We should expect tension in our communities and learn how to face it with more confidence. In fact, we should learn how to introduce it in constructive ways that shift the burden and the opportunity of leadership off the pastor(s) and onto more leaders and potential leaders in the congregation.
What I realized through this conference is that we as Christians need to do a better job of understanding our own issues, before pointing our fingers at others’ religious issues. At the beginning of one of our table discussions, each participant was asked to share a personal story involving our encounter with a religion that was different than our own. This is the story I shared.
https://next.myworshiptimes31.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/55/2017/12/featured-candle-ceramic.jpg200398Linda Kurtz/wp-content/uploads/sites/55/2016/01/NEXT-Logo-FINAL-Horizontal_lato-1030x229.pngLinda Kurtz2019-09-25 05:59:512019-09-18 16:04:35Re-post: Wrestling with Christianity's Issues
People need a place to give voice to truth, before God and everybody, and know that they are held in safety and love. Whether in or out of a church building, we need a community where healing and reconciliation mean more than appearances and convention, even if it goes off script . . . and especially if it challenges our expectations of what we paid to see.
Perhaps I have a simplistic view of the objections, but I believe it mostly boils down to a sense that “that was then and this is now – why should I take responsibility for the crimes committed by people who lived hundreds of years ago?” Here are some responses to that question.
https://next.myworshiptimes31.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/55/2019/09/featured-mclaren-conference.jpg200398Linda Kurtz/wp-content/uploads/sites/55/2016/01/NEXT-Logo-FINAL-Horizontal_lato-1030x229.pngLinda Kurtz2019-09-22 06:46:232019-09-18 15:52:34Re-post: What?!? You Don’t Want To Take Responsibility for Centuries of Christian Oppression, Pogroms, and Genocide? I Can’t Imagine Why Not!
That’s what church should be. A daily exercise in leadership development. The story of our faith in Scripture lays out a myriad of prophets, common folk getting things done, a community of people following Jesus and sharing the good news, scrappy early churches. We need people with the capacity to show up after their day (or night) jobs and be leaders. Our faith literally depends upon it.
Let me suggest an alternative telling of the covenant peoples’ story for today. We are not in exile in Babylon any more. We left years ago and didn’t notice. And we’re unsure about how to make our way home.
https://next.myworshiptimes31.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/55/2019/09/featured-home-sign.jpg200398Linda Kurtz/wp-content/uploads/sites/55/2016/01/NEXT-Logo-FINAL-Horizontal_lato-1030x229.pngLinda Kurtz2019-09-18 15:37:032019-09-18 15:45:13Re-post: Free to Journey Towards Home
Today’s most popular contemporary myths and stories centering around power, and the right use vs. the abuse of power, mirror a similar theology of power presented in scripture.
https://next.myworshiptimes31.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/55/2018/04/featured-harry-potter.jpg200398Linda Kurtz/wp-content/uploads/sites/55/2016/01/NEXT-Logo-FINAL-Horizontal_lato-1030x229.pngLinda Kurtz2019-09-12 05:50:252019-09-18 15:45:32Re-post: A Theology of Power
It is my experience that whenever things go wrong, people frequently start looking for causes. They start looking for something to blame in order to cut the source of decline from their midst. But what if there is no one thing, or even no one, to blame?
https://next.myworshiptimes31.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/55/2019/09/featured-st-matthews.jpg200398Linda Kurtz/wp-content/uploads/sites/55/2016/01/NEXT-Logo-FINAL-Horizontal_lato-1030x229.pngLinda Kurtz2019-09-10 21:48:582019-09-18 15:45:49Re-post: The Challenge and Opportunity of Timely Adaptations
Over the generations, prayer has shaped their common life together. To become part of this congregation means that you are committing to praying for the community and, perhaps even more difficult for some, you are willing to be prayed for.
Giving ourselves permission and invitation to ponder, we realized that as captivating as our originally conceived and fashioned VBS had been, it too had become a reliable, nearly institutionalized model. We began to ask ourselves the big wondering questions of how we could best use our time and energies both to strengthen the bonds within our church and to serve God and the community.
https://next.myworshiptimes31.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/55/2016/05/featured-the-well.jpg200398Linda Kurtz/wp-content/uploads/sites/55/2016/01/NEXT-Logo-FINAL-Horizontal_lato-1030x229.pngLinda Kurtz2019-09-05 06:58:312019-09-04 20:03:24Re-post: The Well at Burke Presbyterian Church
Re-post: Creating Tension is a Pastoral Skill
/1 Comment/in Community Organizing, Contemporary Culture /by Linda KurtzWe should expect tension in our communities and learn how to face it with more confidence. In fact, we should learn how to introduce it in constructive ways that shift the burden and the opportunity of leadership off the pastor(s) and onto more leaders and potential leaders in the congregation.
Re-post: Wrestling with Christianity’s Issues
/in Contemporary Culture /by Linda KurtzWhat I realized through this conference is that we as Christians need to do a better job of understanding our own issues, before pointing our fingers at others’ religious issues. At the beginning of one of our table discussions, each participant was asked to share a personal story involving our encounter with a religion that was different than our own. This is the story I shared.
Re-post: Holy Ground
/in Contemporary Culture /by Linda KurtzPeople need a place to give voice to truth, before God and everybody, and know that they are held in safety and love. Whether in or out of a church building, we need a community where healing and reconciliation mean more than appearances and convention, even if it goes off script . . . and especially if it challenges our expectations of what we paid to see.
Re-post: What?!? You Don’t Want To Take Responsibility for Centuries of Christian Oppression, Pogroms, and Genocide? I Can’t Imagine Why Not!
/in Contemporary Culture, Leadership /by Linda KurtzPerhaps I have a simplistic view of the objections, but I believe it mostly boils down to a sense that “that was then and this is now – why should I take responsibility for the crimes committed by people who lived hundreds of years ago?” Here are some responses to that question.
Re-post: Leadership: Our Faith Depends on It
/in Contemporary Culture, Leadership /by Linda KurtzThat’s what church should be. A daily exercise in leadership development. The story of our faith in Scripture lays out a myriad of prophets, common folk getting things done, a community of people following Jesus and sharing the good news, scrappy early churches. We need people with the capacity to show up after their day (or night) jobs and be leaders. Our faith literally depends upon it.
Re-post: Free to Journey Towards Home
/in Contemporary Culture /by Linda KurtzLet me suggest an alternative telling of the covenant peoples’ story for today. We are not in exile in Babylon any more. We left years ago and didn’t notice. And we’re unsure about how to make our way home.
Re-post: A Theology of Power
/in Community Organizing, Theological Reflections /by Linda KurtzToday’s most popular contemporary myths and stories centering around power, and the right use vs. the abuse of power, mirror a similar theology of power presented in scripture.
Re-post: The Challenge and Opportunity of Timely Adaptations
/in Contemporary Culture, Leadership /by Linda KurtzIt is my experience that whenever things go wrong, people frequently start looking for causes. They start looking for something to blame in order to cut the source of decline from their midst. But what if there is no one thing, or even no one, to blame?
Re-Post: We’re a Praying Congregation
/in Contemporary Culture /by Linda KurtzOver the generations, prayer has shaped their common life together. To become part of this congregation means that you are committing to praying for the community and, perhaps even more difficult for some, you are willing to be prayed for.
Re-post: The Well at Burke Presbyterian Church
/in Christian Education /by Linda KurtzGiving ourselves permission and invitation to ponder, we realized that as captivating as our originally conceived and fashioned VBS had been, it too had become a reliable, nearly institutionalized model. We began to ask ourselves the big wondering questions of how we could best use our time and energies both to strengthen the bonds within our church and to serve God and the community.