Well, here we are in Holy Week, and the last time I posted was Ash Wednesday...
Life gets busy, does it not? So here's a run-down, in no particular order, of some interesting things I've read/studied/experienced this Lenten season.
Worked with Daniel and Rob on their weekly YouTube-video-in-anticipation-of-Sunday. Rob had the idea to do an overview of the various atonement models, and I begged them to please use Peeps (it's a real thing!). They agreed, bless them, and we had way too much fun with this. Entertaining, mildly irreverent, and even educational!
Heard Pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber speak at St. Matthew in Hanover, and read her book, Pastrix. She shared an excellent analogy that related to the rise of "nones" in the church. Her point was that people still want what the Church really has to offer - forgiveness of sins, grace, the Body of Christ, God's promised presence in Word and Sacrament - but the delivery method doesn't work anymore. It's as if we look around at the landscape in the U.S., notice that it's almost impossible to find a phone booth, conclude that people don't care about talking on the phone anymore, then want to know how we can redecorate our phone booth so that people will want to use it again. Of course sustaining relationships and communicating by talking on the phone is still important to people - so important that we all carry our phones with us all the time! Redecorating the phone booth isn't the answer. Re-imagining how communication happens in our lives is a more helpful lens to look through. And, re-imagining how church happens is an equally important starting point. It certainly gives me a lot to think about, especially during this season of being called to a new community of faith and ordained as their pastor.
Led the Ecumenical Lenten Prayer breakfast service at St. Luke and gave a short homily. The theme for Lent has been "Facing the Cross", and the day's theme was "Facing One Another." I chose Colossians 3:12-17, and, though I didn't think my audience would appreciate this connection, I was thinking all the while of my pals at Luther Springs and the summer that we would hold our hands up as bear claws in order to "bear with one another" (see Colossians 3:13).
Welcomed heartily the beginning of baseball season. Daniel and I have enjoyed watching the Pirates, and the other weekend drove down to a Baltimore Orioles game with a fantastic group of friends.
Traveled to Salisbury, NC, for a meeting with the ELCA Region 9 candidacy pilot project. It was wonderful to meet up with synod and Churchwide staff and candidacy committee members who care much about missional leadership, about the Body of Christ, and about the candidacy process and the people it's meant to serve.
Read Rachel Held Evans' Year of Biblical Womanhood, which was interesting and entertaining! I especially liked her conversation with her friend Ahava in Israel who explained how "the Proverbs 31 woman" has been understood in Judaism. Evans was struggling to live up to the "ideal woman" portrayed in Proverbs 31. She wasn't a morning person, couldn't afford to buy real estate, and was generally worn out from trying to live up to such a high standard (as part of her research for the book, and as a "good Christian woman"). But Ahava lent a new perspective:
Finished my Godly Play class at Virginia Theological Seminary, and presented the baptism story to a few of my classmates at LTSG. Aside from driving to Alexandria and back on Monday evenings for class, I really enjoyed learning about the practice and theology of Godly Play. It was somehow both soothing and energizing to be drawn into these familiar stories in a new way, and to wonder together about the word of God. It was also a wonderful exercise to learn a story by heart, and experience how the use of "props" and specific gestures really helped me internalize the words of the story. I'm really looking forward to finding opportunities to continue to have contact with Godly Play.
Much has happened in these 40 days of Lent. Blessings as you prepare for the the Great Three Days and the glorious Easter celebration!
Life gets busy, does it not? So here's a run-down, in no particular order, of some interesting things I've read/studied/experienced this Lenten season.
Worked with Daniel and Rob on their weekly YouTube-video-in-anticipation-of-Sunday. Rob had the idea to do an overview of the various atonement models, and I begged them to please use Peeps (it's a real thing!). They agreed, bless them, and we had way too much fun with this. Entertaining, mildly irreverent, and even educational!
Heard Pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber speak at St. Matthew in Hanover, and read her book, Pastrix. She shared an excellent analogy that related to the rise of "nones" in the church. Her point was that people still want what the Church really has to offer - forgiveness of sins, grace, the Body of Christ, God's promised presence in Word and Sacrament - but the delivery method doesn't work anymore. It's as if we look around at the landscape in the U.S., notice that it's almost impossible to find a phone booth, conclude that people don't care about talking on the phone anymore, then want to know how we can redecorate our phone booth so that people will want to use it again. Of course sustaining relationships and communicating by talking on the phone is still important to people - so important that we all carry our phones with us all the time! Redecorating the phone booth isn't the answer. Re-imagining how communication happens in our lives is a more helpful lens to look through. And, re-imagining how church happens is an equally important starting point. It certainly gives me a lot to think about, especially during this season of being called to a new community of faith and ordained as their pastor.
Led the Ecumenical Lenten Prayer breakfast service at St. Luke and gave a short homily. The theme for Lent has been "Facing the Cross", and the day's theme was "Facing One Another." I chose Colossians 3:12-17, and, though I didn't think my audience would appreciate this connection, I was thinking all the while of my pals at Luther Springs and the summer that we would hold our hands up as bear claws in order to "bear with one another" (see Colossians 3:13).
Welcomed heartily the beginning of baseball season. Daniel and I have enjoyed watching the Pirates, and the other weekend drove down to a Baltimore Orioles game with a fantastic group of friends.
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| Okay, so he's wearing the wrong hat... |
Read Rachel Held Evans' Year of Biblical Womanhood, which was interesting and entertaining! I especially liked her conversation with her friend Ahava in Israel who explained how "the Proverbs 31 woman" has been understood in Judaism. Evans was struggling to live up to the "ideal woman" portrayed in Proverbs 31. She wasn't a morning person, couldn't afford to buy real estate, and was generally worn out from trying to live up to such a high standard (as part of her research for the book, and as a "good Christian woman"). But Ahava lent a new perspective:
"Every week at the Shabbat table, my husband sings the Proverbs 31 poem to me. It's special because I know that no matter what I do or don't do, he praises me for blessing the family with my energy and creativity. All women can do that in their own way. I bet you do as well."What an important reminder! Ahava went on to explain that the words from Proverbs 31 meaning "woman of valor" are used by husbands to bless their wives, and also by women, to encourage one another. More building up of one another is a good practice to get into.
Finished my Godly Play class at Virginia Theological Seminary, and presented the baptism story to a few of my classmates at LTSG. Aside from driving to Alexandria and back on Monday evenings for class, I really enjoyed learning about the practice and theology of Godly Play. It was somehow both soothing and energizing to be drawn into these familiar stories in a new way, and to wonder together about the word of God. It was also a wonderful exercise to learn a story by heart, and experience how the use of "props" and specific gestures really helped me internalize the words of the story. I'm really looking forward to finding opportunities to continue to have contact with Godly Play.
Much has happened in these 40 days of Lent. Blessings as you prepare for the the Great Three Days and the glorious Easter celebration!
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