Tuesday, May 29, 2007

North Alabama Annual Conference


Well tomorrow I'm off to Birmingham for Annual Conference. Keep us in your prayers as we elect delegates to General and Jurisdictional Conferences, ordain and appoint pastors, and debate a Christian response to the War in Iraq. My prayer is that we won't be my lousy Christian witness of the week as we discuss the resolution on the War in Iraq (if you have only read the version in the preconference book be sure and read this new version of the resolution.) And we are already off to a good start with the wonderful way in which the resolution was discussed and revised in committee.

And a big thank you to the folks who are helping me by serving as assistant secretaries! Thank you Matt, Paul, Buddy, and Kathy!

Monday, May 28, 2007

Memorial Day

On this Memorial Day, let's do something more constructive than wave flags and cook out. Take a moment to write a note to a soldier in Iraq. You can do something as simple as sending a postcard, sending a short e-mail, or the "old Fashioned Way" (but remember you do need a stamp for this method ;-D )

Have a Happy Memorial Day.

Friday, May 25, 2007

For Jeff and Andreia


Okay so I may be a day late--but the sentiment is the same!
Happy Anniversary

Those crazy theological words

Okay--so some of you wonder about some of the words in the quiz. Don't worry about them too much. For the purpose of the quiz, if you don't know what it is you probably neither strongly agree or disagree ;-D

But anyway, someone specifically asked about Sola Scriptura. Sola Scriptura is Latin for Scripture Alone. And bascially it says that Scripture is the authoritative revelation of God and can be understood by a rational reader on its own (in other words you don't need the church tradition to tell you what it says). This was one of the founding principles of the Protestant reformation along with four other "solas":

Sola gratia--grace alone--we are saved by God's grace alone
Sola fida--faith alone--justification is by faith alone
Solus Christus--Christ alone--all salvation comes through Christ
Soli Deo Gloria--Glory to God Alone--All this is God's gift alone and no one else (saint or otherwise) is worthy of God's glory.

I suspect Wesleyans will argue over whether we actually believe in Sola Scriptura. Many of us hold the Wesleyan Quadrilateral as our point of reference and it says we rely not only on Scripture (although scripture is primary!) but also on experience, reason, and tradition.

Inquiring Minds Want to Know

Okay--so I'm taking today off and I decided to look into the definitions of the terms the quiz bandies about. So please be patient with the length of this post, but here are the definitions and I've included links if you really want to know more about Karl Barth or TULIP. (Please note: these are the definitions given by the creator of the quiz not my personal opinions!)

Charismatic/Pentecostal: You are a charismatic or pentecostal believer. You believe in the primacy of spiritual gifts and the importance of renewal of the body of Christ. You are likely to be suspicious of or even hostile to older non-charismatic churches and revival is high on your list of priorities. You are a firm believer that God's Spirit is as active today as in biblical times and you are likely to devote less time to academic study of the Bible and theology.

Classical Liberal: You are a classical liberal. You are skeptical about much of the historicity of the Bible, and the most important thing Jesus has done is to set us a good moral example that we are to follow. Doctrines like the trinity and the incarnation are speculative and not really important, and in the face of science and philosophy the surest way we can be certain about God is by our inner awareness of him. Discipleship is expressed by good moral behavior, but inward religious feeling is most important.

Emergent/Postmodern: You are Emergent/Postmodern in your theology. You feel alienated from older forms of church, you don’t think they connect to modern culture very well. No one knows the whole truth about God, and we have much to learn from each other, and so learning takes place in dialogue. Evangelism should take place in relationships rather than through crusades and altar-calls. People are interested in spirituality and want to ask questions, so the church should help them to do this.

Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan: You are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God's grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavily by John Wesley and the Methodists.

Modern Liberal: You are a Modern Liberal. Science and historical study have shown so much of the Bible to be unreliable and that conservative faith has made Jesus out to be a much bigger deal than he actually was. Discipleship involves continuing to preach and practice Jesus' measure of love and acceptance, and dogma is not important in today's world. You are influenced by thinkers like Bultmann and Bishop Spong.

Neo-orthodox: You are neo-orthodox. You reject the human-centeredness and skepticism of liberal theology, but neither do you go to the other extreme and make the Bible the central issue for faith. You believe that Christ is God's most important revelation to humanity, and the Trinity is hugely important in your theology. The Bible is also important because it points us to the revelation of Christ. You are influenced by Karl Barth and P T Forsyth.

Reformed Evangelical: You are a Reformed Evangelical. You take the Bible very seriously because it is God’s Word. You most likely hold to TULIP and are skeptical about the possibilities of universal atonement or resistible grace. The most important thing the Church can do is make sure people hear how they can go to heaven when they die. [Sherill’s note for non-Calvinist: TULIP stands for Total depravity of humankind ; Unconditional Election; Limited Atonement; Irresistible Grace; Perseverance of the Saints]

Roman Catholic: You are Roman Catholic. Church tradition and ecclesial authority are hugely important, and the most important part of worship for you is mass. As the Mother of God, Mary is important in your theology, and as the communion of saints includes the living and the dead, you can also ask the saints to intercede for you."

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

What's your theological worldview?


Larry Lowe shared a really neat website with me. This quiz asks you a number of questions related to theology and doctrine and then categorizes your worldview by various theologies.

My results were as follows:
82% Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan
75% Emergent/Postmodern
(neither of which surprised me, but the next one did!)
71% Roman Catholic!

Also, should there ever be a question, I am 0% fundamementalist!!!

The only scary thing was that my test results had a picture of John Wesley and underneath his picture, it read "The Soulmate Calculator." I like Wesley but I surely hope he is not my soulmate!!!!

Check it out and let me know how you score!

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Assassination Vacation


As someone who spent a whole afternoon in beautiful Oxford England searching for C.S. Lewis' grave and whose children accuse her of spending their vacations "stalking John Wesley." (Shouldn't all Methodist children know their heritage by visiting all the John Wesley monuments in the U.S.?) I LOVED this book. My sister (formerly known as Kathy) and I want to sign up to join Sarah Vowell for her next vacation.

If you have a somewhat skewed sense of humor; an interest in history; are even somewhat interested in learning how the Republican Party of Lincoln became today's republican party; or are curious about the connection of Robert Todd Lincoln to the deaths of 3 (!) U.S. Presidents, you should read this book.

Friday, May 11, 2007

Lousy Christian Witness of the Week -- May 11


My son, Phillip, has provided our lousy Christian witness of the week. This is a game called Spiritual Warfare. You can bring your enemies to their knees by zapping them with a vial of God's wrath.
Nothing like a good kid's game!

Tuesday, May 8, 2007

Worst video ever . . .

Okay, Jeff posted his version of a nightmare video on his blog, but thanks to my son, Steven, I know of an even worse (and longer) one! Check it out . . .

Monday, May 7, 2007

Friday, May 4, 2007

Everything Must Change



Well, I'm already planning to go hear Brian McLaren in Nashville on Feb 1 and 2. Anyone else up to a road trip?

If you are unfamiliar with Brian McLaren, I highly recommend his books. He is the spokesperson for the Emergent Church movement and a very good speaker.

Thursday, May 3, 2007

No More Kings?!

When we met with Marcus Borg, one of the issues we discussed was the primacy of the Kingdom of God in Jesus' preaching. As a result, we discussed culturally relevant metaphors for Jesus message. For first century Christians to say that Jesus was King or Lord was a powerful statement. It meant first of all that Cesar, Herod and all the others were not true kings nor Lords. But for Americans, King and Lord have negative connotations. We don't like Kings. We don't want a king--even a good one. We learn that at a very young age

So what are some contemporary metaphors that give the same sense about Jesus?
We can't say he is our president, because presidents are elected, have term limits, and can be impeached or replaced if we don't like what they are doing. Borg suggested Commander in Chief--but that just reminds me of the president and it also seems to me to be a military title. Who in our culture demands/deserves our allegiance over everything else?
What do you think?

Sweet Home Alabama


Well, I've been home for over twenty four hours, but my body is still on Pacific time! Hopefully, I'll get accustomed to Central Time again soon.

Seattle was a great experience. In addition to the places I've already shared, we also took a ferry to Bainbridge Island where we ate (of course) and shopped. It is a beautiful little island and I wish we'd had more time there. We also worshipped on Friday night at Temple B'nai Torah where a friend of Jeffrey Ballon's is the rabbi. They had a lovely "contemporary" service. They were celebrating the Sabbath, a Bar Mitzvah and a baby naming.

Our final evening in Seattle we met with the leaders of the Northwest Interfaith Community Organization (NICO). They have a radio program on talk radio about interfaith issues.

Our flight home was uneventful (yeah!) and now I'm simply glad to be home!

Tuesday, May 1, 2007

"Delibertas Quirkas" -- "Freedom to be Quirky"


One of the highlights of our trips has been the time we have spent in the Center of the Universe that is the Fremont District of Seattle. Fremont is the location of both the Church of the Apostles and the Monkfish Abbey and the motto of the neighborhood is "Delibertas Quirkas." Yesterday, we spent over two hours visiting with Rachelle Mee-Chapman, the urban abbess of Monkfish Abbey. For several of us, this was one of the highlights of the trip. Monkfish is a neo-monastic community in Freemont. They meet on Thursday night over dinner and they seek to be a missional church actively involved with their community. They are associated with a Vineyard Church in Seattle but they are doing some very innovative things to extend the love of Jesus Christ to their community. In addition, while Rachelle was working on her masters in Theology, she studied with Eugene Petterson and she wrote contemporary liturgy for the Vineyard church and I am fascinated in how she brought tradition into a non-liturgical, non-traditional church. Rachelle herself was a wonderfully warm, passionate and articulate woman. It was a true blessing to meet her.

We also met with Rabbi Ted Falcon at the office of Bet Alef Meditative Synagogue. He too was a very warm, articulate person. And like Rachelle, he gifted us by sharing his story of how he moved from the traditional expression of his faith to the non-traditional (although Kabbalah is an old tradition itself). We will meet with him and his colleagues this afternoon to discuss Interfaith community.

And, as if our tradition, we finished the day off with a great dinner and music. Last night we went to Tulas, one of USA Today's Top 10 Jazz Clubs. Unfortunately, it was open mike night so we didn't stay too long.

The "f" word

One day when I was still studying at Vanderbilt, I started talking to one of my favorite teaching assistants about my experience serving the Korean church. And I mentioned how frustrating it was to work with the Korean pastor followed by the commentary that I didn't think of myself as a feminist, but he came close to making me one. To which, she replied, "Oh, Sherill, you are one! You just don't like the "f" word."

I guess she is right. The "f" word has so much baggage associated with it that doesn't reflect my views. Yet, I do think women have gifts to bring to the table that men do not and I'm sorry that women are still struggling for the right to express those gifts in some areas of our culture. And, unfortunately, the church is still one of those places.

I discovered this video on the Urban Abbess' blog and it too comes close to making me a feminist.