Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Family Devotions in the Home: Bowling Green, May 15-16

I will be leading a workshop, "Family Devotions in the Home: How and Why" this Friday (5:15 - 6:16 pm) and Saturday (11 am - noon) at the NW Ohio Synod Assembly in the Student Union at Bowling Green State University. You are welcome to come and join the conversation.

And, if you'd like, we have a wonderful keynote presenter: Dr. Mark Powell from Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus.

If there is enough interest I may adapt and repeat this workshop for an evening during our Vacation Bible School week (June 15-19) at Bethlehem.

Monday, May 11, 2009

Technology and Faith Formation

New Technology
I celebrated a small milestone last week: I figured out how to podcast and am listed on iTunes.

[For those of you wondering what the heck "podcasting" is, think of it as having your own "on demand" radio station through the internet. Another way I describe it is "radio on demand." Through a service such as iTunes you can subscribe to broadcasts (called podcasts) and download them to your home computer and/or portable audio device (such as an iPod) to play at your own convenience.]

The thing is, I'm not sure if all of this new technology is a necessarily good thing... or a bad thing.

First, let me back up a minute. Sometimes technology itself is bashed, when in fact it is usually new technology we are cautious of, perhaps even afraid of. I mean, the telephone--heck, even the newspaper--is a form of technology. The flood of technology that has come with the internet is not altogether different from the flood of technology that came on the heels of the printing press in the time of the Christian Reformers of the 16th Century.

Digital Divide
The first thought that comes to mind when we embrace (or consider) a new technology is: "Who is left out?" The obvious answer in most current discussions is "anyone who does not have a computer or internet access." The so-called "digital divide" has been thoroughly discussed in many circles, but it does raise a special problem for Christians who worship the God who is deeply concerned about the poor, the orphan and the widow. That is, what does it mean to embrace a new technology that is inaccessible to the very ones we are called to care for? I don't have any easy answers to this dilemma, but I think the question needs to remain front and center for us as Christians.

Radio Renaissance
What is also interesting to me is how much the spoken word has remained central, even as new technologies emerge. The pre-television medium of radio seems to be on the rise again: witness satellite radio, podcasting and the latest invention: Pandora, personalized internet radio.

However, there is a huge difference between the radio programs of the first half of the 20th Century and the first few years of the 21st. While radio used to be a communal medium that brought people together with common "texts" (programs), it is now highly individualized and choice oriented, driving the deep formation of a consumer/transactional culture. Said another way: Radio is no longer about "what we listen to together" but "what I want to hear."

Still, there is a great gift in this radio renaissance. It underlines the power of the spoken word. From ancient times, stories were told to convey meaning, to give life. The Bible was a spoken word before it was a written text. Writing will never fully replace preaching... in fact, the opposite movement seems to be occurring. In a technologically-rich world over saturated with images and text, the spoken word, the "heard word" is the word we crave.

New Technology and Faith Formation
Finally, what concerns me most about the embrace (or shunning) of new technology is what it means for our formation as people who desire to walk in the Way of Christ. Many Christian writers, including Stanley Hauerwas (if I am remembering correctly), have argued that when we are not intentionally being formed as Christians, we are still being formed--but it is by a story other than the Christian story. In other words, there is always formation going on, but it may not be the kind we need or that God intends for us.

I don't think this means that we should all shut off the electricity, get cabins in the woods and buy typewriters. But it does involve a considerable amount of prayer and discernment, perhaps much more so than we are used to. It involves asking questions deeper than, "How many cell phone does our family need?" and instead asking things like, "Should I have a cell phone at all? And how will it change me and form me if I get one? What will that mean for me, my family, my brothers and sisters in Christ?" (Shane Hipps contributes to this conversation in his book Flickering Pixels. I have not read it yet but hope to soon.).

So even as I look forward to and embrace many of the new forms of technology I wonder and pray about how these technologies will form me and all of us who bear the name of Christ in this world.

Friday, May 8, 2009

Summer and Fall Bible Studies

I'm putting together some ideas for summer and fall Bible studies. For this summer it is a three-way tie between Ephesians, the book of Acts and a study of what the Bible says about poverty and the poor using this booklet from the American Bible Society.

For the fall I'm considering a study of the Chronicler but need to come up with a catchy title. My thought is that we would preview the books of 1-2 Samuel and 1-2 Kings for 2-4 weeks and then dive into 1-2 Chronicles for several weeks, finishing in the late fall/early winter with Ezra and Nehemiah.

If you have any more suggestions, please let me know.

Faith Incubation and Other Sundry Items

Faith Inkubators
This afternoon I had a chance to preview some of the new material the Faith Inkubators crowd has produced at their 75-city road tour. They have made some nice revisions to their confirmation resources and are doing some good things with family ministry, but I was most intrigued by their Bible Song Sunday school curriculum, which integrates song, Bible stories and American sign language.

Prophets, Poets, Preachers
In other news, Rob Bell, Shane Hipps, et al. are putting on what will likely be the best preaching workshop of 2009.

New Songs for Worship
One of my favorite bands, Lost and Found, has produced some great worship tunes and made them publicly available. My favorite is "Give Us Ears," which could easily be used as a gathering song or Gospel acclamation.

Monday, May 4, 2009

Travel, Song, Faith Formation

Mars Hill to Valparaiso and Back
It has been several weeks since I have sent out these weekly devotions. Two weeks ago I was on continuing education road trip of sorts: first to hear Pastor Rob Bell at Mars Hill Church near Grand Rapids, Michigan. His "Drops Like Stars" speaking tour looks to be promising, as he tackles the relationship of suffering and creativity. If you are interested in his December 10 show in Columbus, please let me know.

After Mars Hill, we went to Valparaiso University in NW Indiana for the Institute of Liturgical Studies. The theme this year was the Three Days, focusing on the three-part, three-day Holy Week service of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and the Great Vigil of Easter.

While both venues were very different in scope and content, it was good to be around insightful and faithful people deeply concerned about the church and about walking the way of Jesus.

Daily Dose of Luther
A colleague of mine in Defiance often opens his Facebook day with a daily dose of Luther. I will follow suit (sort of) this morning.

I'm reading his volume on hymns. Luther's editors write: "The hymns of the nineteenth century that form the bulk of today's hymnals were written according to the artistic canons of Romanticism. They use beautifully polished phrases and dance or march rhythms to creation a certain mood or to give an ornate expression to personal religious feelings. But Luther's hymns were not meantot create a mood, but create a message. They were a confession of faith, not personal feelings" (p. 197). That is, Luther's hymns were by and large raw and real, less concerned with the beauty of language and more concerned with the heart of the message. In this spirit, I think John Bell of the Iona Community follows Luther's intentions.

Faith: One Step at a Time
I have just begun reading David Allen's Getting Things Done. It is more in the genre of business productivity, but I am intrigued by his premise and how it might relate to faith formation. He suggests, as I understand it, breaking down projects into goals and doing "the next step" to move forward to completing (hence the title).

Here's the faith connection for me: What if we began with this approach to our faith formation? I think so often we have these nebulous goals (I want to learn to pray for fully. I want to be more familiar with Scripture. I want to learn the virtue of patience.) but they remain simply that: goals. Allen, as I understand it, suggests breaking these down into simple tasks that move us forward: What can I do today to move toward this goal?

Perhaps if your goal is praying more fully, one first step might be learning the great prayers of Scripture. Or visiting a monastery and learning what it means to pray from the monks. Or finding a person who prays well and learning from them. Or simply setting aside specific times during the day to practice different prayer forms.

As I think is the case with faith formation most of the time: baby steps, baby steps... but steps nonetheless.

Book Recommendation
Speaking of prayer, I picked up David Adam's The Rhythm of Life: Celtic Daily Prayer over a year ago and have recently rediscovered it. If you are looking for a daily prayer book, I would highly recommend it. It contains prayers services for morning, noon, evening and night for each of the seven days of the week. It would be ideal for home devotions, personal prayer or in a group setting.

Online
You may want to check out our website if you have not for a while. You can now listen to sermons, download adult Sunday school teachings, print sermon reflection sheets, and see which readings are coming up on Sundays. We even have a link to our stained glass windows (an ongoing project) that coincides with our children's sermon series.

As far as the website goes, I am hoping to move in the direction of broader content management. (In plain English: each group within the the church would be able to update its own part of the website: women, puppets, youth, etc.)

While the plastic and steel sign that graces our Front Street entrance is an important tool, I am increasingly convinced that a congregation's web site is its "public face" and and "virtual sign" for many people.

Help Wanted
If you have experience with mixing digital audio and would like to help create some brief introductions for some of our audio files (sermons, adult Sunday school, perhaps even our weekly radio broadcast), let me know.

Also, if you have graphic design expertise, I have a project idea for a logo that incorporates our congregation's name.