Donald K. McKim Cascade Books, 108 pages For better or worse, part of the experience of Christianity in America has “assumed” church. In the age of Christendom, one could assume the reality of the church with relative ease. If the larger society and culture is assumed to be Christian, then the particular ethos, identity and activity of the Christian community are not all that noteworthy or special or unique. “Assuming” church has led us into some strange forms of self-understanding: thinking one can be a Christian without the church and thinking that the Christian project has more to do with Christianizing our society or our country than it does with the mission of the church. As Christianity becomes more of an optional way of life in an increasingly secular and post-Christian society, the identity, purpose and significance of what we mean by “church” becomes increasingly necessary and important. In his book, “The Church: Presbyterian Perspectives,” Donald McKim offers a … [Read more...]
A March (Madness) love letter
Following a sports team is an avocation filled with irrational exuberance and irrational gloom. It offers us no logical explanation about why we care so much, and leads us to bouts of euphoria and bonhomie after special victories. But, it also leads to bouts of doom, gloom and self-hatred for caring so much after bitter defeats. As one who learned to love playing sports as a child and had the opportunity to play through college, being on a team taught me discipline, hard work, friendship and how to live in community with people from various racial backgrounds, socioeconomic zip codes and parts of the country. Strangely, one thing I did not learn from playing was how stressful and challenging it is to be a fan and spectator. I say all this to preface the fact that I am an avid Davidson College basketball fan. It was 10 years ago on a Good Friday that Stephen Curry led the Wildcats on a run for the ages. I went directly into a Good Friday Tenebrae service after having watched this … [Read more...]
Theological osmosis
“You are not going to pass that test by osmosis!” I have rarely used the term “osmosis” in its proper scientific form, but have usually equated it with the all-nighter “hail Mary” that if I slept on top of my book or with my book under my pillow, the movement of solvent molecules from the information inside might migrate into my semi-permeable brain. But recently I have come to believe that osmosis works not just scientifically, as the permeable cells in our bodies rehydrate or as a less concentrated substance moves to a more concentrated substance, but that osmosis also works theologically. We tend to view reading theology as an unnecessary practice after leaving the seminary classroom, or as an eccentric field reserved for a few academic specialists. Ministry is practical and pragmatic and sitting around reading Calvin or Augustine or Kathryn Tanner clothes us in doctrinal straightjackets and causes us to get hung up on minutiae like infra- and supralapsarianism or the … [Read more...]
The Reformation @ 500: Crossing Jordan
Directly across Jordan Street (the address for the church I serve) sits the Roman Catholic Cathedral. In the Presbyterian churches I have served, Reformation Sunday at the end of October has primarily been a parochial affair: some years with bagpipes and others with organs belting out Martin Luther’s “A Mighty Fortress.” We might use a portion of the Scots Confession if we are feeling adventurous or affirm our faith using the first question of the Heidelberg Catechism: What is your only comfort in life and in death? Our usual practice has been to acknowledge the particularity of the day and celebrate the particularity of our tradition; we might preach on Romans 5:1-11 or Ephesians 1:3-14, and then move on to stewardship season, Thanksgiving and Advent. So, what about this year? It is the 500th anniversary of the date when Luther, a monk in the university town of Wittenberg, Germany, sought to have public debate about his 95 theses and tacked them to the church door, … [Read more...]
Field day and the Holy Spirit
I had the opportunity to go to the “field day” of one of my children recently. I remember some of my own field days a generation ago in elementary school, and cannot remember seeing one parent or camera there for the occasion. Times have changed; and field days have changed too. I do remember “winning” the 100-yard dash in second grade when my biggest competition tripped over each other and I was able to thrust past them to the finish line first. Other than an assistant PE coach tasked with holding a stopwatch and manning the finish line, I was left to celebrate and mark the occasion by myself. So, I am new to the world of field day being part of my parental regimen. In spite of my field day baggage, I enjoyed watching – and especially enjoyed watching how much the kids participated gladly in the events and seemed to have a great time. There was even a moment where I caught myself worrying about whether some teams/classes had unfair advantages over others and why the teacher did … [Read more...]
The joys (and anxieties) of an unrealized ecclesiology
Several years ago, half quixotically and half courageously, I temporarily left full-time ministry to pursue a Ph.D. in systematic theology. Like many Western Christians, I felt the cultural surroundings and benefits of Christendom were disappearing around me, and the definition and prospect of “the church” was a real question. So with questions in hand, I sought to engage Karl Barth’s ecclesiology and to use it as a model to more deeply understand, describe and participate in the present and future church. Many theologians and ecclesiologists do not think Barth has much to offer in terms of ecclesia. When I was first exploring this topic and my particular interest in Barth’s ecclesiology, I shared this interest with a prominent contemporary theologian, who shot back, “I did not realize Karl Barth had an ecclesiology.” Even if I did not appreciate the flippant response at the time, I certainly understood where it was coming from. And it is not just a Barth problem; it is a problem with … [Read more...]
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