As you probably have heard by now, Ray Bradbury, author of Fahrenheit 451 and other novels passed away yesterday. (NY TIMES obit) My friend Chase Roden, sent me the following reflection this morning, which I share here, since a key part of what we are calling Slow Church is vigilance and attentiveness to discerning together what is faithfulness and what is distraction. Thank you, Chase. And R.I.P., Ray Bradbury Ray Bradbury died on Tuesday. I loved his books as a... Read more
[ On July 5-7, The Ekklesia Project will hold its annual gathering in Chicago, which will be on the theme of Slow Church. Between now and July, we will be running a series of guest reflections here by folks connected with the E.P. We’ve asked guest posters to reflect on the meaning of Slow Church from their own local contexts. More info on the E.P. gathering. ] Today’s reflection, the seventh in the series, is by John Jay Alvaro. Read... Read more
Was getting ready to starting writing the chapter on Abundance for the Slow Church book, by reading an article by Walter Brueggemann entitled “The Liturgy of Abundance, The Myth of Scarcity” when I stumbled on the following words, which I just had to stop everything and share, as they so elegantly name what Slow Church is about: Wouldn’t it be wonderful if liberal and conservative church people, who love to quarrel with each other, came to a common realization that... Read more
I was invited to share a few thoughts on Christian Piatt’s new book Pregmancy: A Dad, A Little Dude and A Due Date, as part of the Patheos Book Club… [ Read an excerpt of the book on the Sojo blog – “The Pee Stick” ] I am so glad that I was invited to read this book, because frankly it’s not the sort of book that I would have picked up on my own. Memoirs are simply not a... Read more
On Sunday, I was not attentive to my schedule and had it sprung on me that it was my turn to give the communion meditation at our church. So, I quickly turned to Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Life Together, which we are reading in our Sunday School class, and stumbled again upon the following brilliant passage. I share it again here, because all the facets that Bonhoeffer locates in the Eucharist here are central to what John and I are calling Slow... Read more
I think baseball should be the official sport of the Slow Church movement. I love baseball. When I can, I listen to or watch games at home. I read books about baseball. (I’m currently reading Bruce Weber’s magnificent As They See ‘Em: Travels in the Land of Umpires.) I play catch or wiffle ball at home with my daughter. And I like to take in games at the high school, the local short-season single-A team, and even the very occasional big league... Read more
Here’s a video clip of Alan Roxburgh talking about “The Call to the Parish” at The Inhabit Conference last month… John and I both have been challenged by Roxburgh’s work, and especially his recent book, Missional: Joining God in the Neighborhood (Baker, 2011 — Read my review of this book on The Englewood Review of Books website). Read more
[ On July 5-7, The Ekklesia Project will hold its annual gathering in Chicago, which will be on the theme of Slow Church. Between now and July, we will be running a series of lguest reflections here by folks connected with the E.P. We’ve asked guest posters to reflect on the meaning of Slow Church from their own local contexts. More info on the E.P. gathering. ] Today’s reflection, the sixth in the series, is by Janice Love. Read the... Read more
I rarely listen to music on the radio, but the other day I was flipping through the stations as I was driving and heard the opening riffs of the Barenaked Ladies’ song “The Old Apartment.” This song was a favorite of mine around about the time I graduated from college, so I turned it way up and reveled in the nostalgia. But in the midst of my revelry, the words caught my ear, and I realized that there was something... Read more
Had a fabulous time over the last few days at the Academy of Parish Clergy annual gathering in Dayton, Ohio. I found the diverse group of mostly mainline pastors to be extraordinarily hospitable, specifically in inviting me to represent The Englewood Review of Books there (Thanks, Bob Cornwall for the invitation!) and in allowing me to share bits of our story here at Englewood Christian Church (briefly recounted in my recent ebook, The Virtue of Dialogue). Also, it was wonderful... Read more
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