mission.

Congregations need someone who listens and listens and listens. The most important thing a congregation may need is somebody outside who just listens and pays attention.

Excerpted from Loren Mead, Transforming Congregations for the Future (Alban Institute, 1994). For a further exploration of these needs and other challenges for middle judicatories, including case studies of effective leadership, see Gil Rendle, Finding the Path in the Wilderness: Middle Judicatory Case Studies and Learnings (Alban Institute, 2001).

world council of churches address

The ABC General Secretary had something to share at the recent WCC gathering.

“Baptists tend to avoid over-defining themselves with reference to the creedal statements of the historic Christian faith though acknowledging and taking their full place within that trad