andygoodliff

hauerwas on the parable of the sower

From his commentary on Matthew. (Thanks to Jim for his series of posts on the commentary. I'm trying not to spend so much money on books, so have not yet bought a copy)

"The parable of the sower is not often considered by those concerned with the loss of the church's status and membership in Europe and America, but it is hard to imagine a text more relevant to the situation of churches in the West. Why we are dying seems very simple. It is hard to be a disciple and be rich. Surely, we may think, it cannot be that simple, but Jesus certainly seems to think that it is that simple. The lure of wealth and the cares of the world produced by wealth quite simply darken and choke our imaginations. As a result, the church falls prey to the deepest enemy of the gospel - sentimentality. The gospel becomes a formula for "giving our lives meaning" without judgment. (Page 129)

'Possessed by possession, we desire to act in the world, often on behalf of the poor, without having to lose our possessions...A church that is shrinking in membership may actually be a church in which the soil of the gospel is being prepared in which deeper roots are possible. (Page 130)

As Hauerwas is prone to do, he gets to core of the issue - christian discipleship and wealth don't mix. It reminds me of one of my favourite Hauerwas quotes 'discipleship is quite simply extended training in being dispossessed. To become followers of Jesus  means that we must, like him, be dispossessed of all that we think gives us power over our own lives and the lives of others' (The Peaceable Kingdom, 1983, 86)

Should children do homework?

This is the big question in today's Independent. A great question, to which I think the answer is yes, but much less than they do. I believe children should be set less homework, especially in the humanities subjects, but the homework they set is better. Too much homework are pointless activities. Teachers should be given time to set thought-provoking and interesting homework which students would be given two or three weeks to complete. This would enable students to engage with a homework and develop their learning, rather than rushing something off the night before or in breaktime (which I sure some students would still do). Time outside school should be more school-free. The problem is too children and young people don't use their evenings well. Too many spend their free time playing games or watching crap tv. Instead of students doing loads of homework, I would encourage them to read, spend time with family, watch good TV, be creative, etc. There are lots of good, interesting, and dare I say it, educational programmes on tv, which students should be encouraged to watch.

New Books for 2007: Attention To Christ: Explorations in Baptist Spirituality

The book version of the papers presented at last year's baptist theological consultation (see here) will apparently be available at this year's Baptist Assembly in May. There is a chapter by each of the six principals of the british baptist colleges: Paul Fiddes, Nigel Wright, Richard Kidd, Chris Ellis, John Weaver and Jim Gordon.

are youthworkers too expensive or too cheap?

If you read this please see Tom Allen's response and my reply.

My church is in the early stages of looking for a new youthworker and as I look at youthwork magazine I am left wondering whether we've lost the plot a bit on youthworkers. It seems to me we've created a culture of competition where churches, of all denominations, are competing for youthworkers. so the larger churches with more money and larger youthwork tend to get the best of the crop. Smaller churches, like Clapham Baptist, where my friend Amie currently works, is unable to attract a youthworker because it can't afford the prices and perhaps Clapham doesn't have the attraction of a suburban setting. I'm also concerned that the youthworkers being churned out by CYM, Oasis and others, are expecting (some maybe demanding) wages that are equal to the secular youthmarket. So some youthworkers cost more than a minister. Youthwork magazine a few months back asked the question whether youthwork was a calling. I want to firmly say yes that christian youthwork is. The first question for every youthworker is where is God calling me, not how much are they offering. I have to wonder how much this is down to youthwork magzine, who charge over £300 for an advert. Again not all churches have that kind of money, so they lose out, by having no advert or a small one.

I am pleased that the BU council last year voted against allowing the Baptist Times to advertise churches in their paper. Instead, they decided that the settlement process where the names of ministers seeking a church are placed on a list, where upon the regional ministers across the country gather together
and pray about where the ministers names should be sent. A church can only proceed with considering one minister at a time. I wonder if at list as Baptist we should youthworkers (or perhaps youth ministers is better) to do the same.

Another related question is most youthwork training is generic, that there seems little or no exploration of whether there is an Anglican understanding of youth ministry or a Baptist understanding of youth ministry. Certainly with regard to how denominations understand church and understand decision making there are some big differences. So working in a Baptist church is and will be different to working in a Anglican church.

Yes we should applaud the growth of Oasis, CYM, Moorlands and the such like, but there are some serious questions that arise with the emergence of the 'professional christian youthworker'.

far I have come, far I must go

The following piece of liturgy below was written by jenny baker back in september 05 for a grace service (you can find it here, along with the rest of the service plan). the refrain 'far I have come, far I must go' has been running round my head ever since, resurfacing at key points over the last year. It resurfaced tonight as I lay in bed, a few hours after a challenging bunyan elders meeting. It feels as a church, and in my life, that God has brought us to a liminal place, where God is asking us to trust him.

We are creatures of comfort.
We like to be safe and secure
to be surrounded by what we know
to be in control
to order our lives in the way that suits us.

We want our journeys mapped out for us
itinerary decided, tickets booked
time of arrival guaranteed
refreshment breaks at regular intervals
and a credit card for unforeseen circumstances.

But Jesus said ‘follow me’ without saying where he was going
just promising transformation along the way.

The Israelites in the desert, rescued from slavery and oppression,
were tired and homeless, hungry and thirsty, insecure and unsettled.
And their minds went back to what they had known.
They yearned for the structure of predictable slavery rather than the broken walls of unknown freedom.

Liminal space is the place of inbetweenness, of insecurity.
It is the Israelites in the wilderness,
it is Paul blind in Damascus waiting for Ananias.
Liminal space is emptiness and nowhere,
it is uncertainty and chaos,
it is a place of discomfort and unrest.
Liminality is a place of dying and rebirth, of metamorphosis, the place where the caterpillar spins its cocoon and disappears from view.

Nothing good or creative emerges from business as usual. Much of the work of God is to get people into liminal space and to keep them there long enough so they can learn something essential.

This is the invitation of God, to move
- from comfort to insecurity
- from what we know to what we have yet to discover
- from what we are good at to what we might fail at
- from safety to a place of risk

God of broken people and broken places
We confess to you our love of comfort,
of the known and predictable,
of the safe and secure.
We recognise that you call us into liminal space
To leave what we know and venture with you into desert and wilderness, into blindness and discomfort
We want to follow you, but it’s hard to leave what we know
Help us to trust you, and to set out.

On the journey of faith,
Far I have come, far I must go

God of broken people and broken places
We thank you for all that Bunyan has been to us and to many others
We thank you for the space to listen, to grow, to create, to be challenged
We recognise that you are calling us on
To leave what we know and venture with you into new things, into engagement and participation, into creativity and risk, into new structures and opportunities
We want to follow you, but it’s hard to leave what we know and we’re not sure where we’re going
Help us to trust you, and to set out.

On the journey of faith,
Far we have come, far we must go.

God of rebuilt people and rebuilt places
You have plans for deserts and wilderness
‘Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.
The burning sand will become a pool,
The thirsty ground bubbling springs.
In the haunts where jackals once lay,
Grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.
And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness.’

God of transformation we look forward to what you will do
With our lives and with Bunyan

On the journey of faith,
Far we have come, far we must go.

Modern Theology, Jan 2007

 Some good articles in the January edition of Modern Theology. The article on the late Stanley Grenz is part appreciation and part review of Grenz's unfinished series The Matrix of Christian Theology.

Bakhtin on Hearing God's Voice - Peter Slater

Robert Jenson on the Pre-Existence of Christ - Oliver Crisp

Theology from the a Fractured Vista: Susan Neiman's Evil in Modern Thought - Philip Rossi

The Particularity of Jesus and the Time of the Kingdom: Philosophy and Theology in Yoder - Daniel Barber

Why Should Theology be Unnatural - Colin Grant

Roger Haight's Mediating Christology - James J. Buckley

Stanley J. Grenz: Generous Faith and Faithful Engagement - Jonathan R. Wilson

once more baptists

Sean has posted about his forthcoming Whitley Lecture, which he will presenting in various places. I hope to catch it at the Baptist Assembly. Sean is the 10th Whitley Lecturer, following in the footsteps of the likes of Steve Holmes, Nigel Wright, Keith Jones, Ruth Gouldbourne and Steve Finamore. This is Sean's abstract:

The lecture will explore the issue of how Baptists might understand the task of biblical interpretation in the light of their covenantal understanding of the nature of God, God’s relating to the world, and the life of the church.  In particular, the lecture will consider how as Baptists we ought to understand the inevitable diversity of biblical interpretation and the consequent disagreements that arise as a result of such diversity.  I will argue that the use of the word “biblical” in relation to Baptist identity, denotes not a commitment to a particular interpretive decision about the meaning of scripture, but a commitment to a particular kind of relationship to scripture.  Within such a relationship, diversity and disagreement are to be expected and even welcomed as those things which sustain an appropriately covenantal relationship with God via the medium of the text, and with each other. The lecture will end with several practical suggestions as to how such an understanding of interpretation might take visible shape in the local church and within theological education.

Pete Leveson has asked the question how baptist are baptists?

Simon Jones asks so, who we are?

Fernando blogs here on baptists blogging about baptists

The new edition of Baptist Quarterly is out and I'm looking forward to reading Chris Ellis' article 'Gathering Struggles: Creative Tensions in Baptist Worship' when I get a chance to see a copy.

The BU website points us to a national consultation for Baptists on mission and ministry in multifaith Britain taking place on the 1st March in Leicester.

the rise of uk baptist blogging

It seems blogging by uk baptists is on the rise and the discussion of baptist identity and theology flourishing. Some of the baptist bloggers out there are sean, stuart, brodie, simon, pete, marcus, catriona and in the last month jim gordon, principal of the scottish baptist college has decided to join in. I like this comment from brodie on baptist identity

historically baptist identity has flown from the synergy of different practices that are not unique to baptists but that baptists blend in perhaps a unique way

Hopefully we will continue to see some good conversations generated as we reflect on a range of topics from a baptist perspective.

Best Contemporary Theology Meme

Jason has tagged me for the Best Contemporary Theology meme, which is asking for my top three best theology books written between in the last 25 years. This is difficult. On there must be something from Colin Gunton and Stanley Hauerwas and I think something from John Zizioulas.

1. The One, the Three and the Many: God, Creation and the Culture of Modernity*
2. The Peaceable Kingdom**
3. Being As Communion (and I'm looking forward to reading John's new book Communion and Otherness)

Other books that I think might or should become important are Sam Well's Improvisation and John Colwell's Promise and Presence. Like Jason, I also think Self and Salvation by David Ford is great and looking forward to its sequel or sorts Christian Wisdom

*Other important Gunton books are Actuality of Atonement and A Brief Theology of Revelation

**Because Hauerwas writes essays rather than books, it's hard to choose one book. The Peaceable Kingdom is probably his most book-like book.

Theology journals

Here's a list of the major english-speaking theological journals currently available. I try and keep track of what is emerging.

International Journal for Systematic Theology - high-calibre constructive Christian theology, publishing the best new work in the discipline

Modern Theology - scholarly articles addressing issues specific to the discipline of theology and wider issues from a theological perspective

Scottish Journal of Theology - an international journal of systematic, historical and biblical theology

Pro Ecclesia - a journal of catholic and evangelical theology

Journal of Theological Studies

Theology Today - a quarterly ecumenical journal of Christian theology

Theology - the definitive journal for all those who want to develop and deepen their knowledge of theology

Ecclesiology - the journal for ministry, mission and unity

Theology and Sexuality -  an international journal functioning primarily as a resource for those undertaking theological studies of sexuality and gender issues

Studies in Christian Ethics - an English-language journal devoted exclusively to questions arising in the field of Christian ethics and moral theology

Journal of Theological Interpretation