God, Cornbread and Elvis.

I think I'm going to have to put this book on my wish list. Joe Pennel, in addition to being the father of some people I knew from Lambuth, was a well-respected bishop, and a collection of his "Ponderings" is probably a worthy read. You can read a review online at The Tennessean.

Music Saturday (First week after Pentecost)

So far, I've posted religious music on Saturdays. Today however, the song that's stuck in my head is an old one, but it's really fabulous. The video is just a still image, but the song, The Girl from Ipanema, is classic. To view it, go to the youtube link.

Youtube: Girl from Ipanema

Also, this week marks the 42nd anniversary of the day that changed rock music.

Bible Park USA

From the time of childhood to the death of Opryland, I've always lived within easy driving distance of an amusement park. Now someone wants to build one near my in-laws in Rutherford County, TN. The theme of this park will be the Bible.

Maybe I'm overreacting (now that I think about it, that should probably be the title of this blog, because it's usually the case) but this is a horrible idea. Why do we, as Christians, feel the need to have a Christian equivalent to every secular form of entertainment? When will someone start a Christian casino? We have Christian books, Christian music, Christian greeting cards, Christian t-shirts, Christian ring tones, and the list goes on and on.

Is Six Flags over St. Louis somehow anti-Christian? Does all of our entertainment have to be Christian based? Is everything that's not explicitly Christian then anti-Christian?

I should add that the planners are saying that it will not offer Biblical interpretation, it will an entertainment park with a Bible theme. (Christian Post article) At the same time, people in the area are promoting its possibilities.

Here's one person who is in favor of the new theme park:

But this park may help some peoples souls. This park could be the one thing that changes peoples hearts back to loving God the way we need to. If we save once [sic] young soul we have profited more than all the gold.

It's possible that someone could learn more about Christ through one of these theme parks. But if this amount of work and money was spent on things specifically intended to nurture God's kingdom, how many more would learn?

In a recent blog post about Bible story murals, "Prodigal Jon" calls for a mural with the story of Elisha and the bears:

From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some youths came out of the town and jeered at him. "Go on up, you baldhead!" they said. "Go on up, you baldhead!" He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the LORD. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths.

Sounds like a good ride for the kids.

100 Great Books

Aside from the basics of food, clothing, shelter, insurance and orthodonture, the thing I probably spend the most money on is books. So I'm always interested to see what "great books" people have in their lists. There are a lot of books that I've read in this top 100, and many that I've never even heard of. It's a subjective list of course, but it's fun skimming through what others like.

The Essential Man's Library

Granted, the Bible doesn't make a direct appearance until page 4, but the authors of the list do realize its significance:

...half the books on these lists make Biblical references that must be known by the reader for them to understand the message of that book. If a Western man desires to understand the culture that surrounds him, he needs to have a thorough understanding of the Book that has shaped that culture.

Lighting to Unite

That photo is from a light display at the Washington National Cathedral that took place this weekend. You can look at other photos on the flickr stream: Cathedral though I have no doubt that photos cannot possibly do justice to seeing the illumination in person.

Here's some info. on the project:

For three memorable nights in May, Swiss lighting artist Gerry Hofstetter brings his artistry to Washington National Cathedral for a spectacular exterior illumination of the south and west sides, in celebration of the Cathedral’s centennial. Numerous vivid images will be projected directly on the Cathedral sunset to midnight on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, illustrating its mission of reconciliation, spotlighting its role as a spiritual beacon for the nation, and proclaiming hope for all humankind.

Music Saturday (7th week of Easter)

I've been to very few Christian concerts, but through the Ekklesia Project, I was fortunate to hear The Psaltersat a gathering two years ago. Now my son, who is only 9, has some of their music on his MP3 player. It's rock and roll for the desert fathers. It borders on cacophany, mania, and pure spirit. Their music calls to mind the scripture of 2 Samuel, in which David dances before the Lord with all his might. Praise the Lord.

The Liturgy: Pentecost and Mother's Day

This Sunday is Pentecost - the day we mark the presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of the church. It is also Mother's Day. In America, Mother's Day began in a church. Within a decade, the woman who helped to start it was bemoaning its over-commercialization.

If you want to go out to eat Sunday, fine, I'm all for it. I've gone, and I'll probably go again (I think I'm grilling this Sunday though.) You won't be alone. It's the most popular day of the year to eat out.

Buy Mom a gift. I'll be buying my mother one, and we traditionally send my grandmother's to church with corsages. Flowers and plants are our favorite gifts. My wife already bought hers. The average amount to spend is somewhere around $125-$140 -- roughly 15.8 billion dollars will be spent to honor Mom.

The commercialization of Mother's Day bothers me, but it's not a major concern. What bothers me is that Mother's Day will be part of the worship service in a large way. The choir at church will be singing a song which is in reference to Mother's Day. We'll probably do the "Who's got the most kids here?" "Who's the oldest mom?, Who's the youngest?" sort of thing.

What's the harm? There's no harm whatsoever in acknowledging that it's Mother's Day. I wouldn't even mind if we gave a few extra moments during the greeting and said "make sure you greet mothers". But Mother's Day is not a church holiday. It shouldn't be.

Think of the other Holy Days. Pentecost, Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, throw in All Saints' if you want, Ascension, Trinity, whatever. Who are those days about? They, including All Saints', are about God's relationship with us. We honor God when we honor those Holy Days. All Saints' may be the most tenuous, but it is certainly a remembrance of how God has worked through those members of the church who have gone before us (including mothers). Yes, we can be thankful for our mothers, but Mother's Day will not be celebrated outside the US this Sunday, other countries have other days for doing this. It's simply not a Holy Day of the church.

In a recent article, in Christianity Today, Mark Gaill says the following about the liturgy:

It is precisely the point of the liturgy to take people out of their worlds and usher them into a strange, new world—to show them that, despite appearances, the last thing in the world they need is more of the world out of which they've come. The world the liturgy reveals does not seem relevant at first glance, but it turns out that the world it reveals is more real than the one we inhabit day by day.

I know I'm overly cranky about this. I know I'm borrowing trouble before I even go to worship, that I will be challenged to be worshipful and reverent instead of grumpy and scowling. But that doesn't mean that the liturgy isn't important, that we shouldn't be aware of the tension between how the world shapes us and how we're called to be shaped by God in the church. Happy Mother's Day, Blessed Pentecost.

Peace.

The Secrecy of Bishops, DSs and the SPRC.

Somewhere deep in the catacombs of West Tennessee in November of each year, the SPRC meets under candlelight. Once the sacrifices are made, they cast lots to determine whether the leader of the church will stay or go. They gaze into the reflections in a pool to discern what other pastors may be available. Then they mind meld and let the Bishop and his cabinet know what will take place in the upcoming new year.

Spring comes and the Bishop and the cabinet dance around the Maypole, wreaths of flowers in their hair. They fall in exhaustion and sleep visionary dreams. When they wake, in complete silence they determine the paths of those in their conference through examining tea leaves, watching the stars and playing Ouija.

Or not. Usually the SPRC gets the general consensus of the church, discusses the needs of the church, and makes the best decision they can. This, despite the fact that in the case of a recently appointed pastor, they may only know the person they're discussing for a total of a 5 months.

The Bishop and the cabinet take those things into consideration, look at who's retiring, who's available, which big churches will get to pick someone outside the conference, and then fill in the gaps as best they can.

I know that everyone, from the members of the SPRC to the Bishop, is a less than perfect human, a Christian doing what they can to discern God's will while trying to make the people happy. So why does this become such an ordeal every time it's obvious that some sort of change is needed in a local church? Why does it have to be cloak and dagger secret society sort of work? Can the local church not handle it? I think they can.

We have got to do something to make the appointment system work better. From what I can tell of the votes at General Conference, that something is study the topic for another four years. Frankly I don't think that's good enough.

Can we, on the conference level, say that here you'll get three years when you go to a new church before you have to worry about such thing? I know, that means technically you have three years if the new pastor doesn't work out, but how can you even know that it's going to work out without one cycle through the lectionary?

Can we say that at least we won't make a decision during the first November that a pastor has been at a church? Would pastors be a bit more patient and observant when they arrive at a new church if they knew that they had time to get to know these people before they were going to have to look at moving again?

Of course, I have more questions than answers. I've not served on SPRC, and I doubt that my gifts would benefit that committee. I'm not a pastor. I don't know what that's like either. But as a church leader, I know that the current system, which doesn't allow the majority of the church to know much of what is going on until weeks before a new pastor arrives, does not work. We need to be more open; open in discussing the problems we may have with pastors, open to how the SPRC and Bishop's cabinet make their decisions, and most importantly, open to how the Holy Spirit may lead guide and direct us in the work of God.

Music Saturday

I can never make clear how much music means to me spiritually. The great hymnbook of Psalms stands as a 2500 year old testament to the fact that the Judeo-Christian faith has always been tied to music. One of the songs stuck in my head this week is something I learned in choir. It's a Rich Mullins chorus known as Step by Step, and it's part of his song Sometimes by Step. The chorus is:

Oh God, You are my God
And I will ever praise You
Oh God, You are my God
And I will ever praise You
I will seek You in the morning
And I will learn to walk in Your ways
And step by step You'll lead me
And I will follow You all of my days

What I didn't know is that it's likely that when the choir sang this, Mullins was dead. You can read more about him on his Wikipedia entry. He died in a car wreck at the age of 41. He intentionally lived a life of economic poverty. He was an inspiration to Caedmon's Call. He was a fine player of the hammered dulcimer.

I know very little about contemporary Christian music. I find a lot of it to be spiritual candy, tasty but not very nourishing. It appears that Mullins was nourished and through him, the spirit can provide fulfillment. The video below is of another of his songs, based on the Apostle's Creed. It is worth watching all the way to the end.

REVIEW - The Year of Living Biblically

A.J. Jacobs' book, (subtitled "One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible") has been out long enough that there are probably many reviews available, so mine will just be a quick summary of why you can skip it.

It's contrived. You may be aware of people who can play the handsaw. They can play recognizable songs. This guy is playing Somewhere Over the Rainbow. I'm sure it took some time to learn to do it, and it's interesting, but it has very little impact on the musical world.

It seems to me that A.J. Jacobs has made a similar contribution to religion. He spent a year, looking at Biblical law and trying to follow all the rules, no matter how obscure. (His previous book was about his year spent reading the Encyclopedia Brittanica) He did this with the help of some advisors, but not in community. He acknowledges this deficit.

I'm trying to fly solo on a route that was specifically designed for a crowd....This year I've tried to worship alone and find meaning alone. The solitary approach has its advantages...But I was doing it [specifically, observing holidays, but I think it sums up the whole exercise] cluelessly and by myself, and it felt empty.

The Guinness Book of World Records is a fun book.In it you can find out some cool things about odd people doing odd thing. Jacobs' book is similar. He plays the saw, or dances for 72 hours straight. It is not really a faith journey, though some of it allows him to discuss his lack of belief. He does not end up seemingly much further down the road then he was when he began.

Jacobs has a good sense of humor throughout his self-imposed ordeal. I imagine his wife had to have had the patience of Job. Jacobs writing is worth reading, I just wish his wit and energy was put into something a little more substantial.

General Conference 2008

“Local churches provide the most significant arena through which disciple-making occurs.”

Andrew Thompson reminds us of what the General Conference can and can't do.

Mickey Carpenter

Last week when Mickey's boat was found, I was affected from the loss of someone who meant a lot to me. I wanted to post a remembrance of him because I knew that he meant a lot to others in the United Methodist church. Many people have left comments and prayers that have been forwarded on to Marsha and the family.

As I received information, I had posted it to my blog until I was told that people were taking that information out of context, and with no knowledge of the family or the situation, were using that to create rumors and speculation on other internet pages.

I am sorry that I ever posted anything about it. That people would spread hatred and meanness when what is called for is prayer and encouragement is disturbing. I am sincerely sorry that I was part of adding to the pain that Mickey's family is going through. I can offer only my apologies and prayers that God will heal our broken world. Come Lord Jesus.

(I will not be posting any comments to this item, in the hopes that any further discussion will simply cease. If you leave a comment, I will receive it, but it will not show up on the website. Thanks.)

NT Wright

The Bishop of Durham came to Music City last night and provided a great synopsis of his book, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church. I haven't read the book, but Wright has been working through this topic for some time, and it's present in his work Jesus and the Victory of God. [correction: The Resurrection of the Son of God] You can also find some summaries of his views on the unofficial NT Wright page, and he discussed it in the Serious Answers to Hard Questions video series.

Wright challenges the popular concept of heaven as the final resting place where we will sit on clouds and play harps. His entry point for the discussion last night was from a coffee cup he got at Starbucks:

The Way I See It #230
"Heaven is totally overrated. It seems boring. Clouds, listening to people play the harp. It should be somewhere you can’t wait to go, like a luxury hotel. Maybe blue skies and soft music were enough to keep people in line in the 17th century, but Heaven has to step it up a bit. They’re basically getting by because they only have to be better than Hell."
-- Joel Stein
Columnist for the Los Angeles Times.

I won't continue to attempt to speak for Wright. He does a fine job on his own, and I'm sure this book will start discussions about the resurrection in which the church should definitely be engaged.

The atmosphere was not fully like a rock concert, but I admit that I was excited to find that he was walking into the church right ahead of us. There were no concert shirts, but plenty of books which Wright kindly stayed after to sign. Wright was not presenting a new album, in that this was material that he has covered, and was familiar to many who were in attendance, but it was delivered and received well. The audience skewed younger than The Police concert I attended last year.

West End is a large beautiful church and Wright towered over us from the pulpit. He was fighting a cold, but I was sitting close enough that it didn't have any affect on hearing him. He is an engaging speaker, and to further strain my concert analogy, it was a great set. Wright's benediction reminded me again of my need to be joyful. The Cubs won, I had a good India Pale Ale and conversation with a friend, and I was blessed by the Bishop of Durham. Not a bad evening.

UPDATE (Hat tip to Gavin Richardson Tennessean Article re: Bishop's visit.

Rev. Mickey Carpenter - prayers

Any comments or prayers you leave here will be forwarded to Mickey's family. Thanks.

Race and the church

I am part of a church that is mostly rich white people. We have some people who might be at the low end of the middle class, and we have had a few people of Asian descent, and one woman whose husband is black, but he's a member of another congregation.

One group that I'm part of, the Ekklesia Project, is also mostly middle and upper class white people. We'll be discussing some of the reasons when we meet this year at the gathering.

Another group that I'm a member of, though I'm not much of a contributor, is the Emmaus community, and it's also mostly middle class white people.

And yet another group which I am involved in, which has no name other than coffeehouse theology, is middle class white men. In May we'll be discussing issues of race as well, using this article by Dr. Gene Davenport as our starting point.

During Holy Week, our church hosts other churches for noon services. There's a thirty minute worship service, followed by lunch. One of the CME churches in the area led the Good Friday service. Then we ate together, or at least we ate in the same room. A few of their members sat on the side of the room that was largely occupied by members of our congregation, but most from the CME church sat at two long tables. After the meal, we did more socializing, but eating was separate, and I'm not sure how intentional that was from either group. But it was noticeable.

There are members of each congregation that are old enough to remember separate fountains and movie theater entrances. The best hamburger joint in Tennessee (which happens to be here in Henderson) has a walk up window. It's handy for ordering a quick milkshake, but I'm wondering if that was its original purpose.

I don't know what to do about this. I have heard that there are efforts by the United Methodist church to work more closely with CME and AME churches, to help us all figure out why we're still so divided by race and economic circumstances. Locally, I'm going to do what I can to connect Methodist congregations in the county (regardless of whether they're United, Christian or African) so that we'll all be aware of one another. Maybe the Holy Spirit will help us to pray together, worship together and eat together a little more often.

Homeschooling, home church, and the internet.

I learned a lot about New Monasticism this week, though as is often the case with discussions regarding theology and ecclesiology, I'm left with even more questions than answers. It was good to sit and eat with Jon and Sparky and talk about NCAA basketball, long drives and what it means to be church.

The coffeehouse theology group that meets once a month also discussed this topic, and we had originally hoped to sit with Jon together, but schedules just didn't work out. The coffeehouse group helps to sustain and enrich me because the people who gather there are all committed to Christ and to truly working for the body. I hope it enriches the others as well.

In discussing New Monasticism, our discussion also involved home churches. We also touched on the topic of homeschooling, which shares some things in common with home church. One of the things that we can all acknowledge is that the internet has played a large role in growing these movements.

People who had so often felt alone, whether in removing their kids from public and private schools, or in preferring to worship in small group settings, are now able to talk about this with people in other towns, states and countries.

Certainly, the groups existed before the internet was such a cultural force in the world, but they were restricted by the costs of publishing and travel as well as the difficulty of even finding others who were thinking in similar ways.

Now, regardless of your particular interest, you can just google it. You may have to go to the second or even third page, but you will find others with similar interests. This is both blessing and curse, of course, but it's certainly a phenomenon that we didn't have 25 years ago.

We have used a very new technology to fortify ideas that are very old. New Monasticism leans heavily on the monastic orders that have been with us for ages. Public schools have only been around for minutes in the days of history. It will be interesting to see the directions that these movements take as they continue to build on the resources the internet provides.

Small Group Members Decide to Stop Feigning Interest

Occasionally I like to see what particular aspect of church life is being parodied at Larknews. This one is worth passing along:

Larknews.com

New Monasticism

These folks are Sparky, Katrina, Karlie, and Jon. They work at Windows Booksellers in Eugene Oregon. They are also part of a Church known as Church of the Servant King. Jon is on a book buying trip this week which will bring him through Jackson.

I've mentioned before that I'm interested in new monasticism. Every year, when many of us gather for a meeting of the Ekklesia Project I enjoy talking with those members from Eugene, not least because Jon has fabulous taste in cigars and is generous.

Another reason is because the culture in Eugene is probably the furthest you can get from West Tennessee and still be in the same country. It's interesting. I'm looking forward to sitting with Stock for a few hours.

Annual Conference changes

I'm sure every UM Annual conference is looking at some changes this year. I would guess that whenever General Conference is held, more changes are suggested at Annual conference, but I could be wrong. The "transition team" for the Memphis annual conference has suggested many changes. Several of them are available for viewing at the Memphis conference page. I'll save you the ridiculous clicking lens noise of that site by direct linking them. I'll also try and scan the brochure provided by the team and post it sometime this week.

Transition team PowerPoint

Transition team final revision.

Structure Diagram

Randy Cooper for Bishop, part 2

I blogged about Cooper's nomination back in July, but the time nears for the jurisdictional conference vote, coming this July. Jonathan, over at the Ivy Bush, uploaded Randy's video (all episcopal candidates, have to do videos, presentations, web pages etc.,.) to youtube. Watch it, and visit Randy's web page too.