Colleagues List, May 19th, 2007
Wayne Holst
May 19th, 2007
Special Items:
Diana Butler Bass in Calgary
Jesus of Nazareth (published review)
Reading the Bible for the Love of God (notes)
Important Information:
The Halls are Feted
Jerry Falwell Dies
The New Atheists
Net Notices:
Russian Churches End Rift
Tikkun: Meeting With Jimmy Carter
Colleague's Comments on Pope Book, Brazil & Ireland
*****
Anglican and Lutheran Friends:
Diana Butler Bass - author of the new study
on American mainline congregations and what
makes some of them special - was in Calgary
this past Wednesday evening. She addressed
a large, enthusiastic group of folk at
St. Lawrence Anglican Church, Lakeview.
I took notes of her talk, the Q&A that
followed, and provide them for you here.
*****
Catholic News Service, Washington DC
published my review of the pope's book
on Jesus which I shared here last week.
The editor was happy with the results,
and I provide a link to the version
appearing on the catholic.org website.
Other worldwide links to the review
will appear shortly on Google search.
Now available, a link to the review
as it appears this weekend in The
Tidings, official newspaper of the
Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
*****
Our Wednesday Morning Bible Study group
at St. David's wrapped up our fall/winter/
spring series this week. One of our helpful
resources this year was a book by retired
minister, Alan Reynolds of Richmond BC.
I offer, for your consideration, my notes
of the best points from the ten chapters of:
"Reading the Bible for the Love of God"
as well as a link to where you can buy
the book yourself.
*****
Colleague Douglas John Hall and his wife Rhoda
were recently awarded honourary doctorates at
convocations of the Diocesan Theological College
(Anglican) and United Theological College (UCC) -
schools of McGill University, Montreal.
This was in recognition of the great work that
both Doug and Rhoda have done for the discipline
of theology in Canada over the past four decades.
I include parts of a letter Doug sent me this
week, describing the particulars of this dual
honour.
Congratulations, Rhoda and Douglas John Hall!
*****
Thirty years ago, I happened by the Thomas Road
Baptist Church and Liberty University in Lynchburg,
Virgina. The 1970s were still early years for these
two institutions founded and headed by Jerry Falwell.
Even then, I was struck by the juxtaposition of
symbols of American church and state. It reminded
me of the caesaropapism of the Holy Roman Empire
and of Calvin's Geneva.
I have had reason to shudder even more at many of
the comments from this man who has been both adored
and hated by Christians in America and around the
world in the years since I first heard of him.
Jerry Falwell died this week at age 73. Perhaps, at
this time, it is best for me to defer further comment
and allow others - American evangelical Christians -
to have their say. I provide links to statements by
Rick Warren and Jim Wallis.
*****
A spate of books by derisive atheist authors like
Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and Sam Harris
have climbed the best-selling list over the past
several years. Why have such books appeared now?
Why have they become so popular? Do they actually
convert anyone to an atheistic position? What might
theists do in response to such books?
Madeleine Bunting, writing in the Guardian, May 7th
does good assessment that can help us to deal with
the questions I have posed.
Her article is entitled: "The New Atheists loathe
religion far too much to plausibly challenge it."
I am interested in what you think.
*****
The web this week has delivered three interesting
items that I now pass on to you.
The first is a story of healing. The sad rift
that occurred in the Russian Orthodox Church
at the hands of Stalin, eighty years ago, is on
the way to healing as a result of a new pact,
signed this week between Moscow Patriarch Alexy II
and Metropolitan Laurus, head of the Russian
Orthodox Church Outside of Russia.
This news deeply affected me. Forty years ago,
some of my best friends - at the World Council of
Churches Graduate School of Ecumenical Studies
in Bossey, Switzerland - were on opposite sides
of a deep chasm that had opened between Orthodox
Christians in and beyond Russia. That wound is
only now beginning to heal.
_____
Rabbi Michael Lerner, editor of Tikkun and head
of the Network of Spiritual Progressives, invited
Jimmy Carter to address his community, May 4th.
Carter has gained considerable noteriety and no
small amount of resentment from Jews because of
things he said in a recent book entitled -
Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.
Lerner has my respect for how he interprets
what Carter was trying to say in that book.
Read "Our Meeting with Jimmy Carter" below.
_____
A Catholic colleague from Eastern Canada wrote
me in response to my review of the pope's book
and my comments about Brazil and Northern Ireland
in last week's Colleagues List.
I share his reflections at the end of this letter.
_____
This weekend marks the beginning of the Canadian
holiday season. Beautiful blossoms are appearing
everywhere around me right now!
A good May long weekend to Canadians, and God's
blessings to you, even if you get no May holiday!
Wayne
***************************
OUR NEW ST. DAVID'S CALGARY WEBSITE IS NOW LAUNCHED!
OLD WEBSITE IS RETOOLED FOR ADULT SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT
Colleague Jock McTavish writes:
New St. David's Web Address -
John Lampman has registered a new address for the church, namely
http://sduc.ca and is maintaining these pages on a new server.
Adult Spiritual Development Web Address -
I am continuing the http://stdavidscalgary.net registration that
has been used over the years, and it will continue to serve our
Adult Spiritual Development Ministry with that address.
Old and New Addresses are Linked -
On the old "front door" address, I have installed a forward page
there to take anyone who has bookmarked: http://stdavidscalgary.net
automatically to the new "front door" for St. David's at:
http://sduc.ca
To reach this new page directly without so many mouseclicks, and
which of course you could bookmark:
http://sduc.ca/adult.htm
Old Shortcut Links Still Work -
- as yet I have no central page but this. But all of the shortcut
links we have made in the past hold true. For example a direct
link to the Lewis study is still:
http://ratsts.stdavidscalgary.net
Archives to be Upgraded -
I have gathered up the 18 bookstudies for which we have material
into an introductory archive page, and will work on polishing them
up over the summer. In the meantime this is the direct link for
our study resources: http://bookstudies.stdavidscalgary.net
*****
CHRISTIANITY FOR THE REST OF US
Diana Butler Bass Visits Calgary
St. Lawrence Anglican, Lakeview
May 16th, 2007
(Open attachment version, if you wish)
Diana Butler Bass gave a talk in Calgary, May 16th,
on her new book "Christianity for the Rest of Us:
How the Neighbourhood Church is Transforming the Faith."
She was the guest of the Anglican Diocese of Calgary
and St. Lawrence Anglican Church, Lakeview, where the
event took place.
_____
The book reports the results of a study of 50 renewed
local mainline congregations in many settings across
the United States. Canadians will find on these pages
much that can be applied to their own local contexts.
The churches were all part of classic Protestant mainline
traditions with a rich spiritual heritage to share today.
Congregations from the following six denominations
participated:
Episcopal, United Methodist, Disciples of Christ,
Presbyterian, United Church of Christ, and Lutheran.
These congregations were selected from a group of 250
that expressed interest in joining the study.
Diana and her research assistant listened to the stories
of the people in these places. Their questions ranged from
"What good things happened in your history?" to "What works
here?" and "What made revitalization happen?"
From thousands of pages of anecdotal and narrative responses,
ten aspects of effective renewal were described:
Hospitality, discernment, healing, contemplation, testimony,
diversity, justice, worship, reflection and beauty.
An entire section of the book unpacks these ten themes and
how they became part of the renewal process.
The term many used to describe their circumstances was
'pilgrim' - to reflect people, congregations and the world
around them in transition. Many of those who were attracted
to these communities were refugees and exiles from other
places, or no place at all.
Guidance in these communities came from 'signposts along
the way' on ground level rather than from 'above'. People
were often in recovery from belief and rule-centered
religion in their past. Their's was a sense of internal,
rather than external, spiritual directedness.
Significant Results
Three Key Christian Practices of these communities
emerged from this study:
1. Theological/spiritual reflection
Engagement with the Bible and substantive theology
which was discovered in meaningful personal and
communal experiences.
2. Hospitality
Welcoming the stranger from within the community
as well as from beyond it.
3. Embracing diversity
Accepting, integrating and engaging a wide range of
people who differed ethnically, theologically, politically
and in terms of sexual orientation.
Key Worship Practices in these communities:
1. Using ritual in worship
People want to be participants, not observers
2. Quality in music
People value a wide range of music, well executed.
3. Quality preaching that is practical
People want substance and guidance for living.
Renewed worship is a central activity of renewed congregations.
It complements, and is supported by, the other key practices
noted above.
Diana found that churches in many diverse circumstances
shared these six primary practices.
_____
Q&A With Diana
Diversity - differences are bound to occur in diverse settings.
The important thing is to create spaces where people can
express their differences in a climate of acceptance.
(At St. David's we call this observing "holy manners").
Evangelicals can teach us - while their approach tends to
focus on right teaching and right behaviour, and our's tends
to be more messy, we need to learn from them to embrace people
and help them tell their stories in an open, accepting community
but without forcing them into pre-defined patterns.
Acquiring new members - people are attracted to the church when
members share "magnetic evangelism" - i.e. lives that are
appealing to others. While some people just happen inside our
doors, most new members come because others have invited them.
We thank Diana for sharing the wealth of her discoveries with
us in Calgary, and we anticipate she will be back soon!
*****
"Jesus of Nazareth" (published review)
Catholic News Service, Washington
www.Catholic.org - May 15th, 2007
http://www.catholic.org/ae/books/review.php?id=24096
The Tidings - Los Angeles, CA, USA. May 18th, 2007.
In first book as pope, Benedict seeks to enrich views
on Jesus -
http://www.the-tidings.com/2007/051807/books.htm
*****
Summary of Themes from Our Wednesday Morning Bible Study
(Open attachment version, if you wish)
READING THE BIBLE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD
by Alan Raynolds, Brazos Press, 2003.
Notes on the Lenten/Spring Supplement to Our Wednesday Morning
Bible Study at St. David's United Church, Calgary.
In addition to the Bible and other study guides, we decided
to use this book as a way of coming to better approach and
understand the Bible.
At least one key theme was noted for each of the ten chapters.
1. A New Way of Reading the Bible
Too many studies approach the Bible as an object to be examined
rather than as a means to a relationship with God. Reading the
Bible relationally is a challenge to liberal and conservative
Christians alike.
2. Changing Times, Changing Views
We need a cultural worldview that understands the personal dimension
of understanding reality and shaping human experience (cf. Michael
Polanyi "Personal Knowledge: Towards a Post-Critical Philosophy,"
University of Chicago Press, 1962). As valuable as a criticial study
of the Bible may be, we need to bring a personal understanding to our
study as well.
3. Beyond the Bible Battles
The liberal and conservative split in terms of how to approach and
understand the Bible is ultimately irrelevant. The Bible is actually
neither a science nor a history book. We need to approach it on its own
terms. We need to move beyond words on the page to a relationship with
the Word that stands beyond the scriptural testimony.
4. Finding a Basis for Faith
The Wesleyan Quadrilateral cites four means to come to understand the
Christian faith: reason, experience, tradition and the Bible as
witness of the Word itself.
5. Looking Through Words to the Word
The Bible can be described as an icon - a religious symbol traditionally
used by the churches of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. The icon is not a
work of art or beauty existing as an end in itself. Rather is serves as a
means to an end, of seeing through to The End who is God - which should be
our
true devotion.
Thus, we need to "see through" the words of scripture to the Word which
is the God beyond scripture.
6. An Invitation to a Relationship
God wants a covenantal relationship with us. Faith cannot be based merely
on my ideas or feelings, but on Jesus Christ who comes to me through
hearing and reading the scriptures as both Hebrew and Christian Bible
testimony to him. I experience this faith best in community.
7. Responding to the Word
We live in an era that has lost its Christian memory. To recover that
memory we need to practice the disciplines of prayer and worship. The
content of these disciplines becomes embedded in our consciousness.
8 Breathing In, Breathing Out
The life of faith is like the experience of breathing. We inhale and
exhale, and both are needed. We need to "take in" and "give out".
Dag Hammerskjold said it like this: "In our present era, the road to
holiness necessarily passes through the world of action."
9. The "Why" of Relationship - Reading for the Love of God.
There are four kinds of love, and all need to be understood as having
a part to play in what it means to love as humans.
Epithymia (libido) sexual desire; Eros (or) romantic love; Philia (or)
brotherly/sisterly, responsible love; Agape - divine, selfless love.
Through a reading of the Bible for the love of God we are looking for,
locating and responding to the Source of love which can become active
in us. "God wants each one of us to have a loving heart" (from Brendan,
by Frederick Buechner).
10. The Bible for You and Me.
Transformed hearts and relationships are the result of a true
encounter with the Bible - and the Word to which it witnesses.
*****
From: Douglas John Hall
Date: Sun, 13 May 2007
Dear Wayne - We returned from Hawaii on April 21st, after 3.5 weeks
in that paradise, where we have many friends through the amazing
Church of the Crossroads, of which we are associate members.
On Monday (7th) both Rhoda and I were given honourary doctorates by the
Montreal Diocesan Theological College, affiliated with McGill, and Rhoda
gave the address on the subject, 'LEARNING AGAIN TO LIVE LIGHTLY ON THE
EARTH'. Then two days later the United Theological College, also
affiliated with McGill, gave me another honourary doctorate, and I
addressed the convocation. UTC met in Ottawa this year, since the
college serves the Montreal and Ottawa conference.
It was a very memorable week.
I hope you are well, and enjoying your ministry.
Douglas H.
*****
Ecumenical News International
News Highlights
16 May 2007
Supporters and critics remember US evangelical leader Falwell
New York (ENI). The Rev. Jerry Falwell, the US evangelical
Christian leader, who both supporters and critics alike
acknowledged was instrumental in building a conservative
Christian movement as a potent political force in the United
States, has died aged 73. His founding of the university in 1971,
of the Thomas Road Baptist Church in 1956 and, perhaps most
prominently, of the Moral Majority movement in 1979, were
cornerstones of a remarkable career in which Falwell was both
admired and severely criticised for a media-fuelled, high-profile
leadership of conservative US evangelicals. Falwell's death, said
fellow evangelist Billy Graham, "leaves a gigantic vacuum in the
evangelical world". [553 words, ENI-07-0374]
_____
Falwell: a trailblazer for evangelical Christianity
The Virginia preacher's legacy is conservative Christian activism -
and a reshaped US political landscape. By Jane Lampman
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0517/p03s01-ussc.html?s=hns
_____
Rick Warren blog on Jerry Falwell (Christianity Today)
http://tinyurl.com/2bramk
_____
Hearts & Minds by Jim Wallis
May 17th, 2007
Falwell's Legacy
I watched much of the cable television coverage of Jerry
Falwell's death and legacy. And I did a lot of grimacing, in
response to both the uncritical adulations of his allies (who
just passed over the divisive character of much of Falwell's
rhetoric), and also the ugly vitriol from some of Falwell's
enemies (who attacked both his character and his faith). And
there were even some who attacked all people of faith. I ended
up being glad that I had passed up all the invitations to be on
those shows. On the day of Rev. Jerry Falwell's death, I was
content to offer a brief statement, which read:
"I was saddened to learn that Rev. Jerry Falwell passed away
this morning at age 73. Rev. Falwell and I met many times over
the years, as the media often paired us as debate partners on
issues of faith and politics. I respected his passionate
commitment to his beliefs, and our shared commitment to bringing
moral debate to the public square, although we didn't agree on
many things. At this time, however, what matters most is our
prayers for comfort and peace for his family and friends."
(read more, open attachment)
*****
WHAT TO DO ABOUT THE NEW STRIDENT ATHEISM?
The New York Times
'God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything'
By CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS
Reviewed by MICHAEL KINSLEY
Christopher Hitchens is an old-fashioned (and very
entertaining) village atheist, trying to pick arguments
with the good citizens on their way to church.
Review:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/13/books/review/Kinsley-t.html?8bu&emc=bu
First Chapter
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/13/books/chapters/0513-1st-hitc.html
_____
The Guardian
The New Atheists: Atheism Sells
http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianweekly/story/0,,2075857,00.html
*****
Ecumenical News International
News Highlights
18 May 2007
Ending 80-year rift, Russian churches reunite
Moscow (ENI). The Russian Orthodox Church and an émigré church
that broke ties in 1927 over a Russian church leader's
declaration of loyalty to the then Soviet state have officially
reunited at a ceremony in Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the
Saviour. "Church divisions are being overcome, and the
confrontation in society inherited from the times of the
revolution is being beaten back," said Patriarch Alexei II of the
Russian Orthodox Church after the signing of an act of canonical
union with the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, also
known as ROCOR. [386 words, ENI-07-0381]
_____
Russian Churches End Rift (New York Times)
May 17th, 2007
*****
TIKKUN - Network of Spiritual Progressives
Our Meeting With Jimmy Carter
May 4th, 2007
http://www.spiritualprogressives.org/article.php?story=20070504122909813
*****
COLLEAGUE COMMENT ON THE POPE BOOK AND NORTHERN IRELAND
(Colleagues List, May 12th, 2007)
Wayne:
Congratulations - a bit belated, granted - on your recognition by your
religious press peers. Well deserved, in my not so humble opinion.
Your review of Pope Benedict's new book encourages me to read it, perhaps a
bit sooner than I might have. I have read snippets in the already-published
Italian edition, as well as the previously published excerpt and can only
agree wholeheartedly with your review.
Some other comments on your latest missive:
"While it is natural for the Roman Catholic Church to play down these
developments and to emphasise the traditional Latin commitment to Roman
Catholicism what we are seeing here is a significant social transformation
that has occurred as local Catholics have been exposed to other forms of
Christianity for the first time in centuries."
Certainly some within the Roman Catholic Church have been playing down these
developments. Pope John Paul addressed the issue at Puebla, Mexico, in 1979
and again at Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, in 1992 at previous meetings
of the Assembly of Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean. I have often
wondered if those with ears to hear who seemingly have not yet heard are
simply products of a culture that has grown out of another culture where the
Protestant Reformation has never been experienced. The Iberian Peninsula of
western Europe is probably the only part of western Europe that has really
never had that experience, with the possible exception of the Italian
peninsula south of the River Po. Latin American Roman Catholicism today is
exported Iberian Roman Catholicism mixed in no small measure with indigenous
Latin American cultures. Only now is Latin America experiencing
Protestantism and, some might say, often in its more radical forms. I, as
you know, had the experience in Rome in 1987-1990 of working with and living
in the same residence with clergy from around the world, including some
Latin American clergy, many of whom are now Roman Catholic Bishops in Latin
America. For almost all of them, all Protestant groups, including what you
and I would know as "mainline" Protestant denominations, were "sects" and
almost all of these men had experienced only aggressive fundamentalist
groups funded from the United States - a rather emotionally explosive
combination, to put it politely. A "significant social transformation" is
indeed what we are seeing - and some of us see it more clearly than others.
------------------------------
"......from that reborn nation." - from your comment on Northern Ireland
My Irish ancestors and relatives would be startled to discover that six
counties of one Irish province now form a "nation." Actually, most of them
would still be hard pressed to understand that democracy is actually
evolving in those six counties in ways that it either has already evolved or
has never needed to evolve either in the rest of the United Kingdom - of
which those six counties still form a "province" - or in the other
twenty-six counties of Ireland. Let us continue to hope and pray that a
genuine rebirth is indeed occurring on all sides in those conflicted
counties, in that conflicted province.
And I do agree that the Irish will join a pluralistic reality - all of the
Irish, without distinction of ethnic origin or religious faith. They
certainly do it - and generally do it well in a generation or two - when
they immigrate. Now that Ireland is receiving immigrants, even those who
remain on the island will be exposed to other realities. I still chuckle at
the vision of an imaginary Vladimir O'Callaghan chanting the Divine Liturgy
of Saint John Chrysostom in Irish [what used to be known as "Gaelic"] with a
lilting County Galway accent in the Catholic Pro-Cathedral in Dublin! - now
that there are 10,000+ Ukrainian Catholics [who, as you know, follow the
Greek or Byzantine Rite] in Dublin alone.
I too have encountered those from the six counties who think of themselves
as a "nation," but they're about as much a "nation" as my relatives who live
in Alsace are part of an Alsatian "nation." We Canadians may have a long
way to go, but we've also come a long way. As I said in a sermon I preached
in 1992 for the 500th anniversary of permanent European settlement in the
Western Hemisphere, "What's 'new' about the "New World" is the mixing of all
peoples and races and cultures in ways that had never happened before in
human history." I still believe that's true, but it's also happening now in
the "Old World."
Good to hear from you.
(end)