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The Next Big Thing for Christianity
Prophets The prophets of the Old Testament were gifted at knowing what was about to happen. But not so gifted at predicting the future. The difference between the two is simple to parse. Given the environment and knowledge of the world, culture, and the divine dream, they did an astounding job of knowing what would…
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Emergence Is Not a Fad
Using Words We have a communication problem in the church. About change, tradition, our existing culture. We struggle to understand each other when we talk about our liturgy and our patterns of worship and our expectations of leadership. We argue that we want our church to have a more engaged role in the community, but…
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Telling Secrets: “…Another World Is Possible.”
Elizabeth Kaeton preached the quintessential Advent 4 sermon–about Occupy Wall Street. Amazing! This has me moved to see a simple idea. Head on over, read it, and then reflect over that picture of Bishop Packard for a moment. When you are done, come back and ask yourself the following question: What if, in the midst…
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Forward living or backward obsessing?
My brain is intent on proving me wrong. More than a decade ago, when my two closest friends were living in East Lansing, I moved down to join them. Having only visited the apartment once or twice, and not knowing the area very well, I was confident that I knew the way to get there;…
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On Ecclesiology: Leadership, Emergence, and #Occupy
In the Premodern world, humanity was led by “the divine right of kings,” in other words, authority was bestowed upon a singular human authority from a divine source. In the Modern world, humanity was led by singular representation. Authority was bestowed on an individual to represent the people, either through fiat or election. The Enlightenment…
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Occupy Wall Street’s collective statement
For those following #OccupyWallStreet, click on their first collective statement. One of the criticisms of the movement has been their lack of central authority and a clear, concise statement of demands. What is unique to this movement, and more typical of organizations today, rather than 50 years ago, is the belief that the first step toward…
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The Nines: at a conference in my office
This morning, the free conference known as The Nines will start. For more information about it, including how to register), see my previous post. I’ll be updating this post throughout the day with some of the highlights and questions that come out of it, so check back later. 12:24 pm: I just got home a few…