October 13, 2011 Conversation

These thoughts were compiled by Clay Youngblood after the recent "Four cornerstones of emerging churches" seminar in Dallas. We'll discuss these thoughts Thursday evening, October 13, 2011. Suzanne Stabile -- Liminal Perspective ... Background 60, Educator, SMU professor One of the creators of ... Life in the Trinity Ministry Married Joseph Stabile, who left the priesthood to marry Suzanne Mother of 4 (one who is gay, one who had a child out before marriage - all very spiritual!!) We are all searching (spiritually) for two key things .. Meaning Belonging Hunger for Meaning ... (3 spheres of increasing awareness ...) This is ME I have rights I have a need to my rights This who WE ARE We have responsibilities We collectively react as a group based on certain values This is the GREAT I AM I have responsibilities tot he Kingdom We are all in Liminal space ... At the threshold of something we can't see, a transition space In between where we've been and where we are headed The beginning of a journey - uncomfortable to some degree ... State of increased consciousnesses Church today is in liminal space ... Question: "Are you a fan or a follower of Jesus?" Concern: "I want to leave a church for my children ... right now I'm not sure what that is ..." Three questions to ponder ... Does the world need for you to be fearless? (Note: fear is the opposite of love ...) How will you name yourself? Can you bear witness to what it is? How do you offer manifest your worth? Several things to consider ... "God has the ability to to join us in our darkness to take away our fears that we can't let go off ..." "The church (as we have known it) is dying ... we're now in liminal space ..." Uncomfortable and exciting at the same time Nadia Bolz-Weber Background Early 30's Ordained Lutheran Minister (priest) Passionate, gorgeous very elaborate tattoos - everything a "gray hair" is not Out of the box, almost irreverent, passionate, ... yet very effective Established the inner city church in Denver ..."Church for Sinners and Saints" Most of her presentation material was a video of last year's Easter service Full traditional liturgy - Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, Easter Lay people all took active roles in delivering the "Easter message" -- traditional, but through their eyes ... Lay people play a big role in scheduling and delivering the service - Nadia is involved, but does not do all the "heavy lifting ..." Local Lutheran diocese supports her efforts Question: "Is the church dying?" No, not if you are focused on ... Teaching the good news gospel Reaching the lost sheep Bringing the grace and compassion of God to those in need Yes - for the institutions we've known in the past Highly market focused Corporate in approach Everyone over 50 seems to want to "target/market" a population for salvation versus working together to grow and build something ... Simply doesn't connect with the Gen-Xers / Gen-Yers - their suspicious of your motives and approach - they don't see anything different ... Today's church is an unnecessary display of wealth, power and authority - think of all who could be helped .... Nadia's perspectives ... How can you be a producer versus a consumer You will search for the truth regardless of what authority has led you to believe ... Church plant efforts need to be more focused on the sociological factors than marketing approaches Brian McLaren Brian started out his presentation with a reflection on VacLav Havel's The New Measure of Man Vaclav Havel First president of the new Czech Republic Writer, reformer, "thinker" ... Helped end the Warsaw Pact with peaceable approaches Compared to Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela Recipient of various peace awards The New Measure of Man (July 9, 1994; Ne York Times article) ... There are good reasons for suggesting that the modern age has ended. Many things indicate that we are going through a transitional period, when it seems that something is on the way out and something is being painfully born. It is as if something were crumbling, decaying and exhausting itself itself while something else, still indistinct, were arising from the rubble. The distinguishing features of transitional periods are a mixing and blending of cultures and a plurality or parallelism of intellectual and spiritual worlds. These are periods when all consistent value systems collapse, when cultures distant in time and space are discovered or rediscovered. New meaning is gradually born from the encounter, or the intersection, of many different elements. Today, this state of mind, or the human world is called post-modernism. For me, a symbol of that state is a Bedouin mounted on a a camel and clad in traditional robes under which he is wearing jeans, with a transistor radio in his hands and an aid for Coca-cola on the Camel's back. McLaren suggested that instead of "Four Cornerstones" there were actually "Four Wheels" of emerging Christianity ... Return to active community Fresh vision of Jesus Renaissance of spiritual practices Engagement with social justice Active Community Ethics, doctrine, a witness to our mission Ethics are the practice of community Safe place Place where you can ask questions Differences are held Greater friendship Liturgy "Convivality" ... " ...not our fault, but our opportunity ..." (i.e., the way we find things today ...) Lot of work to do in this area ( i.e., Active Community) - we are very immature at this type of community interaction We shouldn't punish ourselves for the way we find things today (with the church) - we now have the opportunity to change and move forward ... Generous Orthodoxy / Everything Must Change Fresh Vision of Jesus We need to place more emphasis on how Jesus' ancestors saw him versus the views of his descendents Their views reflect the magnitude of his message AGE Scriptures a very different and compelling when we take this perspective .. Few examples Exodus: Liberation and Formation Genesis: Creation and Reconciliation Secret Message of Jesus / New Kind of Christianity Renaissance of Spiritual Practices Liturgy Prayer (all forms: group, reflective, open, ...) Seasonal calendar reflective of key events in Christ's life Finding Our Way Again Engagement with Social Justice Integral to our mission in the emergent church We'll be judged by the way in which we promote and accept change Everything Must Change