Dan Mayes' Blog

Christian Spirituality Blogs--Your Help Needed

2009-10-27T15:22:00.002-05:00

I'm in the planning stage of an article I'm working on for a Christian Spirituality publication. The focus of the article is going to be on Christian Spirituality blogs. I need your help in locating some excellent ones. I'm looking for blogs that deal primarily with Christian spiritual practices as well as blogs that deal with Christian spiritual expression regularly. And I'm looking for blogs that vary greatly. I need some that deal with theoretics of spirituality and practices, blogs that are expressionistic (in storytelling, poetry, creative spiritual writing, etc...), and others you might think helpful.

Please leave comments with links.

Thanks

Ignorant quote of the year

2009-10-16T10:45:00.003-05:00

"I'm not a racist. I just don't believe in mixing the races that way."

This year's most ignorant quote comes from Keith Bardwell, a justice of peace in Louisiana who refused to marry a couple because they are different races. How sad!

Read all about Mr. Bardwell here.

Disciples need a Book of Common Prayer

2009-10-01T11:26:00.003-05:00

This past May I relished the time I spent with my Presbyterian friends in my Doctor of Ministry Cohort. I can't tell you how formative of an experience this was for me. One of the experiences that gave such a distinctive faith-shaping edge to the cohort is that we worshipped together frequently. We had worship at the start and close of our days, as well as during the lunch hour. And for our morning and evening worship times we used liturgy out of the Presbyterian Book of Common Prayer.

Being with a group of people daily can really cause some bonding to happen. But when that group worships together, sings together, and prays together and for each other those bonds are strengthened even moreso. And the bonds of Christian fellowship are essential to a healthy Christian life.

So I am disappointed that we Disciples have no book of common prayer. We have the Chalice Worship book, but that's a liturgy resource for pastors to use in special occasions. We have the Chalice Hymnal which includes a daily worship plan. And though I have been using this resource to improve my daily prayer life and recommend it to others just beginning a daily prayer routine, it is quite lacking in spectrum and substance.

There are many benefits I can see to having a Book of Common Prayer. It can strengthen the individual worship and prayer life of Christians if used faithfully. It can help strengthen the bonds of Christian community when groups of people, or married couples, or families choose to begin and end each day together in commonly shared worship. And it can more closely orient our lives to the cycle of holy time we know in the liturgical calendar.

But we Disciples have no such thing.
I think it's time to send Chalice Press a proposal.

10 things I learned this summer (First day of Fall edition)

2009-09-22T20:57:00.005-05:00

Today is the first day of Fall, and "10 Things" is back. Since it's been so long I've decided to make this more than just a weekender. This time we're covering the whole summer.

1. There is nothing more stressful than purchasing property (except of course, selling it).
2. Indianapolis is sort of a neat city to visit, unless you're there during the summer and it's not race week. Football and basketball are out of season and there's no MLB team in sight. Unless you like shopping a whole lot or you really like museums, wait until Fall or Winter.
3. The NCAA Hall of Champions in Indy is LAME! Twelve bucks a pop to visit and it's not actually a museum of NCAA athletics or anything. It's just a giant gift shop with a few non-historically-significant replica jerseys hanging up.
4. If you're just scanning quickly and not reading closely, it's easy to mistake the H1N1 virus (formerly known as the Swine Flu virus) for being the Hiney Flu.
5. Ikea is a great place to buy furniture, but only if you live near it. If you want to buy something from them online they'll charge you $300 to ship a $100 item. (I just couldn't justify it.)
6. Labor Day is not a fun day to be on the lake. I need my own personal holiday where tourists aren't allowed to bring their boats on the water.
7. I want one of these.
8. I also want one of these.
9. The 2013 Disciples General Assembly is going to be in Orlando. I'm there!
10. The recession is over. But I think someone forgot to tell the economy.

Religious Liberty part II

2009-09-04T23:46:00.004-05:00

As a sort of short follow up on yesterday's post, I wanted to talk a little bit more about the religious liberty policy our school district is considering and its ramifications for teachers.

I guess the way I interpret the policy is that it allows for teaching about religion from an academic standpoint but not a devotional standpoint. To cross the line into devotional exhibition would be considered a proselytism, a violation of the policy, and possibly grounds for punishment.

But let's say a teacher is talking about the divide of Christianity between the Orthodox and Catholic churches. This can be approached academically by discussing the Great Schism as a political struggle between Istanbu/Constantinople and Rome by two theocratic political factions. But there is more to the story than that. The debate is also about Apostolic Succession, and whom is the patriarch of Christianity, Peter or Paul.

So a student could ask you, "What do you think about that?" and any answer is likely to be loaded with heavy theological implications that could be over the vague boundary line. Or a student could ask you about the impact of Martin Luther on the political landscape of Europe. And any honest answer is going to have to do with a centuries-old religious debate. You can't talk about Luther without talking about the reasons why he reformed, all of which have high theological implications that in some way tie into our beliefs. That's likely to offend some and be interpreted as devotional exhibition on the part of the teacher.

As a Christian I find it impossible to discuss religion from a totally academic standpoint. It is impossible for me to separate the devotional from the academic. It's impossible for me to talk about the significance of Christianity without sharing a bit about my belief and faith in Christ.

So how are teachers supposed to know where to draw the boundary line?

How can you open up the school to academic religious liberty for the teachers without opening up devotional liberty and faith sharing as well. For me, you can't. It's either all or nothing. Everything goes or nothing goes. We can either talk about our faith or we can't.

Again, as yesterday, another sticking point in this issue is more likely to arise when someone of a non-locally-dominant faith tradition begins practicing in school. I suppose people of other faiths probably have just as much trouble separating the academic from the devotional as I do. We Christians may not have a problem if a Christian teacher unwittingly grazes across the boundary. But are we going to be equally forgiving if a Muslim or Buddhist teacher does the same?

I'm only asking because we need to think about it before we go into it.

I'd really like to hear from any teachers on this issue if you're comfortable speaking up. Be sure and familiarize yourself with the policy before commenting. It's linked on yesterday's post.

Religious liberty in this public school...Part I

2009-09-03T16:57:00.005-05:00

Next week the school board of the local public school, which my children attend, will be holding a public forum to discuss the planned implementation of a religious liberty policy for the district. And I have some mixed feelings.

Let me explain...

I stand in favor of allowing religious liberty to all so that no one can be hindered from practicing or expressing their faith. And I think this policy is intended for just such purposes. It is comprehensive enough to allow freedom for students to express faith, for teachers to teach about religion (although a neutral, value-free approach is impossible), for the classics in music, art, and drama (which are mostly all religious in nature) to be present, and while trying to maintain that proselytizing is strictly prohibited.

But I wonder just how realistic this policy can actually be implemented.

I mean...
Where do you draw the line between talking about a cross as a symbol and proselytizing? I, if I were a teacher, could choose to talk about the historic significance of the cross and it's place in religion and art, and someone else could interpret it at my own religious expression and complain that I violated their own freedom of religion.
I know that's a bit presumptive...but not unlikely.

And while the policy is intended to give religious freedom to all, we have to be aware of the fact that in this area the population is overwhelmingly Christian in the majority. There is a small Jewish presence, and several others, but they are very small.

My uneasiness comes in here: Since we're in a dominantly Christian community most people are going to be okay with another kid praying before they eat their lunch or the choir singing a Christian piece at a concert.

But what happens when a Muslim student brings a Qu'ran to class and it offends some kids? Are we going to be okay, as parents, with my kid having the right to read his Bible and their kid reading the Qu'ran? Or are we going to enjoy religious liberty when it means my kid can read his Bible and then abandon it when competing viewpoints are expressed? Are we going to be comfortable, really, with allowing the same religious liberty to Muslims, Hindus, Jews, Buddhists, Wickens, Pagans, Satanists, B'hais, Secular Humanists, Atheists, and everyone else? Or are we going to enjoy this policy for a while and then seek to revoke it when the kid next to ours starts sharing his wicken symbols?

I'm open to having such a religious liberty policy in place, but I think we should really know what we're getting ourselves into. If we're going to adopt it, and say we're giving religious liberty to all, we have to know the ramifications of the word "all." If we enjoy the freedom ourselves we have to be willing to extend that same freedom to others, even if they practice a faith with which we disagree. If we want our kids to be able to talk about their Christian faith at school then we have to be willing to allow kids of other faiths to talk freely as well.

Failure to do so is just another form of state-sponsored religion.

So, are we up to it?
Are we willing to enjoy the liberty and allow others to enjoy it, as well?

So I'm not really sure if I'm in favor of this policy or not. I guess I am...but I just don't want us to implement something we don't really mean...and I don't want us to implement it and then wind up fighting to revoke it a few years down the road.

What are your thoughts?

Tomorrow: A discussion on this policy and ramifications for teachers.

In case you haven't figured it out...

2009-08-12T15:58:00.001-05:00

I'm on a break from blogging until September.

Off to Indy

2009-07-27T11:27:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow I'll be leaving for Indianapolis and the 2009 General Assembly of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). I'm not sure how much I'll be able to post while I'm there, but I'll try and mention a bit about things going on at the assembly.

If you're a fellow Disciple blogger and are going to be there, give me a call or email and let's hook up!

Big Ride King

2009-07-23T08:42:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, I had the blessing of an unexpected visitor and an opportunity to show hospitality.

A man named Tom King showed up at the church office. Tom is in the process of riding his bicycle from Seattle, Washington to St. Louis, Missouri, where he lives. He's doing this bike ride to raise money and awareness for a scholarship for one of his former students who died of cancer in his early teens. What an incredible gift! And what an incredible adventure!

My family is out of town right now so I was more than happy to let the big ride king stay over for the night. Today he's off to Sac City.

Follow Tom's blog and the story of his ride here.

The Crucifixion of Ministry

2009-07-17T08:57:00.007-05:00

"Has God killed your ministry yet?" That's a question I never thought I'd hear until I read it in Andrew Purves' book The Crucifixion of Ministry. I recently read this book as part of my first year doctoral residency. But even since then I've found myself picking it up again, and again, and again.

Purves, a professor at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, calls us in this book to allow our ministries to be crucified in order that Christ's ministry might live. This sort of turning-the-tables on the Church is a bit unexpected at first; after all, Christ was crucified in order that we might live. But Purves posits that it is our ministries that must die in order that Christ's ministry might live. And Purves calls us over and over again to recognize that only Christ's ministry is redemptive and not ours. This is a call to surrender our own ambitions, our own desires, our own personas in ministry to the will of God.

Now, there is of course the temptation then to minimize the presence and role of the Church; to say that there's no point in us even doing ministry if our ministry isn't redemptive. And if we take it that far we've missed Purves' point in an altogether different way. He calls us, not to disengage from redemptive ministry, but to engage in the redemptive ministry of Christ. This means we are to be disengaging from "our" ministries and engaging in His. We are called to participate, then, in the redemptive ministry of Christ.

Here's an excerpt from the first chapter:
"I call the process of displacement 'the crucifixion of ministry' because in Christian thought the crucifixion carries the concept of redemption. The crucifixion of Jesus is staggering good news of our salvation. The crucifixion of ministry by the process of painful displacement by the ministry of Jesus is staggering good news for ministers and for the people among whom we minister. The crucifixion of ministry is the ground for the redemption of our ministries. For us, the ministers, it is the source of hope, joy and peace in our service."

As I find myself coming back to this book so frequently, I recommend it now to you. Whether you're a pastor, youth pastor, lay person, or missionary, we all can benefit from renewed call to crucify our ministries. You can pick it up here.

@#&*%!

2009-07-13T10:48:00.001-05:00

Swearing makes pain more tolerable? Read the story here.

Human Life < Dog Life

2009-07-10T14:47:00.002-05:00

Today, Donte Stallworth, a wide receiver for the Cleveland Browns, was released from prison after serving only 24 days. He'll now serve 2 years of house arrest. Stallworth was in prison for killing a pedestrian with his car.

Meanwhile, just this past May form Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick was released from prison after his 23 month sentence for dogfighting charges.

So, let's get this straight.

Michael Vick fights and kills dogs and gets nearly two years.
Donte Stallworth kills a human being and only gets 24 days?!

What's wrong with this picture?

Apparently to our judicial system and our penal system a human life is worth far less than the life of a dog.

Link-O-Rama

2009-06-26T20:41:00.002-05:00

Here's what I've found interesting on the blogroll lately:

Rebecca discusses being revolutionary Christians vs. being resolutionary Christians.

The DOC lectionary blog welcomes some new contributors.

Danny has an eye-opening T-shirt. I think I'm going to try and get one myself.

Tim participated in an interesting NPR interview about being "spiritual but not religious."

8 Years

2009-06-23T12:30:00.002-05:00

Today my wife and I are celebrating 8 years of marriage. I am humbled and thankful that someone so beautiful and caring would find a lasting place for me in her life.

The Grotto of the Redemption

2009-06-17T13:16:00.007-05:00

On Monday and Tuesday I was at a clergy retreat in West Bend, Iowa. While there we focused on spiritual practices for personal and congregational transformation. We also had the great opportunity to visit the Grotto of the Redemption. Pics below.

A truly sad day

2009-06-11T13:33:00.002-05:00

Today I learned that my favorite purveyor of gourmet coffees and loose leaf teas will be closing at the end of the month. No longer can I torment my barista, Levi, with jokes about being a vegan. No longer can I stop for a coffee or tea and read a book while enjoying the sounds of Modest Mouse.

Farewell, Shaky Tree. We barely knew ye.

Ordination For the People!

2009-06-09T21:09:00.003-05:00

I've been cogitating some recent posts on ordination by Tony Jones and a few other people. Tony is basically arguing that the ordination process creates sort of a ministry caste system, or at least a set of ministerial elitists which is unhealthy for the church. Matt Cleaver has been arguing for a while that the seminary system is in need of a major overhaul because of its tendency to be out-of-touch with the realities of parish ministry.

This summer my own denomination, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)--yes we have parentheses because they're cool--will be considering the matter of ordination, and I'm really excited about what's happening.

Our current system, which has been in place for ages, is that there are basically two levels in the "Order of Ministry." There are Ordained ministers and there are Licensed ministers (you may know them by the term "Lay Ministers." In this system a Master of Divinity from a seminary is a non-stated but de facto requirement for ordination. All those who are unable, for whatever reason, to seek a seminary education are allowed the option of licensure. Licensed ministers have most of the same priviledges as ordained ministers but have limitations. In most of our regions (you may know them by the terms "presbytery" or "conference") there is a bit of an educational process that people must go through to obtain licensure. Additionally, those in seminary but not yet ordained are usually granted licensure.

Under the proposed resolution we'll be changing this structure of the Order of Ministry. There will be two paths to ordination, a seminary track and a lay track. There will also be licensure or "lay" minister status as well.

Some pastors aren't so happy with the proposal, feeling that the granting of ordination for those who haven't finished seminary will in some way cheapen their ordination. I'm sure some are wondering why they went to seminary if there were going to be another option given. And I must admit I had a few of these feelings, too, but only at first.

Our denomination, like many others, is facing a ministerial shortage which will only increase in coming years if major changes aren't made. Additionally, I've witnessed several licensed ministers in my time who were every bit as good a pastor as, and often times even better than, some pastors I know who went through the seminary process. There are many who receive the call and answer in later life, there are those who have no ability to pay for seminary, and there are those for whom seminary may just not be right. I think we should find a way to give recognition of their call-of-God, too. And I also support the resolution because it creates an avenue where congregations seeking pastors will know if the person achieved ordination through the seminary track or through the lay track.

In addition to pragmatics, this is also a highly theological issue. The major objection raised by pastors regarding the "cheapening" of their ordinations/seminary educations is exactly the kind of elitism Tony wrote about. And whatever happened to the "priesthood of all believers?" Whom we choose to ordain and the requirements we place upon them speaks a lot about what we believe regarding whom can recieve and answer the call of God. Do we believe that God only ministers in and through those who've achieved academically? Or do we believe there might be another way? This resolution still requires study and training. Each region will be given the responsibility of developing an educational system to train up and teach these non-seminary-going pastors. That may be a little frightening to some, and it will likely lead to a bit of inconsistency in training competency (since no doubt some regions will take this more seriously than others), but implementation of such a process says we believe God can call people to pastoral ministry even if they aren't able to complete the process desired by the academy. It also says we believe the local church and the church catholic has a responsibility to train up ministers from within ourselves.

This July I think, I hope, change in the Order of Ministry will sweep through our denomination, and with it the Holy Spirit might finally have a chance to breathe new life into us.

Shared pastoral leadership

2009-05-26T19:42:00.005-05:00

Right now I'm in the middle of my first year doctoral residency at the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary. During this residency I've had to be several hours away from my family...and also from my congregation. And in this format there's no real chance to go back for "pastoral emergencies." This means other people have had to cover for me in my absence.

Last week an elder from the congregation did the preaching, and this week another elder will be preaching. Yesterday we experienced a death in our congregation. The elders took the primary responsibility for providing bereavement care in that situation, though another local pastor is officiating the service.

I must confess, I do feel a bit guilty about being away during this time, especially for my friends who are suffering such a great loss. But I'm also finding this to be a tremendous time of growth, not just for me personally, but I think (I hope) for the leaders of our congregation. The elders are beginning to fulfill the biblical role and calling of the elders and becoming much more than communion presiders.

I'm reminded of the pastoral model of the Apostle Paul, who spent his time gathering a fellowship of believers and training them up to be the Church, then leaving them in the hands of qualified leaders who came from among their own ranks. Paul's whole process of developing churches was to build them up in such a way that one day they'd be able to function without him. This may be a frightening concept to many pastors and to many congregations, but what do you think would happen if we began to adopt that model of ministry?

I think there would be a lot less burnout among pastors. This is just theoretical and not based on any concrete study on my part. But I do notice the extent to which many churches' ministries are centered around the pastor and rely most solely upon her/him for leadership, pastoral care, and just about every thing else imaginable. If there was this underlying understanding that the responsibility and the opportunity for ministry really belongs to the people, then I think the people would hold more of a stake in things and actively take more leadership roles and responsibilities. The load of pastoral care, teaching, and shepherding the congregation would at the very least be shared more evenly between the leaders and the pastor than it usually is. This sharing of the load would free the pastor up to do what pastors are meant and called to do: Be with God and be with people.

I think there would also be a dramatic resurgence (maybe this is just hopeful thinking) of passionate spirituality amongst congregants. Such a model would, I believe, force churchgoers to critically rethink their understanding of church and to come to the great realization that we all have been called to participate in the ongoing ministry of Jesus in the world, not just those professionals or those ordained into ministry.

What do you think might happen?

Commandment Breaking

2009-05-20T21:44:00.004-05:00

One of the key components of my doctoral curriculum this year is Sabbath. We've been studying the ancient Jewish and Christian traditions of Sabbath as well as studying scriptural dynamics of Sabbath. I've become acutely aware of just how badly I am guilty of breaking the 4th commandment...and of how most christians today ignore regular Sabbath keeping altogether.

Now, I'm not talking about taking a day off work. I'm talking about completely ceasing for the Sabbath. Sabbath is about removing work from your schedule as well as from your heart and mind. It involves ceasing from all the things that dehumanize us...not just work, but the marketplace, technology, and even the thoughts that burden us and keep us awake at night. And Sabbath is not intended in a legalistic manner, but more simply to remind us that we're not merely machines.

Sabbath is a celebration of the freedom we experience as people of God. It's a celebration of creation. For God didn't cease creating on the seventh day. No, God created on the seventh day. He created Sabbath on the seventh day. Abraham Joshua Heschel says that "the Sabbath is not for the sake of the weekdays; the weekdays are for the sake of the Sabbath" (The Sabbath, 1951). And as such the weekdays prepare us for the glorious celebration of a God who created us with freedom and with a chance to experience peace.

But how many of us observe this kind of Sabbath? I personally don't know anyone who does so regularly. How might our lives be different if we treated the 4th commandment with the same attention we give to the others? How might our world be changed if keeping Sabbath were as important as not murdering?

One of the activities we did today was to get in groups and debate different points of view regarding the necessity of Sabbath keeping in today's culture using scripture and the traditions as our guides. My group was assigned the devil's advocate position of arguing that Sabbath keeping is altogether unnecessary in today's culture. I must say it was fun. But without prooftexting scripture and subscribing to Dispensationalist theologies it was impossible. So we had some fun with it. But it got me to thinking...all the arguments we used were just horribly impossible stretches. But at the same time, they're all the same rationalizations we allow ourselves to use in our heads when we try and justify our workaholism. Interesting.

Tomorrow we'll depart for the Holy Wisdom Monastery for 24 hours of Sabbath. I can't wait to celebrate the peaceful rest that will surely come in the restful celebration of God's creation.

Images from UDTS, day 1

2009-05-18T19:17:00.001-05:00

No University is complete without the lamppost signs... No Dean's office is complete without a little showing off...

No student is happy without swanky digs...

No library is complete without a totem pole?

Gone

2009-05-16T13:39:00.002-05:00

I'll be leaving tomorrow for a two-week long residency, my first of three annual events, as part of my doctoral program at the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary. The suburban is all packed and I'm getting some loose ends tied up at home today. I doubt I'll be able to post very much but I'll try to give an update when I can.

One more time

2009-05-11T22:12:00.001-05:00

In the news again...this time specifically about our baby needs ministry. Story here.

In the news again

2009-05-07T09:03:00.002-05:00

Twice! Here and here.

7 Social Sins (plus 1)

2009-05-05T11:14:00.003-05:00

Ghandi once put forth a list of seven social sins. Here they are for your enlightenment.

1. Politics without Principle
2. Wealth without Work
3. Pleasure without Conscience
4. Knowledge without Character
5. Commerce without Morality
6. Science without Humanity
7. Worship without Sacrifice

Ghandi's son, Arun Gandhi, put forth an eigth one, also:
8. Rights without Responsibility

Source: Covey, Stephen R. Principle Centered Leadership. New York: Fireside, 1992. (Number 8, source unknown.)

Tony Campolo on Christians' Views of Gays

2009-05-03T23:07:00.007-05:00

ht to Brian