2019 is off to an frantic start so I wanted to give you an update about some fun I have been having.
At Vermont Hills I am enjoying a new sermon series. Two weeks ago was “God Loves Groups” about how the gospel has to be more than getting one small part of you (as an individual) to a good place after you die. That is too small a gospel.
This past week was about how the concept of ‘Hell’ functions in our psyche and how we need to take the sting out of this hellish idea. (Video below)
Progressive Bible Study (now called imBible Study) just finished the book of Ruth so Katie and recorded a Ruth Recap podcast that was a LOT of fun.
Sunday School (no called Brain Storming w/ Bo) is going through the alphabet. D is for Demythologize was a good podcast. E is for Emergence (and ecclesiology) comes out tomorrow. This Sunday is G is for Gay Christians where we are going to unClobber the Bible.
Let me know you thoughts. I would love to hear your comments, concerns, and questions.
I am done trying to convert people from the old ways – it is time to live into the new ways.
Nearly 20 years ago I attended the Billy Graham School of Evangelism and even over the last 10 years, as my faith has changed, adapted, expanded, and evolved, I have labored to help those who wanted a bridge to a new kind of faith.
In the past, I have held a deep sense of obligation to help those who were asking questions to get a sense of how things were assembled … or for those who were in transition to find a landing spot for their new conviction.
I didn’t want anyone to get left behind. We live in a time of constant change and fluid social settings. I always tried to account for various perspectives and to give a generous a framework as I could imagine.
I am satisfied that I have done that well.
No longer will my primary concern be explaining the faith and providing access points for those who want to understand. I have left a substantial bread-crumb trail for those who are looking to migrate.
Starting in 2019 my primary concern will be professing faith that works in the 21st century and postmodern context.
I am retiring from evangelism and moving to profession – from apologist to professor.
It takes a lot of energy to account for and attend to the various perspectives and then to frame them and present them in a way that any genuinely interested person could gain access. It has been a wonderful 10 years and it has been a very formative experience.
I will now put my energies toward a constructive and innovative project where my primary concern will not be translating or explaining for those who believe a different way … but professing a forward-leaning faith for those who are interested.
I am done trying to convert people from the old ways – it is time to live into the new ways.
Here is the upside: because Protestantism (in general) and Methodism (in particular) provide me an already assumed structure – complete with content, praxis, and institutional frameworks … I will be free to play off of the as-is always/already and put my energy into the:
Playful
Irreverent
Creative
Poetic
Whimsical
Melodic
Critical
Ironic (and at-times)
Transgressive
I am moving from being a builder who feels obligated to provide a constructive apparatus for those who are migrating and need a completed faith that they can live in (which is now available), to an artisan or song writer or analyst.
This is a big shift for me.
I have spent the last 10 years honoring, explaining, translating, and mediating between the Evangelical world of my upbringing and the new constructive, philosophical, and diverse approaches of the late 20th and early 21st century.
Those who have wanted to make the migration have largely done so – I leave them to be the new translators, practitioners, and guides. Evangelicalism has changed even more than I have in the last 10 years. It has become something in its contemporary manifestation that I barely recognize from my youth. [1]
I have thought about this long and hard. I am at peace with this change. I am confident of the timing. The reality is that Evangelicalisms is a closed-system (or what system theory would call a ‘bounded set’). It is has its own borders, its own gatekeepers/guards, and its own internal logic.
I will still be available to help those who are genuinely asking for clarification but I am retiring from the business of attempting to convert anyone.
I want to thank you all for the support and feedback during this journey. If you unsubscribe, I bless you and wish you well. If you choose to continue on, buckle up … some changes are in store.
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[1] Evangelicalism (and its charismatic offspring) has its own operating system (based on inerrancy) where the Bible becomes a science text book, a history book, a counseling manual, a financial spreadsheet, an explanation of world religions, a road-map to the future, and guide the end-times/afterlife . The evangelical operating system is incompatible with nearly any other program that you might seek to run. It is an all-or-nothing- machine.
In the past month I have been told by somebody that each element of our Sunday gatherings is their favorite … and somebody else’s least favorite.
Passing of the Peace
Music and Singing
Prayer
Sermon
Conversation
Communion
Videos
This is fascinating to me – and I love that we can talk about it!
This is part of our life together. This is how community works. Each aspect or element connects with some and may not with another. BUT when you put it all together … that is where things become life-giving and dynamic.
Last week my interview with Mason Mennenga came out. I had so much fun recording it and we cover a variety of topics.
my spiritual migration
academic interests
interactive church
Religious but not spiritual
nerdy takes on Bonhoeffer and ‘the world come of age’
He also has a wonderful style for his podcast where he features the music of a different artist every time. He chose Workman Song for this episode and it really came together.
I had the opportunity earlier this week to be with leaders who are doing innovative things in their communities and ministry settings.
I got to talk about ‘why we do church this way’. I love to think through how to do and be church in the 21st century. I like to call it ‘a liturgy of listening and learning’.
Interactive church brings together the best of constructive approaches, emergent thought, church 2.0, and church as google. It is not top-down and heavy-handed in a prescriptive way, it is open-minded and open-ended.
We did a little experiment last week with Facebook Live. The feedback was good so we will be improving the audio and visual quality.
If you want to check out a short sermon (like if you don’t make it church tomorrow), I hope that you will be encouraged. Below is the link [even though it won’t embed for some reason]
Bo Sanders: Public Theology 