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essays
My DOs and DON’Ts of children’s sermons
Mon, 08/23/2010 - 10:31 — Adam CopelandThe tricky truth about children’s sermons is that it’s easier to come up with bad ones than good ones.
Yesterday, a Sunday morning Twitter exchange with a few pastors got me thinking about my children’s sermon approach, and how it differs from many of my colleagues. For example, when I saw this site and the idea of teaching about the bentover woman in Luke 13 with a bent spoon, I laughed out lout and closed my browser tab immediately. Later, when I had time to reflect, I found some redeeming qualities to the suggestion, but the bent spoon as an object lesson still puts me off (as if osteoporosis is anything like a bad ice cream scoop — that’s insulting both to our adults with bad backs and to our children’s intelligence!). So, here’s a few of my children’s sermons DOs and Don’ts:... READ MORE.
The next 40 years
Mon, 08/23/2010 - 10:31 — Carol Howard MerrittA commissioner to the General Assembly (our denomination’s national meeting that happens every two years), came back to report on what he did. He was a bit disappointed that he was on the church growth committee. The first day they sat down and talked about how if the church continues to decline at the same rate, then there will be no members left in forty years. The second day, they studied Matthew 25. The third day, they studied Matthew 25. They went on a couple of field trips, and they studied Matthew 25 some more.
The people hearing the report were shocked. That was it?... READ MORE.
Ground-zero fear
Mon, 08/23/2010 - 10:29 — Debra Dean MurphyThe first time I taught an introductory world religions class, one of the students was a quiet Afghan named Mohammed. When it came time for oral presentations, Mohammed talked about Jesus. As a devout Muslim, he knew a lot about his subject.
This was a few years before 9/11 — before ”Islamic extremism” and “jihad” entered the cultural lexicon; before conservative media began regularly exploiting their audiences’ ignorance of orthodox Islam; before suspicion of all things Muslim became the order of the day in America.... READ MORE.
It is my issue
Thu, 08/19/2010 - 10:31 — Steve PankeyI'm not sure why I've missed this list for the last 14 years, but in my newsfeed this morning came the Beloit College Mindset List. It is the compilation of two senior faculty members at Beloit College in Beloit, Wisconsin and it attempts to help professors see the generation gap between them and the incoming freshman class.
Some of the notes on the list are funny. Some make me feel old. Some, however are quite helpful for we in the Church as we continue to evaluate where we are in relation to new and powerful generations.... READ MORE.
The science of gender: Women, blogs and competition
Mon, 08/09/2010 - 17:29 — AnonymousYesterday I wrote a short review of Lise Eliot’s Pink Brain, Blue Brain, a book about the science of gender difference. One of the most powerful chapters in the book is Love and War. It begins with studies of the emotional assessment difference between men and women. Her conclusion is that emotional response, an area in which women are dominate, is not innate. In several studies men’s emotional response was actually found to be more acute than women’s, although women outpace men on the ability to name and recognize the feelings of others (empathy). While hormones make a small impact on this development, emotional response is almost entirely a learned behavior. Aggression has equally dubious ties to biological factors and instead Eliot chalks these up to evolutionary survival techniques. While prenatal testosterone primes boys for a life of physical contests, there is no cause-and-effect relationship. There are many factors at play, primarily socialization.
Eliot also points out that aggression as competition is not limited to men. We’ve all experienced or seen the Mean Girls syndrome of girls outdoing one another through hidden tactics of intimidation. The difference is that women are socialized to express aggression in covert ways; physical aggression is taboo.... READ MORE.
Hiroshima and its legacy
Mon, 08/09/2010 - 17:29 — Marvin Lindsay[August 6 was] the 65th anniversary of the atomic bomb blast over Hiroshima. We should make mention of this event and its legacy.
To be sure, if it weren't for the bomb I might not be here today to make note of its dropping. My dad was on an amphibious ship in the Philippines rehearsing invasion maneuvers when the war ended. The bomb excused him from having to face kamikaze attacks and murderous onshore shelling. He was happy to go home, for any reason.
But that's too nearsighted a view to assess Hiroshima.... READ MORE.
History ain't on your side
Wed, 07/28/2010 - 09:30 — Marvin LindsayMy next contribution to the peace, unity and purity of the church will be to teach a course on early Christian sexuality. If we're condemned to fight over sex ad infinitum, I want both liberals and conservatives to know that neither has history on its side.
Imagine a time when substantial numbers of Christians regarded procreation as a great evil. Imagine a time when the counter-cultural "left" practiced sexual renunciation. It's not some science fiction future. We've been there and done that.... READ MORE.
Can there be diversity in baptism?
Wed, 07/28/2010 - 09:26 — Thom TurnerThe theological systems of believer’s baptism and infant baptism seem to conflict in irreconcilable ways. The theological implications of infant baptism are too much, too soon for those who favor believer’s baptism, while those who practice believer’s baptism can appear to focus too much on a person’s decision to join God’s family and not on God’s action toward the person since they were born.
Navigating the waters between the two views, as I have in both study and my own spiritual journey, has been a confusing and divisive experience... READ MORE.
One hundred sermons
Thu, 07/22/2010 - 15:01 — Adam CopelandA few weeks ago, thankfully without any fanfare, I preached my 100th sermon. I know this number not because I carefully keep track, but because there are 100 files in my computer’s “Sermon” folder. Many of you more seasoned pastors might scoff at a piddly number like 100, but I’m guessing that, of those who graduated from Columbia Seminary with me in 2009, I’m one of the fastest to reach 100. Many others, even most, won’t get there for years. Why?
Many of my seminary classmates are serving as associate pastors at larger churches.... READ MORE.
Yikes RCL!
Tue, 07/20/2010 - 11:19 — Steve PankeyPart of me wants to send a quick survey out to my congregation; a survey of only one question, "How many of you have actually read the book of Hosea?"
I get what the RCL is trying to do. They want to to experience more of the Bible - its women, its laments, its tough spots. I get it, and I applaud their work. But Hosea 1? Really?
Oh God, if you can find 5 faithful people at St. Paul's, please don't let this be read.... READ MORE.
