Church and Pomo — now hosted at The Other Journal — today started a two-week conversation about my book, The Church Is Flat: The Relational Ecclesiology of the Emerging Church Movement. Today, Jason Clark reviews the book, and my response will post on Thursday. Likewise next week. Here’s Jason: As someone very involved within the E/C over the past 12 years, I recognized myself and many of my friends within Tony’s accounts. The practices as mapped out, do to a... Read more
Driving home from the cabin yesterday, Courtney and I had the pleasure to hear the latest winner on NPR Weekend’s 3-Minute Fiction contest, “Rainy Wedding.” It’s a heart-rending story of grief deferred, read beautifully by Susan Stamberg. Listen to it here. Read more
I took a lot of heat from my Methodist friends last week for suggesting that young clergy forsake the denomination and go do something new. Let me be clear: I don’t expect one single Methodist clergyperson or seminarian to jump ship because I blogged about it. Puhleeze, people. I will reiterate something: It is virtually impossible to see the dysfunction of a system when you’re inside it. Ask anyone who’s married to an alcoholic; ask a prison guard; ask Michel... Read more
“In a modern theology of nature, it is neither wise nor appropriate to reduce the fact of the divine creation to the process of God’s separating activity; for to do so calls in question the theological character of ‘theology of nature’ itself. But if we call in question the ‘theology’ in the theology of nature, the natural character of nature is threatened too. A danger of this kind is inherent in the prcess thinking of A.N. Whitehead, and in the... Read more
John Vest is. If you’re interested, please let him know: I’m thinking quite seriously about hosting a children and youth ministry conference in Chicago in the fall of 2013. The particular focus is still gelling, but I want to gather together practitioners and academics to think about the following three questions: What does religious education/faith formation for children and youth look like in a postmodern context? For example, what is the purpose, role, and shape of confirmation in a church... Read more
For the past few months, I’ve been collaborating with a few guys on a fun little app. Today it went live on the iTunes App Store. So now, for just $.99, you can get ordained in over two dozen religions. You can learn what you believe, and even post pics of yourself in your religious vestments to Facebook and Twitter. If you’ve got an iPhone, iPad, or iPod, give it a try and let me know what you think! Read more
As an observer and critic of denominations, I watch the United Methodist Church General Conference from afar earlier this month. And it confirmed my opinion: Of all the screwed up denominational systems, the UMC is the most screwed up. Don’t take my word for it. Listen to Will Willimon, a Methodist bishop, writing in The United Methodist Reporter: General Conference in Tampa made history as the most expensive ($1,500 per minute!), least productive, most fatuous assemblage in the history of... Read more
The purveyors of the website The Biola Queer Underground and contacted me, hoping that students and alumni of Biola who read my blog would speak out in support of them. Here’s a little something about them: The purpose of this website is multi-dimensional: 1.We want to bring to light the presence of the LGBTQ community at Biola. Despite what some may assume, there are Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transgender, and Queers at Biola. We are Biola’s students, alumni, employees, and fellow... Read more
I’m at the early stages of a book called, Why Pray? Why Some People Pray, Others Don’t, and What God Has To Do with It, and I could use your help. I don’t want this book to just be about why I do (or don’t) pray. (You’ll have to read the book to find out if I do or don’t pray.) I’m happy if you’d like to write in the comment section about why you do or don’t pray, but... Read more
Getting a Ph.D. is a nice feather in one’s cap, but that’s about it these days. An article in the Chronicle of Higher Education reports on the number of people with PhDs who are struggling to get by. In fact, many are on food stamps. One of the reasons is that more and more schools are hiring adjuncts, the slave labor of academia: Some adjuncts make less money than custodians and campus support staff who may not have college degrees.... Read more
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