Theological shift

Mar 262010
 

My recent musings on Emerging Church have also been getting me thinking about some of the theological underpinnings of EC and, to a degree, traditional church. At the moment I’m still trying to get them straight in my head and one mechanism for me to do that is to do a bit of a brain-dump on here. That’s really just to serve as a warning that this particular blog post is probably going to be even more incoherent than usual and will almost certainly present a point of view which is far from fixed and will need considerable refinement.

It has also been prompted by a couple of questions from Scott, and in particular his most recent question about some of the underlying assumptions we make when ‘doing mission’. So, in no particular order, some thoughts on theology (and more to follow in subsequent posts).

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Coming up for air

Feb 082010
 

I’ve not blogged much recently simply because I’ve been pretty busy. I know I owe Scott a post about my own theological stance but that’s going to have to wait a bit longer as well.

I finally got the first of my research essays handed in last week. Late, but accepted, after a slight misunderstanding over due dates (and how ‘fixed’ they were). A week past Sunday I was preaching and Sunday past I was taking the entire service. So I’ve had little time to focus on reflection and even less to blog my thoughts.

I’m also in the middle of preparing the devotional slot for Wednesday’s MTN and was exceedingly grateful for the distraction of Dorothy’s blog post here which fitted very nicely with where my thoughts were headed.

But I didn’t want to witter on about how busy I am and go for the sympathy vote. I wanted to blog something that is more of a reminder to myself than a full-on, warts-and-all description and reflection.

Yesterday evening was the monthly evening service in my placement church and the theme for the evening was “Sing a new song”. It was an opportunity to learn a few new songs which would be getting done over Lent and Easter. It was in part my fault. Whenever I send a list of suggestions for hymns each week, invariably there are a few (many) which aren’t known. So it was decided that it would be a good time to expand the repertoire a little.

Let’s just say that reactions were mixed (but generally favourable) but the way the service was done was a masterclass in the art of the  ‘ gracious and gentle rebuke’. Sort of like being pummelled by a giant, soft pillow, but one that weighed a ton so that you knew when it landed on on you.

I know that hymns can be an especially emotive subject with people and I do sympathise. I have ranted about it before (can’t remember if I’ve ever blogged about it though). Communal singing is one of the few times when the congregation gets to participate directly and actively in worship and I get very annoyed when that opportunity is compromised through inaccessible hymn tunes and words or overly complex arrangements which only the trained choir can do justice to.

But anyway, there will be a few new tunes over Lent and Easter, and we may even do them several times just to be sure they stick.

One church

Jan 122010
 

I’ve been working through some reading for my first research essay and it’s starting to take shape in my head. Just need it to start taking shape on paper now. Anyway, it’s part of my overall investigations into the theology of emerging church (my research direction wandered off at a tangent and is now heading in a somewhat different direction from its original intent). This initial research subject is about ‘unity’. Its direction is somewhat set by having to consider the topic with more than a passing nod to Barth (as I opted to do the Barth course for credit rather than audit it). But that’s not a problem. Barth has more than enough to say on the subject of church unity.

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Challenging words

Nov 252009
 

The last ‘proper’ Barth class was today and, whilst the readings have often been heavy going, their challenge to faith and theology is very clear. There have been many quotable parts, but my particular favourite came with the readings for today. From Church Dogmatics IV/3, the context is Barth challenging how the church (or more accurately, the faith community) sees itself in the world. He has already challenged the notion that the faith community must hold itself apart from the world. Rather is must be utterly ‘for’ the world whilst holding on to its distinctiveness (holiness). Anyway, on the back of that comes an enormously challenging section on what being ‘for’ the world, and having solidarity with the world, means. He says:

Solidarity with the world means that those who are genuinely pious approach the children of the world as such, that those who are genuinely righteous are not ashamed to sit down with the unrighteous as friends, that those who are genuinely wise do not hesitate to seem to be fools among fools, and that those who are genuinely holy are not too good or irreproachable to go down “into hell” in a very secular fashion.

Barth CD IV/3, p774

I like Barth

Nov 122009
 

Not Simpson (Though him as well), but Karl Barth. I’m even beginning to regret avoiding his theology for my four years as an undergrad (although the truth is that at New College, it’s impossible to avoid Barth if you do any systematics courses). Why do I like him? Because when he writes, you get the impression he’s still working stuff out and it’s the act of getting it on paper that helps it coalesce.

Today’s class was a starter on Barth’s ecclesiology and it focused on the creedal statement, “I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic church.” That was interesting enough and, in fact, inspired my likely essay for the course. But what was fascinating was a section on who was a ‘true’ Christian. There was the very thorough consideration of all the possible ‘marks’ of a true Christian and ultimately Barth’s deliberations seemed to come down to – “we don’t know”. And his advice? Get on with being a ‘true’ Christian yourself and just assume everyone else you’re concerned about is as well.

He had pretty much the same to say about church disunity. Having utterly savaged the ‘scandal’ of church division he concludes, pretty much, the same sort of thing. As a community of believers, get on with being just that and worry more about your witness to non-believers than trying to get other churches ‘back on track’.

Barth obviously used considerably more words to say that than I have, but it was his way of covering all the possible ‘get-out’ clauses and excuses. It’s fascinating to read a theologian who almost seems happy to stop at the ‘I don’t know’ place and to practically hear his thoughts as he struggles with the implications of where his ideas are going.

A day in Leuven

Aug 202009
 

Yesterday (Wednesday), I was visiting the university town of Leuven to grab some books from Peeter’s bookshop. I also took the opportunity to have a wander round the historic place and see some of the sights. It was, in many respects, not unlike many of the other historic towns or cities in Belgium and has the Grote Markt as its focal point. There was the usual Stadhuis and loads of cafes and bars. Continue reading »

Deja vu

Aug 042009
 

One of the things you notice when you visit people is that you will often hear the same stories on subsequent visits. With many people you’ll get a ‘but I’ve told you this before’ comment, but what happens when it’s someone whose memory isn’t what it once was? My supervisor asked me the question a while ago about whether such visits continue to have value or whether there is better use of a minister’s time. It’s especially pertinent when the person visited has little or no recollection of you even having visited previously. It may sound a little callous but it’s a legitimate question (and especially when time pressures come to bear).

I’m not sure I have any kind of answer and I expect that whatever thoughts I have now will almost certainly change when the reality of ministry hits. I believe that stories are important. They define, in many ways, who we are. They are our condensed memory of an event, an experience or a relationship. They are coloured by our prejudice and edited by our ego. But they are important to us and telling them to others allows our stories (and ourselves) to have a place in a bigger story. By hearing stories we give a sense of value and worth to the teller. By bringing their story into our story we grow our own story and allow it to grow and change. And of course, by integrating our story, and the stories we hear, into the ongoing ‘narrative’ we have with God and our faith, then we also grow. And, of course, we have an example in Jesus who ‘unravelled’ people’s stories and opened them up to allow the gospel to become part of their story.

So, when we visit and hear a story, we continue to affirm the life of a person, the importance of their story and their continuing place in the broader story of the church family. When we hear the same story over and over again it may try our patience and we may doubt the use of our time, but it is a way of showing we value the person who is a loved creation of God.

All well and good, but can the reality be sustained in ‘real ministry’?

Well, that was different

Jul 122009
 

Today, after the morning service, I stayed on to sit in on the afternoon service that takes place in the church hall. It’s a regular event, every Sunday, but it is most definitely not something I have ever experienced – a worship service by an African church (Ghanaian, specifically). Yes we (Caroline was with me) stuck out like a sore thumb, being the only white faces, but we were made welcome and everything was translated so we could follow (not sure it that’s the norm or if it was for our benefit). It was loud, cheery, somewhat chaotic, very scripture-led, with lots of prayer and lots of dancing and lots of ‘participation’. It wasn’t charismatic, but there were lots of hallelujahs and amens and when prayers were being led, basically everyone joined in with their own. The message was very good (an underlying current of liberation theology, if one wanted to be academic about it) and was delivered well and with passion.

We actually arrived part way into the opening Bible study. A passage had been read and was now being discussed (by the congregation). The topic in question was the ‘headship’ of a husband over his wife, modelled by Christ’s headship of the Church. ‘Reverend Andrew’ was spotted and invited to contribute to the discussion. It was obviously well received given the number of amens he was getting. Andrew then introduced me as a theology student and I was invited to speak. Now, it was clear from the earlier discussion that ‘complementarianism’ was the order of the day. But I’m more of an ‘egalitarian’, with a leaning towards using the gifts each is given with no privileging of either gender for specific tasks. Anyway, I fudged and my score of amens definitely didn’t match Andrew’s. It was, however, an interesting challenge to come up with something off the cuff.

The Bible study was followed by music (loud) and prayer (everyone joins in) then the Bible readings, then the sermon (delivered by a woman, despite the earlier discussion). So, in a sense, it wasn’t hugely different to any other service I might have been to, just that it had a very particular cultural slant. Oh yes – there was also the dancing down the aisle to drop your offering in the box. Then there was the time of testimony and singing happy birthday to a couple of Sunday school members (did you know there were 4 verses that could be sung to Happy Birthday?). Then more prayer and music (at which time we made our excuses and left). Apparently it’s not unusual for it to go on until after 6 (having started at around 2.30).

Definitely worth going to. I didn’t feel at all uncomfortable (we were, as I say, made very welcome). Not sure me ears could have held out for the full service though.

Memories

Jul 092009
 

A topic has popped up a couple of times in conversation in the last few days – the question of ‘memory’ in the context of a congregation.

The congregations in the Presbytery of Europe (in common with many of the other non-indigenous churches) tend to have a fairly high turnover of people. This can present many challenges, but one that has been mentioned by a couple of people on recent visits is that of ‘congregational memory’. Most, probably all, Scottish churches have a handful of ‘memory-keepers’. The people who remember the last time something was tried and it didn’t work, or the obscure reason why something has always been done a particular way, or the reason that the awkwardly-positioned piece of furniture is where it is is because old (and long-departed) Mr X liked it there. Continue reading »

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