May he have the peace which the world can neither give nor take away.
Details at Philocrites.
Photo: João Pedro Gonçalves
Christianity for non-Christian clergy, part one
James Field of Left Coast Unitarian writes in “Christianities, christologies and me”:
Scott’s comment about Romans 8 in response to my earlier post and some of what he has been saying (along with Peacebang and others) about UU dabbling in world religion raises an issue for me.
That deserves a reply, or more than one. I’d like to stretch this out a bit — both so I don’t overstate what I believe and to leave some room for people to comment. (Again, remember I’ve had to put the blog on comment moderation lockdown, so you’re comments won’t show immediately.)
So what’s fair use and what’s abuse? Both are possible — despite what certain theological hedonists might say — but where to draw the line is a judgement call. Here’s a first go.
First, Christianity is a universal, missionary religion like Islam and Buddhism. Universal in that it isn’t linked to a national group (like Judaism or Shinto) and missionary in that it has the incorporation of others is a basic quality.
It seems to me that universal, missionary religions benefits from a “holy curiosity” from non-adherents because there’s the opportunity for conversion. I’ll present myself as an example of this. (National religions might be tolerant towards outsiders’ inquiries, but it wouldn’t ordinarily benefit from the inquiry except to the degree that religious minorities might get popular relief.) Non-Christian Unitarian Universalists — being a part of everyone — are certainly entitled to read the sources, meditate on the issues, and publically comment on the merits and failings (in a fair, polite manner, thank you) of a universal, missionary religion because it is “out there.”
Now, there’s a difference between each of these actions and claiming to know something of the religion. That is, viscerally know the religion from the inside, and that’s where I think a lot of Unitarian Universalists get into trouble.
Yours comments, please.
Antiochian Orthodox leave the NCC
I wonder what the United Church of Christ newsniks thought when they put the news of the Antiochian Orthodox Church’s withdrawal from the National Council of Churches (the news isn’t on their site — its isn’t official) given the UCC’s recent vote on same-sex marriage was accounted as reason for the departure.
“We just feel we don’t have much in common with the [other NCC-member] churches,” [spokesperson, the Rev. Thomas] Zain said.
While the denomination had considered taking up the matter with a larger body of Orthodox denominations in the United States, officials decided “to do it alone. We’ll see if others follow.”
Well, color me shocked. The Antiochians have done well attracting conservative Episcopalians and they only had the filioque to lose.
Clearly, this is another case where the Big Bad Lefties driving away Christ’s Own. Or perhaps not.
Doncha just love that church’s new moniker: The Self-Ruled Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America. There’s a back story there, though I don’t pretend to know it all.
But consider the lack of an American (United States) Orthodox church, which is decidedly an anomaly. You could say they have their own “hyphenization problem” but theirs is ethnic and linguistic. The Orthodox Church of America, with its Russian roots, walks a knife’s edge in terms of legitmacy in Orthodox eyes, and doesn’t claim to be (nor is recognized as) the American Orthodox church. The Greeks are keen on this matter. It isn’t a secret that the Antiochian church — the Arab ethnic Orthodox church — has been rallying for pole position, thus the amplified name.
And I can’t but think this most-recent action is an attempt to improve their position. That’s all.
Later. Adam — who pastors a jointly affiliated UUA-UCC community church — also comments.
When is a loch not a loch?
Evidently, when it is a reservoir, of course.
What’s up with the Reservoir Dogs lineup of the Scottish Episcopalian prelates?
For a limited time (and a good cause) only
Later. The new Scottish Episcopal church’s website is powered by WordPress, like this blog!
UU and Emergent?
The Rev. Thom “Deuterophilocrites” Belote asks if there can be an Emergent Unitarian Universalism. Would it have to be Christian?
My answer: Perhaps. Maybe. I don’t know. I doubt it.
The thing about the Emergent Church is that it seems to be a corrective responsive within some parts of Evangelical Christianity — focusing on ecclesiology — in the context of the postmodern challenge to all traditional religions. In the breach, some Emergent-types seem particularly keen to restore those Christian practices (or cognates) that Evangelicals have rarely or never adopted, particularly the kinesthetic and aesthetic. (Because of its Barthian connotations, I won’t call the Emergent church neo-orthodox like Thom does.)
Unitarian Universalists — the Christians included — have a different set of traditions and issues, and our ecclesiology is one of the few strengths we can go back to for stability. We’re hardly going to fiddle with them. (Take, for instance, the shibboleth made of congregational polity.)
We will be influenced by the same matters — and perhaps some ideas can cross-over — but that’s because we’re living today. But our response will be different, and I won’t hazard a value judgement yet as to any capacity for success.
Pray to ease pain
I know some of y’all out there are constant and dependable intercessors.
Emerging-church blog readers have surely seen the most poignant posting to date from the well-known blogger and minister Jordan Cooper about his neuropathy. Remember him and his wife in prayer.
My grandmother lives with chronic, debilitating pain so prayers for Mary would be well appreciated, too.
Quick intro to emerging church
In my last pastorate, I called PBS’s Religion & Ethics Newsweekly the “farm report” since it was some news I needed just before leaving to go to church Sunday mornings.
For a change, I was looking forward to a particular story that was getting a lot of buzz on emerging-church blogs about the emerging church itself. I’d recommend it, and while you’re there the stories on TM and Maharishi University and a feature on journalistic ethics are quite good too.
I’m not fully sold on emerging church-iana in part because it comes out of American Evangelicalism, and that’s not my experience of Christianity. (As a thirtysomething whitish guy with facial hair, I could pass, though. Note to self: get more fashionable eyeglasses.) It does, however, seems to drift towards a third point — I’ll call it now “Protestant catholicism” until something better comes up — that some Liberal Protestants kinda drift towards. An example of this phenomenon is the Episcopal Church being the de facto “second church” of so many Unitarian and Universalist Christians. Why them, and not the Brethren or Quakers? I’d daresay there is more of a link with the Episcopalians than even the UCC, and if would be interesting to see where the last generation of UU Christian ministers “who got away” went.
But I’m getting off course.
The article — there’s a second part next week — can be read or watched in streaming video online. If you need a quick primer on the phenomenon, this is the resource I’d choose. It is also a good resource for non-Christian Unitarian Universalists who need some perspectives of the inner workings of American Evangelicaism, so as to explode the monolith theory that so many seem to carry around.
Calling London
There has been a lot of blog traffic about the attacks on London, and it was big news at Day Job today. A terrible day, and I’m sure we’ll all be keeping close to the story.
The initial report of the bus bombing put the blast close to the headquarters of the United Reformed Church. This made me wonder.
There’s no news on their site tonight, nor on the Unitarian and Free Christian Churches site. The Church of England site does have a messages from the Bishop of London and the Archbishop of Canterbury.
I checked a sample of American denominational websites — large and small, mainline and new, majority black and white, and of a number of traditions, plus some non-Christian sites — and only one had any coverage now: the Presbyterian Church (USA).
Just an observation when there’s nothing else one can do.
A little good marriage equality news
Score one for the UCC!
General Synod overwhelmingly calls for “full marriage equality”
And I was afraid there was nothing to celebrate this Independence Day.
I just hope the UCC doesn’t have unnecessary internal strife for it, but I’m glad they stepped up too.
Light a lava lamp for me and other unspoken prayers
I’m not sure the Lava Lamp at Emergingchurch.info is pre-post-modern or post-pre-modern, but it is good for literally seconds of pray-fo-tainment.
File it under “proof of concept for non-verbal prayer” except, whoops!, you’re bidden to type your prayers in. I’ve been waiting to advise you kinesthetic folk — line up, single file, no shoving but movement permitted — out there to consider moving representations (pictures, say, but be creative) of your objects of prayer towards an icon of Christ in a prayerful mode. Just let the action be, without necessarily resorting to spoken or mental speech. Nothing unorthodox about this, seeing that Christians proclaim Christ in the flesh as the icon of God. An alternative to lighting candles for everything, and speaks to the “shrine instinct” (for lack of a better term, and no deprecation intended) that some Westerners find appealing in Eastern religions.
In those churches — here I’m pitching directly to the Unitarian Universalists — that still have Christian communion, this presents an opportunity for holy baking in the mode of presenting bread for the gifts in the Eastern churches. As the bread and wine become the icon of Christ in the Thanksgiving, so the prayers (sometimes delivered with the bread written on paper, but there’s no need to get too literal here, literally) are identified with Christ the True Priest in their offering. I know this will read as superstition and folk religion to some, but I’d urge a consideration of the practice based on what we know about learning styles, and thence, to how we apply and proclaim our faith.
Consider this: I was the supply preacher to a little Universalist heritage church in South Carolina before moving to Washington. The bread was smushed Wonder Bread, diced: a format many low church folk will recognize. But the wine was the made by a man, already dead, who was well loved in the church, and they were getting down to the dregs of the last bottle. They used trays and small glasses, and had a grape juice option. A church member brought the wine each communion Sunday and recollected its vintner. The cups were prepared, the prayers said, and the communion shared. And all the excess wine was returned to the bottle for the next month. . . .
You tell me what that was about, if not an unspoken prayer.
Hat tip: Jordon Cooper