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So I hope you’ve enjoyed the series here on the Holy Spirit, led by Steve Hamilton, and thanks for all our comments and participations.
In the next week I plan to post two items. One will be titled, ‘Why I don’t rate church rater’, a comment and review of the site http://www.churchrater.com/ that my mate Jim Henderson, the site’s author has asked me to write. The title might give away that I think the site is more part of the problem it seeks to address, than any helpful solution.
Then a second piece titled, ‘Do Christians spend too much time in Church?’. I hear this accusation often. The claim that Christians spend too long involved in church activities, or that churches expect people to spend too much time involved in church life.
I want to explore how this might be more of a shibboleth and self justifying accusation of consumer culture and agency, than a reasonable critique of church life (and I’m not arguing for people to spend all their time in church).
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I wrote an update back in July, about how the Doctor of Ministry in Global Missional Leadership, is getting close to launch in 2010.
In terms of extending our online learning experience and making the program open to people who won’t be registered students, we’ve talking about using Google Wave.
However Google Wave is only open to those few with invites (do pass any on you may have
. However Life Hacker invited people to make videos about why they should receive and invite, as they have some to give out.Joe Burnham, is one of the first applicants for our D.Min, and he set about making a video for submission to win the coveted invites. I want to share his video with you, because a) it’s sooo good and b) it really captures the essence of so much of what we hope this program will be as an extended global learning community.
So you can catch it here (and find out what the Einstein poster reference is about).
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I blogged back in july about a new venture by my denomination, who are trying to stimulate theological reflection and foster community around those conversations.
Well the ‘society of vineyard scholars‘ now has a web site, with full details, including information on the first annual society event in Houstan, Texas, February 11-12th 2010. I’m submitting a paper and planning on attending, and looking forward to meeting some fellow Vineyard folks engaged in Theology.
The society is open to those outside the Vineyard, and Vineyard people outside the USA. Looking at the about section, hopes to form around these values:
- deep, collaborative theological reflection on crucial issues through the lens of the Kingdom of God
- sound, mature publications that critically engage matters of importance to the life and thought of the Vineyard movement
- relationships of inclusion and constructive dialogue for all scholars, seminarians, and graduate students who want to participate in the growing theological discourse of the Vineyard movement
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Dan Wilt has been taking 15 or so of our worship team through an online training course, ‘essentials‘, that has been deep, broad and life giving to our worship team and community.
In addition to leading the Worship and Arts Institute, Dan has moved to Nashville, to direct a new international worship learning community.
If you think this is about a band and 4 songs, think again. Take a look and see the theological reflection, creativity and musical elements involved, some are below.
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I’ve had 3 days of teaching missional ecclesiology at George Fox and loved every minute with a great and large M.A group (over 30 students).
Then I had a wonderful time in Eugene, at the Eugene Faith Centre speaking as well as meetings several great people like Dave Merwyn (who is a genius and will one day be famous in the social media).
The talk I gave at Eugene Faith Center is online to stream here, or download here. I shared the four things I think I have learned the most about the power of the Gospel in my own life, over 23 years.
Then yesterday a day of meetings and travel and now I’m about to spend two days riding a Harley motorbike through the Kansas countryside, before making my way to Washington D.C.
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“In a recent book, Stories of Emergence: Moving from Absolute to Authentic, written by a diverse group of Christian leaders whose purpose was to comment on culture and direction of the Emerging Church, there was not a single account of pneumatological expression. Not one!…The Holy Spirit’s activity has become atrophied; in many of these circles people are desperate to understand more. The emerging church is asking its congregations to be girl scouts without giving them the cookies. This has to change. We desperately need practitioners who can articulate and demonstrate the Kingdom.[w]e need cultural iconographies that are both personal and purposeful demonstrations of God’s heart.” – Eric Keck, from his thesis: Pneumanaut: Demonstrate, Embody, Announce
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Brian McLaren will be the keynote speaker at the Faithworks Conference 2010 where his latest book A New Kind Of Christianity will be officially launched in the UK.
Taking place in London from 26-28 February 2010 the Faithworks Conference 2010 – 360º Building Whole Communities will explore the theology and practice of community engagement together with speakers Steve Chalke MBE; Nims Obunge MBE; Ruth Dearnley; Jeff Lucas; Jill Rowe and many more.
Around the UK Christian projects and churches are working together with schools, local authorities, health professionals and the police to bring 360° – social, spiritual, emotional, educational and physical – transformation to their communities.
Whether you and your church or community project are experienced at 360º community engagement or just beginning to impact your community, this conference will encourage and equip you to approach the needs of your local community with creativity, courage and a faith that works.
Early bird ticket discount available until 30 October 2009.
For more information or to book online go to www.faithworks.info/conference
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This will be the last of my posts exploring an emerging theology of the Spirit in a ‘post-charismatic’ world.
Let me first be clear that by ‘post-charismatic’ world, I do not mean a world devoid of the Spirit’s personal presence and tangible activity. I am committed to the belief that the Spirit is present in this world as God experienced, an incarnational role, in which the Spirit’s actions are in full continuity with the incarnate Son who came to be God with us.
The early charismatics were right, then, to have a deep desire for authentic engagement with the Spirit, and so too, are those of us who continue to hold this desire. Unfortunately, many of us, while still clinging to these beliefs and desire, have ceased to be convinced by popular charismatology.
My proposal in the recent series of posts has been that more than anything we need to reimagine our core theology of the Spirit and allow this renewed understanding to inform our interpretive lens concerning our experience of the Spirit.
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I’m off today to Portland, Oregon, to teach a masters module in missional ecclesiology at George Fox Seminary for 3 days.
Then Sunday I’m speaking at both services at the Eugene Faith Centre, as well as visiting their student ministry Onyx House. Then I’m travelling on to Kansas City and spending two days riding a motorbike
with Tim Keel, into the middle of no-where.
Then a night in Washngton DC and dinner with Brian McLaren, before flying home. Should be a rich week of teaching, learning, friends, church family and relationships. My postings might be light whilst I am away.
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I was recently having a conversation with a new friend of mine who is a linguistics professor at the University of Florida. Brent said something that I have been pondering ever since:
“My own discipline is perhaps the best place this is illustrated. Through studying language, we have learned that human language, abstractly, has a highly mathematical, elegant underlying structure that is universal (you find evidence for it in every human language). Yet the brain itself is a messy, bloody, inefficient system of neurons. How are the two possibly connected? We just don’t know. I’m a theoretical linguist and I work in a department with two brilliant neuro-/psycho-linguists. Yet we have virtually nothing to say to each other about how language works. It’s like we’re in totally different disciplines.”
