CCBlogs thinking critically, living faithfully

Don Scrooby's blog

Recently I was in a communion service diligently following the words and responses of the liturgy. The phrase, “Have mercy on us O God” was constantly repeated in a litany of sins confessed. Touched by a twinge of discomfort, I looked around at the expressions of my fellow worshippers to see if I was alone in this sentiment. It seemed I was. Most people were responding almost mechanically with the phrase and I couldn’t help but wonder what was actually going on in that unconscious realm where our perceptions are shaped and forged, especially when certain phrases carry certain meanings which have been infused over years of repetitive and almost hypnotic announcement.

If we were able to have entered that unconscious realm, I would have staked my life on the fact that the dominant perception in the minds of most worshippers there that day, was one of trying to wring out mercy and forgiveness from a God they were not sure would actually give it. Many are absolutely saturated with this way of believing, and persistently saying these words, just re-enforces the belief.

“Have mercy on us O God” is not an attempt to try and get the Divine to do what the Divine may or may not do... READ MORE.

Steve Pankey's blog

The story of Jesus and the miraculous catch is probably the best known fishing tale in history. It is a favorite of Sunday school programs, an easy teaching for youth groups, and it gets preached all the time. It is so well known that we barely know it at all. We've heard it so many times, we think we know it, but we know only bits and pieces.

A fellow priest and I were on the phone on Monday lamenting the translation of the NRSV when Jesus tells Simon from now on he'll be "catching people." Why ruin the pun of fishers of men, we both wondered. Well, mostly because that's Matthew's version, not Luke's. In Luke the Greek verb means "live catching" and not "fishing." Did you know that? I didn't.... READ MORE.

There are a number of new bloggers in the network. Drop by and check them out:

Amy Julia Becker of Thin Places is a writer and seminarian and the mother of a child with a disability. L’Arche alum Melissa Florer-Bixler does part-time children’s ministry and blogs at Sign on the Window.

Draughting Theology is written by Steve Pankey, a young Episcopal priest. Kirkepiscatoid features the “random and not so random musings” of first-generation Episcopalian Maria L. Evans.

Lutheran pastor Dan Bohlman blogs about small-town ministry at RuralMinister. Paul E. Stroble—a teacher, writer and Methodist elder—blogs at Journeys Home.

Heady Ir(Reverence) blogger Matthew J. Gallion is a grad student doing sociological research on the emerging church. Graphic designer Jesse Turri writes about art and design along with faith at Turri Design.

Church of England priest Kath Williamson blogs at Reflections. Angela Shier-Jones, a Methodist presbyter in the U.K., blogs at The Kneeler. Khanya’s Steve Hayes is a deacon in the Orthodox Church of South Africa.

Don Scrooby writes on spirituality at Seeing More Clearly. A Time to Embrace, by Presbyterian minister Janet Edwards, focuses on LGBT inclusion in the church.

Seven Whole Days is the blog of Episcopal priest and “certified technophile” Scott Gunn. “Pastor, musician, and goofball” Tripp Hudgins blogs at Conjectural Navel Gazing; Jesus in Lint Form.

Methodist minister Eric Scott blogs the weekly lectionary at The Dogeared Preacher. Elmer E. Ewing, a Presbyterian lay preacher, writes on the daily readings at My Meditations on the Daily Lectionary.

Drew Tatusko's blog

Calvin called the tendency to sin part of a person's "hereditary nature." John Wesley called it "the corruption of the nature of every man, that naturally is engendered." Luther considered all humans "conceived and born in sin." Without any real understanding of how genetics and how traits pass from one generation of the next, Augustine straight through medieval Catholicism to the Reformers held the view that sin entered into our evolution because Adam chose to eat the apple Eve gave to him.

Any student of evolution and genetics surely know that an entire gene pool isn't changed in it's very DNA structure through the choice of one of its members. That does not happen in nature. That would be like saying if one child has autism not only the next but all subsequent generations will have autism. Moreover, that first autistic child would have to have chosen to be autistic through some act of agency to make it possible. Got it? I don't either.... READ MORE.

Debra Dean Murphy's blog

Today would have been my sister’s 46th birthday. She died in a car accident in 1987. She was 23 years old and a newly-minted 6th grade teacher. Her name was Kim.

In the fog of grief that November my parents and I listened to the well-meaning words of family, friends, and neighbors who tried to offer comfort, whose own heads were spinning with disbelief at the loss of this beautiful girl whom they too knew and loved. We were all groping, in vain, for meaning.

We rarely seem to ponder questions of theodicy (why a good God permits evil and suffering) when things are going well, when we have our wits about us and the issue is more theoretical than personal. Unfortunately, theodicy usually kicks us in the stomach through a tragedy or loss that leaves us stunned, emotionally spent, and choking with rage and grief.

What has struck me most about God-talk and the recent earthquake in Haiti is this: Whether God’s (inscrutable) ways are being defended or God’s very existence is being denied, the kind of God under consideration seems to be something on the order of a comic-book superhero.... READ MORE.

Milton Brasher-Cunningham's blog

she said, in that way one speaks
to get a reaction, or the way I titled
this poem so you’d keep reading.
I’m not proud, she said, because I
had nothing to do with it,

deftly putting patriotism in
a new light, a search light, under
the bare bulb of interrogation.

What, then, can I be?... READ MORE.
 

Adam Copeland's blog

When I lead worship, I try to stay out of the way. Sure, I say plenty of words and all, but if they are led correctly they point to something greater than myself. So, here’s my conundrum: whether the charge and benediction at the close of the service should be my words, as in reflecting the crux of the sermon. Or, whether the charge and benediction should be one common to the tradition and unchanged each week.... READ MORE.

Rachel Hackenberg's blog

I've been pondering what makes any given congregation feel vital and vibrant, a living and active part of the Body of Christ. Now, an abundance of programs and professionals currently thrive on the business of shaping & encouraging life within congregations---my home congregation participates in one such program, with valuable insights gained and wonderful results seen. Although I am a church professional, I am not one of these Church Professionals, so I offer these observations primarily as a church goer and church lover (though my "pastor voice" is never far behind!).

On occasion, I have the opportunity to worship outside of my own congregation. Although I'm prone to extreme academic analysis (during worship, naturally) of a congregation's homiletic and liturgical traditions, I also pay close attention to my personal, emotional & spiritual experience of worship and the church's environment. How do I feel in this space? How do the words and hymns settle in my spirit? What resonates, and what does not? How do I experience the interactions with people here?... READ MORE.