Posted in Calling
Regional Director, Calling Congregations
August 13, 2010
Reflecting on The Future of Faith
by Harvey Cox
“Where do you find yourself is this story?” is a frequent question posed
to twenty-first century Christians grappling with sacred texts in
mid-week and Sunday morning Bible studies across denominations. Less
frequent are church study groups that ask the same question of a
contemporary text like Harvey Cox’s The Future of Faith, a provocative
depiction of what Christianity could be becoming right now.
As I read Cox’s latest book I found myself persuaded that indeed
Christianity could be making, as Cox proposes, “its most momentous
transformation since its transition in the fourth century CE” from “a
tiny Jewish sect into the religious ideology of the Roman Empire”
(p.2). The most convincing part of Cox’s thesis is his two-part case
that...
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August 12, 2010
Part 2 of 2
The early church was not a practical idea. Apostle Paul admitted that
our proclamation was foolish. Even Jesus’ contemporaries thought he was
crazy, if not a madman. People have invested in and died for more
preposterous causes in the church’s history. But they were willing to
face the ridicule of the masses and risk the uncharted waters of the
future, even if it meant their livelihood, if not their life, for the
church’s sake. What are you willing to do?
The vitality of the church and its future is dependent on the quality of
its leaders and their break from an addiction to messianic leadership.
The church’s vitality and future requires that you and I risk being
changed and transformed. I long to see the day when congregations and
their leaders all across this land, if not the entire church, have gone
wild and are set loose in the world as the presence of God’s healing and
Shalom.
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August 10, 2010
Part 1 of 2
In a New York Times article this past weekend entitled “Congregations Gone Wild,”
the author claimed that clergy are “suffering from burnout,” “working
too much,” and attending too often to “their congregation’s daily
wishes,” behaviors which may lead to greater job security in a
profession that is severely underpaid. This news is not surprising
especially among those who work with clergy and congregations.
However, what I do find surprising is a prevailing belief among many
clergy and congregations that one pastor is equipped and able to attend
faithfully to the needs of an entire faith community. What I find most
alarming is an underlying assumption that clergypersons are somehow
endowed by God with...
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August 09, 2010
Here we are again. It’s the month of August—that transition month.
By this point in the year, those summer plans have given way to summer
vacation memories of adventure trips and special times with family.
At FTE, making space for conversations and convening is part of our
DNA. As you approach this season of transitions and new beginnings, we
invite you to join us in planting seeds for a new future in theological
education.
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August 08, 2010
From of our 2010
Leaders
in
Ministry
Conference
in Boston, MA
Ten of us went down to the historic Old South Church in Copley
Square where we met a minister named Nancy. She told us how she spent
hours lobbying the Massachusetts Legislature on Beacon Hill to support
the rights of the un-housed...
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Posted in Alumnotes
Pastor, Squyres United Methodist Church
FTE Ministry Fellow ('02)
August 03, 2010
A few weeks ago I had the great privilege of being a round-table leader for the Fund for Theological Education’s Leaders in Ministry Conference
at Boston University. I was blessed to have an amazing group of
undergraduate students who were discerning a call to religious
leadership. Many times during our times together they would ask me about
my vocation and why did I answer the call to pastoral leadership.
On the last day at the conference I remembered writing about my
vocation for my ordination papers. Here is what I wrote a few years ago:
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Posted in Alumnotes
Senior Minister, First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Greensboro, NC
FTE Ministry Fellow ('01)
July 29, 2010
I take my daughter to the church garden early on Saturday morning. We bring her “tools”
– a small plastic shovel and rake, and a bucket for collecting rocks.
One of our most regular gardeners talks about how
important this project has been for her. “I sit at a desk all day long,”
she says, “and then I get tocome out here and play in the dirt, and
it’s wonderful.” We ask God’s blessing on the ground and on the harvest,
and pray for the people this food will feed. Someone has brought a
guitar so we sing a little bit, which feels just right. The breeze sweeps
through us just then, a welcome freshness on the hot morning, and I am
pretty sure it is the breath of God.
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