some thoughts on preaching

I just finished reading Dan Kimball’s The Emerging Church: vintage christianity for new generations. It’s one of those books that has been on my shelf for some time. I’m wishing it hadn’t taken me so long to get around to it! I don’t agree with all of what Kimball suggests, but I think he has some great points about the challenges for Christianity in reaching “new generations”.

I especially found his chapter on “preaching without words” interesting. Among the points that Kimball makes are these:

• While a more modern/traditional mindset moves through a faith process of FACTS influencing BELIEF which influences BEHAVIOR, Kimball suggests that in post-modern/emerging cultures the faith process shift looks much more like EXPERIENCE influencing BEHAVIOR which in turn influences BELIEF. Acknowledging that change means that we need to rethink the ways we seek to communicate the message of the gospel. Kimball concludes that we can no longer assume that the spoken word – in a 20 minute message - is what impacts people the most. “Art preaches, Scripture preaches, Music preaches, Even silence preaches”, says Kimball.

I’m wondering what our worship service would be like if we followed a model that saw EXPERIENCE and BEHAVIOR preceding BELIEF?

• Kimball says that for emerging cultures there should be an importance placed on developing a culture which encourage questions and thinking. In the emerging church, he says, we need to “cultivate a culture that allows dialogue. The church needs to “learn to ‘struggle with the scriptures’ through the example of midrash” that allows for thinking through scripture using a variety of interpretations.

I’m wondering what our worship service would be like if we not only allowed but actively promoted questions, dialogue, and doubt instead of blind obedience or unthinking acquiescence to a set of beliefs?

• Finally, Kimball maintains that emerging churches are more comfortable with an image of the “preacher as shepherd and fellow journeyer instead of a message giver and problem solver”

I’m wondering what our worship service would be like if we preachers would be vulnerable enough to allow ourselves to be experienced as co-journeyers rather than the ones who have the answers?

more thoughts on discipleship and the church

Last week my blog post referenced the Iowa United Methodist School for Ministry event and some of my thoughts about two of the speakers, their comments on acts of service and small group discipleship, and how those relate – or often don’t relate – to our understanding of Church and worship.

On her blog “Salvaged Faith”, Katie Z. writes this week about “making members, making disciples”. Katie’s ponderings about how and where we often define discipleship happening is well worth taking a look at. You can follow Katie's blog at (http://salvagedfaith.blogspot.com/.

acts of service & acts of worship

Two of the speakers at the at Iowa Conference School for Ministry got me thinking today about faith formation, worship, service and the ways that they are connected.

• Taylor Burton-Edwards says that for 1500 years it was small groups – things like John Wesley’s Societies - NOT congregations where faith development most effectively occurred.
• Melissa Rudolph reminded us that acts of service are what inspires this generation to seek a higher purpose. They may most likely not come to faith through the door of worship, but through the door of service.

A recent article in USA Today (http://www.usatoday.com/news/sharing/2009-04-13-millenial_N.htm) connects with this as well. The article is about the upsurge in civic involvement among the Millennial Generation. It makes the case that the young people in the under 25 age category are the most civic minded generation in the last 80 or so years.

So, as I’m trying to put these pieces together I’m intrigued by one of the main topics of conversation on the USA Today discussion board about whether mandatory volunteerism is a good or bad thing. And I’m wondering, does it…

• force people to volunteer, and therefore may not be of lasting value past the requirement of their school years
• provide a structure to what is a deep held longing to live out their desire to make a difference in the world
• model civic participation that will create a lifestyle of service

Not sure what to do with any of this today. I’m wondering about doors of service and what it would mean for the Church if we saw this as an important avenue – maybe the most important avenue for younger generations - towards faith formation. Any thoughts?

new wine & old wineskins

I walked a labyrinth at 6:00 a.m. this morning from my kitchen table. I’m trying to be intentional each day during this Holy Week with a different Spiritual Practice. My original intention this morning was – maybe still will be – to find an accessible labyrinth that I could walk meditatively sometime later this week. While I was online trying to locate a labyrinth within an hour’s drive more or less of my home I came across several online labyrinths. I’d seen a couple of them before. I’d even “walked” a few at other times – or at least I had been a casual observer of them before, but this morning I fully engaged the experience of doing an online labyrinth walk. It was far more meaningful than I’d anticipated.

Doing a version of the very ancient practice of labyrinth walking through a technological adaptation unimagined even a few years ago got me thinking about the ancient-future worship model that often holds deep meaning with Postmoderns. I was reminded as well of a worship serve I attended with a few friends a couple years ago at Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church in Seattle where close to 500 mostly twenty-somethings each week gather for a 9:30 p.m. Compline service (http://www.complinechoir.org/) that is chanted almost entirely in Latin. There seems to be something very meaningful about practices that reach deep into our faith traditions and yet encourage us to live out those traditions in new and relevant ways.

I came across a quote about worship and worship practices this past weekend from Brian McLaren: “… we need to explore an alternative to (1) using symbols that make no sense to people and (2) getting rid of symbols: [we need to be] (3) using symbols and finding ways to make them enticing, attractive, and penetrable for people unfamiliar with them.”

So, on this afternoon of Holy Week I’m wondering what are some of the Spiritual Practices that you have found most meaningful on your faith journey. Do you resonate with ancient-future worship practices? What symbols of our faith could we make more “enticing, attractive and penetrable”?


For those wanting to explore further: A search of “online labyrinths” will provide lots of options. Four that I’ve found really helpful are:
(http://www.gratefulness.org/p/labyrinth.cfm)
(http://www.gracecathedral.org/labyrinth/interactions/index.shtml)
(http://www.labyrinthonline.com/)
(http://web.ukonline.co.uk/paradigm/)

What Do You want to BE?

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” is a question that probably all of us have been asked at some time. It’s also a question that we may also have asked a young person we know. Maybe it’s not such a bad question to ask these days given that young adults today seem to be more intentional than ever about connecting what they want to DO with how they want to BE. Two unintentionally related articles that appeared on the same Saturday this past weekend in The Des Moines Register got me thinking about careers and calling and the difference between “doing” something and “being” something.

“Young mayor feels he has made a difference” (http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090328/NEWS/903280325/-1/archive) is the story of Sam Juhl, now 21, who was first elected mayor of Roland, Iowa in 2005 at the age of 18. Although Juhl acknowledges that he isn’t clear about what career he will pursue in the future, you get the feeling that it will be one like his current role as mayor that will integrate his life’s work with his interest and passion around public service. Reflecting on his career as mayor, Juhl say, "In my little way, in Roland, I've made a difference."

The second article from last Saturday’s Des Moines Register , “You can be called to many careers besides seminary” http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090328/OPINION01/903280305/1035/archive is written by guest columnist Gustav Nelson, the director of Project 21, a program designed to identify and describe new models of congregational life for the 21st century. Nelson, a former executive presbyter of the Des Moines Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church USA, urges the Church to help members claim God’s calling in their careers instead of suggesting that a true calling is only lived out through a a career as a professional minister. Nelson writes that “The church today is operating on a pre-Reformation mode. It skips over the Reformation in urging members who feel called to ministry to enroll in seminary, instead of realizing that what they already are doing, even in tough times, may be what God has called them to do.”

So, what’s the difference between “doing” and being”? I think one way to get at the difference is to consider the root words behind “occupation” and “vocation” It may be telling that “occupation” come from the same root word as occupy – taking up space; while “vocation” comes from the same root word as “vocal” – to call or summon. What do you think? Do you feel like you’re taking up space in a job or have you been summoned to a career?

Unchristian: What a New Generation Things About Christianity...And Why It Matters

"Christianity has an image problem."

Last Sunday night I sat in our church sanctuary near the back. In front of me were 35 or so mostly grey-haired people listening to three grey-haired people who sang southern gospel music and shared about the “good ol’ songs” and “The Billy Graham Crusades”. I, on the other hand, sat in my pew subtly reading this week’s book—Unchristian, What a New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity. Admittedly, I didn’t get very far. But after the offering and the altar call, a lady came up to me and asked why more people my age didn’t come to things like this. “Well,” I said, “let me share with you something I’ve just been reading…”

This book came to me highly recommended—several people I trust suggested that Unchristian presented the reality of Christianity’s image problem among young adults. This especially struck home with me—given that most young adults I know are familiar with the Christian faith (most, in fact, had attended worship at some point) but either because of apathy or because of an incident with another Christian have chosen to live life outside the Church. And so when this book set out to help me “find out why these negative perceptions exist, learn how to reverse them in a Christlike manner, and discover practical examples of how Christians can positively contribute to culture,” I read on.

I appreciated the book was based on research from the Barna Group—examining the perceptions of young adults outside and inside the Church. David Kinnaman then described in real ways how Christians foster that perception and healthy, Biblical ways of approaching the issue from a new direction. Here are six top perceptions he addresses:

Hypocritical

Everyone in my church gave me advice about how to raise my son, but a lot of the time they seemed to be reminding me that I have no husband—and besides, most of them were not following their own advice. It made it hard to care what they said. They were not practicing what they preached. – Victoria, 24

PERCEPTION: Christians say one thing but live something entirely different.
NEW PERCEPTION: Christians are transparent about their flaws and act first, talk second.

Get Saved!

Christians are too concerned with converting people. They are insincere. All I ever hear is “Get saved!” I tried that whole “Jesus thing” already. It didn’t work for me before, and I am not interested now. – Shawn, 22

PERCEPTION: Christians are insincere and concerned only with converting others.
NEW PERCEPTION: Christians cultivate relationships and environments where others can be deeply transformed by God.

Antihomosexual

Many people in the gay community don’t seem to have issues with Jesus but rather with those claiming to represent him today. It’s very much an “us-versus-them” mentality, as if a war has been declared. Of course each side thinks the other fired the opening shot. – Peter, 34

PERCEPTION: Christians show contempt for gays and lesbians.
NEW PERCEPTION: Christians show compassion and love to all people, regardless of their lifestyle.

Sheltered

Christians enjoy being their own community. The more they seclude themselves, the less they can function in the real world. So many Christians are caught in the Christian “bubble.” – Jonathan, 22

PERCEPTION: Christians are boring, unintelligent, old-fashioned, and out of touch with reality.
NEW PERCEPTION: Christians are engaged, informed, and offer sophisticated responses to the issues people face.

Too Political

Twenty years ago, when I was looking at evangelical Christianity from the inside, it seemed like a movement bursting with energy to spread good news to people. Looking at it from the outside today, this message seems to have been lost in exchange for an aggressive political strategy that demonizes segments of society. – Brandon, 32

PERCEPTION: Christians are primarily motivated by a political agenda and promote right-wing politics.
NEW PERCEPTION: Christians are characterized by respecting people, thinking biblically, and finding solutions to complex issues.

Judgmental

Christians talk about hating sin and loving sinners, but the way they go about things, they might as well call it what it is. They hate the sin and the sinner. – Jeff, 25

PERCEPTION: Christians are prideful and quick to find faults in others.
NEW PERCEPTION: Christians show grace by finding the good in others and seeing their potential to be Christ followers.

Hypocritical, too concerned with conversion, antihomosexual, sheltered, too political, and judgmental—I have experienced every single one in my church, and I still have hope in the Christian faith. But I can certainly understand why people want to stay clear. But now I’m left to pondering how I can hold a mirror up to myself and others in the Church to work hard re-engage in a relevant way a new generation.

I welcome your thoughts… What do you make of Kinnaman’s list of perceptions? And how would you go about helping a church change its way of doing things in order to change our image in the world?
Peace,
rc

Map Ur YAM

Occasionally, I surf over to the GBOD's Young Adult Network. In case you've not discovered this hidden gem, check out their website or visit their Facebook page.

In my recent visit to the site, two things caught my eye. The first was three words near the top of the page--"discuss relate revolutionize". I do believe that every time I've been a part of the GBOD Young Adult conversations, I feel like I'm on the edge of a revolution. It takes a while for us young adults to move past our cynicism and distrust of the institution, but as we "discuss" and "relate", the energy builds, and I swear we're on our way to a revolution. There's a sense that nothing in this world can stop us. Anyways, the YANetwork is a great way to get connected with some of these YAs who want to take the world by storm.

The second thing that caught my eye was that only one YA Ministry was listed for Iowa. Despite all of the desparaging statements made about the state of Young Adult Ministry in Iowa, I kinda doubt that the only YA ministry is happening at Newton. I kid you not--http://www.yanetwork.org/groupmap.htm .

So here's my challenge. Submit your group to the YA Network--let's see what's going on around the state (just in case we really do want to start a revolution, we'll know who to call). And while you're there check out the rest of the YA Network!

Peace,
rc