Til Next Time...

As I head into the final month of my sabbatical, I’ve realized that I need to take a break from my blog for the next 30 days. While I have enjoyed the opportunity to share with you my thoughts, insights, and feelings over the past 60 days; I desperately need to take the next 30 days and do some serious introspection: the kind of work that’s so profoundly introspective that I feel compelled to involve only one other party – God. Of course I've got plenty to keep my going. I've got a half a dozen books to read including Doug Pagitt's Body Prayer, Jonny Baker & Doug Gay's Alternative Worship: Resources From and For the Emerging Church; Loughlan Sofield & Carroll Juliano's Collaboration: United Our Gifts in Ministry; An Emergent Manifesto, and a couple of Richard Foster's resources. I've got some work I want to do around my prayer life (particularly as it relates to centering prayer and lectio divina). I've even got some fun stuff to supplement my spiritual journeys (tending to my much neglected Houston sports card collection and absorbing all four Houston Texans preseason games). As I head into this period of public silence, I want to thank the wonderfully generous people of Mountain View United Church who have made this sabbatical possible. There is no way I can put into words how helpful it has been to have time from my day to day ministerial responsibilities to reflect on my practice of ministry and regain a sense of perspective. This experience has already been a transformative one for me. During the next 30 days I look forward to deeper times of prayer, reflection, and fun as I culminate my sabbatical. I’m already looking forward to the wonderfully rich ministry experiences that await us next fall! I thank you for sharing the past 60 days with me and urge you to check back here in September as I explore the possibility of turning this sabbatical blog into an ongoing endeavor. May God’s grace and peace continue to be with us all as we enjoy what I hope will be an unforgettable August. Til September…

Preaching Re-Imagined

It’s good to get back after a great weekend of both rest and renewal. I dug into Doug Pagitt’s book “Preaching Re-Imagined”, and I am loving the book after finishing the book’s first twenty chapters. I have to say I’m connecting with it a great deal more than Doug’s first book “Church Re-Imagined”. I appreciate Doug’s call to rethink the preaching experience because I’ve been wrestling with it myself for the past couple of years. I’ve struggled with it on two counts. First, I’ve wrestled with the Reform notion that the sermon should be the high point of the service. I believe very strongly that it’s wrong for a worship facilitator to assume such a thing. I’ve known for a long time that there are a variety of things that can most strongly resonate with a member of the worshipping community. For some it can be a moment during the sharing of Joys and Concerns; for another it might be the time during the Children’s Sermon; for another it might be a verse of a beloved hymn. For these reasons, I’ve worked to create a well rounded worship experience as opposed to a sermon-centered worship experience. Second, I’ve also struggled with the traditional notion of a sermon: one person taking an active role (i.e. the pastor speaking); everyone else assuming a passive role (i.e. the congregation listening). Doug’s clear call to create preaching moments that are interactive was right up my alley. Doug calls his alternative to the traditional preaching moment “progressional dialogue”. Progressional dialogue involves “the intentional interplay of multiple viewpoints that leads to unexpected and unforeseen ideas”. Doug adds that it “means moving forward into new thoughts, not digging into pre-determined positions.” Progressional dialogue also means “being open to – even expecting – change, just as those we’re in conversation with are changed” (54). Exciting stuff! So how does Doug create such experiences? He does this in at least two ways. First, he creates an opportunity during the week for interested members of the congregation to gather and chew on the scriptural text for Sunday’s service. I tried this my first year at Mountain View. I’m going to resurrect the notion again this fall on Tuesday evenings. This invites individuals into the worship experience during the days leading up to worship. The new part of Doug’s vision (at least for me) is to create opportunities for dialogue/exploration during the message. I haven’t done much with this in the past, but Doug’s vision has me thinking about new ways of trying this in the future as well. One other thing that was particularly helpful for me was Doug’s distinction between sermons that aim for life-application vs. proclamations that target the Gospel's implication on your life. The difference? “Application is about how a piece of information fits into your life. Implication is not about fitting; it’s about redefining” (102). Much to think about and digest here. I’ll finish Doug’s book tomorrow. Only 2 ½ days until our trip to New York City. Can you tell I’m excited. Til next time…