This is the first in an Advent series of eight posts that will wind their way through Christine Pohl’s new book Living into Community: Cultivating Practices that Sustain Us (Eerdmans 2012 Buy now: Amazon // Kindle ). This book was chosen as The Englewood Review’s Book of the Year for 2012, and as I hope will become abundantly clear over the Advent season, it fits very well with what John and I have been describing as Slow Church. [ Read an Excerpt... Read more
This week I am doing a daily series on gratitude, since this virtue plays a vital role in our understanding of Slow Church, and since of course, our readers in the U.S. will celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday later this week… Yesterday’s post: Rooted in God’s Abundance Also, Top Ten Books on Cultivating Gratitude… (via Englewood Review of Books) I’ll admit, I’m a little wary of people who are effervescently thankful for things in their lives — especially on Facebook at... Read more
This week I am going to be doing a daily series on gratitude, since this virtue plays a vital role in our understanding of Slow Church, and since of course, our readers in the U.S. will celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday later this week… When reflecting on gratitude, it is helpful for us to begin by considering its roots in God’s abundant provision for creation. All major economic systems — and especially capitalism — are built upon the assumption of scarcity... Read more
A new book to which I have contributed was released yesterday… Letters to Me: Conversations with A Younger Self Other Contributors include: Margot Starbuck, Tamára Lunardo, David Baer, Seth Barnes, Lore Ferguson, Lyla Lindquist, Anita Mathia, Brian McLaren, Penny Nash, Wade Owlett, Kristin Ritzau, Aletheia Schmidt, Therese Schwenkler, Charity Singleton, Shawn Smucker, J. B. Wood, and Eric Sheridan Wyatt Buy now: [ Amazon Paperback ] [ Kindle ] What’s the book about? Writers remember something that happened when they were... Read more
It’s probably a sin of the deepest sacrilege to connect a song of this extraordinary beauty with Election Day… But I can’t stop thinking about how relevant it is… Here’s just a few snippets: “What a beautiful piece of heartache This has all turned out to be Lord knows we’ve learned the hard way All about healthy apathy” (more…) Read more
The following is a reflection that I will share tomorrow night as part of the Election Day Communion service here at Englewood Christian Church. Why celebrate communion on election day? To do so is not merely a religious act, we have intentionally chosen to break bread together — not to have a worship or prayer service (good as those things are). Tonight on the eve of this election day, we are celebrating our unity in seeking the Kingdom of... Read more
After recently re-reading Wendell Berry’s essay “Health is Membership” and being struck by its pertinency today, I asked a few friends to read the essay and write a Slow Church-related reflection on the essay. The is the third of these reflections by my friend Brian Volck, who is not only a gifted writer, but also a pediatrician. ~Chris *** Read the previous “Health is Membership” reflection by Rachel Marie Stone I’ve been teaching Wendell Berry’s essay, “Health is... Read more
It’s no secret that agrarian thought has deeply shaped both John and I in our thoughts about Slow Church. Wendell Berry, the foremost agrarian of our times, is essential to this project, as is the work of Norman Wirzba, Ellen Davis, Wes Jackson and others… I wanted to share a number of new resources with you that will be helpful in understanding agrarianism and how it relates to Slow Church… At its heart, agrarianism is about reconciling with the land... Read more
We were staying with relatives this weekend and while flipping through the channels on Friday night, we stumbled upon the premier of the new Discovery Channel show, Jungle Gold. The premise of the show is that two Americans, who are in over their heads in debt (to the tune of over a half million dollars) after trying to get rich in Real Estate before the housing bubble burst, are headed to Ghana to make quick money mining gold. A trailer... Read more
After recently re-reading Wendell Berry’s essay “Health is Membership” and being struck by its pertinency today, I asked a few friends to read the essay and write a Slow Church-related reflection on the essay. The is the second of these reflections by my friend Rachel Marie Stone. ~Chris *** Read the first “Health is Membership” reflection by Brent Bill My grandmother was born at home in New York City in 1925 – exactly the time when more and... Read more
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