Proven... because they defeated the most powerful revival movement of the 18th century in just a few generations...
Thanks to Alan Hirsch at The Forgotten Ways blog for his repost...
http://www.theforgottenways.org/blog/index.php/2007/08/23/camp-crusty-v-al-qaeda
Read them and let's talk about ways to recover the "emerging" vision Methodism once invested most of its energy to accomplish...
Peace in Christ,
Taylor Burton-Edwards
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Christian Generation Gap
I think the generation gap is all about the cultural gap. Do you think the generation gap is a horizontal gap or a vertical gap?
I have seen and heard many failure stories of English Ministries of Korean churches trying to reach out to Korean-American 1.5 and 2nd generations.
I think churches have been trying to bridge the horizontal gap between 1st generation and 1.5 and 2nd generations.
I think churches have been trying to find and put different shapes and styles of bridges between the gap.
I think the generation gap is the vertical gape, not the horizontal gap.
If we agree that the generation gap is all about the cultural gap, then it is not a new thing at all. This cultural gap had been existed since the church started. There was a huge gap between Jews and Gentiles.
I think churches need to look at the each generation as a mission field. As Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:19-22, “19.Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible 20.To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so to win those under the law. 21.To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22.To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.” (NIV)
I think The Message Bible describes more clearly what Paul was trying to say in 1 Corinthians 9:19, “Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people:”
If I may say in my own words what Paul was saying, it would be “When I am with a certain range of people in order to reach out to them, I act like them, I talk like them, I eat like them, and I wear like them.”
When we go to a mission field, we do our best to learn their culture before we go. We learn their languages. We learn the way they do greetings. We try to learn everything we could possibly learn about their culture.
And we don’t question why they talk the way they talk or why they eat the way they eat. We just accept them as they are.
I think the key to minimize the generation gap is “humility and acceptance”.
I think we need to consider 1.5 and 2nd generations as our new mission fields. We need to do our best to learn the culture of new generation. We learn their eating style. We learn their fashion style. We learn their life style.
And in order to reach out to them, we talk like them. We eat like them. We wear like them. We act like them even though we are not them.
I think when we do that there is a great chance that we can talk about the gospel of Jesus Christ with them with an open mind.
What do you think? Agree? Disagree? Any Comments?
I have seen and heard many failure stories of English Ministries of Korean churches trying to reach out to Korean-American 1.5 and 2nd generations.
I think churches have been trying to bridge the horizontal gap between 1st generation and 1.5 and 2nd generations.
I think churches have been trying to find and put different shapes and styles of bridges between the gap.
I think the generation gap is the vertical gape, not the horizontal gap.
If we agree that the generation gap is all about the cultural gap, then it is not a new thing at all. This cultural gap had been existed since the church started. There was a huge gap between Jews and Gentiles.
I think churches need to look at the each generation as a mission field. As Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:19-22, “19.Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible 20.To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so to win those under the law. 21.To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22.To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.” (NIV)
I think The Message Bible describes more clearly what Paul was trying to say in 1 Corinthians 9:19, “Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people:”
If I may say in my own words what Paul was saying, it would be “When I am with a certain range of people in order to reach out to them, I act like them, I talk like them, I eat like them, and I wear like them.”
When we go to a mission field, we do our best to learn their culture before we go. We learn their languages. We learn the way they do greetings. We try to learn everything we could possibly learn about their culture.
And we don’t question why they talk the way they talk or why they eat the way they eat. We just accept them as they are.
I think the key to minimize the generation gap is “humility and acceptance”.
I think we need to consider 1.5 and 2nd generations as our new mission fields. We need to do our best to learn the culture of new generation. We learn their eating style. We learn their fashion style. We learn their life style.
And in order to reach out to them, we talk like them. We eat like them. We wear like them. We act like them even though we are not them.
I think when we do that there is a great chance that we can talk about the gospel of Jesus Christ with them with an open mind.
What do you think? Agree? Disagree? Any Comments?
Monday, August 20, 2007
We're Go for emergingumc: a gathering!
Companions,
We're going to do this thing.
The number of registrants is still small. Some of our presenters haven't registered yet.
But we have a solid 25 as of this posting (1:47 p.m. Central Time, August 20). This will change how we arrange the schedule. Assuming we don't get much larger (though if you haven't registered, please do so now!), and assuming we don't have any major cancellations, we can reconfigure as we need to and, I think, still have a very meaningful exchange of learning, networking, and community building for the work of the emerging missional church within the UMC and beyond.
So make those plane reservations. And if you haven't registered yet (you know who you are-- if not, it doesn't hurt to call and ask our registrar, Jean Musterman-- 615 -340-7070-- or email jmusterman@gbod.org), do that, too.
See ya in Nashville the first weekend on October!
Peace in Christ,
Taylor Burton-Edwards
We're going to do this thing.
The number of registrants is still small. Some of our presenters haven't registered yet.
But we have a solid 25 as of this posting (1:47 p.m. Central Time, August 20). This will change how we arrange the schedule. Assuming we don't get much larger (though if you haven't registered, please do so now!), and assuming we don't have any major cancellations, we can reconfigure as we need to and, I think, still have a very meaningful exchange of learning, networking, and community building for the work of the emerging missional church within the UMC and beyond.
So make those plane reservations. And if you haven't registered yet (you know who you are-- if not, it doesn't hurt to call and ask our registrar, Jean Musterman-- 615 -340-7070-- or email jmusterman@gbod.org), do that, too.
See ya in Nashville the first weekend on October!
Peace in Christ,
Taylor Burton-Edwards
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Methodism and the Mistake of the Solo Pastor
This may seem a tad out of the blue over here. I've actually been developing some of this thinking in the context of conversations with members and friends of the Order of Saint Luke.
(Those "high church" liturgical folks missional? You bet! Or at least there are enough of us who bring that kind of missional virus to the mix that OSL is being thoroughly infected with it-- the Order is even doing its 2007 Fall Retreat on Emerging Church and Emerging Worship-- see http://www.saint-luke.org for more info).
So this is from my conversations "over there"... It kind of takes off from three other strains of thinking I've been working through:
a) the both-andedness of the pre-1784 Methodist experience, which was deeply missional
b) the sense that that both-andedness is still in Methodist DNA, but has become recessive for the most part
c) Alan Hirsch's proposal that missional leadership (whether as congregations or organic groups) requires a variety of different gift sets that can't possibly be found in one person, not even Jesus! (Heck, he's part of a Trinity right?) Hirsch uses the acronym "APEST" to describe these constellations of gifts-- Apostolic, Prophetic, Evangelistic, Shepherding, and Teaching. For more on that, read his book (if you haven't already) or go to the blog of the same name-- http://www.theforgottenways.org.
d) Okay, four-- FOUR strains of thought-- Ori Brafman's description of distributed leadership in "The Starfish and the Spider" (did YOU expect the Spanish Inquisition?)
So, there's the background. Here's the proposal.
It occurs to me that early Methodism may well point the way to the reality that the idea of a solo pastor is a mistake.
How? Well, every Methodist, pre-1784, would have had actually several pastors. There would have been the local parish priest, and perhaps other staff there as well. There would have been a class leader. If one were a class leader, there would have been a leader of the band to which that class leader may belong. There would have been the leader of the society. A good number of the societies had exhorters and lay preachers. And there was also a lot of input from John and Charles-- both in terms of theology and in terms of congregational singing. That's a lot of pastors, and none of them is doing the same thing or functioning in the same relationship as any other to any given Methodist.
Distributed leadership everywhere--- no solo pastors anywhere. But ALL of them performing essential and non-duplicated roles.
Unless, that is, you were NOT a Methodist-- in which case, in some of the smaller parishes in the Church of England (and likely a dying parish!) you may have had a solo rector or vicar-- and maybe even a fairly absent one because he was covering a multi-point charge.
So, why, tell me, do we think it a good idea to be forming solo pastors or hierarchal models of senior pastor/staff? Our recessive DNA reminds us we know better.
Thoughts? Comments?
Peace in Christ,
Taylor Burton-Edwards
(Those "high church" liturgical folks missional? You bet! Or at least there are enough of us who bring that kind of missional virus to the mix that OSL is being thoroughly infected with it-- the Order is even doing its 2007 Fall Retreat on Emerging Church and Emerging Worship-- see http://www.saint-luke.org for more info).
So this is from my conversations "over there"... It kind of takes off from three other strains of thinking I've been working through:
a) the both-andedness of the pre-1784 Methodist experience, which was deeply missional
b) the sense that that both-andedness is still in Methodist DNA, but has become recessive for the most part
c) Alan Hirsch's proposal that missional leadership (whether as congregations or organic groups) requires a variety of different gift sets that can't possibly be found in one person, not even Jesus! (Heck, he's part of a Trinity right?) Hirsch uses the acronym "APEST" to describe these constellations of gifts-- Apostolic, Prophetic, Evangelistic, Shepherding, and Teaching. For more on that, read his book (if you haven't already) or go to the blog of the same name-- http://www.theforgottenways.org.
d) Okay, four-- FOUR strains of thought-- Ori Brafman's description of distributed leadership in "The Starfish and the Spider" (did YOU expect the Spanish Inquisition?)
So, there's the background. Here's the proposal.
It occurs to me that early Methodism may well point the way to the reality that the idea of a solo pastor is a mistake.
How? Well, every Methodist, pre-1784, would have had actually several pastors. There would have been the local parish priest, and perhaps other staff there as well. There would have been a class leader. If one were a class leader, there would have been a leader of the band to which that class leader may belong. There would have been the leader of the society. A good number of the societies had exhorters and lay preachers. And there was also a lot of input from John and Charles-- both in terms of theology and in terms of congregational singing. That's a lot of pastors, and none of them is doing the same thing or functioning in the same relationship as any other to any given Methodist.
Distributed leadership everywhere--- no solo pastors anywhere. But ALL of them performing essential and non-duplicated roles.
Unless, that is, you were NOT a Methodist-- in which case, in some of the smaller parishes in the Church of England (and likely a dying parish!) you may have had a solo rector or vicar-- and maybe even a fairly absent one because he was covering a multi-point charge.
So, why, tell me, do we think it a good idea to be forming solo pastors or hierarchal models of senior pastor/staff? Our recessive DNA reminds us we know better.
Thoughts? Comments?
Peace in Christ,
Taylor Burton-Edwards
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Seeking Emerging Folk in Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois
Companions:
I have been asked by a student doing research at Dubuque to help her find (and interview) a United Methodist pastor who may be working out of emerging missional models. She wants to arrange time for visits and interviews. And she'd prefer to find someone in Iowa, Northeastern Illinois or Southern Wisconsin.
I don't know where y'all are from or whom you know-- but if you know of folks who might help, send me a note at worship@gbod.org.
Peace in Christ,
Taylor Burton-Edwards
I have been asked by a student doing research at Dubuque to help her find (and interview) a United Methodist pastor who may be working out of emerging missional models. She wants to arrange time for visits and interviews. And she'd prefer to find someone in Iowa, Northeastern Illinois or Southern Wisconsin.
I don't know where y'all are from or whom you know-- but if you know of folks who might help, send me a note at worship@gbod.org.
Peace in Christ,
Taylor Burton-Edwards
Thursday, August 02, 2007
A Schedule That Just Keeps Emerging...
I'm pleased to report we have an additional presenter to add to our agenda... Don Heatley. His workshop and a bit about the ministry he and his wife are engaged in in New York are included in the revised version below.
What this means is that DG and Jim don't have to present three times in one day-- just twice now-- on top of doing other meal time leadership things.
AND, should the event get cancelled because of low registration as of August 20, and even if it doesn't, we're going to create several other means to get these presentations out to the church-- downloadables, podcasts, video, whatever we can.
Peace in Christ,
Taylor Burton-Edwards
emergingumc: a gathering… v 1.3
a likely (but not final!) schedule
NOW, with CORRECT DATES AND BETTER ATTRIBUTIONS!
(thanks to DG and mizliz for catching these things!)
thursday october 4
preconference option: a gathering with the nashville Emergent cohort
11:30- 1 @ the flying saucer
registration 3:30-5:30 p.m. at scarritt-bennett
dinner and conversation at scarritt-bennett 5:30-6:30 pm
evening prayer and plenary: 7 p.m.
“streams in the emerging landscape and your ministries:
a conversation and cohortation”
missiology
worship
spiritual formation
theology
facilitated by taylor burton-edwards
night prayer: 9:30
friday, october 5
breakfast at scarritt-bennett 7:30 am
morning prayer: 8:30
emerging ministries 1 9:00-10:00
organic gatherings in greater cincinnati dg hollums and gary gibson
indigenous mission in an urban arts community jim walker
emerging in a traditional congregation in west virginia melissa rudolph
an emerging regional young adult network carl thomas gladstone
break 10-10:15
a key group conversation 10:15-11:30
women and emerging/Emergent elizabeth buxton
noon prayer and lunch options 11:30
love feast hosted by dg hollums
emerging ministries 1:00-2:00
what Jesus is teaching us in New York-- don and pam heatley
indigenous mission in an urban arts community jim walker
an emerging regional young adult network carl thomas gladstone
emerging in a traditional congregation in west virginia melissa rudolph
break 2-2:15
a panel conversation: emerging and the institutional church 2:30-3:45
emerging and the um connection susan cox-johnson
pcusa: an ic (formerly) supporting a movement chip andrus
emergingumc and gbod: confessions and hopes taylor burton-edwards
mid-afternoon eucharist 3:45-4:30
emerging ministries 4:30-5:30
organic groups in florence ky dg hollums and gary gibson
what Jesus is teaching us in New York-- don and pam heatley
an emerging regional young adult network carl thomas gladstone
emerging in an institutional church chip andrus
dinner and evening with your cohorts
or bible fight club hosted by jim walker
night prayer (for those who are back) 10 p.m.
saturday, october 6
breakfast at scarritt-bennett 7:30
morning prayer 8:30
spiritual formation options 9:00-10:00
lectio divina
confession
labyrinth
healing
intercessory prayer
study
a panel conversation: theology and missiology 10:00-11:00
an emerging methodist billy watson
emerging and arminianism jay vorhees
attractionional, extractional,
and missional/incarnational taylor burton-edwards
cohort time and covenant affirmation 11:00
mid-day prayer and sending forth 11:30
so who are these people and why should i care?
dg hollums is the cultural architect for th3waters, a network of organic gatherings based in florence, ky. A recent missional concern is the need to redeploy leadership to make way for more organic gatherings to start multiplying. You can learn more on his blog/website at http://www.th3waters.com
gary gibson is pastor of florence united methodist church in florence, ky-- the host/planting church with th3waters.
jim walker is a united methodist pastor on pastoral leadership team at hot metal bridge faith community in pittsburgh, pa. One serious missional concern of this community is that it may be growing too fast. See their website at http://www.hotmetalbridge.com.
melissa rudolph is the united Methodist pastor of Leetown UMC, a “traditional” UMC in rural West Virginia that is re-engaging in indigenous ministry in its community. The congregation is online at http://leetnmeth.org
carl thomas gladstone is a united methodist deacon, leader of an emerging young adult ministry at birmingham first umc (detroit area), composer and publisher of new settings of charles wesley hymns, and coordinator of what’s becoming a region-wide network of young adult ministries in the greater detroit area. You can see these ministries online at http://www.emergedetroit.org and http://www.carlthomasgladstone.com.
liz buxton is a middle-aged, gray-headed rural um pastor who tries to gather together folks interested in sharing, debating, and exploring the trajectory of the church, which includes most things emerging and postmodern. she was one of the co-conveners of the Round Barn and virginia beach emerging women conferences and is increasingly looking to the future global church with the hopeful visions of Phyllis Tickle, various bishops and writers, and activists throughout the world. Her son, Ryan, tolerates her comings-and-goings with great charm and wisdom, and her churches just generally graciously tolerate her. she is a blessed woman.
chip andrus was on staff with the office of theology and worship, presbyterian church usa, with a particular focus on nurturing emerging missional churches in the denomination. he is now pastor of first presbyterian church, harrison arkansas.
susan cox-johnson is a united Methodist district superintendent in the missouri annual conference, and an advocate and proponent for emerging missional churches in the um connectional system. her blog is here.
billy watson is associate pastor at st. peter’s umc in katy, texas. the church website is http://www.stpeterskaty.org.
jay vorhees is a united methodist pastor in antioch, tennessee, an active participant in Emergent, and keeper of the methoblog.
What this means is that DG and Jim don't have to present three times in one day-- just twice now-- on top of doing other meal time leadership things.
AND, should the event get cancelled because of low registration as of August 20, and even if it doesn't, we're going to create several other means to get these presentations out to the church-- downloadables, podcasts, video, whatever we can.
Peace in Christ,
Taylor Burton-Edwards
emergingumc: a gathering… v 1.3
a likely (but not final!) schedule
NOW, with CORRECT DATES AND BETTER ATTRIBUTIONS!
(thanks to DG and mizliz for catching these things!)
thursday october 4
preconference option: a gathering with the nashville Emergent cohort
11:30- 1 @ the flying saucer
registration 3:30-5:30 p.m. at scarritt-bennett
dinner and conversation at scarritt-bennett 5:30-6:30 pm
evening prayer and plenary: 7 p.m.
“streams in the emerging landscape and your ministries:
a conversation and cohortation”
missiology
worship
spiritual formation
theology
facilitated by taylor burton-edwards
night prayer: 9:30
friday, october 5
breakfast at scarritt-bennett 7:30 am
morning prayer: 8:30
emerging ministries 1 9:00-10:00
organic gatherings in greater cincinnati dg hollums and gary gibson
indigenous mission in an urban arts community jim walker
emerging in a traditional congregation in west virginia melissa rudolph
an emerging regional young adult network carl thomas gladstone
break 10-10:15
a key group conversation 10:15-11:30
women and emerging/Emergent elizabeth buxton
noon prayer and lunch options 11:30
love feast hosted by dg hollums
emerging ministries 1:00-2:00
what Jesus is teaching us in New York-- don and pam heatley
indigenous mission in an urban arts community jim walker
an emerging regional young adult network carl thomas gladstone
emerging in a traditional congregation in west virginia melissa rudolph
break 2-2:15
a panel conversation: emerging and the institutional church 2:30-3:45
emerging and the um connection susan cox-johnson
pcusa: an ic (formerly) supporting a movement chip andrus
emergingumc and gbod: confessions and hopes taylor burton-edwards
mid-afternoon eucharist 3:45-4:30
emerging ministries 4:30-5:30
organic groups in florence ky dg hollums and gary gibson
what Jesus is teaching us in New York-- don and pam heatley
an emerging regional young adult network carl thomas gladstone
emerging in an institutional church chip andrus
dinner and evening with your cohorts
or bible fight club hosted by jim walker
night prayer (for those who are back) 10 p.m.
saturday, october 6
breakfast at scarritt-bennett 7:30
morning prayer 8:30
spiritual formation options 9:00-10:00
lectio divina
confession
labyrinth
healing
intercessory prayer
study
a panel conversation: theology and missiology 10:00-11:00
an emerging methodist billy watson
emerging and arminianism jay vorhees
attractionional, extractional,
and missional/incarnational taylor burton-edwards
cohort time and covenant affirmation 11:00
mid-day prayer and sending forth 11:30
so who are these people and why should i care?
dg hollums is the cultural architect for th3waters, a network of organic gatherings based in florence, ky. A recent missional concern is the need to redeploy leadership to make way for more organic gatherings to start multiplying. You can learn more on his blog/website at http://www.th3waters.com
gary gibson is pastor of florence united methodist church in florence, ky-- the host/planting church with th3waters.
jim walker is a united methodist pastor on pastoral leadership team at hot metal bridge faith community in pittsburgh, pa. One serious missional concern of this community is that it may be growing too fast. See their website at http://www.hotmetalbridge.com.
melissa rudolph is the united Methodist pastor of Leetown UMC, a “traditional” UMC in rural West Virginia that is re-engaging in indigenous ministry in its community. The congregation is online at http://leetnmeth.org
carl thomas gladstone is a united methodist deacon, leader of an emerging young adult ministry at birmingham first umc (detroit area), composer and publisher of new settings of charles wesley hymns, and coordinator of what’s becoming a region-wide network of young adult ministries in the greater detroit area. You can see these ministries online at http://www.emergedetroit.org and http://www.carlthomasgladstone.com.
liz buxton is a middle-aged, gray-headed rural um pastor who tries to gather together folks interested in sharing, debating, and exploring the trajectory of the church, which includes most things emerging and postmodern. she was one of the co-conveners of the Round Barn and virginia beach emerging women conferences and is increasingly looking to the future global church with the hopeful visions of Phyllis Tickle, various bishops and writers, and activists throughout the world. Her son, Ryan, tolerates her comings-and-goings with great charm and wisdom, and her churches just generally graciously tolerate her. she is a blessed woman.
chip andrus was on staff with the office of theology and worship, presbyterian church usa, with a particular focus on nurturing emerging missional churches in the denomination. he is now pastor of first presbyterian church, harrison arkansas.
susan cox-johnson is a united Methodist district superintendent in the missouri annual conference, and an advocate and proponent for emerging missional churches in the um connectional system. her blog is here.
Don Heatley is the pastor, and Pam Heatley is the Director of Ministries of Vision Community Church in Warwick, NY. Begun in 2001 as an R&D faith community of the New York Annual Conference, Vision is continually evolving as a creative agent of God's project in the world. They can be discovered at www.visiblechurch.org and http://donheatley.typepad.com/dons_blog/
billy watson is associate pastor at st. peter’s umc in katy, texas. the church website is http://www.stpeterskaty.org.
jay vorhees is a united methodist pastor in antioch, tennessee, an active participant in Emergent, and keeper of the methoblog.
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