Had a good time at conception abbey this week, even if it was only a 24 hour booster. Here is my wisdom from Fr. Adam. He gave me a quote which he said was from Pope John the XXIII, but the internet has it from John Paul II – I’d trust Fr. Adam on this one. Anyway, the quote is: “See everything. Ignore a lot. Improve a little.” I’ll be chewing on that one. As part of my rule of... Read more

I ran across one of my all-time favorite Walter Rauschenbusch quotes yesterday… Here is that quote with a few other observations from his book, “A Theology for the Social Gospel.” “Theology needs periodical rejuvenation. Its greatest danger is not mutilation but senility. It is strong and vital when it expresses in large reasonings what youthful religion feels and thinks. When people have to be indoctrinated laboriously in order to understand theology at all, it becomes a dead burden. The dogmas... Read more

I love Slate online. There was a funny short article by the editor that noted a bit called “How to Write for the Web” by a guy named Caleb Crain. “A text on the internet rarely takes for granted your decision to read it or to continue reading it. There is often, instead, a jazzy, hectoring tone. At home my boyfriend and I use a certain physical gesture as shorthand to describe it. To make it, extend your index fingers... Read more

I put Zizioulas down for the week. I’m trying to get through Pannenberg’s book on the church this week. Here are my notes from chapter one: CHAPTER 1 – CHURCHLESS CHRISTIANS He calls people who supposedly subscribe to Christianity without Christian church involvement “churchless Christians.” As churches grew more sectarian, and denominationalized. Each denomination began to vie for political power. As they did, no one sect could claim universality and thus religion became a privatized affair. 11 The reformation claimed... Read more

I’m up to my elbows in Metropolitan John… Zizioulas is working with the idea that sin is actually a rupture between being and communion, or what he calls the “individualization of our being.” The fall “results from the claim of created man to be the ultimate point of reference in existence (to be God).” p.102 He has already built his case that being is communion (I’ll not rehearse it here fully, but only in part), and is saying that what... Read more

My friend Isaac had me read a poem the other day, a sentence which feels wierd to write, but it happened. The poet’s name is Andrew Hudgins and he’s a big deal in the world of poetry and literature. I don’t know about all of that, but after reading this poem I’m seriously thinking about pre-ordering his promised book, Shut Up, You’re Fine! Troubling Poems for Troubled Children because of the title alone. That would be the second poetry book... Read more

NOTES:Roxburgh presented for most of this session. He was saying that instead of asking the practical questions (which is all that most missional church writers seem to do these days), think about what happens if you ask the God questions first. We should first explore the God who is Trinity, relationality and difference. He says that God always comes to us in the “space between,” in the space of difference. There are all of these metaphors he points to in... Read more

They are looking at the idea of Gospel & trying to figure out if it is something external to culture that exists in the mind of God which we then have to figure out how to translate into a given culture. OR is gospel something that we actually encounter and discover as culture. We had quite a bit of discussion about this. Essentially we were having a conversation about what the gospel is. We talked through truth as “event” and... Read more

SESSION TWO: Dr. Franke’s Introduction… He told the story that he heard on NPR of Phillip Jenkin’s and his trip to Africa. While he was sitting in this church meeting word spread that a prominent American church leader was there and word got up to the pastor and so he invited Jenkins to come forward, not to speak off the cuff, but to perform that week’s exorcism. The reason they did is because “they believe the bible.” But we all... Read more

Roxburgh & Franke I’m attending a class about the “Nature and Mission of the Church,” that’s being held at Jacob’s Well in KC. I’m just going to throw some of the thoughts I’m encountering and maybe play with them a little bit. I’ll try to do a little bit each day. SESSION ONE:Dr. Franke: If we’re going to start this conversation about what “Missional church” is, we must start it with the question “whose mission is it?” The answer to... Read more