god after god religion after religion church after

god after god religion after religion church after church

“here’s what to think” “heres what i think” “here’s help in how to think”

transcending & including transcending conventional thinking

where you are is where you are. where others are is where they are. the best way to encourage growth is to model it.

Making the. House Ready for the Lord Mary Oliver Dear Lord, I have swept and I have washed but Still nothing is as shining as it should be for you. Under the sink, for example, is an uproar of mice—it is the season of their many children. What shall I do? And under the eaves and through the walls the squirrels have gnawed their ragged entrances—but it is the season when they need shelter, so what shall I do?

And the raccoon limps into the kitchen and opens the cupboard while the dog snores, the cat hugs the pillow; what shall I do? Beautiful is the new snow falling in the yard and the fox who is staring boldly up the path, to the door. And still I believe you will come, Lord: you will, when I speak to the fox the sparrow, the lost dog, the shivering sea-goose, know that really I am speaking to you whenever I say, as I do all morning and afternoon: Come in, Come in.

come in, come in. a day for receptivity …

god after god

God vs. god the Mystery as it is vs. our conception of it

whether or not God exists, godconcepts do, and they are possibly the most powerful force on planet earth.

1. our understandings of god change as we develop personally, communally, culturally

god 1. 0 - provider/need-meeter/personal god 2. 0 - parent/family god 3. 0 - law-giver/rule-maker/social god 4. 0 - racial/national/our-kind/god of the exclusive we god 5. 0 - god of the universe/god of the universal we Personal Development from Great Spiritual Migration

simplicity - dualism, absolutism complexity - pragmatism perplexity - relativism/pluralism harmony - integration/union Communal Development from Naked Spirituality (Adolescent Intellectual Development - Wm. Perry)

Magical/Authoritarian God of Power Mechanistic God of Law Anti-authoritarian God of Liberation Mystical God of Enlightenment/Presence Communal Development from Naked Spirituality (Adolescent Intellectual Development - Wm. Perry)

quest for survival - magical savior quest for security - tribal/national protector quest for dominance - imperial potentate quest for independence - rational law-giver, mechanisms quest for individuality - critical thinking, discovery quest for honesty - relativism, pluralism, deconstruction quest for ubuntu - connection, universality, relationship quest for union - mysticism, wordlessness Cultural Development from A New Kind of Christianity (Integral Theory, Ken Wilber)

1. our understandings of god change as we develop personally, communally, culturally

2. our understandings of god change in relation to our “imaginary” - our dominant images and narratives, which change according to our needs, anxieties, and challenges

God as creator … hunter-gatherers God as shepherd … pastoralists God as gardener … agriculturalists God as warrior/lord … feudalists God as law-giver … city-dwellers God as king … kingdoms God as absolute authority … empires God as liberator … oppressive regimes God as presence/all … ecological civilization

Isaac Newton - Physics Various - Geology/Paleontology Charles Darwin - Biology Einstein/Heisenberg - New Physics Various - Ecology, Field/Systems Theory/Holism Freud - Psychiatry, Depth Psychology, Psychopharmacology Crick et al - Genetics Marx/Nietsche - Sociology/Power Dynamics Derrida, Fish - Post-Structuralism, Deconstruction Andrew Newborn et al - neurobiology

god as Protection helping us survive as we are, helping us resist evolution, helping us conserve status quo, calling/holding us back god as Projection image of what we can become ideal personhood we emulate helping us progress to next stage calling/leading us forward

1. our understandings of god change as we develop personally, communally, culturally

2. our understandings of god change in relation to our “imaginary” - our dominant images and narratives, which change according to our needs, anxieties, and challenges

3. our understandings of god change depending on who is part of the conversation

all theology has an adjective in front of it. social gospel - industrial gospel liberation theology - oppression theology black theology - white-euro/ slaveholder/apartheid theology feminist theology - patriarchal theology womanist theology - white patriarchal theology postcolonial theology - colonial theology indigenous theology - colonial theology eco-theology - theology of plunder asian/african theology - european theology process theology - stasis theology un-self-aware or deceptive theologies deny their adjectives.

1. our understandings of god change as we develop personally, communally, culturally

2. our understandings of god change in relation to our “imaginary” - our dominant images and narratives, which change according to our needs, anxieties, and challenges

3. our understandings of god change depending on who is part of the conversation

4. our understandings of god change in conversations with other religions/philosophies/cultures

christianity emerges from judaism … engages with roman politics … redefines itself in terms of greek (neoplatonist) theology … corrects itself through exchange with islam … engages with science … reengages with judaism … encounters vedic faiths … encounters atheism

1. our understandings of god change as we develop personally, communally, culturally

2. our understandings of god change in relation to our “imaginary” - our dominant images and narratives, which change according to our needs, anxieties, and challenges

3. our understandings of god change depending on who is part of the conversation

4. our understandings of god change in conversations with other religions/philosophies/cultures

5. our understandings of god periodically collapse. some recover. some don’t.

So much depends, of course, on what we mean by God. If transcendence is indeed a surplus of meaning, it requires a process of endless interpretation…. The absolute requires pluralism to avoid absolutism. (xiv)

Jewish writer Etty Hillesum, from th concentration camp at Westerbrook, shortly before her death [wrote] … “We are lost permanently and for all time unless we provide an alternative, a dazzling and dynamic alternative with which to start afresh somewhere. ” (59)

Anatheism is not an atheism that wishes to rid the world of God, rejecting the sacred in favor of the secular. Nor is it a theism that seeks to rid God of the world, rejecting the secular in favor of the sacred. Nor, finally, is it a pantheism (ancient or New Age) that collapses the secular and the sacred into one, denying any distinction between the transcendent and the immanent. Anatheism does not say the sacred is the secular; it says it is in the secular, through the secular, toward the secular…. Anatheism speaks of “interanimation” between the sacred and secular but not of fusion or confusion. They are inextricably interconnected but never the same thing. (166)

what if we fail to rid ourselves of genocidal, geocidal, suicidal gods?

what if we fail?

Nihilism, consumerism Nationalism White Supremacy Meaning, Purpose, Belonging Theological Renaissance? Post-Theistic Spirituality? Non-Duality?

1. our understandings of god change as we develop personally, communally, culturally

2. our understandings of god change in relation to our “imaginary” - our dominant images and narratives, which change according to our needs, anxieties, and challenges

3. our understandings of god change depending on who is part of the conversation

4. our understandings of god change in conversations with other religions/philosophies/cultures

5. our understandings of god periodically collapse. some recover. some don’t.

6. we are the ones we have been waiting for, for better or for worse.

Theological cancer requires theological chemotherapy. Sometimes renewal is not appropriate or workable; resurrection or renaissance is required. Constructive Theology takes time … sharing gifts, offering alternatives. It cannot be imposed. Perhaps “a theology of humanity” is taking shape? Nature abhors a vacuum … seven worse demons … People generally want to step up, if possible. But they will revert back if necessary.

a prayer from the Corrymeela Community in Ireland prayer for a new name (1/2) Genesis 16: 13 God of Hagar, When Hagar was exiled in the desert she met you and gave you a name: the Living One Who Sees Me. We have walked far, and seen many things and now, because of what we have seen because of where we are going because of where we are we give this new name now.

a prayer from the Corrymeela Community in Ireland prayer for a new name (2/2) Genesis 16: 13 We do not destroy past names, because they have brought us here. We celebrate the new name that will bring us on. Because you are known by many names which bring us on. Amen.

religion after religion

Religion may be defined as a cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that relates humanity to supernatural, transcendental, or spiritual elements. However, there is no scholarly consensus over what precisely constitutes a religion. (Wikipedia)

(white) christianity is a failing religion.

christianity is a failing religion. - failing demographically

christianity is a failing religion. - failing demographically - failing racially

christianity is a failing religion. - failing demographically - failing racially - failing sexually

christianity is a failing religion. - failing demographically - failing racially - failing sexually - failing morally/socially

christianity is a failing religion. - failing demographically - failing racially - failing sexually - failing morally/socially - failing ecologically

christianity is a failing religion. - failing demographically - failing racially - failing sexually - failing morally/socially - failing ecologically - failing liturgically

christianity is a failing religion. - failing demographically - failing racially - failing sexually - failing morally/socially - failing ecologically - failing liturgically - failing creedally

christianity is a failing religion. - failing demographically - failing racially - failing sexually - failing morally/socially - failing ecologically - failing liturgically - failing creedal - failing theologically

christianity is a failing religion. - failing demographically - failing racially - failing sexually - failing morally/socially - failing ecologically - failing liturgically - failing creedal - failing theologically - failing spiritually

… and it’s not just Christianity.

is religion salvageable?

System of Beliefs Way of Life School of Love

Love of Neighbor (stranger, alien, other, outsider, enemy) Love of Self Love of Earth Love of God

Convened around what? What center will hold? Hierarchy? Doctrine? Liturgy? Politics?

Story Practice Saints, Elders, Proteges Vision

Perhaps, even more important than a center, we need a vision … a direction … a mission. Who is leading the way?

A missional migration from organized religion (for selfprotection) to religion organizing for the common good (institutions and movements in romance, forming & deploying spiritual activists)

we need a theology of institutions, movements. and Communities

Communities Families, individuals, and organizations linked to a common environment, collaborating for the common good.

Institutions: Organizations which conserve the gains made by past social movements.

Social Movements Organizations which make proposals or demands to current institutions to make progress towards new gains.

Both movements and institutions. . . Organize for their purpose Need one another Are frustrated with one another Benefit or harm communities

Without movements. . . Institutions stagnate. . . Without institutions. . . Movements evaporate. . .

Some movements successfully inject their values into the institutions they challenge Other movements create their own institutions, or pass away

Vital movements call people to passionate, sacrificial personal commitment Sustainable institutions create loyalty across generations through evocative rituals & traditions

movements can be progressive or regressive

From Greg Leffel Faith Seeking Action: Mission and Social Movements

A movement is born when 3 things happen: - 2 or more people agree what’s wrong - They agree what should be done - They agree to do it.

Leffel’s 6 Characteristics of Vibrant Social Movements

1. Opportunity Structure 2. Rhetorical framing 3. Protest (messaging) strategy 4. Mobilization strategy 5. Movement culture 6. Participant Biography

Jesus seizes the opportunity structure provided by conflicted elites (Pharisees/Sadducees; Herodians/Zealots) and struggling masses (Galilee/Judea)

He provides rhetorical framing on hillsides, in houses, on retreats, in public teach-ins, in debates, through parables, through rituals and practices. He repeats key themes - commonwealth of God, life to the full, life of the ages, liberation rooted in dynamic tension with tradition.

His protest (messaging) strategy includes public demonstrations (healings & miracles), teach-ins (sermon on mount), civil disobedience (turning tables), guerilla theatre (exorcisms), festivals (feasts & feedings), naming evil (woes), naming heroes (blessings).

He develops a mobilization strategy based on 3, 12, 70, and multitudes. He entrusts freely with responsibility and expresses high confidence in his agents (greater things shall you do. . . )

He associates his movement culture with love, joy, justice, risk, hope, creativity, courage, service, willingness to suffer, nonviolence.

He provides his disciples challenge, rest, retreat, encouragement, recovery after failures. They testify that their participant biographies have been forever changed for the better.

What spiritual movement is trying to be born among us today? What are its demands/proposals? What role might we play in its emergence?

your face here

church after church

Understanding America

“ 84% of Americans now live in or around urban areas. But I’m United Methodist, so I speak out of the context of what I know best. 74% of our capital resources (that’s our buildings) are where only 16% of the American population lives. The Methodist Church flourished in the 1800’s and early 1900’s in small towns and rural areas. But now we continue to send pastors to church buildings instead of populations. And if we’re really going to reach people, we’re going to have to radically rethink our paradigms of what it’s going to mean to be missional. ” - Rev. Mike Slaughter More here: http: //www. ministrymatters. com/all/entry/1227/interview-wmike-slaughter

(re)alignment a key ingredient

communications budget formation fundraising “talent scouts” prayers compassion building multi-faith alliances pastoral care confessions of sin mentoring invocations readings benedictions eucharistic welcome liturgy training governance volunteer justice sermon planning vocation care mentoring/modeling announcements theology planning fellowship litanies songs professional recruitment spiritual eval/development recreation experience gospel instrumental music seminary/ education mutual care training creeds

instrumental music theology gospel spiritual experience fundraising budget volunteer care planning communications formation education mentoring training leadership mission governance administry prayers confessions of sin creeds sermon songs formation community celebration meaning benedictions mutual care eucharistic pastoral care liturgy fellowship announcements recreation invocations professional eval/development compassion justice vocation seminary/ training

meaning theology gospel spiritual experience

eucharistic liturgy announcements creeds confessions of sin celebration ritual/practice - bonding to meaning readings songs sermon prayers litanies instrumental music invocations benedictions

welcome mutual care pastoral care community belonging to the community of meaning fellowship recreation

training mentoring formation more deeply embodying meaning education formation

administry organizing to live the meaning volunteer care management communications fundraising budget planning job descriptions governance

mission the meaning bearing fruit recruitment justice compassion vocation

leadership equipped to build communities who embody the meaning building multi-faith alliances mentoring/modeling professional eval/development seminary/ training “talent scouts”

leadership community formation administry mission celebration meaning

(re)alignment a key ingredient

Working in our tribes PCUSA UCC UMC Episcopal Christian Church Do. C ELCA Historic Black, Ethnic/ Immigrant, Progressive Roman Catholic, Progressive Evangelical, etc.

nostalgic eggshell PCUSA UCC UMC Episcopal Christian Church Do. C ELCA Historic Black, Ethnic/ Immigrant, Progressive Roman Catholic, Progressive Evangelical, etc. holding tension just & generous

A NOSTALGIC, REGRESSIVE MOVEMENT PCUSA UCC UMC Episcopal Christian Church Do. C ELCA Historic Black, Ethnic/ Immigrant, Progressive Roman Catholic, Progressive Evangelical, etc.

Working across our tribes PCUSA UCC UMC A VITAL SPIRITUAL MOVEMENT Historic Black, Ethnic/ Christian Immigrant, Progressive Episcopal Church ELCA Roman Do. C Catholic, Progressive Evangelical, FOR JUST AND GENEROUS CHRISTIAN FAITH? etc.

Something is on the way out and something else is painfully being born. It is as if something were crumbling, decaying, and exhausting itself, while something else, still indistinct, were arising from the rubble. . We are in a phase when one age is succeeding another, when everything is possible. Vaclav Havel, “The New Measure of Man”

leadership in way of love community formation administry mission celebration meaning