“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.
“New Data Shows Hopeful Increases in Pastors’ Confidence & Satisfaction” – From Barna Group: “Back in 2021, Barna discovered that nearly four in 10 pastors had considered quitting full-time ministry in the past year, a number that rose even higher in 2022. It’s been a while since we’ve reported on how pastors are faring in their roles, and the data show that some hopeful changes have taken place. This article features data from our newest report, The State of Pastors, Volume 2—created in partnership with World Vision, Brotherhood Mutual, RightNow Media and World Impact—to offer an updated view of pastors’ confidence and security in their role. When we began imagining a follow up to The State of Pastors report, things for pastors were looking dire.”
“Hierarchy: A Word Christian Leaders Can Confuse with the Dark and Love to Hate” – MaryKate Morse at Missio Alliance: “For us sensitive, Christ-centered souls, certain words evoke a definite aversion. One of them is the word, ‘hierarchy.’ I wouldn’t be surprised if every one of you in some way or another have experienced a hierarchy that was used to abuse, control, or break you. Women and People of Color (POC) particularly feel it when those in authority dismiss their God-given right for safety and for control over their own bodies and voices. All of us have felt the competitive, dominating edge of others lording it over us. With their bodies, words, structures, and maneuverings, leaders in authoritative hierarchies have done what often feels like irreparable harm. No wonder we cringe at the word. It is not an easy word to love. Even Jesus spoke about it, and it is recorded in all three Synoptics.”
“Iraq hopes to lure Christian pilgrims with new church in ancient Ur” – Reuters: “The bell of a new church built near Iraq’s ancient city of Ur chimed for the first time last week as part of a push to lure back pilgrims to a country that is home to one of the world’s oldest Christian communities.
The church is part of a complex that rises from a desert plain in the shadow of the pyramid-shaped Ziggurat of Ur, a city traditionally believed to be the birthplace of the Prophet Abraham that was visited by Pope Francis three years ago. Construction of the church is to be completed this month. Last week, the large bell was fixed into its steeple, which is made of traditional Iraqi yellowish mud brick. Workers polished the large, brightly-colored stained-glass windows. On his historic visit to Iraq in March 2021, Pope Francis held an inter-religious prayer at a site in Ur believed to have been the house of Abraham – the father of Christianity, Judaism and Islam. His visit was a moment of hope for a Christian community that once numbered around 1.5 million, but has shrunk to the low hundreds of thousands in the two decades since the 2003 U.S. invasion that triggered years of sectarian bloodletting. ‘The Pope’s visit to Iraq, especially to Dhi Qar Governorate and the ancient city of Ur, was of historical importance,’ said Shamil al-Rumaid, director of antiquities in Dhi Qar province.”
“‘No Fear or Danger of Their Forgetting it:’ Revitalizing Wôpanâak from John Eliot’s Bible” – in The Harvard Crimson: “The first Bible published in the Western Hemisphere was printed in Harvard Yard. Deep in the basement of Harvard’s Indian College, John Eliot worked for 14 years to translate and print the Bible. Completed in 1663, Eliot’s Bible was written in Wôpanâak, the language of local Native American tribes. Eliot commended the British throne for sponsoring this effort through the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in New England. Praising the support of Prince Charles in the Bible’s introductory letter, ‘Publications also of these Sacred writings to the sons of men,’ Eliot wrote, ‘is a work that the Greatest Princes have Honoured themselves by.’…Yet, history contains no record of Wôpanâak being spoken after 1833, 170 years after Eliot’s Bible was first published on Harvard’s campus. Struck by visions of the Wôpanâak language returning, Jessie Little Doe Baird, a member of the Mashpee Tribe of the Wampanoag Nation, founded the Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project in 1993….The success of the WLRP has been aided by the rich historical record of written Wôpanâak, which is the Native language with the most written documents on the continent. Central to this canon is the Eliot Bible, to which translators can compare the King James Bible to bear much linguistic fruit.”
“The Art of Living” – L. M. Sacasas at The Convivial Society: “A thought for your consideration…:
The art of living, like any other art, is the art of learning to work creatively within the constraints of the medium.
I would not claim to be an artist, of life or of any other medium. But this thought came to mind recently as I washed dishes and mulled over some of Wendell Berry’s work, which I’d just been reading. I’m drawn to the idea of an art of living much more so than to the compulsive search for life hacks, regimens of self-improvement, or self-optimization schemes. These too often feel like a doubling down on the insistence that we can always do more if only we apply the right technique. They also suggest that the path to happiness involves the discovery of a set of methods which I might readily apply to my work, my relationships, my health, etc. independently of any virtues I might need to cultivate or vices I ought to correct. They draw my attention to what more I might do and what more I might have rather than who I might become. An art, on the other hand, presupposes limits and invites the artist to work with and within those limits. These limits, inherent to the medium itself, can be disregarded, but then you would not have art. The limits of the medium are precisely what call forth the creative effort. They are what create the conditions that make art possible.”
“Confusion, Strategy Shifts, Layoffs: What’s Happening at the American Bible Society?” – Emily Belz in Christianity Today: “he 208-year-old American Bible Society (ABS) used to have a simple mission: print and distribute Bibles in the US. At its peak in 1979, it was giving away 108 million a year. Once Americans had access to Bibles, ABS’s challenge became getting people to read them. In the early 2000s, the organization shifted to a mission of ‘Scripture engagement.’ That is not as clear-cut as the number of Bibles printed, and in the years since, people in ABS circles have disagreed on what to do with a large legacy organization’s resources. A new Bible museum? A Bible app for military members? Curriculum on trauma healing through Scripture? And how much should an organization that partners with Bible societies around the globe focus on the ‘American’ part of its mission? This 21st-century identity crisis has sharpened in the last two years with the quick turnover of five executives in a row, tens of millions of dollars in financial shortfalls, and the loss of a major donor. Sources said that about 30 staff were laid off late last year, which amounts to about 20 percent of employees. Amid all the issues, ABS is changing its priorities. But it’s not clear whether the organizational messes are driving those decisions or if the messes are part of the pains of changing strategy. CT heard from ABS staff, former staff, donors, and other stakeholders, all with different ideas of what is causing the problems at ABS.”
Music: Matt Maher with TAYA, “The Lord’s Prayer (It’s Yours)“
Today, is the celebration of All Saints’ Day. What is All Saints’ Day and why should we celebrate it?
Renovate 