A big switcheroo over the weekend at my neighboring presbytery, East Tennessee. They approved the new B by a vote of 81-66. This was a major switch from a no voice vote last time and a 2-1 against vote in previous years. From solid yellow to blue!
Bruce Hahne has a chart with stats galore.
Check the story at More Light Presbyterians.
We had our little church chat at Holston Presbytery. Not a huge turnout, 30 or so I guess, but it was a good opportunity to begin to discuss the issues at stake.
Sunday, February 08, 2009
Friday, February 06, 2009
It Breaks My Heart
“Hope has two beautiful daughters. Their names are anger and courage; anger at the way things are, and courage to see that they do not remain the way they are.”
--Augustine
Watch this video and then go to Courage Campaign.
"Fidelity": Don't Divorce... from Courage Campaign on Vimeo.
--Augustine
Watch this video and then go to Courage Campaign.
"Fidelity": Don't Divorce... from Courage Campaign on Vimeo.
Infamous prosecutor Ken Starr has filed a legal brief -- on behalf of the "Yes on 8" campaign -- to nullify the 18,000 same-sex marriages performed in California between May and November of 2008.Sign a letter to the Supreme Court here.
It's time to put a face to Ken Starr's shameful legal proceedings. To put a face to the 18,000 couples facing forcible divorce. To put a face to marriage equality. Because, gay or straight, YOU are the face of the Marriage Equality Movement.
Thursday, February 05, 2009
Gladys and Ellen
Do you think this would count as a profession of public faith when we welcome new members?
Gladys is from Austin, TX. I wonder if she is a member at St. Andrew's?
I love Jesus but I drink a little.You'll love this:
Gladys is from Austin, TX. I wonder if she is a member at St. Andrew's?
The Meaning of Life, Part 15
He comes to us as One unknown, without a name, as of old, by the lake-side, He came to those men who knew Him not. He speaks to us the same word: "Follow thou me!" and sets us to the tasks which He has to fulfil for our time. He commands. And to those who obey Him, whether they be wise or simple, He will reveal Himself in the toils, the conflicts, the sufferings which they shall pass through in His fellowship, and, as an ineffable mystery, they shall learn in their own experience Who He is. --Albert Schweitzer, The Quest of the Historical Jesus, p. 403
Why Amendment A Will Be a Bigger Deal than B
Of the amendments before the presbyteries in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), amendment B is getting the attention. But the amendment that will eventually determine the future of the church is amendment A.
No one is keeping a tally. No one is publicly advocating or organizing for or against it as far as I can tell. This little amendment if passed is the one that will take us down the road to heresy charges, the expulsion of churches and clergy, and eventually toward fundamentalism.
It began in Texas. A church in Mission Presbytery, St. Andrew's Presbyterian, was taken to church court because it admitted into its membership a freethinker. You can read Robert Jensen's story here, Finding My Way Back to Church--and Getting Kicked Out: The Struggle Over What It Means to Be a Christian Today.
I wrote about it here and here.
Those who don't think freethinkers belong sent an overture to the General Assembly to make sure they aren't welcome and that if a church does welcome them as members, there will be hell to pay. The General Assembly modified it somewhat but still approved and sent to the presbyteries the following:
We already have requirements for membership in the Book of Order.
It doesn't matter if you have ever read a book. It doesn't matter what you do or how you live. It doesn't matter how you articulate the mysteries of faith. What matters is whether or not you can get up in front of a group of people and mouth a formula. Just say the magic words.
Forcing people to make public vows is how inquisitions begin. The fundies will be watching. If you don't do this, your session or clergy will be taken to church court for disobeying the Book of Order.
On one level, it may seem like a small thing. In the scope of all the challenges we face in life, it certainly is. Yet it reflects a trend. In response to progressive Christianity that is a searching, questioning approach to spirituality, fundamentalism insists on rules, requirements, slogans, formulas, vows, and hassles.
People are asking questions about Jesus, the canon, spirituality, faith, other faiths, science, and ethics. They are looking for communities that nurture and encourage this questioning spirit. This amendment and others that likely will follow are about silencing this spirit of questioning.
The things we force people to say do matter. This is offensive to people of conscience. This amendment is a direct slap in the face to St. Andrew's Presbyterian and progressive congregations and Christians. This is the no welcome mat for those with a questioning faith.
You can bet it will be used against churches who "misbehave."
We might as well put a sign over our churches that reads:
Don't enter here with any questions for which we do not have answers.
No one is keeping a tally. No one is publicly advocating or organizing for or against it as far as I can tell. This little amendment if passed is the one that will take us down the road to heresy charges, the expulsion of churches and clergy, and eventually toward fundamentalism.
It began in Texas. A church in Mission Presbytery, St. Andrew's Presbyterian, was taken to church court because it admitted into its membership a freethinker. You can read Robert Jensen's story here, Finding My Way Back to Church--and Getting Kicked Out: The Struggle Over What It Means to Be a Christian Today.
I wrote about it here and here.
Those who don't think freethinkers belong sent an overture to the General Assembly to make sure they aren't welcome and that if a church does welcome them as members, there will be hell to pay. The General Assembly modified it somewhat but still approved and sent to the presbyteries the following:
G-5.0200You can read the texts of all the amendments including the rationale behind this one (p. vi) here.
2. Membership Vows
After new members are examined, affirming their faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and are received by the session, whether by profession of faith, certificate of transfer, or reaffirmation of faith, they shall be presented to and welcomed by the congregation during a service of worship where they shall make a public profession of their faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, as do confirmands (W-4.2003a, b, and c).
We already have requirements for membership in the Book of Order.
G-5.0101 a. The incarnation of God in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ gives to the church not only its mission but also its understanding of membership. One becomes an active member of the church through faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and acceptance of his Lordship in all of life. Baptism and a public profession of faith in Jesus as Lord are the visible signs of entrance into the active membership of the church.But we don't treat people like five-year-olds by forcing them to make public vows. This amendment is about creating a culture of sheep.
It doesn't matter if you have ever read a book. It doesn't matter what you do or how you live. It doesn't matter how you articulate the mysteries of faith. What matters is whether or not you can get up in front of a group of people and mouth a formula. Just say the magic words.
Forcing people to make public vows is how inquisitions begin. The fundies will be watching. If you don't do this, your session or clergy will be taken to church court for disobeying the Book of Order.
On one level, it may seem like a small thing. In the scope of all the challenges we face in life, it certainly is. Yet it reflects a trend. In response to progressive Christianity that is a searching, questioning approach to spirituality, fundamentalism insists on rules, requirements, slogans, formulas, vows, and hassles.
People are asking questions about Jesus, the canon, spirituality, faith, other faiths, science, and ethics. They are looking for communities that nurture and encourage this questioning spirit. This amendment and others that likely will follow are about silencing this spirit of questioning.
The things we force people to say do matter. This is offensive to people of conscience. This amendment is a direct slap in the face to St. Andrew's Presbyterian and progressive congregations and Christians. This is the no welcome mat for those with a questioning faith.
You can bet it will be used against churches who "misbehave."
We might as well put a sign over our churches that reads:
Don't enter here with any questions for which we do not have answers.
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
Universal Robots for Valentine's Day
My lovely and I are going to be in New York, New York for Valentine's Day. We are going to see her younger sister in the play, Universal Robots. Here is a synopsis:
The Great War has just ended. The fledgling Republic of Czechoslovakia, under its first elected President, boasts a thriving artistic and intellectual community. At the center of that community is Karel Capek, a celebrated playwright and a passionate advocate for all his newborn nation can achieve. But the brave new world arrives faster than Karel could have ever expected when a young woman walks into his life with a strange mannequin in a wheelchair… a mannequin that gets up and moves all by itself.
Universal Robots offers a compelling, alternate history of the Twentieth Century, imagining the invention of the robot in 1921 and chronicling the shocking consequences of that invention right up to the present day.
Part science fiction thriller, part love story, part political allegory, part redemptive tragedy and a fast-paced entertainment throughout, Universal Robots departs significantly from Capek's script, offering a meaty and riveting story of war, love, faith, art, and technology that culminates, in the words of NYTheatre's Martin Denton, in an "edge-of-your-seat finish equal to the best story-telling of stage or screen."
My wife's sister is Michelle O'Connor. Check out her web page.
Cute, huh?
"...O'Connor is something of a cross between Michelle Pfeiffer and Rod Serling." Jesterjournal
If you are a Broadway producer, you will want to get this actress, comedian, composer, playwright, and minstrel in one of your shows!
And if you are in NYC between February 12 through March 7 treat yourself to a play at the Manhattan Theatre Source.
The Meaning of Life, Part 14
So, then, Christ may be said to be a fiction in the four senses that (1) it is quite possible that there was no historical Jesus. (2) Even if there was, he is lost to us, the result being that there is no historical Jesus available to us. Moreover, (3) the Jesus who "walks with me and talks with me and tells me I am his own" is an imaginative visualization and in the nature of the case can be nothing more than a fiction. And finally, (4) 'Christ' as a corporate logo for this and that religious institution is a euphemistic fiction, not unlike Ronald McDonald, Mickey Mouse, or Joe Camel, the purpose of which is to get you to swallow a whole raft of beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors by an act of simple faith, short-circuiting the dangerous process of thinking the issues out to your own conclusions.
--Robert Price, Jesus is Dead, p. 279
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
The Apostles' Creed Jesus is Bankrupt
April DeConick is sticking it to the Jesus Seminar on her blog, The Forbidden Gospels. She is running a series with critiques of the methodology of the Jesus Seminar entitled The Jesus Seminar Jesus is Bankrupt, parts one, two, and three. Jim West has linked to her series with the clever title, Why the Jesus Seminar Needs a Bailout.
It is a bit of risk for me to post about this as any of these scholars can clean my clock (including the Jesus Seminar folks). I am a simple country preacher with an interest in these things. I am an associate member of Westar (the Jesus Seminar) and I have spoken of them favorably on this blog including this silly post Why I Heart the Jesus Seminar.
I have benefited from reading their books and attending and hosting their events. I have defended them against the fundies who claim that the bodily resurrection of Jesus, his ascension, and the resuscitation of Matthew's zombies are as historical as the inauguration of Barack Obama.
My quibble with April is the title of her series. I think she shows quite adequately that the methods themselves when pushed beyond their limits implode. The search for a hero always leads to the self. In the end historical Jesus scholars may have constructed a myth for our time, a Jesus that may be a model as we resist the forces of empire. If we must have a hero, that Jesus may fit our need.
Jesus was a god (and for many still is). Every story that we have about Jesus presents him as some kind of divine hero. We have little if any independent evidence that he even existed. The new Jesus Project will tackle this very question.
All stories and creeds of gods and other divine or partially divine figures are fiction. Whenever we speak about gods and "God" we enter the realm of myth. We can discuss whether myths are true or not and whether they resonate with us or not. That is a whole other topic. To situate myself, A Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell has been helpful.
The question since the Enlightenment is whether or not Jesus was more than a god. Was he a human being as well? The quest of historical Jesus research has been to transform Jesus from the wooden god of creed into as Geppetto would say "a real live boy."
It is that assumption that is under question more than any method. The methods have included simple scissors--a la Thomas Jefferson--to cut out the fantastic parts and find a moral teacher. They have included redaction criticism, form criticism, inventing/discovering "Q", as well as those methods April has been talking about so far: multiple attestation, dissimilarity, and coherence. More methods may yet be invented all in the quest to find a real live boy.
I am beginning to doubt the assumption that there was a human behind the myth. I don't think Jesus was ever more than a god. Yet searching for him has been a fun and educational quest. The Jesus Seminar accomplished the needed deconstruction of the tradition itself. They showed us that the Jesus that is bankrupt is the Jesus of the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds.
Those myths came from a universe that no longer exists. Those myths haven't served many of us for a long time. There was some hope that the "historical Jesus" could do it. To some extent, he does. The clever non-violent poet on the side of the outcast is a helpful model for some problems. I enjoy preaching about him. Yet I wonder if this hero, too, is fading and will eventually go the way of Hercules, out of place in a world too large for him to master.
Turning to theology, if Jesus was a god and always will be a god of some sort, what form will he take? Jesus of creed is an incredible god, too puny and dated. Jesus as the heroic human never existed. With what are we left? What god, myth, and metaphor will be large enough to guide us through not only the immediate problems we face but the vastness of the Universe that simply makes us dizzy?
That question might be interesting.
It is a bit of risk for me to post about this as any of these scholars can clean my clock (including the Jesus Seminar folks). I am a simple country preacher with an interest in these things. I am an associate member of Westar (the Jesus Seminar) and I have spoken of them favorably on this blog including this silly post Why I Heart the Jesus Seminar.
I have benefited from reading their books and attending and hosting their events. I have defended them against the fundies who claim that the bodily resurrection of Jesus, his ascension, and the resuscitation of Matthew's zombies are as historical as the inauguration of Barack Obama.
My quibble with April is the title of her series. I think she shows quite adequately that the methods themselves when pushed beyond their limits implode. The search for a hero always leads to the self. In the end historical Jesus scholars may have constructed a myth for our time, a Jesus that may be a model as we resist the forces of empire. If we must have a hero, that Jesus may fit our need.
Jesus was a god (and for many still is). Every story that we have about Jesus presents him as some kind of divine hero. We have little if any independent evidence that he even existed. The new Jesus Project will tackle this very question.
All stories and creeds of gods and other divine or partially divine figures are fiction. Whenever we speak about gods and "God" we enter the realm of myth. We can discuss whether myths are true or not and whether they resonate with us or not. That is a whole other topic. To situate myself, A Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell has been helpful.
The question since the Enlightenment is whether or not Jesus was more than a god. Was he a human being as well? The quest of historical Jesus research has been to transform Jesus from the wooden god of creed into as Geppetto would say "a real live boy."
It is that assumption that is under question more than any method. The methods have included simple scissors--a la Thomas Jefferson--to cut out the fantastic parts and find a moral teacher. They have included redaction criticism, form criticism, inventing/discovering "Q", as well as those methods April has been talking about so far: multiple attestation, dissimilarity, and coherence. More methods may yet be invented all in the quest to find a real live boy.
I am beginning to doubt the assumption that there was a human behind the myth. I don't think Jesus was ever more than a god. Yet searching for him has been a fun and educational quest. The Jesus Seminar accomplished the needed deconstruction of the tradition itself. They showed us that the Jesus that is bankrupt is the Jesus of the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds.
Those myths came from a universe that no longer exists. Those myths haven't served many of us for a long time. There was some hope that the "historical Jesus" could do it. To some extent, he does. The clever non-violent poet on the side of the outcast is a helpful model for some problems. I enjoy preaching about him. Yet I wonder if this hero, too, is fading and will eventually go the way of Hercules, out of place in a world too large for him to master.
Turning to theology, if Jesus was a god and always will be a god of some sort, what form will he take? Jesus of creed is an incredible god, too puny and dated. Jesus as the heroic human never existed. With what are we left? What god, myth, and metaphor will be large enough to guide us through not only the immediate problems we face but the vastness of the Universe that simply makes us dizzy?
That question might be interesting.
Lake Huron Turns Blue
I just received the news that Lake Huron Presbytery reversed its 2001 vote and voted in favor of inclusion 43-32. This is the second presbytery that has switched.
What am I talking about? Why the new Amendment B, of course, that returns us to our Presbyterian traditions. Here is the text:
It is nice to have a blue lake.
What am I talking about? Why the new Amendment B, of course, that returns us to our Presbyterian traditions. Here is the text:
G-6.0106b. Those who are called to ordained service in the church, by their assent to the constitutional questions for ordination and installation (W-4.4003) pledge themselves to live lives obedient to Jesus Christ the Head of the Church, striving to follow where he leads through the witness of the Scriptures, and to understand the Scriptures through the instruction of the Confessions. In so doing, they declare their fidelity to the standards of the Church. Each governing body charged with examination for ordination and/or installation (G-14.0240 and G-14.0450) establishes the candidate's sincere efforts to adhere to these standards.Here are some FAQs to help when you make the case in your presbytery.
It is nice to have a blue lake.
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