Mercy Seat: Opening Night
Mercy Seat, a new church starting up in NE Minneapolis is having its opening night this Saturday. It sounds like they are going to have a really cool thing going. I am hoping to check them out, maybe I'll see you there.
exploring the intersections of media, religion, and culture…
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February 28, 2006
February 27, 2006
Doonesbury on Faith and Reason
Ah comics, how they reflect and project the realities of life. Doonesbury made me laugh yesterday. It pretty much sums up what it is like when you have a theology student and a bio-science student living in the same house.
February 23, 2006
Finding Flow
Being a full time student and being employed full time, I find that productivity matters more to me now it ever has before. I've been suprised at how interruptions in my study or work really throw me off. Particularly, becuase for much of what I am doing, it takes a while to get everything in my head so I can understand what is going on, and it seems that one teeny interruption can crash the whole thing.
I've came across a great little description of what is going on at 43folders on Flow. Also, a software programmer I know sent me this little article on the challenges of multi-tasking for computer processors and programmers.
February 16, 2006
Depeche Mode
I picked up the new Depeche Mode album Playing the Angel. True to form, thisalbum is chock-full of religious themes. John the Revelator has been one of the radio singles and is a critique of the book of Revelation. Suffer Well is a song of redemption. Sinner In Me is a hard look at our inability to get rid of the worst parts of ourselves, and Precious has a great use of chimes while wondering if God really has a plan for what is going on in life. Playing the Angel is a solid album that is definitely worth a listen.
A response to Andrew Jones
My response to Andrew Jones' letter to American Emerging Churches.
Andrew, The emerging church has a blessing and a problem that are two sides of the same coin; no one is in charge of the emerging church, and thus, no one gets to say what it is and what it isn’t. The idea of emerging church, or at least the words, have captured peoples’ imaginations and many people are beginning to wonder what the Spirit is up to in the new formations of faith community that are developing. Yet, the emerging church is a true open source project and everyone has an equal right to claim to be emerging and however that person or group means it. However, people are pretty smart; they will find and stick with good stuff. If you believe the emerging church has something good to offer, which I know you do, then help people find and connect with what you think is good.
The emerging church has also received a lot of positive press in the last few years which has been a great opportunity to get the word out about what is going on. Hand in hand with notoriety comes criticism. If you are concerned about the critics, focus your message. If you want to concentrate on the work of the Triune God, then continue to do so, and encourage and support those in the US who are trying to do the same. You are clearly a leader in the worldwide emerging church conversation, so please continue to help all of us be able to articulate what the emerging church is, not what it isn’t. Work hard on things that are worthwhile and trust that the Sprit is at work.
February 15, 2006
Emerging: Identity and Context
Fernando Gros, Mark Van Steenwyck and several others I have spoken to this week seem to all be talking about the same question: Is the emerging church is really emerging or just regular church? This is a question I have been asking myself lately. As a staff member of Spirit Garage an “emerging church” associated with a Lutheran denomination in the U.S. I will venture a few of my thoughts.
Honsestly, I am not really sure what the “emerging church” really is. Some folks are talking about postmodern ministry, others worship styles, some are working on scholarly definitions, and a few people are just saying, hey look, that church is kind of different. So far I have found only one framework really helpful. In the circles I travel in, we have been commenting on a common theme in so called emerging churches is attention to two primary questions: Who are we? and Where (and when) are we? Identity and Context. You might say, ‘aren’t these questions that all faith communities should ask?’ and I would say, well yes. What makes these emerging churches different from any church? Well nothing except Identity and Context.
On Context
Many, and I’ll venture, most emerging churches have arisen in urban areas in the English speaking West and made up of well educated and typically white. Why? I believe there has been a fundamental shift in values and economic systems that have made the lives and world views of young, middle-class (typically white) western people very different from those of their parents and grandparents. Some people have talked about this as a postmodern shift, and while that may be true, I find the p-word about as helpful as the emerging label.
I will say that what it takes to make it in a globalized, knowledge economy is very different than what it took to make it in the agrarian and industrial economies of previous generations. Young people are holding self-expression values such as: creativity, high levels of social mobility, individual expression, meritocracy, etc. Congregational forms that were developed in agrarian and industrial economies have not worked well in the knowledge economy, and if churches wishing to be missional in a knowledge economy will have to change their structures. This is what I believe emerging churches are trying to do.
On Identity
Anyone starting a new church must bring themselves and their history with them. The emerging church is growing up from church circles and trying to move beyond traditional denominational (or non-denominational) spaces. I think is great that churches are working to be missional in new geographic and cultural spaces, but I also think that it is unreasonable to expect people coming out of churches into this new space will leave all of their experience, training, and community behind. It is not surprising that emerging churches look a lot like other churches, it’s because they are churches.
Some of the recent discussion about the leadership of the emerging church has been appropriate criticism about the lack of female and non-white voices. While there are likely many reasons for this that must be addressed, I believe that the lack of diversity has developed for a few reasons. First, racially, the emerging church is growing up in a cultural space not known for its racial diversity. Second, in gender equity, churches have often been boys clubs in pastoral leadership, particularly in the denominations that are more active in evangelistic practice, resulting in a number of new churches in which women are under-represented. That said, much more needs to be done in order to make racial and gender equity a hallmark of emerging churches.
Well, that’s about my longest post ever. Your comments are appreciated.
February 12, 2006
Case of the Mondays
There have been times when the impending doom of Monday morning and returning to work was more than any human should be expected to bear. Fortunately I don't have that job anymore, but for those of you that do, check out Low Morale, a nice set of flash cartoons, proving that misery loves company. Happy Monday.
February 10, 2006
I wish I wrote that
Last night while reading a new book, I had one of those moments where I just had to stop and bask in what the author just said, reading it again and again, mouth and eyes agape.
We're incapable of recognizing as morally edifying anything that doesn't advertise itself as such. the most glaring example of this confusion is found in the million-dollar industry of marketing under the title of "Christian." Given our current cultural climate, the media consumer does well to be wary of any product that has featured, foremost among its selling points, it's so-called Christainness. Buyers with a taste for propaganda (and who soon find themselves strangely disinterested in anything that isn't) will find, in that which most loudly advertises itself as Christian, much in the way of crude moralism and plenty in the way of slogans and cliches that encourage blissful disregard of the...world around them. Often promoting an unincarnate faith, this phenomenon has more incommon with the aforementioned Gnosticism than what can be understood as orthodox belief. I'm personally convinced that such market-driven theology will be viewed, historically, with at least as much embarrassment as, say, the medieval sale of indulgences.
And again,
I'm grateful for and in dire need of whatever art can keep me awake and alive to the mystery, whatever keeps me paying attention, whatever reminds me that none of us (and no ideology) are possessors of the final say. Art that doesn't bear witness to the opaque, the mysterious, or even allow any ambiguity is propaganda at best and, at worst, a ministry of death, an exercise in sentimentalizing, self-congratulatory delusion.
The author is David Dark, the book is Everyday Apocalypse, The Sacred Revealed in Radiohead, the Simpsons, and other Pop Culture Icons. I don't know if any interpretation I have will add to what the author wrote, except for the praise of, "I wish I had written that." Does this need more explaining?
February 09, 2006
Spirit Garage mentioned in Star Tribune
Spirit Garage is mentioned today in a Star Tribune article, Young, hip and reverent. The article is an examination of emerging churches and primarily investigates the folks at Solomon's Porch. Admittedly, the press is fun, and it is exciting that people are taking a real interest in the work that we are doing.
It is also interesting that this article had the feature photo on the front page, the second time in a few weeks where alternative church styles have been featured on the front page of the Star Tribune. As the paper works to gather a younger audience through their new design, I like that spirituality is becoming a page one issue.
February 03, 2006
Christianity in a Consumer Culture
There is going to be an exciting conference in Minneapolis, April 28-29, Christianity in a Consumer Culture. It is being planned by a great guy, Mark VanSteenwyk and with luck, I hope to be presenting at a breakout session. Vincent Miller will be one of the keynote presenters. His book Consuming Religion is wonderful, don't miss the chance to hear his thoughts. Early registration ends Feb 28th.
February 02, 2006
Book Review: Good to Great and the Social Sectors
Collins, Jim, Good to Great and the Social Sectors, © 2005, p. 35, $10.75 (USD)
ISBN-13 978-0-9773264-0-2
In his landmark book, Good to Great, Jim Collins sets out to understand the difference between a great organization and just a good organization by studying eleven Fortune 500 companies that had significantly better stock returns than their peer competitors and the general market over a sustained period of time. In his follow up publication, Good to Great and the Social Sectors, Collins adapts the concepts of Good to Great for the differing dynamics of social sector organizations. This very brief follow up to Good to Great is a much needed and very useful addition for people in the social sector wishing to apply the powerful principles of Good to Great in their organizations.
In his work with social sector organizations, such as hospitals, arts organizations, churches, and military units, following the release of Good to Great, Collins found that while the core principles remain useful, there are details of the concepts originally presented for a business audience that need to be adapted for the social sector. Collins makes very helpful modifications for how social service organizations can think about metrics of success in settings where financial return on investment is not the primary goal by suggesting metrics that gauge performance relative to mission. Adding to his previous analysis on leadership, Collins looks at how high level leadership can function in organizations with highly legislative decision making processes. Also, in organizations where the staff is tenured, not paid at high rates, or is volunteer, getting and retaining the best people can be a challenge. Again Collins comes through with suggestions that will aid social sector organizations desiring to get the right people on their busses and to keep them there.
Perhaps the most helpful adaptation Collins makes is in how social sector organizations gauge their income streams. In a business setting, developing financial capital is often primary, yet this is not always the case for the social sector. He changes the framework to a question of how can social sector organizations develop income resources of time, money, and the brand. It is interesting that Collins makes branding a central point in social sector organization revenue development, and he makes a strong argument that how people feel about a particular organization will affect an individual’s willingness to support that organization with time and monetary support.
Good to Great has been required reading for organizational leaders of many types and with this addition, the concepts are much more accessible to leaders in social sector organizations. For those looking to create a superior, sustained, and distinctive impact with their social sector organization, Good to Great for the Social Sectors is a needed and excellent addition to its predecessor book.