In North America we are on the brink of interfaith living. This fact we cannot deny or avoid. The only uncertainty lies in whether it will be helpful or hurtful. Only those living in a Christian ghetto will be able to retreat from this issue–but the retreat is only temporary. Even small town, rural America is being challenged by religious … Read More
Re-Imagining Congregational Ministry
What shape will congregational ministry become in the future? How can the Regional Synod of Albany help congregations live into a missional approach to ministry? These questions shaped the agenda for twenty church leaders in Albany Synod called together by the Congregational Service Commission at the Fowler Camp and Conference Center’s Chi Rho House in February 1997. Joining the retreat … Read More
The Gospel in Postmodernity
Increasingly the church in North America labors in a "postmodern" context. Postmodernity represents much more than a passing fad among radically chic academics; it is a wide-ranging set of cultural shifts that are fast becoming second-nature for many of our parishioners. Like it or not, these shifts will profoundly affect the way the church conducts its ministry for the foreseeable … Read More
The Church and the Powers
I. Discerning the nature of the powers in our context As we talk about the powers, we need to be careful about calling anything and anyone that wields power one of the "powers." In the New Testament, the powers have a character beyond individual human beings. They have a collective nature, or an institutional nature, or a political nature as … Read More
Community-friendly Theology
Real estate agents who know the Atlanta market will tell you that the single most stable middle-income neighborhood inside the perimeter is Toco Hills. Over the years shopping centers and road widenings have nibbled at the edges of this residential community but its quiet streets and modest homes have remained virtually undisturbed. Nor is there much turnover here. Homeowners seem … Read More
Reflections for a Conversation on Theology in Congregational Life
When the Hartford Institute for Religion Research invited me to join 35 others at a consultation on the theme "Theology in Congregational Life," it set me to thinking about the variety of ways in which the accents of the Gospel and Our Culture Network conversations over the years have touched on that very thing. The conveners, particularly Carl Dudley, knew … Read More
‘Located’ Questions for a Missional Hermeneutic
Good afternoon! It is a pleasure to be here for what is now the fifth of these annual special sessions at the AAR/SBL dedicated to exploring a missional hermeneutics, a forum that is heartening for those of us who have become convinced (1) that truly critical hermeneutical engagement with the Bible must incorporate missional questions and (2) that solid biblical … Read More
Notes Toward a Framework for a Missional Hermeneutic
Introduction Perhaps some brief comments on my own story may help you to see what I am doing today. Four things have pushed me to consider the issue of a missional hermeneutic. The dialogue and cross-fertilization between mission and biblical theology in my teaching. For the last 15 years I have been teaching a number of courses in missiology along … Read More
Jesus Outside the Feast? A Sermon on Revelation 3:14-22
Listen first to these verses (14-18): And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the origin of God‘s creation: "I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, … Read More
Ecclesiology of the Emerging Church
The emerging church. What is it? Who is it? And what exactly do they mean by church? In other words, what is the ecclesiology of the emerging church? It seems like “the church” should be easy to define. Yet throughout time and across various Christian movements people’s definitions of church – what it is, what it is for, who makes it up – have varied … Read More
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