Tag Archives: emerging church

God: Supernatural Theism or Panentheism?

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Marcus borgWhenever we try to articulate what God IS, language fails us. For the most part, the institutional church has defined God with words and expected that members of the institution will confess loyalty to those words. Many of the words, with which the institution has traditionally described God, craft an image of God as a supernatural being up there or out there who is responsible for creation and from time to time interferes in the workings of creation. As we continue to learn more and more about the magnitude of creation, both in time and space, our traditional words about God seem ever more puny. While some respond to our ever-expanding knowledge about creation by attempting to make our notions of God fit into the tight little containers that were crafted by our ancestors, some are seeking new ways to speak of the CREATOR OF ALL THAT IS, WAS OR EVER SHALL BE. Often our attempts are as clumsy and as limited as the attempts of our ancestors. But sometimes, sometimes the likes of Tillich breathes new life into the notions of our ancestors and Paul’s description of our God as  “the one in whom we live and move and have our being” becomes for us, as Tillich imagines, “the Ground of our Being”.  

So, with a spirit of discovery and wonder, I encourage you to listen to Marcusfish in water Borg’s attempt  to describe our God. Borg’s efforts take us beyond the Ground of our Being toward a panentheistic understanding of God in all things and all things in God.  Please note: panentheism is not pantheism – pantheism means God is in everything – so God can be worshipped by worshipping nature because God is in nature. Panentheism means everything is in God and God is in everything – so – God breathes in, with, through, and beyond us, and we intern are in God – everything is in God but God is more than the sum of everything. A panentheistic view of God does not preclude thinking of God as personal – but it does understand that God is more than personal. 

While I don’t agree with everything Borg says in this video, it is a wonderful place to begin to think about expanding our way of speaking of the Divine. As long as we remember that our language will always fail to capture the wonders of our God.

Today! Now Is the Time! – Brian McLaren

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brian_mclarenWhat God is up to today is not just for us. “God is as devoted to Muslims, Hindus and Atheists as to Christians.” Brian McLaren’s contributions to the Lenten Preaching Series at Calvary Episcopal Church in Memphis challenge Christians to move beyond narrow Christian notions of discipleship.  recorded Feb.27-28 2013

Listen to a podcast of the evening lecture here

Lost and Found – Lent 4C

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Lost-and-foundThis morning I tried something very different – in place of the sermon I tried an interactive exercise designed to help the congregation experience the parable. I was inspired by a lecture I heard down in Chautauqua when Jewish New Testament Scholar, Amy-Jill Levine  was exploring the parables.  

Listen to the interactive/sermon here

You can watch Amy-Jill Levine’s lecture which inspired me to challenge the congregation to move beyond allegorizing this parable here (look real close and you’ll see me down near the front, just soaking it al in!

The Marriage of Church and Empire – Phyllis Tickle

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cdtickle1As the Roman Catholic Church prepares to elect a new pope, this presentation by Phyllis Tickle seems very timely. Tickle provides a history lesson which enlightens us on the marriage between the church and empire that gave birth to Western Christianity. Tickle is convinced that a whole new day is dawning in this post-Constantinian church that promises to seriously engage the 21st century.

Recorded on Feb. 26, 2013 at Calvary Episcopal Church in Memphis Tennessee during their annual Lenten Preaching Series. 

Lenten Evening Prayer: Parables Ancient and Modern – Great Misfortune

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Orthodox HereticThis year our Lenten Evening Prayer services draw on Peter Rollins collection of Parables found in “The Orthodox Heretic and Other Impossible Tales”. Prayers are drawn from the writings of the Christian Mystics. Each week an audio recording of the service will be posted as well as a copy of our worship bulletin. 

Evening Prayer a copy of the worship bulletin can be found here – it is designed to be printed double-sided and folded into a booklet.

Listen to the worship service here

The Underground Church – Robin Meyers

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underground churchSince reading his book “Saving Jesus From the Church:  How to Stop Worshiping Christ and Start Following Jesus” I have been a regular listener of Robin Meyers’ weekly sermonsaving Jesus posts. So it was with great eagerness that I snapped up a copy of his latest book “The Underground Church: Reclaiming the Subversive Way of Jesus”. Meyers is a dangerous follower of the radical teaching of Jesus who calls the church to be leaven in the world and move beyond notions of conservative and liberal christianity.  

Peter Rollins is Coming to Holy Cross in Newmarket

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Rollins 3Holy Cross’ Re-Thinking Christianity Speaker Series welcomes Peter Rollins April 12-14. Last’s month publication of Peter’s new book The Idolatry of God: Breaking Our Addictions to Certainty and Satisfaction has challenged us to a more Radical Christianity and we are looking forward to learning more from Peter who continues to turn theology upside down.  For all the details about  what promises to be a marvellous weekend you can download a brochure here.

Lenten Evening Prayer: Parables Ancient and Modern

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Orthodox HereticThis year our Lenten Evening Prayer services draw on Peter Rollins collection of Parables found in “The Orthodox Heretic and Other Impossible Tales”. Prayers are drawn from the writings of the Christian Mystics. Each week an audio recording of the service will be posted as well as a copy of our worship bulletin. 

Evening Prayer-Feb. 20 2013 NO CONVICTION

A Copy of the worship bulletin can be found here – it is designed to be printed double-sided and folded into a booklet.

Listen to the worship service here (service begins at the 48 sec. mark)

Peter Rollins reads NO CONVICTION

We are ONE – Ash Wednesday Homily

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antennae galaxiesAsh Wednesday February 13, 2013

Listen to the homily here

To help remind us that we are stardust, our worship began with video: The Call of the Pleiades – Gerald Jay Markoe

Giving Up God for Lent?

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giving up godDare we give up God for Lent? Are we ready to expose ourselves to critiques of Christianity so that we might move beyond “God as a crutch” toward an experience of the absence of God? I find myself intrigued by Peter Rollin’s attempt to move us beyond our carefully held images/idols toward a deeper understanding of Christ’s experience on the cross. Atheism for Lent is a daring idea; a real journey into the wilderness.

Beloved, Lover and Love

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waters 4Baptism of Jesus Sermon

Sunday January 13, 2013

Listen to the sermon here

Baptism of Jesus

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baptism jesusJoin us tomorrow as we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus by affirming our own baptisms. Our worship will be followed by an Agape Meal – Everyone is welcome!

See you at 10:45am at Holy Cross Lutheran Church

Our Hymn of the Day will be Marty Haugen’s Song Over the Waters

A Case for God – Brian McLaren

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God who?Speaking at St. Paul’s (Nov.2012), Brian McLaren reflects on A New Kind of Christianity as he makes his own “case for God”. 

You are the Light of the World – Epiphany Sermon

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epiphanyListen to the Epiphany sermon here

The text of the “Our Greatest Fear” Williamson quote is here

A little something from Odetta for after the sermon! Enjoy!

Radical Theology and Piracy

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female pirateFor those of you who enjoyed Kester Brewin’s playful, pirate theological take on the Prodigal this conversation will help you walk off the plank and into the sea of “radical theology. Kester Brewin, Peter Rollins, and Barry Taylor engage in conversation at Fuller Theological Seminary explore what they and others in the emergent church are calling “radical theology”.  Radical theology seeks to move beyond current concerns about how we do church or express our faith in the 21st century to a movement that seeks to reject traditional notions of “God”.    

Prodigal Pirate Tragedy?

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prodigal childKester Brewin certainly has a different take on the story of the prodigal! Pirate Theology is not a homiletical method that I’ve ever employed. But then pirates tend to work for themselves. Brewin’s playful pirate theology encourages us to leave our places of comfort in order to view a familiar story as a tragedy in order to grasp what he calls “radical theology” in which we take responsibility for who we are rather than defer to “the Big Other”.

Brewin is a founding member of Vaux-London, a collective of artists and faithful urban dwellers that served as an early model of fresh expressions of church in the UK.

Kester teaches Mathematics in London and works as a consultant for the BBC, as well as writing for the national educational press. He is also an acclaimed poet and has been described by Brian McLaren as ‘one of the leading public theologians for a new generation of thoughtful Christians.’ 

Embracing Mystery and Unknowing – Peter Rollins

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Peter RollinsPeter Rollins uses contradictions to communicate what he calls the “radical” reality of Christian theology which he believes enables us to embrace and celebrate our brokenness and thereby move toward healthy community. “The church is not designed to give you things…it helps you experience the depth, the sacredness and the beauty of what you already have.”

This interview was recorded by ChurchNext on Dec. 14, 2012

The Idolatry of God – Peter Rollins

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Peter Rollins new book The Idolatry of God: Breaking the Addiction to Certainty and Satisfaction has just been released in North America. I didn’t wait for this release, I had a copy shipped out from the UK last month. So, I can whole-heartedly recommend it!  I’ll post a full review soon.  Peter Rollins will be our guest at Holy Cross in Newmarket for the weekend of April 12-14: tickets will go on sale in a couple of weeks–so stay tuned.

In the meantime, enjoy the video of Pete talking about his new book.  

The Rebel Jesus – Greetings from a Heathen and a Pagan

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From the very first time I heard it, Jackson Browne’s “Rebel Jesus” has haunted me. In a season dominated by nostalgia, Browne’s stark view of the historical Jesus calls us to remember the one who stood with the poor and the oppressed, the outcast and the wounded. As we enter the season of Advent, can we hold nostalgia at bay long enough to engage our deepest longings and desires for peace? Not some nostalgic peace that stretches only so far as our own needs, or our own loved ones, but the peace that embraces those beyond our circles of care? Can our compassion for the earth and all her creatures move us beyond the idol we have made of the baby in the manger, toward the complexity of embracing the desires and longings of a rebel we probably wouldn’t want to entertain at our festive gatherings? Or will our seasonal madness crucify the rebel once again? 

This year, like all the rest, my challenge is to live somewhere within the tension created by the rebel Jesus and the one his contemporary detractors condemned as a glutton and a drunkard; between choosing life and recognizing my culpability in the cries of the ones still waiting for us to join the rebellion. 

Advent is a time of waiting in the darkness…if we dare…trusting that the light will come…knowing that the light needs reflectors in order to dispel the darkness!  May your Advent be filled with the challenges of rebellion!

Are We Ready for Liturgies of Unknowing?

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Do we have the courage to confront our doubt in worship? This is the challenge that Peter Rollins who describes “the game” of certainty and triumphalism that passes for worship and insists that God must function as a “feel-good” entity rather than One who helps us engage our suffering, the Mystery, our doubts and uncertainties. Rollins calls for worship leaders who are willing to engage the dark night of the soul and create liturgies of unknowing.  Are worshippers ready? Perhaps their hungry for opportunities to confront their realities in worship.