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Pub Theology Topics April 19

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A nice, low-key evening at the pub last night.  In the cask was the Aztec Gold, a porter with chocolate, cinnamon, vanilla, and chipotle…  a spicy delicious combination.

We had some good conversations on the topics below:

1.    If the church is to have a future it must:
___________________________________.

2.    Without proper structures life will never grow.  Faith, naturally intuitive, cannot grow without a proper use of logic (structure).  Where there are lapses of faith, there are broken structures of logic.  Faith stretches our logic, and logic should create a space to experience our faith.

3.    “I relax and enjoy life.  I know that whatever I need to know is revealed to me in the perfect time and space sequence.”

4.    This offends me: _________________________.

5.  Humanism or atheism is a wonderful philosophy of life as long as you are big, strong, and between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five. But watch out if you are in a lifeboat and there are others who are younger, bigger, or smarter.

The first topic was in light of Andrew Sullivan’s recent article in Newsweek about the crisis in Christianity.

What do you think?  Is the church in trouble?  What must it do going forward?

I have to say that I highly enjoyed a couple of response pieces:

Diana Butler Bass:  A Resurrected Christianity?

and

Scott Paeth:  The Power of the Powerless

Thanks to Tony Jones for pointing out those responses.  He has more on his blog:  Theoblogy:  What Crisis in Christianity?!?

I Need the Resurrection

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Four echoes of Resurrection hope

Read during Easter worship at Watershed, 2012

I need the Resurrection
*
because my sister is sick
and can’t afford insurance,
because I’ve told a weeping Haitian mom,
“No, I can’t take your son home with me.”
because I’ve been rushed off a Jerusalem street
so the police could blow up a package that could’ve blown up us.
Because I’ve exploded
in rage
and watched their tiny faces cloud with hurt.
because evil is pervasive
and I participate.
I need the Resurrection
because it promises
that in the end
all wrongs are made right.
Death loses.
Hope triumphs.
And Life and
Love
Prevail.

 

I need the Resurrection

because I’m tired and worn
the hours are long, the pay not enough
the second job barely covers the costs
for the kids to eat
the rent to be paid;
because life throws you some pitches
that you just can’t hit.
Because she left, and
I stayed.
Because some days a good cup of coffee
just isn’t enough.
Because I’m tired. . .
I need the Resurrection
because night gives way to morning,
darkness. . . to light
and because one day: all things will be new.



I need the Resurrection
because this life is so wonderful
despite its fragility;
the softness of dew on the morning grass
The house quiet while all are yet asleep
The promise of a new day.
Because each day comes and goes
And so many have now gone too.
I need the Resurrection
because I want one more day
with those who have already
Gone to sleep.
One more hello
One more long afternoon on the front porch
Telling stories

I’ve heard so many times
But long to hear again.
I need the Resurrection
because the story must not end.

I need the Resurrection

Because life has never
been as it should be
for me
or, I guess, for you.
I’ve never seen a rainbow
Or a lily. . .
a mountain, or a tree.
Yet these ideas are more
than just ideas,
and one day, I shall see.
I need the Resurrection
Because I long to touch, and feel, and smell
and wonder over
forever… this
Clean earth… which has been sullied.
One day, renewed.
And one day, as I use my senses
to drink deeply of all that is,
I shall see that Creation
Crowned, with a King.

*first story courtesy of Kara Root, pastor of Lake Nokomis Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota 

STATION: Lectio

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Sacred Reading

History

Lectio Divina is the Latin for ‘Holy Reading’ and was a form and approach to praying with Scripture that was common among medieval religious orders. The value of Lectio Divina was rediscovered in the twentieth century.

Essentially Lectio Divina involves taking a short passage of Scripture and pondering it. This can be done alone or in a group, and normally involves prolonged periods of silence.

 

Instructions

 

Choose a reader.  The reader will read the text through four times, slowly, with a time of silence between each reading.  Allow the words to wash over you.  Be present.  What is God saying to you right here and now?  Open yourself to His Words.

From the fourth chapter of the Gospel of John:

 

“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep.  Where can you get this living water?”

Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.  Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water. . .”

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» Previous Station: STILL

Return to: The Monastery Experience

STATION: Table

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take, eat, remember, believe

Thou Shepherd of Israel, and mine
Charles Wesley, 1757

Thou Shepherd of Israel, and mine,
The joy and desire of my heart,
For closer communion I pine,
I long to reside where thou art:
The pasture I languish to find
Where all, who their Shepherd obey,
Are fed, on thy bosom reclined,
And screened from the heat of the day.

Ah! show me that happiest place,
The place of thy people’s abode,
Where saints in an ecstasy gaze,
And hang on a crucified God;
Thy love for a sinner declare,
Thy passion and death on the tree:
My spirit to Calvary bear,
To suffer and triumph with thee.

‘Tis there, with the lambs of thy flock,
There only, I covet to rest,
To lie at the foot of the rock,
Or rise to be hid in thy breast;
‘Tis there I would always abide,
And never a moment depart,
Concealed in the cleft of thy side,
Eternally held in thy heart.

— — —

This is the body of Christ, broken for you.

This is the blood of Christ, shed for you.

Take and eat.

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» Next Station: GROOVE

Previous Station: VOX

Return to: The Monastery Experience

STATION: Vox

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voices, together

Choose a reader to read the regular type, communal response in bold.

Brigid of Ireland
Brigid is believed to have been the daughter of a pagan Scottish king and a Christian Pictish slave.  Even as a child, she was known to have a generous spirit and a compassionate, tender heart and was drawn to help the poor, the hungry, and the cold.  Eventually Brigid’s father decided she must be married or taken into someone else’s household, because he could no longer afford to keep her (especially in light of her excessive giving to the poor, which he feared would be the ruin of him).  Brigid refused marriage and became a nun with seven other women.  At Kildare, she founded a double monastery for monks and nuns, assisted by a bishop.  The perpetual fire at the monastery became a symbol of its hospitality and constant, undying devotion to God and the poor.

O Lord, let my soul rise up to meet you
As the day rises to meet the sun.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever.  Amen.

Come, let us bow down and bend the knee: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.
We are happy to be your children, O Lord: make us happier still to extend the table.

 

Psalm 1:1-3

Happy are they who have not walked in the counsel of the wicked:
nor lingered in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seats of the scornful!
Their delight is in the law of the LORD:
and they meditate on his law day and night.
They are like trees planted by streams of water, bearing fruit in due season, with leaves that do not wither:
everything they do shall prosper.

 

Reading

Brigid of Ireland said, “I would like the angels of Heaven to be among us.  I would like an abundance of peace.  I would like full vessels of charity.  I would like rich treasures of mercy.  I would like cheerfulness to preside over all.  I would like Jesus to be present.”

We are happy to be your children, O Lord: make us happier still to extend the table.
Prayer:

Lord, help us to welcome every guest as if we were welcoming you, delighting in their presence and ready to learn what good news they bring to us.  Amen.

Blessing:
May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you:
wherever he may send you;
May he guide you through the wilderness:
protect you through the storm;
May he bring you home rejoicing:
at the wonders he has shown you;

May he bring you home rejoicing:
once again into our doors.
—
reading taken from Common Prayer: a Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals


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» Next Station: TABLE

Previous Station: TREE

Return to: The Monastery Experience

STATION: Tree

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Bearing fruit


SCRIPTURE:

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
                                                                                          – Galatians 5:22-23

Look at the list of the fruit of the Spirit.
Take a few moments to consider each of these attributes.

Which one are you in need of this moment?

Cutting 'fruit'

Invitation:
Take a piece of paper and cut out a leaf (or a piece of fruit!).

Write the fruit of the Spirit on it that you are asking God to produce in you.

Say it aloud as you hang it on the tree.

Look at the tree and the fruit others have posted or will post.  Give thanks to God for these gifts of the Spirit.

Take a moment to bask in God’s presence.

On the tree

Prayer:

God, I long to know you more.
I worship you as Three in One – Father, Son, Spirit.


May my life take root deep in you, and may the leaves and fruit that grow bring shade, healing, and life to all.

 

In Christ, Amen.

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» Next Station: VOX

Previous Station: FIRE

Return to: The Monastery Experience

STATION: Fire

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Light, heat, warmth


As you enter this space find a place to still yourself before the throne of God… whether standing, sitting, or kneeling.

Flames

Consider the candle flame, its warmth, its light.

Let this light illuminate your thoughts and this warmth draw out your burdens.  Perhaps you are in need of forgiveness or need to forgive.

Take as much time as needed.

Invitation:

When you feel led, write your prayer request or supplication, a name or a word that has meaning to you on a slip of paper, set it in the container —giving it to God.

Light

Then light a votive candle as an ikon of your prayer.

Prayer:

Dispel my illusions, Jesus, that I might see the wisdom of your way.


May your light guide me always and give me strength.

 

Amen.

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» Next Station:  TREE

Previous Station: WATER

Return to: The Monastery Experience

 

The Monastery Experience

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Recently at Watershed we attempted to cultivate a unique worship experience, specifically for Lent.

We called it ‘The Monastery  Experience’, making use of the old, late-1800’s space recently restored in the Village at Grand Traverse Commons – our collective home as a faith community.  In the brick-lined hallways and arches, it was easy to imagine ourselves in a monastery in ancient times.

Various stations were set up at which one was able to stop and have a contemplative worship experience.  A nice group of people attended, from our own community and beyond.  Young, old, and in-between walked the halls and spent time worshiping, reflecting, absorbing.  In the background we had chant playing from Benedictine and Gregorian monks.  As it echoed through the halls we were truly transported to another place.

There will be a page for each station on this site, and you are invited to experience this powerful event for yourself.

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LENT:  the monastery experience

Enter here

Lent is about making space for God.  This morning, we have created a monastery-like setting in which you are invited to consider the ways you can empty yourself, and create more space for God.

There are eight stations setup in the lower mercato area.  Imagine you are entering a monastery.  Act with the reverence you would have on such an occasion.

Some stations will work best by yourself, others will work better in a group.

Instructions will be provided at each station.  You may want to experience each station, or a few, or some more than once.  Don’t worry about rushing from one to the next – be present in each space.  You may start at the end, and work forward, or the front and move back, or in any order you choose.  When you are finished with a station, quietly move to the next.

Here is an overview, with links to each station:

STATION:  WATER — seeking release
Works best individually

STATION:  FIRE — illumination, heat, warmth
Works best individually

STATION:  TREE — seeking fruit and life
Works best individually

STATION:  VOX — voices that bring life
Works best in groups of four or more

STATION: TABLE — take, eat, remember, believe
Individual or groups

STATION:  GROOVE — breaking out of ruts
Works best individually

STATION:  STILL — quiet, empty, silent
Individual or groups

STATION:  LECTIO — sacred reading
Works best in groups of four or more

» First Station: WATER

Thanks to Angela Josephine for collaboration on this great event, and to the Minervini Group for providing use of the space!

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If you had a chance to participate in this – would love to hear what you thought of it!  Or if you missed it and have some thoughts —

Please post your comments below!

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