Reflections on Rev Wright
April 15, 2008
I suspect that Paul, our token UCC member, could speak on this more eloquently than I can, but I’ve been stunned at the way the controversy over past sermons over Rev. Wright simply won’t die down. Jeremiah Wright is, in my mind, a modern day prophet in the biblical sense of the word – an eloquent outsider who speaks truth to power and, just like the biblical prophets, he is now being persecuted for it.
The best, most concise articulation I have seen regarding why progressive Christians should be defending Rev Wright was written a week ago by Adam Clark. A sample:
Wright, however, is a preacher; his oath is not to the Constitution but to the Gospel. The statements of Wright may be out of step with the presidential politics of the Obama campaign, but they are not out of step with biblical faith. The forceful denunciations of America’s invasion of Iraq, her support for the unjust practices of foreign governments as well as the invocation of God’s wrath for the inhumane treatment of blacks and people of color are not the crazed anti-American ranting of an old uncle, but statements about the meaning of faith in a God who upsets the powers through identifying with the poor and marginalized.
San Diego workers for Justice
April 14, 2008
A friend sent me a link to this. A bunch of USCD hospital workers are struggling and demonstrating for fair compensation, and a bunch of church folk (including the Interfaith Council for Worker Justice) got together to wash their feet. Awesome.
So here’s a video chronicling the event. Observant folks will notice that the music is the track Lamentation, from my first album! It’s pretty nifty when you chance across cool people who are using your music, and this is exactly the kind of prophetic work I would want to be associated with.
Tony Jones’ Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier
March 2, 2008
The word is out. If you want a primer on the “emerging” church, read Tony Jones’ The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier. It’s a great overview for posterity and for people today who are wondering what this phenomenon is all about.
Tony is the national coordinator of Emergent Village and has been part of evolution of the “new kind of Christian” conversation for more than a decade. In person, he’s an engaging, passionate, self-proclaimed provocateur – and The New Christians conveys his unique voice. Its super readable and maps out vast expanses of this new frontier, including cultural context, theological markers, and case studies of real-life characters and locales.
I personally found the book quite resonant. There were paragraphs that echoed sentiments I’d written about in seminary and undergraduate religion classes (e.g. Weber and the commodification of religion, the notion that we all interpret the Bible). There were parts that recalled conversations I’ve had and sections that described places I’ve visited (e.g. Church of the Apostles in Seattle, Solomon’s Porch in Minneapolis).
If I wanted a family member or friend to understand why I’m part of this movement, I would recommend this book as a roadmap. For those I’ve never met, I commend it too.
Finally, on Tony’s travels through this new frontier, it seems he brought along a sieve and sifted gold nuggets out of flowing streams and muddy riverbanks. He calls these little nuggets his “dispatches” and all twenty are precious. Here are my fave five:
Dispatch 1: Emergents find little importance in the discrete differences between the various flavors of Christianity. Instead, they practice a generous orthodoxy that appreciates the contributions of all Christian movements.
Dispatch 12: Emergents embrace the whole Bible, the glory and the pathos.
Dispatch 16: Emergents believe that church should function more like an open-source network and less like a hierarchy or bureaucracy.
Dispatch 17: Emergents start new churches to save their own faith, not necessarily as an outreach strategy.
Dispatch 20: Emergents believe that church should be just as beautiful and messy as life.
Anglimergent
February 17, 2008
Here is a new ‘ning’ (I think that’s short for social networking site) for Anglimerents. Phyllis Tickle says that as the Great Emergence comes, there will be some of us who will be “hyphenated”… living between two world. So far there are Presbymergents, Luthemergents, etc. As a cradle Episcopalian, I’m an Anglimergent. You can click on the graphic below to join.
Transmission Tonight – CHANGE OF PLANS
January 16, 2008
Katherine had to postpone her house blessing due to medical incident (please keep her in your prayers!).
So, we’ll be meeting tonight at Bowie’s place @ 7pm
Please email transmissionchurch@gmail.com if you need further directions.
This evening we’ll be looking at -
* ourselves – owning less, not being owned by our consumption desires
* our city and world – looking at the scandal of domestic poverty in the USA
* and doing something – bring non-perishables that we’ll donate to a food bank
I know this is last minute, but if you are at home before Transmission tonight, look through your cupboards and pull out any non-perishable food that you bought and just haven’t eaten – and bring it tonight. Bowie will transport our offerings to a local food pantry.
There are too many hungry in NYC and the food pantries are running low.
All items to be donated must be:
* In their original, unopened packages
* Within the expiration date on the package
* In plastic jars or containers, not glass
RITUAL PLANNED with a little help from:
* Rev Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping
* Sabbath ideas from Wayne Muller
* Jonny Baker’s Worship Tricks
* Christian Churches Together
Stand With Sex Workers on Mon. / ‘Lessons & Carols’ on Wed.
December 15, 2007
Monday, Dec. 17th – International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers
Transmission, PONY, $pread, and friends teamed up this April to plan Easter at Avalon, which celebrated the role of Mary Magdalene in Christian and Sex Worker history. This Monday, we’ve been invited to stand together again.
“December 17th is the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. Join $pread and SWANK (Sex Worker Action New york) on Monday for a candlelight vigil to honor and mourn the sex workers who have died this year and raise awareness of the violence faced by our community. Current and former sex workers, friends and allies all welcome.”
5-7 pm (Bowie will be there at 5). On the steps of Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Square South, New York, NY. Wear red or bring a red umbrella.
Wednesday, Dec 19th – Transmission: Lessons & Carols
Five days before Christmas, come sing carols and listen to lessons that tell us the story of Advent and Christmas! The service of ‘Lessons and Carols’ has been celebrated since the late 1800′s and we will be sure to include some processing around, incense, and a bidding prayer to add extra cheer.
There are nine lessons and nine carols. Please email bowie at epiphany.ny@gmail.com if you would like to read a lesson, re-write a lesson (or do some other creative rendition thereof), accompany a carol, or do a performance of one!
Cookies, treats, dinner items, beverages, plus your friends & loved ones are most welcome! Location TBA
BAZAAR – looking for Christmas gifts? Buy a subscription to $pread Magazine: Illuminating the Sex Industry. Or check out Thistle Farms. Thistle Farms products are made with the most natural products available whenever possible. Magdalene is a recovery community for women with a criminal history of prostitution and addiction. Thistle Farms is a non-profit business. All proceeds go directly to the program and the women.
Aug 15th for Jesus’ Mama
August 14, 2007
Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth – Tapesetry, originally uploaded by Edith OSB.
It’s the middle of August, so we’re keeping it low-key and simple. Come join us on the funky benches behind Grant’s Tomb for a bag dinner picnic and Bible Study.
Since August 15th just happens to be the Feast of Saint Mary, Mother of Jesus for Anglicans and Lutherans, the Assumption for Roman Catholics, and the Dormition of the Theotokos for the Eastern Orthodox, so we’ll be celebrating Jesus’ Ma Protestant-style, with a Bible Study! (No previous knowledge about Madonna necessary!)
About ‘African Bible Study’
Luke 1:39-56 – King James Version – The Message – NIV
GRANT’S TOMB is at 122nd and Riverside Drive. The 1 train stops at 116th on Broadway. Walk 6 blocks north, and 2 blocks west. Call 646 245-7346 if you can’t find us.
FOOD To keep this mid-August meeting simple, we’re asking people to bring food for themselves, plus a little extra to share (e.g. some chips, cookies, drinks, salad, small dish, an extra sandwich). Hopefully, there will be enough extra for those of you who don’t have time or extra cash to pick something up.
If you can, please bring a MARY piece to share –
A cappella or acoustic versions of the Magnificat welcome!
A visual representation of Mary (e.g. image, statue, jewelry) for “show & tell”
If you speak another language, bring a translation of Luke 1:39-56 to read to the group
Isaac & the “musicianhood of all believers”
August 7, 2007
There’s a great interview with Isaac by Becky Garrison on emergingchurch.info.
Definitely worth checking out…
I like his bit about a “musicianhood of all believers”
Martin Luther talked about the “priesthood of all believers” and the broad, folky appeal of his hymns suggest that he believed in the “musicianhood of all believers” as well. The job of professional ministers and musicians should not be to direct liturgical and musical activity, but rather to facilitate them. A liturgical leader’s job is not merely to pray and to worship, but to get the entire congregation praying and worshiping. Similarly, my job is not just to play well, but also to get everyone in the room participating in the music; my job is to help everyone find an entry point into the ritual activity.
buy or borrow Kester Brewin’s new book
July 23, 2007
signs of Emergence:
A Vision for Church That Is Organic / Networked / Decentralized / Bottom-up / Communal / Flexible
{Always Evolving}
I’m just about to start Part 2, but wanted to share some snippets from the first 100+ pages while they’re freshly percolating in my imagination…
With our eyes suckling from cathode-ray nipples feeding us a skimmed diet of soap opera and home improvements, we have lost the ability and mental space to simply talk and share thoughts and receive wisdom… Part of the prophetic role of the Emergent Church will be to encourage society to recover its memory and have a healthy balance between past, present, and future:
Christ has died,
Christ is risen,
Christ will come again. (108)Our problem today: the space for imagination to expand and take shape is inversely proportional to the speed at which we live. Yet if we stop and wait, and close our eyes to the “buy now, take me now” images, and rest our weary retinas, we will begin to remember, new worlds will form, new exits will become apparent. (57)
Christ’s incarnation in a specific time and a specific place demands of us, the body of Christ, that we too undergo incarnation and are born somewhere specific, committing to it and putting roots down. We cannot be reborn in first-century Palestine; we need to be incarnate to the place where we are and the place that needs us most. We must learn how to incarnate the church in the city. (73)
This is the extraordinarily consistent truth about our cities, our brains, our ecosystems, and, I am suggesting, our churches: somewhere between these two poles of anarchy and rigidity – a spectrum with death at each end – there exists a place where a system begins to live, to self-organize, to become more than a sum of its parts, to develop a character, a culture, a soul, if you will- as if some breath has entered it and commanded it to live. (82)
stitch-by-stitch snippets of internet inspiration
July 9, 2007
new membership, originally uploaded by Princess Valium.
If a ritual is performed more than once, it becomes “official,” or there is a greater sense of permanency, just as the more stitches you use to fasten a button to a shirt, the more tightly it will stay attached.
May we, a little band of love,
We sinners, saved by grace,
From glory unto glory changed,
Behold thee face to face.
from Hymns for the Circle #12 , collected writings that came out of a sewing circle
Her project in the hotel lobby consists of the screening of two video’s and a ‘sewing circle’. The public will be invited to join the making of semi high fashion items for which all materials will be provided. The sewing circle blurs the boundary between public and private space. Historically a very private, exclusively female ritual, the sewing circle as ‘performance’ in a public space addresses an entirely new set of questions and interpersonal connections. Tracey Prehay thus contributes to a complex debate on cultural encounters, the market place and the notion of mimicry.