A Canadian theologian discusses his close relationship with Robert Miller.
posted on February 1, 2012 in Books, Features
The Messenger:
Friendship, Faith and Finding One’s Way
Douglas John Hall
Cascade Books, 2011
What does it mean to be a mentor? What does it mean to be a friend? Who are the key people in our lives who have helped guide us in the directions we have taken in life? What kind of qualities do they exemplify?
Douglas John Hall, a minister and theologian with an international reputation, has written a highly personal book as a work of gratitude to his mentor, Robert (Bob) Miller. What is particularly unique about this book is that mentorship and friendship are spoken of not theoretically, but by means of a biographical and auto – biographical journey through the lives of Hall, Miller and other individuals during a key period in Canadian Protestant church life from the 1950s to the present. Also unique and worthwhile is an insider’s view into intimate relationships of friendship and guidance between men—in this case, an older with a younger—at a time when such intimacy is rarely trusted, let alone communicated.
Hall speaks of growing up in a time where Protestantism taught dogmatic certitudes and moralistic piety with little room for the “dark, subtle places of the human spirit.” As a teenager and young adult with many questions and a hunger for honesty, he was fortunate to find several key people who not only took his questions seriously, but refused to give any pat answers. Instead, they modelled a way of being Christian whereby the questions led to a much larger, more profound relationship with God, to “a second naiveté” of faith (to borrow a term from Paul Riceour). For the young Hall, Miller stands out among this specimen of Christianity, perhaps even rarer in the ‘50s than the present day.
Miller exemplified other qualities that also made him an incredible mentor. He offered the young Hall advice and direction without imposing his views. He was honest, but affirming and gentle, and he took the time to ponder every response to Hall. This attracted Hall not only to Christianity, but to the ministry as he saw it modelled in Miller. The other quality of Miller’s that Hall found astonishing was his humility. He had an authority but of a kind very different than so many of the clergy around Hall at the time. Miller’s kind of authority was earned but never imposed. In fact, Miller often shared his own questions and doubts with the young Hall, and showed him how asking the right questions and being honest before God and with others about one’s own uncertainties only deepened one’s faith, hope and love in the largest sense. A keen Barthian, Miller always knew he had to deal with “the totally Other” (Søren Kierkegaard/Karl Barth).
The relationship continued as Miller along with others helped Hall through his initial studies in music, and then the discerning of a call to ministry and studies in theology. Miller and this small group were there for Hall through all the key events of his life, those times of grief and of celebration. Hall tracks Miller’s own soul searching from the time Miller returned from graduate studies in Europe to find his way as national secretary of the Student Christian Movement, to his unjust and humiliating termination, but also to his incredible grace toward those who were against him. He was forced to let it all go and start over again with nothing and he did so without animosity or bitterness. Miller was a “book steward” and eventually opened the Bob Miller Book Room on Bloor Street in Toronto, which became his mission field.
In the last chapter, Hall offers more in – depth reflection on human character and the nature of core relationships, and such reflection provides some profound insight to anyone searching for a mentor with the right qualifications. He describes Miller as someone who didn’t readily talk about his feelings but was rather private. While some might have described Miller as lacking in the ability or willingness to disclose himself emotionally or spiritually, what Hall discerns is a certain personality different than his own or that of others. Miller was sensitive and an attentive listener, but was not someone who would jump in easily talking about his own stuff. And this was not about a lack in him, but more, perhaps a “Canadian” moderation or modesty that was genuine and spiritually profound, and in another sense, was more than many would expect. When he did speak, one would listen because the words and ideas had been sifted through very deeply.
What is fascinating about friendships, and even more so of mentorship relationships, is that those who become key people in our lives are not necessarily those we would have chosen or expected to serve in this capacity. We discover wonderful differences in humanity and this enlarges us and expands our way of looking at ourselves, our world and our way.
It’s been a few years since Miller died, but his legacy in Hall’s life and in the lives of others is something for which Hall is forever grateful. Would that we all have Bob Millers in our lives. But whether we do or we don’t, this book provides us with some wonderful personal and biographical tools for discerning our way.
Finding authority in scripture.
posted on February 1, 2012 in Features, Renewal
As Presbyterians, we have a strong heritage as a people of the book. That is, we are a people whose sole authority in matters of faith and life is the word of God revealed in Holy Scripture. This has kept us on track, for the most part, in being faithful in living out our lives in integrity according to the revealed heart and mind of God. By being rooted in the word we have been challenged along the way by a voice other than our own in discerning what God desires of us. This is not unique to us but was standard in the ancient practice of the early church as well. William Webster noted that the early church fathers (Ignatius, Polycarp, Clement, the Didache, and Barnabas) taught doctrine and defended Christianity against heresies. In doing this, their sole appeal for authority was scripture. Their writings literally breathe with the spirit of the Old and New Testaments.
In the writings of the apologists such as Justin Martyr and Athenagoras, the same thing is found. There is no appeal in any of these writings to the authority of tradition as a separate and independent body of revelation. Our own Presbyterian confession, Living Faith, places the same emphasis on the authority of the word when it says: “The Bible has been given to us by the inspiration of God to be the rule of faith and life. It is the standard of all doctrine by which we must test any word that comes to us from church, world, or inner experience. We subject to its judgment all we believe and do. Through the scriptures the church is bound only to Jesus Christ, its king and head. He is the living Word of God to whom the written word bears witness.”
The confession correctly goes on to say that the Holy Spirit, who both persuades us of its authority and empowers the word to come alive in and through us, must accompany the Bible. This has always been our Presbyterian heritage (though sometimes neglected) begun by this same strong emphasis on the work of the Holy Spirit in the writings of John Calvin.
N.T. Wright, in a lecture, said, “Somehow, the authority which God has invested in this book is an authority that is wielded and exercised through the people of God telling and retelling their story as the story of the world, telling the covenant story as the true story of creation. Somehow, this authority is also wielded through His people singing psalms. Somehow, it is wielded (it seems) in particular through God’s people telling the story of Jesus. We must look, then, at the question of stories. What sort of authority might they possess?”
In Romans 15, Paul says, “That by patience and encouragement of the scriptures you might have hope,” because scripture brings God’s order to God’s world. He goes on to say that the stories of the Bible are transforming words.
It isn’t enough that the Bible be seen as a ‘rule’ book telling us what to do. We must ourselves enter the story and have a worldview that reflects the reality that calls us to act in ways we never thought possible. As we tell the story to others, they too will be taken hold of by the words and the Spirit and be changed. What I am speaking of is so much more than mere stories that change people’s thinking. It is the living and active God moving in and through His word that empowers and changes. These are changes of eternal consequences. It is Jesus who made an important distinction when he said that the letter of the law kills but the Spirit gives life.
If we believe we are keeping faith with Presbyterians and others of faith who have gone before us, how do we respond to this unique book that shares both concrete script and life – giving Spirit when it is read or heard?
Wright suggests that we “soak ourselves in scripture, in the power and strength and leading of the Spirit, in order that we may then speak freshly and with authority to the world of this same creator God.”
They offer, as all genuine Christian storytelling does, a worldview that, as someone comes into it and finds how compelling it is, quietly shatters their own worldview. Stories determine how people see themselves and how they see the world. Stories determine how they experience God and the world, and themselves and others.
It isn’t that we simply figure things out for ourselves—we are a people of the word who are led by the word. It is with alarm then that I see whole congregations that seem to ignore the word and in decision – making fail to be guided by the word.
Let us, in this month that focuses on love, make a resolution to be faithful, to lovingly respond to the One who has given us His word in scripture by valuing this gift of love as we commit to having it guide and transform us in our personal and corporate life as the church.
Why are retired ministers treated as second-class?
posted on February 1, 2012 in Features, Reflections
Without a doubt, the day my wife and I were ordained into the ministry of Christ’s church remains a most unforgettable highlight. I remember it well as many relatives and friends had gathered with us in the country church where we had served as student ministers. It has been a joy and inspiration for us to serve several congregations since that special event. Back then, candidates had to accept a two – year appointment to serve a congregation arranged by the synod superintendents of the Board of World Mission. With our experiences as student ministers and our new black gowns, we moved to Burnaby, B.C., near Vancouver. Upon arrival we found only a handful of people, the few who had remained after a vacancy of seven years. We felt God’s presence and strength, and during our four years of serving, the Lord blessed His work with challenge and growth.
After many years of service with several more congregations, the time came to retire. We moved away from our last congregation to a larger city, where we had purchased a home. The time of relaxation had arrived. I attended my first presbytery meeting in our new area, and as usual my name was placed on the appendix to the roll because I was not active in a charge or other ministry. During that meeting, it was announced that due to an urgent issue, presbytery would move in camera. Much to my surprise, ministers on the appendix were told they had to leave along with the visitors. In all my years of ministry, including my time as moderator, I had never experienced such action. And there we were, standing outside the meeting. A number of ministers went home, and I never saw them back at presbytery. What a loss. There were 25 ministers and diaconal ministers on the inactive roll. If you take a low average, that is more than 600 years of experience, knowledge, leadership and understanding.
Because of a strange ruling in our denomination, the issue of equality came about. For example, if there are 20 ministers in a presbytery on the constituent roll, there must also be 20 elders on the roll. This sounds like a democratic way to deal with the business of the church. In reality, it is only a theory, and a most painful experience for ministers who are inactive. After all those years, has the church ever taken a serious look at this situation? We all know that equal attendance practically never happens.
For some years now, my wife and I have left in October to spend the winters in Florida, returning home in the spring. Attending presbytery meetings is hardly possible for me. But what about all the other retired ministers? Some of them may end up on a committee of presbytery. But if they happen to be the convener they are not allowed to make a motion, second it, or vote on the issue. The same applies if a retired minister is named interim moderator. He or she has to find others to make motions as well as someone to second them.
Over the years, retired ministers have told me they don’t want to attend presbytery meetings anymore because they find it too humiliating. How unfortunate is that? Yes, we often use the words of the apostle Paul (although he spoke these words not for the benefit of a presbytery): “We like to have things done decently and in order.” We have often heard it being said: “We have always done it this way,” which sounds rather pious.
I have checked the above issue with clergy from the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Christian Reformed Church, the Reformed Church in Canada, and the United Church. They find it hard to believe that this is what happens when a minister retires in our denomination. A Christian Reformed minister told me that their retired ministers are often chosen to be delegates to their General Synod meetings. Why are we different? The apostle Paul writes, “We have different gifts, such as preaching, serving, teaching, and leadership.” Does that not also apply to our denomination?
When home again in the spring, I am privileged to preach in many different congregations. One may retire, but the gifts we receive through the Holy Spirit do not. When a servant of Christ retires, why must they lose their status as an active person, and why only in our denomination? Are we not all part of the Reformed church? Can someone explain to me where we find this ruling in scripture?
Our declining denomination is in crisis. Has the time not come for the General Assembly to take a hard look at this outdated ruling? Some years ago, a minister who was moderator of synod retired one month prior to the synod’s annual meeting, and was told he would not be allowed to open the meeting. How callous is that?
I pray God will give us enough grace and understanding to bring retired ministers back into action. ”‘Open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for the harvest’ … and because of [Jesus'] words many more became believers.” (John 4:35, 41).
The five solas are much more than theological principles.
posted on February 1, 2012 in Features, Theology 101
Our Feature on The Solas
The 16th-century Reformers—Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, Knox and others—were derisively nicknamed, “the Sola-ists.” They distilled the essence of the gospel into five Latin slogans using the word sola, meaning only, solely or exclusively: sola gratia, sola fide, sola scriptura, solo Christo, soli Deo gloria (grace alone, faith alone, scripture alone, Christ alone, to God’s glory alone).
Today, the solas of early Protestantism run up against other realities and claims: What does it mean to say “Christ alone” in a multi-religious world? How does scripture alone square with contemporary thought about biblical interpretation? And so on.
So, are we still sola-ists today?
Marina and I were driving in the southeast of France near the city of Albertville. It was the early ‘80s and we were a young and adventuresome couple. There, clinging to the side of the mountain, we spotted the ruin of an old castle with a derelict trail beckoning us to follow our noses. An old gate was hanging open and we swung up the path and drove as far as we would dare. As we clambered through the old ruin I found myself in a kind of dungeon with a small slit in the stone, shedding a bar of light on the wall. Could this be true? Did the ancients indulge in graffiti? Indeed, there were two lines of text labouriously carved in the rock wall. I traced them with my finger. “En Dieu seul ma confiance” (in God alone I trust), and then, just below, “soli Deo gloria” (to God alone be the glory). I stood for a long time as emotion flooded over me in the ancient dungeon illuminated by a slit of morning light. You see, many of my forbears and those of Marina confessed these things; some paid with their lives for it. The Therons, the Nels on my side, and the Lombards and De Villiers on Marina’s side fled this land as refugees because they held these confessions so dear and lived them out. These are not mere religious platitudes, theological proposals, or propositions to be used against detractors. These are words of the Way—the Way of Jesus Christ—the Way of the Reformation.
There were five “solas” (Latin for alone or singular or only), that acted as markers of the way of the 16th century Reformation. The two lines of graffiti hint at two of those solas. The first speaks of what became known as sola fide (faith alone), the second is the exact phrasing of the Reformation confession—to God alone be the glory. The other three solas were sola gratia (grace alone), sola scriptura (scripture alone), and solo Christo (Christ alone). It is about this last one that I am writing today. The thing about these five solas is that you cannot live or speak one without the others. And, indeed, they are more about a way of living—a dangerous way—than simply a way of speaking. That, after all, is what a confession is. A confession is not just something we affirm, it is something that can get us locked up in dungeons or turn us into refugees. A confession is a way—and particularly, as we speak of Christ alone, the Way of Jesus Christ.
The five solas are not five statements vying against each other for supremacy; they make up five singular commitments that act as markers on the Way of Jesus Christ. Therefore, if we confess Christ alone, we confess the whole Way of Jesus Christ. In this the five solas teach us that we access the Way through faith (trust, confidence) in God—sola fide. This faith is given to us by God through grace—sola gratia. We know it through the scriptures that reveal to us who God really is—sola scriptura. The gospel story shows us the Way of God in Jesus Christ—solo Christo, and all of this is to be about our thankful praise and glory of God—soli Deo gloria. To say Christ alone, or to say that we are in Christ, or to say that we are saved through Christ is to commit ourselves to walk the costly way, following in the footsteps of Jesus.
This means we commit ourselves to walk in the shadow of the cross even as we sing thankful hymns of glory to God. Walking this way means that Christ made the way possible through his death and that his resurrection gives us hope that all things in all creation will eventually glorify God. It means we are free to be his followers. It means we are free to do as he taught and demonstrated. We are free to love our neighbours, to embrace the ugly, to heal creation, to resist evil, to feed the hungry, and to stand with those who suffer most and are trampled upon by our exploitive consumer culture. It means we will be unpopular, we will be resisted and it means we might end up in dungeons scratching out the truth of the scriptures on prison walls.
Be careful before you confess “Christ alone,” it just might come true for you…
A case for worship renewal.
posted on February 1, 2012 in Features
We live in the Information Age and are bombarded with communication on a multitude of levels. Our culture thrives on communication; but not all messages are successful. The most effective communicators understand that creativity is vital. Theologian Robert Webber stated: “Communication occurs when a message takes up residence within a listener’s life and heart.” Advertisers learned this a long time ago. While content may be the most important component of a message, it is not enough—how a message is presented is important if it is to be transmitted successfully.
If, for example, one compares the messages from commercial advertisements with the messages we communicate in our churches’ worship, a couple of things immediately become apparent. Ad messages tend to be lightweight in content and sophisticated in delivery, whereas worship messages tend to be sophisticated in content and lightweight in delivery. In the world of media, there is often far more time, energy, and resources put into how a message is communicated than the actual content of the message ‘deserves.’ Is there any debate as to which communicator is finding more success in the delivery of its message to contemporary Canadian society?
YouTube has demonstrated that the successful influence of creativity in the transmission of a message is not just a result of budget and production values (although the use of adequate resources is important). Rightly or wrongly, creative communication is what makes the 21st – century world go round. Our postmodern culture does not respond to communication that only comes from verbal, linear, or cerebral perspectives.
Yet these perspectives are the basis for communication in most Canadian Presbyterian worship. It is no wonder that a huge segment of Canadian society finds little meaning in our worship. Of course we live in a secularized age, but there are plenty of examples of churches that successfully communicate, as well as spiritualities that have meaning for many of the groups we have been unable to reach.
Worship is our fundamental witness. It is from worship that all other ministries arise. If we cannot hold public worship that is meaningful to a large segment of society, we cannot expect that anything else we do will bring people to our churches. There are many other organizations for people who want to help the needy, or associate with a friendly bunch of people.
If we want to breathe new life into our denomination, we first need to breathe new life into our public worship. And we don’t have to ‘sell out’—it is possible to do this ‘our way.’ It will involve some change, but more importantly, we will need to introduce a culture of creative communication as we design and implement our worship. Worship is directed towards God, but we have allowed our worship to be filled with impediments that prevent people from hearing God’s life – giving message and feeling God’s presence. We have also, as a denomination, given worship short shrift of our focus, energy, and resources. Our challenge is how to define and implement 21st – century Presbyterian worship, and to make worship renewal a priority.
Some would say we do not ‘speak the vernacular’ of 21st – century Canadian culture. We need to be able to speak the language if we want to communicate, and this language is not only about words.
Postmodernity has become the predominant worldview. This ethos is mistrustful of institutional authority, including the church. Postmodernity is not against rational thought, rather it asserts that there is more to perceiving reality than mere rational thinking. It thrives on ambiguity and diversity; it is contrarian and skeptical about universalisms. But like all other generations, postmodern people are searching for a coherent meaning of life.
As theologian Richard Niebuhr has said, the church needs to be “in the culture, not of the culture.” We must be counter – cultural, not anti – cultural, if we want to be seen as authentic.
We do not need to change our worship content; rather, we must examine how we can more effectively present this content to share the Good News. Canada is no longer a homogenous society—we are a diverse and complex group that includes a huge range of sensibilities and contexts. While Presbyterians can’t be all things to all people, we do need to learn to connect our worship with all living generations, and with a diverse mix of sensibilities. It’s not about pandering to teenagers or focusing on some groups and leaving out others. We can communicate in a diverse, multi – layered way that allows all groups to connect with God at different times and in different ways. It does not need to be complicated, but it does require significantly more time, energy, and resources than are currently being directed towards worship in the
Presbyterian Church.
For our worship to be meaningful and authentic it must be transformational. This means that every group hears God’s voice and feels God’s presence at various times in our worship. Not during every minute of worship, and maybe not every time they come to worship, but with an understanding that worship is where they come to feed their souls. This will only happen if each group’s sensibilities are intentionally included in the worship design. In being transformed week – by – week, people become changed and say, “Here I am, Lord—what can I do?” We are called at Pentecost to speak the gospel so that all will understand. The focus of our discussion needs to change from what we are not prepared to do, to what we are prepared to do in order to renew how we communicate in worship. Part of creativity is developing a culture of openness to what is good and meaningful, and what might be effectively incorporated into a distinctively Reformed interpretation. This means creativity with biblical and trinitarian fidelity, and presentations with theological and aesthetic integrity.
It is a big step for a denomination with a long and proud tradition to come to terms with change in how it communicates in worship. Grappling with change is a difficult and stressful process for any organization. We are trying to discern what it is that God wants us to be and do.
Renewal is more than just tinkering with the order of service. It is not just jumping from one trend to the next. There are no easy answers, no painless solutions, no quick fixes. The biggest job, however, is the intentional week – by – week implementation of worship renewal at the local level. Reversing a decline in membership that has been going on for over a quarter – century will not happen overnight. There is a future for postmodern Presbyterianism in Canada—but not a guaranteed future. Will we “seek to be changed, to be reformed, to take whatever risks are necessary as we learn to obey God’s will?” (PCC Vision Statement, 1989) First things first—worship needs renewal.
Why the Presbyterian Church should celebrate black history in Canada.
posted on February 1, 2012 in Features
In February 1926, American historian Carter G. Woodson launched an event called Negro History Week. The goal was to celebrate and draw attention to the many contributions of black people in American history, until the day when the thorough mixing of “black” history and “American” history in the public consciousness would make the event obsolete. Fifty years later the celebration became Black History Month and was imported into Canada, first informally by the Ontario Black History Society, and later officially when Jean Augustine, Canada’s first black woman elected to Parliament, brought the issue before the House of Commons in 1995.
In recent years some have objected to the observance of Black History Month. In a 2005 interview with CBS’ 60 Minutes, American actor Morgan Freeman famously protested, “You’re going to relegate my history to a month?” Others have shared his concern that the event segregates black history from the rest of American history and, rather than combating racism, only draws attention to it.
In Canada the controversy has made fewer headlines, but each February in recent years has seen debates on online forums, blogs and other forms of social media. If so many people are opposed to Black History Month—including those who identify themselves as black—why do we still celebrate it?
One answer may be that we have not yet reached Woodson’s dream of an educated public. In 1995, the Canadian government mandated the teaching of black history in schools, but this measure does not guarantee well-rounded results. Many Canadians are still unaware of important figures like Mathieu Da Costa, a free black man who worked as an interpreter between Samuel de Champlain and the Mik’maq people. Many do not realize that slavery continued to exist in the British colony of Upper Canada even after Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe introduced legislation in 1793 to gradually abolish it. Few know that our country had its own set of Jim Crow laws that persisted for years after that.
Thus far, the Presbyterian Church in Canada has not involved itself in the debate over Black History Month. In fact, the church has had little to say about the event. Dionne Cousins, a member of St. David’s, Toronto, and of the Justice Ministries advisory committee, wants to see that change.
“I think the PCC should make the month of February
important and relevant,” Cousins told the Record. “Lay participation of black congregation members would be nice during that month.” Cousins also wants to see black history featured in sermons, and in resources released by the national church.
Cousins, whose family came to Canada from Jamaica and England in the 1960s, also points out the trouble with labels that many black Canadians encounter. “I identify with being black, not African-Canadian. I’m proud to be black,” she says.
Okelo Aballa came to Calgary from Ethiopia in 2002. “When I got here I couldn’t find a job,” he says. Although many employers responded well to his strong resume, he never received the second call he was promised after interviews. Aballa feels his skin colour and background influenced their decisions, which is why he believes Black History Month is so important.
“It’s about equality and living peacefully together no matter the background,” he explains. “That’s how I think.”
His church family helps. The Presbyterian Church, with its strong Scottish tradition, is often considered too rigid and homogeneous to appeal to newcomers from other cultures. However, when Aballa first found Centennial Presbyterian in Calgary, it was the familiarity that attracted him.
“The way they do the service is almost the same as we do in Africa,” he says. He is also quick to explain that the racism he experienced in the workplace has never been an issue at Centennial. “The church is really friendly. I call them my family because they’ve been supporting me.”
Dr. Rose Dijana, who was born in Cameroon and lived in France before coming to Canada, had a similar experience finding a church when she moved to Montreal in 1999.
“I was … a bit worried about the type of church I would find here. So when I attended the worship service at Église Presbytérienne St-Luc, I thought, Wow! It was close to what I was looking for.”
Dijana is now the clerk of session for St-Luc. One change she wouldn’t mind seeing in her church—and within the whole church—is a deliberate effort to recognize Black History Month. Tools and mandates from the national church would not be enough, however; change would also require the deliberate involvement of black congregation members.
“What can the people of black descent … contribute to our church?” she asks. Dijana also wants to know what they have contributed in the past. “I don’t know what is, spiritually, the presence of people of African descent in Canada. That would be something really interesting to know. How did their place in the church evolve?”
There is little documentation about the exact roles of black Presbyterians over the years. The church doesn’t keep records of its adherents’ ethnic backgrounds. However, there have been some significant events that are worth remembering during Black History Month.
The Elgin Settlement
In 1848 Rev. William King, a missionary of the Free Church of Scotland who had recently inherited the land and slaves of his late wife and father-in-law in the United States, petitioned the synod of the then-named Presbyterian Church of Canada. His goal was to create a settlement for former slaves in Ontario, then called Canada West. The synod approved and the following year saw the creation of the Elgin Settlement, located just south of Chatham, Ont. Lots of 50 acres each were made available to black settlers, beginning with the 15 slaves King had inherited and brought north himself. The settlers could pay off the price of the land over the next 10 years; the money would go to stockholders in the Elgin Association—Presbyterians who had bought shares of the settlement and agreed not to seek a profit when the new tenants paid for their land.
The settlement had certain regulations. No alcohol was permitted; each house had to conform to a particular design; each lot had to have a picket fence and a flower garden. However, Buxton (as the growing town was called) became known not for the strictness of its engineers, but for the opportunities it provided, especially in the field of education. The No. 13 Raleigh School at which King taught was the first school in North America to offer black students a classical curriculum rather than a vocational one. This meant they were qualified for higher education and training in the professions. In fact, the school was soon so highly regarded that white families began to send their children there. As a result, No. 13 Raleigh School included both black and white students long before desegregation. Two of the first six graduates, Jerome Riley and Anderson Abbott, went on to become doctors and established what is now Howard University Hospital in Washington. James Rapier, their classmate, became a congressman for Alabama in 1872.
1853 Synod, Hamilton, Ont. (Canada West)
The committee on the subject of slavery gave its report that, “re-declaring, in terms of the synod’s resolutions at Kingston, in June, 1851, their belief in the sinful and unscriptural character of the slaveholding system, this synod judge it to be their duty to God and to man, to co-operate by all moral methods in promoting its abolition.” This took place 20 years after the abolition of slavery across most of the British Empire and 60 years after the practice began to be phased out in the empire’s Canadian provinces. The resolutions of the committee were not to discourage any slavery in their own midst, but to establish a spiritual and political stance in relation to the Presbyterian Church in the United States. Further resolutions in the report stated that the synod should support those American churches that were opposed to slavery, and that the synod’s members should refuse communion with any ministers or congregations who were “supporters of and defenders of this national iniquity.”
Policy for Dealing with Allegations of Racial Harassment
In 1981 the Board of World Missions, in its report to the 107th General Assembly, was the first to acknowledge the changing demographic of the Presbyterian Church as “ethnically and culturally pluralistic.” In 2008, after several years of work and revisions, the church released a document entitled, Growing in Christ: Seeing the Image of God in our Neighbour, a policy for dealing with allegations of racial harassment within the church. The church officially identified and defined words like race, culture, ethnic group, majority/minority groups, racism, racial prejudice and racial discrimination. The policy identifies the manifestations and results of racial harassment and states the church’s non-tolerance of such harassment.
Forum for Ethnic and Racial Minority Presbyterians
At Crieff Hills in April 2008, Justice Ministries hosted what became known as the Ezekiel Forum. The idea came out of consultations that Justice Ministries held while drafting the church’s policy to address allegations of racial harassment. The 49 individuals who attended the forum sought to address various needs: to feel like an “insider” in the church; to have members of visible minorities more active in church leadership; to reach such a level of equality that terms like “visible minority” are no longer needed.
As a result of the forum, the Presbytery of Ottawa presented an overture to the 135th General Assembly regarding a “strategy for greater racial and ethnic involvement in leadership.” The recommendation was approved and an anti-racism and diversity task force was created.
Rev. Paulette Brown is the executive director of the Flemingdon Gateway Mission in Toronto, and is active in justice, gender and racial diversity programs within the PCC. Born in Jamaica, she was the keynote speaker at the Ezekiel Forum. Her address challenged the church’s various racial and ethnic groups to re-think the term, “minority” and to break out of the stigma associated with that word.
“One challenge that faces us is not only to resist the fictitious meanings and the homogenizing attitudes connoted by the term ‘racial/ethnic minorities,’ but also to discover new and just ways of speaking about racial/ethnic diversities,” said Brown. “We must strive to think and speak in ways that reflect an understanding of ourselves as different and equal. It is this ‘different yet equal’ aspect of our God-given identity that seems to be at stake with the uncritical use of ‘minority’ designations and their frills … For how we understand ourselves will certainly affect how we engage the process of discerning what God is calling us to be and do in our church.
“God has intervened by effecting a convocation of a group of ‘different peoples’ for the purpose of calling our church to account for true racial/ethnic inclusiveness and to spearhead the struggles necessary to bring about true racial/ethnic inclusiveness in the PCC.”
A Black History Month Celebration
St. Timothy’s, Ottawa, held a special service to celebrate Black History Month last February. The regular choir was joined by the Afro-Caribbean-South American choral group, Ni Wewe Tu (It’s Only You). The blended choir brought the whole congregation to its feet, and young and old alike were enraptured by the children’s story that Baiye Orock, a member of St. Timothy’s, told about his childhood in Mbonge, Cameroon. A special moment came when the congregation broke with its normal tradition of quietly passing the offering plate and joined the choir in walking and dancing their offerings to the front while the words “It’s a great thing to serve the Lord” and “Hallelujah” were sung. After the service, traditional dishes from several African and Caribbean countries were shared while congregants and guests socialized. A photo essay of the whole service is available at St. Timothy’s in Ottawa
READING LIST AND RESOURCES
GROWING IN CHRIST: SEEING THE IMAGE OF GOD IN OUR NEIGHBOUR
A PCC policy for dealing with allegations of racial harassment in the church
JUSTICE MINISTRIES’ REPORT
on establishing a “strategy for greater racial and ethnic involvement in leadership” is in the 2011 Acts and Proceedings.
REPORT OF THE PCC’S EZEKIEL FORUM
presbyterian.ca/resources/online/3681
THE STORY OF WILLIAM KING AND THE BUXTON MISSION
An online exhibit of the Presbyterian Church in Canada Archives
BUXTON NATIONAL HISTORICAL SITE AND MUSEUM
Information about the museum and history of the Elgin Settlement
BLACK HISTORY CANADA
An interactive website that makes black history in Canada accessible
AFRICAN CANADIAN ONLINE
The Centre for the Study of Black Cultures in Canada website
CBC DIGITAL ARCHIVES
Online access to radio and television clips relating to black history
THE BOOK OF NEGROES BY LAWRENCE HILL
A novel inspired by a historical document of the same name that records the names of thousands of former American slaves who were relocated to Nova Scotia by the British following service during the American Revolution.
BLACK LIKE WHO? WRITING BLACK CANADA BY RINALDO WALCOTT
A collection of essays that explore different expressions of black culture in Canada.
SOME BLACK WOMEN: PROFILES OF BLACK WOMEN IN CANADA BY RELLA BRAITHWAITE AND TESSA BENN – IRELAND
A collection of profiles and photographs documenting the lives of black women in Canada.
THE BLACKS IN CANADA: A HISTORY BY ROBIN W. WINKS
A chronological history of the presence of blacks in Canada from slavery in New France to immigration in the 1970s.
MARY ANN SHADD BY ROSEMARY SADLIER
A juvenile non – fiction book telling the story of Shadd, who came to Canada to teach escaped slaves and went on to become the first woman publisher in North America.
THE KIDS BOOK OF BLACK CANADIAN HISTORY BY ROSEMARY SADLIER
An illustrated overview of the last 400 years of black Canadian history.
THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD: NEXT STOP, TORONTO! BY ADRIENNE L. SHADD
A children’s nonfiction book exploring not the journey of escaped slaves north to Canada, but also the later lives of those who formed a community in Toronto.
VIOLA DESMOND WON’T BE BUDGED! BY RICHARD RUDNICKI
A children’s biography of Canada’s own Rosa Parks: a black woman named Viola Desmond who was jailed for refusing to sit in the balcony at a theatre.
BLACK HISTORY MONTH RESOURCE BOOK BY MARY ELLEN SNODGRASS
A book of activities meant to work with the American public school curriculum but also suitable for churches and community groups.
FOR MY COUNTRY: BLACK CANADIANS ON THE FIELD OF HONOUR BY DENNIS MCLAUGHLIN
Published by the department of national defence.
Resources compiled by Justice Ministries.
Can we keep up with the Jesus we meet in the Gospel of Mark?
posted on February 1, 2012 in Features, Progressive Lectionary
February 26 / First Sunday in Lent Mark 1:9-15
Suggested alternative first reading: Daniel 4:28-37
The opening chapters of all four gospels are more important as theology than history. The introduction to each gospel provides the foundation for the authors’ interpretation of the Jesus story. Much of the richness is lost to us if we take these chapters first, and often only, as history. In its brevity our reading from Mark says at least as much as the longer narratives in Matthew and Luke. Yet we often skip through Mark’s version of the baptism and temptation of Jesus because it doesn’t offer the kind of detail we’re looking for.
Some see Mark as a summary of the authorized story of Jesus for beginners. Others suggest it’s for believers far removed from the origins of the story. People who don’t recognize the sources other gospel writers employ so extensively to advance their understanding of what Jesus means for the world. That’s one reason Matthew comes first in the canon. For centuries, Mark was thought inferior to the other gospels. And Mark unfolds with breathlessness, like a story told by an excited child, who just has to tell an adult every detail, or he’ll just die! “And then, and, and, and . . .” Count them in today’s reading.
Jesus appears. From nowhere. And he’s baptized. And the sky opens. And a dove appears. And a voice sounds from heaven. And the Spirit immediately… Mark loves “immediately” almost as much as “and.” The spirit drives Jesus into the wilderness. Immediately. Does Jesus even have a chance to catch his breath after being dunked in the river?
This forward drive continues through Mark’s gospel, until it ends in a broken sentence that leaves us hanging. Or does it drive us into the wilderness? In this year of Mark do we catch the gospel’s energy?
Embedded in the opening chapters of all four gospels are reflections on texts and themes largely lost to us. Matthew sets Jesus up as a new Moses, liberator and law – giver. Founder of the new covenant people. Luke draws lines back to the story of Samuel. Prophet and priest. Reformer. Maker and conscience of kings. The gospels represent an ancient literary form, in which the life story of a famous person begins with narrative that echoes stories from the past. What sources does Mark rely on? He may be thinking of Nebuchadnezzar, of all people! Mark probably knew the narrative of Daniel, with its theme of faithfulness and vindication under oppression. Its story of God at work in unexpected places, through unlikely agents, ultimately toward the release of God’s exiled people.
King Nebuchadnezzar heard a voice from heaven. He was driven into the wilderness. He was even bathed (baptized?) with the dew of heaven. Why? So Nebuchadnezzar could learn who God was and, therefore, who he was. He returned no less a king, but so much more a man of God.
The old story tells of God’s power to change the heart of the very emperor who sacked God’s house and oppressed God’s people. Does Mark want us to wonder what God might do in and through Jesus when he comes back from the wilderness? What will this king bring to the world?
Jesus comes back, goes home, and picks his time to begin his mission. God’s reign is at hand. God’s reign, not the emperor’s, is dawning. And, as Nebuchadnezzar confessed, “all God’s works are truth, and God’s ways are justice; and God is able to bring low those who walk in pride.”
Mark’s Jesus gets to work, fast, proving those words true in all he does and says. Time and again Jesus encounters evil powers and routs them with greater power. He sets captives free. He presses on, to do as much as he can in the time he has on earth.
Reflections on the demolition of Summerside Presbyterian Church.
posted on January 1, 2012 in Features, Reflections
What does the demolition of a church building mean, theologically and personally?
In the winter of 2011, the building that once housed Summerside Presbyterian Church was torn down and demolished, to make way for a new church building that opened this past autumn. While I haven’t been an active member of the congregation for about four years, I grew up in that church, and its former building housed many of my cherished memories. I remember meeting in the assembly hall for youth group when I was 12; I remember games of hide – and – seek, and the taste of hot dogs on steamy Sunday school picnic days in June; I remember a few youth retreats with sleeping bags and loud, raucous music in my teens; I remember holding “alternative” worship services in the assembly hall on Wednesdays in summer 2007; and I remember my grandmother’s funeral on Feb. 1st, 2011, which was (coincidentally) the last official event that took place in the church before its demolition.
In light of all that, I ask again: what does the demolition of a church building mean? In order to understand what the demolition of one church building means, we should first ask how buildings are important to God’s people.
Buildings feature prominently in scripture: they can represent the height of human ambition, and the glory and grandeur of God. One witness to both of these characteristics is the Jewish temple, which the Jews built in Solomon’s time, and rebuilt after their return from exile in Babylonia. Time and time again, the psalmist points to the hill of Zion, and its accompanying temple, to indicate God’s love, power and majesty: “The Lord reigns forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations.” (Psalm 146:10) Isaiah’s first major vision occurred in the temple before its first destruction (Isaiah 6). The Apostles Paul and Peter both used the image of buildings to represent their congregations’ faith and devotion to God’s loving mission in the world (1 Corinthians 3:10 – 15, 1 Peter 2:5). Thus, it seems that the Jews and early Christians saw buildings, particularly the Jewish temple, as dwelling – places and metaphors for God’s presence.
God has certainly been present in Summerside Presbyterian Church! The youth group has grown: I remember, back in 2001, being the only person to consistently show up to the youth group. However, the last time I checked, there were more young adults attending. Someone I knew from high school returned to the church, and to faith, a few years ago and got married in the church shortly thereafter. And during my grandmother’s funeral, the church was nearly full, and the minister preached a down – to – earth and very accurate sermon that praised both of my grandparents and gave thanks for my grandmother’s legacy. A building can house powerful and personal memories, moments, and events that make God present.
So, the building of Summerside Presbyterian Church has been demolished in order to make way for a new structure. Just as the Jewish exiles in Babylon cried, “How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?” (Psalm 137:4), so Presbyterians in Summerside may feel lost or uneasy as they await a new place of worship. The demolition of a building can mean the end of memories: there will be no more hot dogs, no more joyous singing (and there was much of that!), and no more heartfelt preaching at the old building of Summerside.
Instead, the congregation must go forward steadily into the future God has prepared for it. Summerside Presbyterian Church will have a new place, and so it can create a new place in people’s hearts—a space for both action and reflection that testifies to God’s loving presence. There will again be a place for Presbyterian people to be baptized, to marry, and to eat and worship together. The new building will house a community knit together by the love of God.
Theologically and personally, Summerside Presbyterian Church is much more than just a building: it proves true the first verse of the hymn, “I am the church! You are the church!” Indeed, the church is “not a building,” the church is “not a steeple,” and the church is “not a resting place.” Instead, Summerside Presbyterian Church is “a people,” a people whose actions, emotions and memories bear witness to God’s love in our midst. The demolition of a building means both the end of old memories, and the beginning of new ones … and both the old and the new memories allow us to live, love, and act as people of Jesus’ gracious Way.
Han-Ca congregation devotes itself to Eastern Europe.
photographed by David Pandy-Szekeres
posted on January 1, 2012 in Features, Mission
When St. Timothy’s, Etobicoke, Ont., launched an international mission project in 2010, they hoped it would be a long – term affair. And when the mission team visited Hungary, Ukraine and Romania for the second time last summer, their hopes for a meaningful relationship were rewarded.
“When we went to the Roma/gypsy community in Nagybereg, Ukraine, as soon as we entered the village, the children recognized us and followed us, singing, ‘Deep, deep O deep down, down; deep down in my heart,’ with the motions we taught them last year,” said Rev. David Son, associate minister at St. Timothy’s. “With no English skill whatsoever, they remembered not only the song but also us. It meant they’ve been waiting for us to come. I cried.”
Son became emotional again when visiting a community in Kide, Romania, where people thanked them for returning. “‘Thank you very much for planting us in your hearts,’ they said. I cried twice.”
The eight – person team (led by Son) travelled to Eastern Europe for the second time for two weeks last August. Their first trip was in 2010, and the third will happen this July. They accompanied Presbyterian missionaries David Pandy – Szekeres and Brian Johnston, getting to know several congregations of the Hungarian Reformed Church in Hungary and the Hungarian minority regions in Ukraine and Transylvania.
“My wish has always been to continue my missionary work in the same country or countries if allowed,” said Kyu Hwan Han, a 26 – year – old member of the team. “It is wonderful to go on missions to various countries and see how different people worship God; however, visiting the same mission field continuously and building long lasting relationships is a great blessing.”
Following the final visit, Son hopes the congregation will find ways to continue the connections they’ve made. In addition to prayer and possible financial support, Son has already been keeping in touch with a minister he met on the trip, and David Pandy – Szekeres keeps him updated on what’s going on in the region. And while Son acknowledges much more time and study is needed before taking action, he said they’re looking into beginning some sort of relationship with local Hungarian Presbyterian congregations, or working with Roma refugees coming to Toronto.
“One of St. Timothy’s mission statements is, ‘Church that stands up with/for the weak and the poor,’” said Son. “Within the life of the church, we have this strong calling, and we do believe this can only happen in partnership. Also, as one of the Korean churches we wanted to get more actively involved in the mission works of the PCC, [and] the PCC graciously supported us last year.”
“The PCC’s mission trip program helps congregations connect with missionaries they already support through their gifts to Presbyterians Sharing,” said Karen Plater, associate secretary of stewardship. “We help congregations build closer relationships with our mission partners, and build up the mission work of the church overall.”
Several years ago, the congregation wasn’t even aware of the Pandys’ work in Eastern Europe. It was only when Rev. Sarah Kim, executive director of the Women’s Missionary Society and wife of senior minister In Kee Kim, embarked on a WMS trip to the region that St. Timothy’s was introduced to the work happening there.
“We were planning to launch another mission trip to a different part of the world, but Jesus didn’t allow us to,” said Son. After speaking with Sarah Kim, “we were able to start this wonderful ministry.”
The mission team visited several communities, including those in the Sub – Carpathian Ukraine. The Reformed Church there is an ethnically Hungarian community working in a minority situation, including work amidst the Roma peoples. In the town of Nagybereg, they helped build a multi – functional centre that will serve as a kindergarten and prayer hall for the Roma community.
Working on the prayer hall was a highlight for 20 – year – old Daniel Kim. “Although at times we were very drained of energy and fatigued from the heat, we persevered … with only one thing in mind: to build God’s kingdom,” Kim told the Record. “By the end of the week, many gypsy kids began to help us do various jobs out of the willingness of their heart. Working and smiling together was a scene I believe God was very pleased to see.”
The group also led singing, games and crafts for children, visited an orphanage operated by the Reformed Church, and worked on a farm.
They also spent time in the village of Kide, Romania, as guests of the local Reformed Church congregation. There they enjoyed a Sunday worship service, led by local minister Tibor Nagy, with a message given by Son who touched upon the fact that the village’s name of Kide means “hope” in Korean.
“The basic purpose of the trip was to bring God’s presence with us,” said Son. “There are not many things we can contribute to their tough life situations for two weeks. But what we hoped for was to plant a small mustard seed in their hearts … so that they may continuously remember [our presence], and somewhere down the road, that remembrance may give them the life of Jesus Christ to the full. And in return … they planted another mustard seed in our hearts and they blessed us tremendously.”
“For the host communities, having a group return goes a long way in reinforcing the idea that there exists a bond which is common and which is strong enough to unite two very different communities,” David Pandy – Szekeres told the Record. “And it is when both of these communities recognize this common bond to be the gospel, its teachings and its attendant blessings that we come full circle and say thank you, Lord.”
Our true desire is the glory of God, but sometimes idolatry gets in the way.
posted on January 1, 2012 in Features, Theology 101
The 16th – century Reformers—Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, Knox and others—were derisively nicknamed, “the Sola – ists.” They distilled the essence of the gospel in five Latin slogans using the word sola, meaning only, solely or exclusively: sola gratia, sola fide, sola scriptura, solo Christo, soli Deo gloria (grace alone, faith alone, scripture alone, Christ alone, to God’s glory alone).
Today, the solas of early Protestantism run up against other realities and claims: What does it mean to say “Christ alone” in a multi – religious world? How does scripture alone square with contemporary thought about biblical interpretation? And so on.
So, are we still sola – ists today?
It has been suggested, convincingly in my view, that at the core of all human identity lies desire. Consequently, what we direct our desires toward becomes our spirituality. In C.S. Lewis’s brilliant essay, The Weight of Glory, he argues that the true end and fulfillment of our desires is the glory of God. Indeed, our deepest longings will be complete when we have fully entered into the glorious communion of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for eternity. That is the hope of glory.
Alas, we are also painfully aware that the story of human history is one of misplaced desire. That is, that human beings have aimed those deep yearnings towards many other alluring destinations which have promised glory, not the least of which is their own glory. Another word for this is idolatry. The scriptures narrate the story of God’s people’s ongoing struggle with idolatry, and God’s relentless pursuit to win them back to their true home. This story, carried on through church history as misplaced longing, brought corruption and great wickedness. The Reformation was one of the times in that history, when God’s people saw with great clarity that sometimes the church itself could become the object of idolatry, and the cry of soli deo gloria or “to God’s glory alone” was an attempt to redirect our desires towards their true object, God and His glory.
I’m convinced that one of the best antidotes against idolatry is the regular gathering of the saints for corporate worship. I take it that one of my roles as a worship and praise leader is to bring people into an awareness of, submission to, and engagement with the glory of God simply because that is what God is due, but also because it forms us into a people who direct their desires towards their proper object.
I have found Psalm 8 to be a helpful guide to considering how we might think of worship and the glory of God. The psalm begins famously with the ascription of praise: “O, Lord our sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth. You have set your glory above the heavens.” Soli deo gloria is rooted in the truth that God is other. God is holy, powerful beyond our imagining and rules creation. The worship leader is responsible to help a congregation become aware of the centrality of God’s majesty as something to behold with awe and wonder. These things can be accomplished through invitation to exuberant praise that has an extensive vocabulary of superlatives, metaphors, and adjectives that give us range for offering glory. But it also requires the opposite—silence; the importance of being still before God’s majesty.
The psalmist continues with the reminder that God’s glory is also the object of an infant’s cries and gurgling (verse 2). I see this is as significant as the psalm unfolds. The contrast of God’s glory juxtaposed with the babbling of a baby which silences the enemies of God’s glory, says something about worship that flows out of the simple, childlike places of our humanity. But the psalm develops this beautiful mystery and contrast even further because the contemplation of God’s glory invites consideration that human beings are insignificant (verse 4). It is critical that we pause here. It has saddened me to see the loss of confession in much contemporary liturgy, because of its perceived negativity. We must always be aware of our temptation toward, and complicity in, idolatry. A worship leader must not shy away from leading the people in confession of sin; confession humbles us, but also reminds us of the greater truth of what has become of us in Christ. Confession leads us to the gospel, the glory of salvation.
The psalmist continues by suggesting that human beings are not insignificant at all; they are created only a little lower than God and given responsibility to partner with God in caring for the creation (verses 5 – 8). What this leads me to conclude is something that Irenaeus of Lyons suggested many centuries before the Reformation: that the glory of God is a human being fully alive. There is a place in worship for us to honour the gift of being human. This can be done through the arts, eloquent communication, testimony of encounter with God during the week, celebration of the gifts represented amongst the body gathered. Human capacity for beauty and excellence properly offered to God with gratitude and humility returns us with the psalmist to the opening affirmation of the psalm—glory belongs to God alone!
God’s judgment is in their eyes. The world’s hope is in them, too
posted on January 1, 2012 in Features, Progressive Lectionary
January 15 – Second Sunday after Epiphany
1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20)
Samuel watches old Eli’s every move. Samuel was just a toddler when he went to Shiloh. To learn the craft of priesthood. Samuel watches Eli offer the sacrifices. Keep the hours of prayer. Counsel worshippers. Decide the value of their offerings. Ensure the maintenance of the sanctuary.
Samuel grows into servanthood. He’s Eli’s right – hand boy. We meet him today, old enough to spend the night in the sanctuary, alone. To tend the sacred lamp. Eli has sons. The highest priesthood is hereditary. What will Samuel become?
Samuel watches. As Eli’s sons corrupt Shiloh with their greed and lust. Does Samuel see a prophet come to Eli? To tell him God’s promise to his family is revoked. A righteous priest will arise, and Eli’s household will beg him for charity.
Samuel spends his lonely, wakeful nights knowing, with a child’s keen intuition, a storm is about to break. Fearing, with a child’s sense of connectedness, the storm will fall on him, too.
Samuel isn’t surprised to hear a call in the night. How many nights has he lain awake? Imagining a call, a word. A disaster. It takes a little while for Eli to wake up, and see what’s going on. Does he want to know? The Lord’s call can only bring one message. Words Eli doesn’t want to hear again.
Especially from the boy. God’s word in a child’s voice. Hesitant, Fearful. Honest. Clear. With power to shatter Eli’s denial. Give him eyes to see God’s hand, already at work.
The end of the story: The Lord continues to appear at Shiloh, for the Lord reveals himself to Samuel, by the word of the Lord. (verse 21)
The children are watching. They see more than we want them to see. They hear more than we think they can. They understand more than we allow. They can imagine their way to truth we may never grasp.
The most important thing we can teach our children is that actions have consequences. One thing leads to another. Shake the table and the milk will spill. Touch the stove and you’ll be burned. Work hard and you’ll be rewarded. Study hard and you’ll be a success.
We say those things when our kids are old enough to tell us they know what we say isn’t always true. But we go on saying them. And we go on behaving as if we really don’t believe what we say. The children are watching.
Adults are far more likely than children to act as if actions have no consequences. Samuel learned that early.
We may think we’re too sophisticated to believe all that stuff about God’s judgment on Eli and his sons and heirs. We think Jesus gives us some kind of a pass. We don’t need to worry about punishment for our sins.
God’s grace doesn’t give us license. God’s mercy doesn’t exempt us from the law of gravity. We let go of things we should hold onto and they fall. We try to pick up things we shouldn’t and they’re heavy. They weigh us down.
The children are watching. With the eyes God gave them. Through the moral lenses we give them.
Old Eli goes to the sanctuary, day by day, to catch a fresh vision of God. Over the years his eyes grow dim. His hearing thickens. His voice becomes faint. God seeks new eyes, keener ears, a stronger voice.
God chooses a child. As God often speaks in the least – likely voices. The young. The very old. The powerless. Those who have been pushed to the edges. People who suffer the consequences of our greedy consumption of the world’s riches.
The children are watching. So are the poor. The silenced. The marginalized of the world.
God’s judgment is in their eyes. Spoken in their words. Their cries for help.
The world’s hope is with them, too.
Understanding God’s call.
posted on December 1, 2011 in Books, Features
Peyton Drynan, Age 9 - St Andrews Streetsville
The words kept echoing through my mind. I had no peace and no rest. Strangely and goadingly, they seemed to speak to me.
My dad’s home office door was open and he sat puffing his pipe, perched over the original text of the Book of Job. On my next pass he called me in. “What is wrong?”
“Wrong?” I breathed in youthful defiance. “Nothing.”
He waited. He was a man who knew when to be quiet. I flopped down in a chair. “Well, pa, you see I was reading the Book of Hebrews this morning.”
He lifted his eyebrows; he was no small expert on this book having written a commentary on it.
“Here’s the thing, ‘today if you hear my voice do not harden your hearts.’” He puffed on his pipe and kept quiet. “Well, I can’t get these words out of my mind.”
“Ah,” he said thoughtfully, “Perhaps God is calling you?”
I sighed the word, “yes,” my sense of discomfort faded. A great burden was lifted.
To be called is to have a vocation. It gives meaning to one’s life. If there is anything we need in today’s church in Canada, it is the sense of meaning and purpose which flows out of knowing who we are and what we are called to. We are in a kind of exile today. We are frantically trying to salvage dying congregations. That exile invites us to a new sense of call on our journey of Christian spirituality.
Stories of calls to leadership lie at the heart of the history of Christian spiritual formation. Such stories are highly personal and particular because God calls individuals in unique ways. But although particular and contextual, such stories always carry universal implications in the great unfolding story of creation and redemption.
But experience remains a problematic measure of call. For Martin Luther, his experience of peace and acceptance after striving so much to please God was crucial in gaining certainty of faith. John Calvin insisted that one should not look at one’s self but rather at Christ for assurance in an attempt to turn the Christian journey away from self – absorption.
By the 17th century, the pietist movement in Germany and the Puritan movement started to emphasize experience, and experience became fundamentally associated with certain religious feelings in persons.
Religious experience of this kind tended to individualize faith and the call to follow God as it merged with the rise of the autonomous individual in the Enlightenment. Today, personal experience, and particularly individualized feeling, has become a basic expectation. How often do we say, “I feel that…”?
It is clear that experience has importance in biblical stories of call. It is also clear that an excessive emphasis on experience, particularly extraordinary experience, can be frustrating and painful to those who never seem to experience such feelings. Moreover, those who do claim special experiences sometimes consider themselves spiritually elevated. Combined with individualism, such religious experience can lead to isolation or cult – like spirituality.
Call cannot be divorced from experience nor reduced to experience. That is why churches have emphasized the role of community in connection with call. It is the community who discerns call and leadership. Whether the individual has a profound experience does not determine call. In all the biblical stories, God’s call was to community.
Call Today
In early times, Christian vocation involved risk and commitment. In medieval times, vocation was connected with monastic vows. During the Reformation, vocation or calling became a concept that included the idea that one’s daily work could be part of vocation. For much of the modern period, this Protestant idea of vocation played a formative role in shaping people’s sense of meaning in life. In our post – Christian context, significant questions are being raised about vocation. Thus William Placher writes:
The very claim that there is something that God wants me to do with my life, for instance, threatens many contemporary definitions of freedom. Surely, I can do whatever I want with my life, and the choice is mine? Much of the Christian tradition, however, has argued that that vision of life as a sea of infinite choices is more like slavery than freedom. If “freedom” means that every choice is open, and none is the wrong answer, then my choices cease to have any larger meaning. The direction of my life can be shaped by the pervasive siren calls of consumer culture, or by my own quest for immediate satisfaction. Either way, the advent of next year’s fashions or the boredom I find in the pleasures of the moment leaves me hungry for something else, a cycle of hunger always unfulfilled.
The ever expanding world of choice, information and constant technological change requires a new emphasis on God’s call and vocation for our spirituality.
Finding our identity, call and spirituality can be located in the opening chapters of Genesis. Having a calling is not just something that happens to us for specific church jobs. More importantly, calling is integrated with the way and logic of the whole of God’s creation. The very act of creation is an act of God calling forth. The Word—God speaking—is the way of God’s gracious act of creation. All things are constituted by God’s call, and out of this deep and profound loving call comes our call as human beings. We need to grasp this profound connection between God’s creating Word that calls forth creation, and God’s gracious word that brings redemption and calls us to be part of it in mission.
The Evocative God in Genesis
Old Testament scholar Walter Breuggemann says Genesis is a book of call. First, God calls forth creation to be God’s faithful world. (Genesis 1 – 11) Then God calls specific people to be God’s faithful people. (Genesis 12 – 50) Thus, both creation and the community of faith are “evoked by the speech of this God.” To be human is to be called forth by God and then to be called by God for a special task or mission in creation. This is who we are. Christian spirituality starts here.
Our identity and spirituality grows out of our call to a journey of mission with creation. The inherent potential for creatures to resist God and not heed God’s call is soon realized in the unfolding story of the first three chapters of Genesis. This rebellion leads to the second kind of call, the call of anguish, the one we discover in Genesis 3:9, when God calls out to the human creatures in what is rendered in the Hebrew language in one agonising word, “Where?”
This is an impassioned God. In fact, there seems to be a kind of suffering within God. The freedom of God’s creatures to obey or to rebel does not only bring the potential that God may suffer—the potential is realized! Whereas the calling forth of creation by the creative Word is an act that cannot be resisted, the calling of humankind and creation to its covenantal journey with God can be resisted. According to this story we can resist and we do. But God does not turn God’s back on rebellious humans. God, who loves and cherishes creation as a child will not let it go. In this sense, God is already in this early text in a judging and gracious solidarity with the “poor” and the “poor in spirit.” We, the cowering humans, are foolishly hiding until we hear the judging and gracious agonising cry, “Where?”
We are called and marked as creatures of the good and cherished creation and we are called in anguish as we run and hide in the garden. Just as these stories helped the Hebrew exiles to find their identity in Babylon, these texts tell us who we are in the “foreign lands” of consumer and technological culture or global empires of finance that exploit and destroy creation and people. It is here that we need to start if we want to talk about Christian missional spirituality. The message of God’s agonizing call in the face of our resistance invites us to repentance and provides hope. Together, people and creation stand under God’s dual call which sets them free. Creation is not abandoned but the great promise resounds, “I will bring all things together in reconciliation!”
his article is adapted and edited from Charles Fensham’s forthcoming book, A Missional Christian Spirituality for the Emerging Church: The Journey to the Nations and for the Earth. To be published by Clement Academic, 2012
Ministering to the Boomer generation.
posted on December 1, 2011 in Features, Mission
Judy Mallory-Warkworth Ont
Somewhere in their middle decades, most people experience a time of radical re – evaluation of their lives, which often leads to significant change—the so – called mid – life crisis. They feel a need to develop those facets of their lives they have previously ignored. They raise many questions that often go unanswered. And that, I believe, makes it a time of opportunity for the church.
The oldest members of the Boomer generation have been through this time of re – evaluation; the youngest are in it or are approaching it. In the past, this generation left the church in great numbers. And although the reasons for those departures are many and complicated, the result is that they have largely gone through life without the hope, comfort and encouragement the gospel provides.
Seniors are in a position to reach Boomers effectively—more effectively, in fact, than they can reach the younger generations. Time and again I have heard people say we need to work at bringing young people into the church. Well, we certainly need to take good care of the teens and young adults who are part of our congregations. But we are kidding ourselves if we think that a church composed largely of seniors is going to be able to make itself attractive to unchurched youth who are two or three generations younger! Boomers, on the other hand, are the children of those seniors, and we have a chance to reach out to the next younger generation and their friends.
This is not a plea for a national program to turn seniors into evangelists. But I believe we can only minister effectively if we first face some questions: Do we really believe that the gospel of Jesus Christ makes a difference in our lives? Does the message that God loves us unconditionally really touch us deeply? Do we seek to open our hearts so that we are ready to receive God’s love and reflect it in our lives? Do we really love our children and their friends? Do we care about their spiritual welfare? Do we tell them how God’s love makes a difference in our lives?
Unless a ministry to Boomers flows out of love for God and love for them, it will fail. Otherwise, they will rightly see our efforts as self – serving attempts to keep our institutions going.
Judith Mallory-Warkworth Ont
A major part of our problem is that we have taken to an extreme the words of St. Francis of Assisi: “Preach the gospel always; when necessary, use words.” In my experience, it is hard to find a Presbyterian church where people are comfortable talking about God’s love and how it affects their lives. St. Francis lived in a different world than we do! How do we expect people who have little or no memory of Christianity to interpret our lives in Christian terms? If we are to reach out to the Boomers with the gospel, we will have to begin speaking clearly about the place God has in our lives. That involves a major change in Presbyterian culture.
We must develop ways to encourage people to speak more freely, and to make ministry to Boomers a priority. Here is a golden opportunity on our doorstep. Our children and their friends are a mission field that is ripe. The question is whether we are willing to make the effort to reach them with Good News that can change their lives for the better.
What does it mean in the midst of complex and diverse religious contexts?
posted on December 1, 2011 in Features, Theology 101
Donald MacLaren-St James Truro NS
In July, I spent a week in Israel/Palestine where my days were filled with greetings of shalom and salaam. This is a world filled with linguistic and religious diversity: geographically small, where the three monotheistic Abrahamic faiths seek to live faithfully in a charged political, social and historical context. What does Christ alone mean in such a context?
On the plane home I began working on a course on John’s gospel that I taught later in the summer in Havana, Cuba. Cuba, a secular context, yet one in which over 50 evangelical/protestant religious groups, not to mention Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, and Baha’i among others, are registered with the Office of Religious Affairs, which is directly connected to the ideological section of the Communist party. This is a context of religious plurality in which the majority of believers are members of the Afro – Cuban Santeria movement, a syncretism of Catholicism and the native religions of the original African slaves. Again, what does Christ alone mean there?
The experience of such diversity encourages a deeper reflection on the importance of context to any discussion of Christ alone. In the context of the 16th century, Christ alone affirmed that salvation came solely through Christ, not mediated through the church, as had traditionally been proclaimed. For a reforming movement seeking to establish and define a new context for faithfulness, this became a critical statement of faith.
John’s gospel presents another distinct and complex context, a context in which members of that community, a sectarian and beleaguered community, part of the Jewish diaspora, sought to live faithfully. It was a community that found refuge in Alexandria after the Roman conquest of Jerusalem, yet also a community that was on the margins of the synagogue, increasingly disassociated from the traditional forms of Judaism, betwixt and between in terms of defining itself in a new place. For this reforming movement, not the Torah but the affirmation of the Word, the Word which was with God at the beginning, the Word which became flesh in Jesus Christ—Christ the way, the truth and the life, the only way to God, established the context for faithful discipleship in an alien, threatening environment.
What about us? We are not 16th – century Reformers; we are not the first – century Johannine community. What might Christ alone mean in our context—or, perhaps, what shouldn’t it mean? Surely the affirmation of Christ alone should not lead to a smugness on our part, as if Christians of a certain sort have exclusive access to the mind of God: a God who says, “I will be who I will be,” a God of surprises, a God who has consistently refused to be boxed in by our limited understandings (1 Corinthians 13:12).
What then does it mean? The religious context of Canada is changing. We experience it in congregational life; we see it all around us. It is in the midst of the challenges presented by this new (and for some, threatening) context that we are called to define what Christ alone means. What new thing is God doing among us? What is the model for faithful discipleship provided by Christ alone? What does the life and ministry of the one who crossed boundaries mean for us, the one who made God known in new ways, the one who was sent to teach about the love of God for the whole world?
I believe God is calling us as a church to deep and likely painful theological reflection, not unlike what the author of John’s gospel or the 16th – century Reformers were called to do in their contexts. It will require us to ask what it means to be reformed yet always reforming, what it means to follow the way of Christ in our world of diversity and difference.
In my work of preparing students for ministry, it calls upon me to do at least two things. First, it challenges me to reflect on the boundaries I have created that may be an impediment to what God is calling us to be in our time. It also calls on me to risk living as fully as I can those gospel values for which Christ alone provided the example, gospel values that are much more focused on love and acceptance than exclusion and marginalization.
Strange events and tall orders don’t discourage the mother of God.
posted on December 1, 2011 in Features, Renewal
Deana Weyman-St Andrews King City Ont
Perhaps central to any celebration of Christmas is the picture of Mary holding the infant Jesus. Around the picture and beyond the biblical narrative some have developed a whole myth espousing for Mary a quasi – divine nature and claiming that she, like Jesus, was immaculately conceived. The biblical witness however tells us that Mary was much more like us than like the angels and it is precisely because she was fully human that she serves as an encouragement to us. Mary was an amazing example of human faithfulness as she walked along a path where she sometimes took a wrong turn.
Mary began her journey as an ordinary girl who was encountered by God in an extraordinary way. She was young and full of dreams for a future with a man to whom she was engaged. But an angel appeared to announce that God had a bigger plan for her and she submitted herself as a servant to God’s seemingly strange design. I don’t believe Mary at that time realized fully what that encounter meant or who this child of hers really was. She may have thought he would be the Messiah or the deliverer of Israel, or even the ruler of Israel, but to even imagine Jesus was God incarnate was more than anyone at the time could comprehend. The way the shepherds and wisemen showed up confirmed his special status, but Mary still didn’t fully understand whom she held in her arms.
Amy DeBoer-St Andrews Richmond Ont
The Bible says she was troubled by much of what she heard and yet she neither despaired nor dismissed it out of hand. Her visit to her cousin, Elisabeth, who also had a visitation from God, must have offered further confirmation that she wasn’t just imagining all this. Luke tells us that Mary treasured these things and pondered them in her heart. Sometimes in our own lives we have experiences that we don’t really understand. Mary shows that we need to meditate on these things, trusting that in God’s good time He will show us why this apparent tragedy is happening to us or what holy purpose these strange, amazing events have in the eternal plan of God. At the time of Jesus’ presentation at the temple, with Simeon and Anna prophesying over him, she and Joseph didn’t know what to think and could only marvel at it all. Yet Mary was thinking theologically; that is, she was seeking to understand the ways of God in these events.
It isn’t that Mary always got things right. When a 12 – year – old Jesus was found with the teachers in the temple, she scolded him for not being where she thought he should have been. Jesus simply replied that she didn’t understand what he was doing. Again the gospel writer Luke says she treasured all these things in her heart. Mary shows us that even when we are rebuked by God the correct response is not to turn away in resentment but to spend time reflecting on what God is doing and value the process even when we think He has treated us unfairly.
On another occasion, Mary and Christ’s brothers came to take him home, thinking that his religious activity had gotten out of hand. Jesus said his true family were those who submitted themselves to the will of God. This time of tension between Jesus and his mother was no doubt difficult. In the end, Mary is still with him at the cross and she herself is strongly connected with the faith community at Pentecost and beyond. We can believe that she has come to believe that her son, raised from the dead, is indeed the only begotten son of God and she may have been even more amazed than we are that God almighty should be born and dwell among us. The first names she heard for her son—Jesus, the one who saves us, and Emmanuel, God with us—she now knew to be true in deeper ways than she could have imagined.
We can ponder all the things written in the creeds so in our doubting times we can recall the experience and faith of the whole church. Mary, however, was a pioneer on the journey of faith, and we would do well to walk in her footsteps and ponder her life in this season when we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Saviour.
Jesus comes to people whose real needs often frighten us away.
posted on December 1, 2011 in Features, Progressive Lectionary
June Robinson-Trinity Victoria BC
Readers from small towns and rural communities will need to think about the people we struggle to look after at home, or try to pretend aren’t nearby, or send into town. Those who go to church in the city, who have been in ministry downtown, will recognize people like Jerry. Jerry died on Christmas Eve a few years ago.
Jerry lived on the street, in and out of rooming houses, at the men’s shelter. For God knows how many years. God knows. Few others knew, or cared about his story. Jerry was schizophrenic.
For the first part of the month, Jerry could stay at the shelter. He could be polite to people when he asked them for spare change. But the medication would wear off. The meagre allowance his trustee managed for him would run out. That’s when I’d see him. Hear him first. You couldn’t miss his big, gravelly voice. Or his rages.
Jerry made a lot of money at Christmas time. All those shoppers, feeling guilty about spending so much to fill those shiny shopping bags. All those workers, their charity fueled by a drink too many at the office Christmas lunch.
No one asks why the Jerrys are there. On the streets with their hands out. At the most wonderful time of the year.
There’s no Christmas charity for Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. No allowance, however small, from the government. Just an order to pick up and travel a dangerous road. They’ll meet beggars and bandits along the way.
There’s no room for them in the shelter. The Bethlehem Inn is one big room. Above a tavern or a public building.
It isn’t a cozy bed and breakfast. More like the Metro Turning Point in Halifax. The Downtown Shelter in Vancouver. The manger where they put the baby, wrapped in rags, is most likely in a courtyard. A parking lot. Who will even think to look for them there?
Aislin Perry, Age 9 - First Penetanguishine
Maybe that’s why it has to be the shepherds! Homeless men and women. Counted less valuable than sheep. Predators and poachers can take the mentally ill, addicts, ex cons. So long as the sheep are safe.
When I picture the shepherds, I see Jerry. Abiding in the field. Wondering when he’ll get a bite to eat.
Angels come. Biblical angels aren’t all cotton wool and misty light. They’re God’s tribunes. The heavenly host isn’t a choir. It’s an army. Picture an angel, with the scroll of imperial decree in one hand and a sword in the other.
Who else will have the sheer gall, despite their fear, to stand their ground in the face of such an invasion? It has to be people who are used to confrontation with agents of Empire. The city police. The hired security of the Merchants’ Association.
The angels announce the end of the Empire that enforces and profits from the poverty of people like the shepherds. The Jerrys. The Marys and Josephs of the world.
The angels take Caesar’s titles: Son of God, Saviour, Christ, Lord. And put them on Jesus’ head!
It has to be the shepherds! Who else will be crazy enough to believe and do what the angels say? Who else will be desperate enough to catch this vision of a world turned upside down in the hands of a baby? Who else will know where to look for the manger and the baby? It has to be the shepherds.
Near the end of his life, Jesus talks about where we should look for him. He says he’ll be in the hungry, the thirsty, strangers, people without warm clothes, the sick, and the prisoners.
He says our response to people whose needs frighten us, people we don’t want to see, people we dismiss with our charity, is really our response to him.
Given the circumstances of his birth, and the first visitors to his cradle, this shouldn’t surprise us at all!
400 years after its defining English translation, the Bible still sparks interest.
posted on November 1, 2011 in Features
This year marks the 400th anniversary of the publication of the English King James Bible, the popular name of what is formally known as the Authorized Version. Its popular acronym is a combination of the two names, KJV, for King James Version.
The translation takes its popular name from James I, who commissioned a new English translation in 1604. It was finished in 1611.
Resting heavily on William Tyndale’s translation, the KJV was the dominant English version of the Bible for more than three centuries. Conferences marking the anniversary by exploring the history of the KJV and its literary and cultural impact have been held on university campuses around the world. Mark Noll, professor of church history at Notre Dame, notes words as diverse as “adoption,” “beautiful,” and “mortgaged” all became fixed in English because of the KJV. Even the atheist Christopher Hitchens, writing in Vanity Fair, acknowledged its impact: “The Tyndale/King James translation, even if all its copies were to be burned, would still live on in our language through its transmission by way of Shakespeare and Milton and Bunyan and Coleridge, and also by way of beloved popular idioms such as ‘fatted calf’ and ‘pearls before swine.’”
In its heyday, the KJV was not the only English translation, but no preacher needed to say to their congregation “I am reading from the KJV this morning;” everyone knew. Since the introduction of the Revised Standard Version in 1946 (New Testament) and 1952 (Old Testament) a flood of new translations have appeared. An estimated 900 translations of the Bible in whole or in part exist in English, and there are a variety of forms in which they are published: as magazines aimed at a teenage market; with additional resources targeting men or women or sports fans or those in recovery; and as an App for smartphones.
Behind the academic conferences and plethora of references to “high culture,” behind the extraordinary range of English translations and ways they are packaged to reach new readers runs the question: Is the Bible a factor in the English – speaking world today? And even more narrowly, is the Bible a guide for English – speaking North Americans today?
Television personality Steven Colbert mounted a debate during the Jan. 4, 2011 episode of the Colbert Report between U.S. Congressman Ron Paul, arguing in favour of using the gold standard to peg the value of the American dollar, and David Leonhardt, reporter with The New York Times, contending the dollar should be allowed to float. As the debate ended, Colbert asked, “Which would you rather worship: a golden calf or a calf made of $100 bills?” Both debaters looked embarrassed and the audience laughed, getting the joke.
Biblical figures appear regularly in popular culture. Noah, described by filmmaker Darren Aronofsky as “the first environmentalist,” appears in Bill Cosby’s sketch “Noah: Right!” and movies like Disney’s Noah, starring Tony Danza, or Evan Almighty with Steve Carell. The Veggie Tales’ version of Jonah, which played in theatres across North America, gave children and teenagers new lines to quote—some of which were even biblical.
The Rolling Stones’ song about the prodigal son (on the 1968 Beggars Banquet album) tells the story almost exactly as it appears in the gospel of Luke. The punk rock band Bad Religion’s Prodigal Son (on their 2007 New Maps of Hell release) shows remarkable insight into the challenges faced by the older brother. Bad Religion’s lyrics do not re – tell the story; they assume the audience knows it well enough to understand their song.
These pop culture references indicate that, despite surveys showing biblical literacy slipping (for example, half of North Americans cannot name the first book of the Bible), there is enough residual knowledge of the Bible so that those who speak to and for large sections of the culture, such as TV personalities, moviemakers, and rock bands, can make biblical references and expect to be understood.
The deeper question is, do people who know about the Bible also recognize it as a guide in their lives? The question defies a simple answer. In surveys between 2007 and 2009, the Barna polling group asked adults in the United States their views of the Bible. Asked to name a holy or sacred book, 90 per cent of those over 64 named the Bible. This contrasts with the two – thirds of respondents between ages 18 and 25 who identified the Bible in this way. This evidence could be presented in support of an argument that the Bible has less authority for the younger group, pointing to an ongoing decline in the Bible’s impact on people’s lives.
But before reaching that conclusion, one more set of survey results needs to be considered. The survey asked: “What specific aspect of your spiritual life would you like to improve?” Eight percent of those over the age of 64 who had identified themselves as Christians wished to increase their Bible knowledge; none wanted to read the Bible more. Strikingly, 19 per cent of those between the ages of 18 and 25 identifying themselves as Christians said they wanted to increase their Bible knowledge, and three per cent wanted to read the Bible more. Apparently there is a desire to know more about what Karl Barth called “the strange world of the Bible.”
Last April, I sat in a room packed with more than 100 teenagers. Every chair was filled, kids were sitting on the counter at the back, and the speaker was stuck in a corner because more young people were sitting on the floor at the front of the room. The topic drawing this crowd: “Five ways to study the Bible.”
Certainly no English translation of the Bible will dominate the church and cultural scene the way the King James Version did. And even though biblical literacy appears to be on the decline in some quarters, it would be a mistake to assume the Bible is irrelevant to people today. A new generation appears interested in the Bible not just as a source of cultural references, but as a book to be read and studied.
Tried and True—Or Problematic?
posted on November 1, 2011 in Features, Theology 101
Our Feature on the Solas
The 16th – century reformers—Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, Knox and others—were derisively nicknamed, “the Sola – ists.” They distilled the essence of the gospel in five Latin slogans using the word sola, meaning only, solely or exclusively: sola gratia, sola fide, sola scriptura, solo Christo, soli Deo gloria (grace alone, faith alone, scripture alone, Christ alone, to God’s glory alone).
Today the solas of early Protestantism run up against other realities and claims: What does it mean to say “Christ alone” in a multi – religious world? How does scripture alone square with contemporary thought about biblical interpretation? And so on. So, are we still sola – ists today?
Scripture alone—this has been one of the ringing proclamations upon which the Protestant world has built the basis of its understanding of the Christian faith. The 66 books of the Old and New Testaments recognized by Protestants have been understood to be the rule of faith and life—not church councils or ancient creeds, not pronouncements of bishops or conclaves. Through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Bible is to be interpreted by reference to itself. It is the witness of the whole canon and not bits and pieces chosen at random that opens to us our understanding of God.
Historically, Protestants have understood the revelation of God in Christ to be the high point of that revelatory stream and thus the New Testament becomes a kind of linchpin in determining the sense of the rest of the scriptures. Unfortunately, this is where problems arise. If the Holy Spirit guides those who seek after God through the scriptures, why is it that there are approximately 30,000 denominations of Protestants in the United States alone, all maintaining that their interpretations of scripture are correct, and many differing so widely from each other that a visitor from outer space would wonder whose scriptures they were talking about? From the wildest fundamentalists to the most extreme radical textual critic, the understandings and positions they take are so dissimilar that one is required to ask: “Whose scriptures are we talking about?”
When Luther and other Reformers demanded that the Bible be made available to the laity in their own language, they firmly believed that these inspired scriptures, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the leadership of Reformed theologians, would break Christians free from the authority of the medieval church with its suspect practices, such as the use of indulgences for the remission of sins. It wasn’t long before even these leaders of reform began attacking other Christians, such as the Anabaptists, on the basis of what Luther and Calvin determined were wrong interpretations of scripture. This understanding of how we are to interpret scripture has always been the Sword of Damocles hanging over the head of the concept sola scriptura. For what might be termed orthodox Protestants, sola scriptura has never been understood to mean that any single Christian’s interpretation of scripture is as good as any other’s. As our own Living Faith puts it: “Both Old and New Testaments were written within communities of faith and accepted as scripture by them. Those who seek to understand the Bible need to stand within the church and listen to its teaching.” (Living Faith, 5.3)
Which raises another point. In the first four centuries of the church’s life, there was not just one community of faith. There were numbers of them and they did not all agree on what constituted “scripture.” By the time of the Reformation, Protestants accepted the Old Testament that had been canonized by Jewish scholars in the second century CE. Thus today there are three main canons of the Old Testament: the 39 books of the Jewish Tanakh and Protestant churches, the 46 accepted by Roman Catholics and the 51 accepted by most Orthodox churches. (And Anglicans sit on the fence between the Protestants and Roman Catholics.) Consequently, if it is sola scriptura, whose scriptura are we talking about?
There is a school of theological thought that runs under the name of the Jesus Seminar whose members attempt to discover the “historical Jesus” hidden, as they maintain, beneath the words of the four gospels. They seek to determine which parts of the gospels are the original stories and which are accretions of later church theology. Consequently, they depart from the general approach to New Testament interpretation by weeding out segments they claim are not historically accurate to Jesus’ time. (Similar questions were asked in the first centuries of the church’s existence.)
It really is a bit of a muddle to the average Christian. However, one needs to recognize that even those who want to take a radical view of Christianity are forced to deal with these canonical books. We may differ in our understandings about what the Christian faith is all about in reference to our understanding of God, of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, but no matter what we believe we are forced to recognize that, like it or not, it is the 66 books that compose our Bible that have to be dealt with. We may argue about interpretation. Some may even want to dismember some of them (even Luther wanted to get rid of the Epistle of James) but one way or another, these are the books that frame our faith.
A congregation’s guide for making it through.
posted on November 1, 2011 in Features
Should you read the Bible? The Presbyterian Church in Canada states: “Yes. The regular reading and study of scripture, together with the hearing of the word in public worship, are some of the richest joys of Christian commitment” (A Catechism for Today, Presbyterian Church in Canada, 2006).
That being the case, Knox in Dunnville, Ont., decided to focus some time on scripture. We began on the first Sunday of Advent in 2009 and ended a year later with a potluck lunch, when accomplishments were celebrated.
Organizing a congregational Year of the Bible is not difficult. Create a list of options to present to your congregation. Make the list long and varied, keeping in mind people of all age groups, all levels of commitment, and all levels of reading ability. The purpose is to give the Bible a higher profile for the year. Options include:
• Read the entire Bible
• Read the New Testament
• Read the Old Testament
• Attend a Bible study during Advent
• Use a daily Bible reading guide, such as These Days from the WMS Book Room, or another daily devotional reading
• Attend a Bible study during Lent
• Read a commentary on one book of the Bible
• Watch Walking the Bible DVD
• Read the book Walking the Bible
• Pray for the participants
• Memorize Bible verses
• Attend an adult Bible study
• Opening Doors to Discipleship—
an online Bible course, available at openingdoorstodiscipleship.com.
• Participate in a 12 – month Book of the Bible Club for informal, group Bible study
• Read a Bible storybook (or have it read to you)
• Do a Bible survey as found in the Life Application Study Bible
• Read materials from the church library relevant to the Bible
• Listen to an audio Bible
The Year of the Bible committee should present the idea with this accompanying list to session for approval, including a time frame of one year, beginning at a suitable time. One possibility is to begin as we did, at the beginning of the church year with Advent, and finish at the end of the church year, one year later. This allows promotion time in the fall, when people are returning to a more routine way of life. In early October, present the concept to the congregation from the pulpit during the sermon time. The sermon can include important reasons for reading the Bible, as well as explanations of the various options. Encourage participants to spend some money, such as buying a newer translation or some related material as this can make the whole experience seem more valuable. Also in October, roughly two months prior to the beginning of the year, collect pledges—have people sign up for options they think they might want to participate in. Fellowship time after the church service can be an opportune time for signing pledges. Have everyone sign two identical pledge sheets, one for the organizing committee, the other one to take home. Since some of the options such as the monthly book club and Bible studies require some preparatory work and organizing, the committee needs to be aware of people’s interests. Also, this lead time provides an opportunity for the congregation to ask questions. Include pledge cards in the Sunday morning bulletin for a few weeks. Bible reading plans are readily available on the internet, in the back pages of some study Bibles, on electronic Bible programs, and there are also Bibles available that are set up with one – year reading plans. It takes a reader of average skill level 20 – 30 minutes every day of the year to read through the entire Bible.
Once you begin the Year of the Bible, it is important to follow up with participants on a regular basis. An informal survey done during a worship service might help clear up any confusion, as well as encourage others who might have similar questions. This is also a good time to remind people that even with the best intentions, we fall behind on our commitments, and that it is never too late to restart or get back on track. It is good to have session members talk to their families of faith (elder districts) on a more individual level. Remind the congregation of The Year of the Bible regularly during the year to maintain its high profile, and to encourage perseverance.
Celebrate all of the accomplishments at the end of the year! A potluck lunch on the last day of the church calendar year is one option. Welcome everybody, whether they participated or not. Encourage some of the people who read the entire Bible to share their experiences. Celebrate the accomplishments of all.
God’s not predictable. But God is good.
posted on November 1, 2011 in Features, Progressive Lectionary
Savaoph, God the Father, by artist Viktor Vasnetsov (1885-1926)
Here’s the trouble with God: Just when we think we know what God’s going to do, God does something else. Or, as it often seems, nothing at all.
When we think we know what God is like, God shows us another personality. When we want God to be a kindly old father, God turns out to be an avenging judge. When we want God to pass judgment and set things right, God becomes a mother hen gathering her chicks, good and bad, under her wings.
Even when God’s prophets lay it out as it’s going to be. God reserves the right to do the opposite of what the prophets believe God told them. The trouble with God is, we just can’t pin God down.
Left with the mystery, we search for signs God is present and active somewhere. We might even pray,
“O that you would tear open
the heavens and come down,
so the mountains would quake at
your presence …” (Isaiah 64:1)
We used to be taught the classics of the western world in school. Now, most of us meet Hercules in cheesy TV series like, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.
At the beginning of each episode, the narrator spoke of the “days when the gods were petty and cruel.” Humanity needed someone to protect the innocent from the games the gods played. Hercules was the go – between who defeated the monsters of divine vengeance.
Our God isn’t like the gods of the Greek myths. But sometimes we think and act as if God is like Hercules’ unpredictable father, Zeus. Or his jealous stepmother, Hera.
Sometimes we see Jesus as a Hercules, half – god and half – mortal. Working miracles to save people from cruel fate. Fate God must have ordained.
We read words like our gospel today. We get a picture of Jesus, riding in on a cloud, like Hercules on TV. Coming to rescue us from disaster.
When the Bible raises the image of an intervening God, it’s always clear the people who want God to intervene are in for it, too!
When we believe in an intervening God what we really believe in is a God who steps in to set them straight. We try hard to make this God choose what we think is right.
If we call on God to come down and fix the mess the world is in, we’d better be quick to add what Isaiah prayed,
“Yet, O Lord, you are our Father;
we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the work of your hand …
Do not be exceedingly angry, O Lord,
and do not remember iniquity forever.
Now consider, we are all your people.” (Isaiah 64:8 – 9)
Don’t be too hard on us, God. We know we’re sinners, too.
When we pray mercy for ourselves we have to ask it for others, too. God will give it anyway. That’s the trouble with God. God loves the people we don’t, just as much as God loves us.
When God acts to save, there’s enough love to save everyone.
Surely in Advent we can remember God has already intervened for the judgment and salvation of the world. God intervened, decisively, in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. God is with us!
In C. S. Lewis’ classic, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, a girl nervously awaits the advent of Aslan the lion, the Christ – figure of the tale. She asks Mr. and Mrs. Beaver, “Is he safe?”
Mr. Beaver answers, “Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good.”
That’s the trouble with our unpredictable God. God’s not safe, but God is good.
