“The Weekend Wanderer” is a weekly curated selection of news, stories, resources, and media on the intersection of faith and culture for you to explore through your weekend. Wander through these links however you like and in any order you like. Disclaimer: I do not necessarily agree with all the views expressed within these articles but have found them thought-provoking.
“Zero Episcopalians: A young minister in a declining church looks for reasons to hope” – Benjamin Crosby in Plough: “It is a strange time to be a young minister. I am thirty-two years old, and the church in which I am ordained, the Episcopal Church, has a mandatory retirement age of seventy-two, meaning that I have up to forty years of ministry ahead of me. I fully expect my denomination to be nearly unrecognizable at the time I reach retirement age. Our denomination is overwhelmingly old and white, and mostly made up of small churches in parts of the country that are not growing; our failures at evangelism and retaining the people born in our church mean that demographers predict that our numbers will hit zero around 2040. Of course, we won’t actually have zero Episcopalians in 2040; I for one expect to still be around, God willing. But over the course of about a century we will go from being a large, socially and politically prominent institution to being statistically insignificant. If current trends continue, our congregations will be few and far between, and the institutions which the church has supported – seminaries, charities, missionary societies, religious orders, and so on – either will cease to exist or will have to reimagine their roles.”
“Christmas celebrations canceled, Christians in the Holy Land still find hope in the season” – Daoud Kuttab in Religion News Service: “Last month, as the war on Gaza raged, church leaders in Jerusalem made a decision to cancel all festivities connected to Christmas, saying manifestations of joy of the season during the fighting was inappropriate. While the decision drew general public support, some have argued that the war is a time to think creatively to ensure the happiness of Christmas is not lost amid grieving the reported 24,142 people killed in the Gaza Strip, including 9,420 children and 4,910 women, with 48,901 more injured. In Bethlehem, where the Gospels say Christ was born, the Rev. Munther Isaac, pastor of Nativity Evangelical Lutheran Church, transformed the church’s nativity scene — normally a figure of the infant Jesus in a humble manger in the presence of shepherds — into a pile of stones. Instead of the swaddling clothes mentioned in the Gospel of Luke, he wrapped the figure of baby Jesus with a Palestinian keffiyeh. While Bethlehem is in the West Bank, not Gaza, Isaac tweeted that his point was that Christ’s birth, had it come today, would have come amid the rubble in Gaza.”
“Care of the Earth, Care of the Soul” – Conor B. Dugan in Humanum: “In Apostolic Farming: Healing the Earth, Servant of God Catherine Doherty, in her punchy and aphoristic manner, sketches a vision of farming as a path to holiness. Doherty, the foundress of the Madonna House community of lay men and women and priests, calls this path ‘apostolic farming.’ It involves understanding nature as created, the earth as given, and a quiet humility that sees farming as a way of communing with God. While the book is hardly systematic, it offers nuggets and gems that can serve as a basis for deeper reflection about what true Christian farming should look like. Indeed, Doherty’s thoughts were eminently practical; they translated into concrete action in the form of a farm, St. Benedict Acres, at Madonna House and then later farming activities at other Madonna House apostolates.”
“The Real Antidote to Despair: Boarding School Grace and The Holdovers“ – Sam Bush in Mockingbird: “Whether it’s a preacher, an author or a songwriter, it is often a revelatory experience when you feel like someone is speaking directly to you. Amidst an ocean of other people, the speaker somehow offers insight that suggests they were in your bedroom the night before (or perhaps your car that morning), as if God himself is telling you something through a catalyst. While a blanket statement for the masses may be generally relatable, it is often too blunt to make an emotional impact; but when a peculiar detail is mentioned, it makes you feel personally known, and sought after. In order to penetrate the human heart, one must be precise. In an industry dominated by superhero plotlines, it feels rare to personally identify with a movie these days. And yet, throughout the surprise Christmas classic The Holdovers, I felt like I had a target on my back. Within the first five minutes of the film, the camera happened to zoom in on my exact high school dorm room window. Other scenes featured classrooms and hallways easily recognizable from those formative adolescent years — the river I swam in, the quad where I spent many afternoons throwing a frisbee with friends. I felt like my life was being played out on a screen. Was this a movie made just for me?”
“My Top 5 Books on Orthodox Christianity” – Bradley Nassif in Christianity Today: “Selected by Bradley Nassif, professor of biblical studies and Orthodox-Protestant dialogue at the Antiochian House of Studies, and author of The Evangelical Theology of the Orthodox Church.
The Orthodox Church, Timothy (Kallistos) Ware – This is by far the best book on Eastern Orthodoxy available today—a classic, worthy of the name. For 60 years, it has been the definitive guide for Orthodox and non-Orthodox readers, describing the major features of Orthodox history, doctrine, worship, sacraments, spirituality, and missions. Bishop Ware was a bridge-builder between Orthodoxy and the Christian West, including evangelicals. And from this experience, he explains the major differences between Orthodoxy and the Protestant and Catholic traditions. The language is clear, concise, irenic, and carefully nuanced. The book is also judicious, wise, and balanced in its judgments. Scholars, clergy, and ordinary people can use it for research, pastoral ministry, and Christian education classes. During one of his stays in our home, I asked him about the potential shelf life of his book. With characteristic humility, he replied, ‘All standard textbooks must eventually be replaced by other, better ones.’ But that time has not yet come.”
“The Greco-Roman Background to “Fighting the Good Fight” in the Pastoral Epistles and the Spiritual Life of the Christian” – G. K. Beale in Themelios – “What does Paul mean by the expression ‘fight the fight’ in 1 Timothy 1:18 (NASB)? The Greek verb στρατεύω with the noun στρατεία can be also rendered ‘battle the battle,’ or more generally ‘perform military service’ or ‘serve in a military campaign.’ This expression occurs often in Greco-Roman literature as a patriotic warfare idiom for good character revealed by persevering through warfare or military campaigns. It also occurs in legal contexts to affirm someone’s innocence and good reputation before the court. This idiom is applied to Timothy to demonstrate his good Christian character and reputation over against the false teachers’ bad character. Paul similarly exhorts Timothy to ‘struggle the struggle’ (ἀγωνίζου τὸν καλὸν ἀγῶνα) in 1 Tim 6:12, which most commentators recognize to be synonymous with “fight the good fight” in 1:18 (cf. 2 Tim 4:7).”
Music: Ralph Vaughan Williams, “Benedictus,” as performed by the Choir of St. Michael at the North Gate.
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Matthew Erickson 