Mike's musings

Things to think about

Had a very good supervision with Keith today, mainly about the reports that he and my tutor have written for this year, and what I'm planning to write as my personal assessment. He brought up some really interesting points. It's important, because it's as a result of this process that I'll end up in a title post (which I've mentioned before here). Here are some of the things that came up:

• as well as agreeing that I need to find somewhere with good music, Keith reckons that I should also find somewhere where I can make the most of my skills and interests in the online, as 'twere.
• he feels that my strong theological commitment to justification by faith is something worth nurturing. Although I'm of a liberal bent, theologically, in many ways, my core beliefs are very Reformation Protestant.
• I talked about how important this blog has become to me. Although, quite often, there's nothing theological going on, I do try to keep at least one post a week in that vein, and the opportunities to discuss, swap comments and the rest with others - including the SynchroBloggers - gives me lots.
• I made sure that my answers to some of the questions on the relevant forms - and what I'll say in my personal assessment - make it clear where my sympathies lie in terms of ("dangerous liberal") issues such as women priest/bishops and homosexuals. Although I've been warned off taking too strong a stance on the latter issue until I'm ordained, I'm feeling the need to step things up a little. It's a little thing, but I'm intending to get and wear some sort of brooch/badge to the next ERMC weekend. Just a rainbow. It's more about standing side-by-side, rather than being in people's faces, but it's time to make a little bit of a stand, I think.
• I need to keep looking after myself. I've not been well, and I have responsibilities to my colleagues, my course, my family and myself, not to mention God. Need to keep well.

Labels: blogging, homosexuality, theology

Bump ... Naughty Tree

Poor Mel, Jo's nanny, had a disagreement with some very nasty ice on a bend in the road today, which led to a significant argument with a tree. Jo was in the car, they're both fine, the car isn't, and the insurance company will pay for a new car seat and, hopefully, repairs to Mel's car, too. Today's title comes from Jo's telling of the story. So far, there's no sign of the bad language the Mel says she used in front of Jo when she (Mel) called the insurance people...

My friend Sarah (who knows how to blow that instrument) has just started a blog, called Sarah Sax. I look forward to seeing what she makes of it. It's a difficult discipline, in my experience, and I've really, really benefited from posting every day (well, having a post for each day - sometimes I'm a little late), so I'm interested to see what she makes of it. Welcome to our merry band, m'dear.

So nice to be able to blog about something other than myself for a change!

Labels: blogging, Jo, nanny, pastoral care

Syncretism synchronised blog

This is from Phil Wyman, who organised a synchronised blog.

Today a synchronized blog has been arranged. There are a few of us blogging on the same subject from different perspectives. So, here's the subject: Syncretism in the Western Church Today.

Okay some of you may be saying, "What the heck does that mean?" So here 's a brief dictionary answer to help you understand what we are talking about:

"The combining or merging and synthesizing of religions or religious beliefs, practices, and philosophies. This results in new or hybrid religions that are composed of diverse elements of the religions from which they were derived."

So these blogs are challenging Western Christianity, and suggesting that it might have some form of competing philosophy which we have adopted from our culture. This makes it different than what Jesus might have intended. Ready for some challenging thoughts?

Here's where the blogs are:

• Sally Coleman - http://sallysjourney.typepad.com/ - Subject: Time out from Tinsel
• Phil Wyman - http://squarenomore.blogspot.com/ - Subject: Syncretism in the Evangelical Church: The Consumerism of the Altar Call and the Sinner's Prayer
• John Smulo - http://www.johnsmulo.com/
• John Morehead - http://johnwmorehead.blogspot.com/
• Matt Stone - http://mattstone.blogs.com/ - Subject: Family Values
• Billy Calderwood - http://www.billycalderwood.com
• Mike Crockett - http://mikeofearthsea.blogspot.com/ - Subject: Church and Culture: a double-edged sword
• Carl Nystedt - http://nug-personal-bubble.blogspot.com - Subject: Syncretism: pros and cons
• Steve Hayes - http://www.geocities.com/missionalia/bethesda.htm - Subject: Sundkler deconstructed: Bethesda AICs and syncretism
• Mike Bursell- http://www.p2ptrust.org - Syncretism a positive slant

Have fun, and see if you think about church the same from here on out. This is brought to you by people who want more out of church, and are on a journey to get there.

My post was actually made on Tuesday.

Labels: blogging, syncretism

Syncretism

We're supposed to be doing a joint blog on syncretism today: the extent to which the church marries itself with the "secular" world around it. In fact, both the signs I've seen today have been very positive, and I'd like to share them.

I went to a large mall in Mississauga: SquareOne. It's enormous, and I managed to get lost several times as I wandered around, trying to find a place to get my watch-strap replaced. What signs did I see of the church?

The first was a large sign, covering most of a pillar, advertising church services at a local Lutheran church. It was not out of place: it was another advertisement, and a sign that the church had embraced the methods of the secular world to put its message across. It wasn't corny, or demeaning, or cringe-worthy: it just invited people to church. No more, no less.

The second was simple. In North America, particularly, the Christmas season is very important for the Salvation Army. It's a major collecting time, and they also do lots of good work for the homeless and marginalised. At one of the intersections of the mall, there was a plastic, see-through ball with money in it, simply labelled as for the Salvation Army. There may have been some literature around, but if there was, it wasn't in-your-face. Next to it, there were two young women, sitting, chatting to each other. They were in fashionable clothes, and at least one of them had dyed hair and a lip piercing. They acknowledged my donation with a nod and a thankyou, and just carried on talking. It was a very natural expression of church and Christ in the everyday, and the women didn't seem "other" at all, except for their presence in the vicinity of the collection. They were people who seemed to have embraced the world, but made commitment to church at the same time. And that's pretty much as good as it gets. Or that's how it feels for now.

Labels: advertisement, blogging, salvation army, syncretism