Tari Stage-Harvey, pastor of Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church (ELCA) in Juneau, AK, recently wrote an article for the Juneau Empire suggesting that it is time for Christians to move beyond their fascination with church property and buildings. She writes: Something happened in the history of Christianity where the assembly of Jesus’ followers fell in love with buildings. The building became church. The building became something we went to and often quickly exited so we could move Read More …
Discipleship
Sowhatfaith.com – The First 2 Years (#0391)
Happy 2nd birthday to sowhatfaith.com! Over the course of the last two years, a great deal has changed in my life and with this site. I have transitioned from full-time to part-time ministry in a local congregation transitioned from serving a Presbyterian (PCUSA) parish to serving one affiliated with the United Church of Christ (UCC) started working full-time for a university Sowhatfaith.com has transitioned from posting new content twice a week (101 posts in the Read More …
Review of A Spiritual Life (#0390)
Meet the Editor and Authors Allan Hugh Cole, Jr. has been on the faculty of Austin Presbyterian Seminary since 2003. Currently, he serves as Academic Dean and Nancy Taylor Williamson Professor of Pastoral Care. Previously, Cole served in pastoral ministry in Upstate New York and on Long Island, and was visiting lecturer in pastoral theology at Princeton Theological Seminary. His teaching and research interests include pastoral theology, loss and bereavement, Read More …
Religious Coalition Gets Involved in Major League Baseball (#0389)
Writing for USA Today, Cathy Lynn Grossman explains the intersection of a religious coalition and Major League Baseball: A coalition of 25 religious denominations, including Christians and Muslims and Jews, is throwing some heat toward Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig and the players, saying the time has come to ban smokeless tobacco in the upcoming contract negotiations. Leaders from the Southern Baptist Convention and the United Methodist Church (the two largest Protestant Read More …
What Kind of Disciple? (#0388)
Scot McKnight, renowned New Testament scholar and professor of religious studies at Northpark University, wrote an article entitled "Full Disciple" in the February-March 2011 edition of Neue Magazine exploring the discipleship ministry of local congregations. McKnight asks his readers, "What kind of disciple is your church producing (p.56)?," before suggesting that churches would benefit from aligning their vision with that of Jesus: For Jesus a disciple is someone Read More …
The End of Gender-Segregated Ministries? (#0387)
Adam J. Copeland recently transitioned from serving as pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Hallock, MN to serving as mission developer of the ELCA affiliated Project F-M, which is a new "faith community for young adults and the young at heart" in Fargo-Morehead area. He recently blogged about the limitations of gender-segregated groups, suggesting: Gender-segregated groups seem very old school — glass ceilings are being broken left and right, though we still have a Read More …
My Reviews of 100 Recently Published Books (#0382)
For the last two years, I have had the pleasure of reading and reviewing a book a week. I encourage you to browse the alphabetical listing below as you ponder your summer reading plans. For your convenience, each title is linked to my review. Author Title Year Aboujaoude, Elias Virtually You: The Dangerous Powers of the E-Personality 2011 Allison, Jay and Gediman, Dan, eds. This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable American Men and Read More …
What Makes A Vital Congregation? (#0379)
The Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell has served as senior pastor of Windsor Village United Methodist Church in Houston, TX since 1982. During that time the church has grown from around twenty-five active members to over 18,000. Recently, the Rev. Caldwell was asked, by the United Methodist News Service, "What makes Windsor Village a vital congregation?" He answered: When I came in 1982, I shared with the administrative council then that we were going to do three things, and we’re still Read More …
Technology and the Church: Crisis or Opportunity (#0373)
Lisa Miller is the author of Heaven: Our Enduring Fascination with the Afterlife (2010), and formerly served as religion editor at Newsweek. She recently wrote "My Take: how technology could bring down the church," for CNN's Belief Blog. In this article Miller argues that the printing press was the key technology that enabled the success of the Protestant Reformation and the current move away from print editions of the Bible to digital ones like YouVersion may enable Read More …
Classroom Conversations Go the Way of Social Media (#0372)
Trip Gabriel's recent New York Times article, "Speaking Up in Class, Silently, Using Social Media," explores the uses of backchannels (real-time online dialogue about a speaker or topic) in the classroom. While backchannels are being utilized at all levels of education - from elementary schools to graduate degree programs - the overall adoption rates are low. Those who leverage this new interactive supplement to the learning experience employ a variety of means including Twitter, Read More …