The Weekend Wanderer: 11 July 2020

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.


Churches reopening“Churches, Coronavirus, and The New York Times” – Earlier this week The New York Times published an article with this title “Churches Were Eager to Reopen. Now They Are a Major Source of Coronavirus Cases.” The lede said, “The virus has infiltrated Sunday services, church meetings and youth camps. More than 650 cases have been linked to reopened religious facilities.” Now, at first blush you may say, “Oh my, how could churches be so foolish!” But then, without diminishing how serious everything is, you may stop and consider 650 cases across 50 states with total cases of more than 65,000 in the nation and say, “What a minute. Do these statistics really support the claim being made?” And then you might read this article by Ed Stetzer, former head of LifeWay Research and Executive Director of the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College, and you reassess everything.


Supreme Court“What the Ministerial Exception Will Mean for Religious Employers” – Very significant rulings have come out of the Supreme Court in this past month. Several in the past week and a half have made significant impact in relation to religion in America, and this week brought a decision that put debate around religious liberty squarely at the center. “The Supreme Court defended religious liberty on Wednesday, bolstering and broadening the so-called ‘ministerial exception.’ In a 7-2 decision, the court ruled that the Constitution protects the freedom of religious organizations to hire and fire employees who play a vital role in fulfilling their religious mission.”


harps“A Letter on Justice and Open Debate” – This letter published in Harper’s seemed to cause quite a stir online this past week. While not at first glance related to faith and culture, it actually is about a certain kind of faith and culture. There is a clash of ideologies in our public sphere that is bringing a strange alliance of different groups. Here, artists and intellectuals as varied as Wynton Marsalis, Malcolm Gladwell, J. K. Rowling, and Salman Rushdie came together to sign onto a letter calling for the respect of free speech and the open exchange of information and ideas in a culture that is often aimed at cancelling and public shaming. A friend pointed me to Fredrik deBoer’s assessment of this called “Ending the Charade,” which is brief and will get you thinking. Also, at the Convivial Society, L. M. Sacasas directs our attention to the way that digital media plays into this debate in “The Material Sources of Free Speech Anxieties.”


Asian American Collaborative“Asian American Community Tackles Anti-Blackness In Chicago” – Last week, community members from the Asian American Christian Collaborative (AACC) marched from Chinatown to Bridgeport to fight anti-Blackness. WBEZ in Chicago interviews Ray Chang, the President of the Asian American Christian Collaborative and also the Ministry Associate for Discipleship in the Chaplain’s Office at Wheaton College. You can listen to the thirteen-minute interview at the link above, but also find out more about this even at the website for the AACC here.


Mel Lawrenz“Working Through Traumatic Loss and Grief: Interview with Dr. Mel Lawrenz on his new book, A Chronicle of Grief – When I moved to Milwaukee, I served as the college pastor at Elmbrook Church for five years. Mel Lawrenz was the Senior Pastor of Elmbrook at that time, and his daughter, Eva, was part of the college ministry I served. I still remember hearing the shocking news that Eva passed away unexpectedly in 2017 at the age of 30. Mel had written previously about grief and trauma, but when I received a copy of his book, A Chronicle of Grief, I knew it would be more personal and powerful. Here is an interview of Mel by Jamie Aten, Ph.D., is the Founder and Executive Director of the Humanitarian Disaster Institute.


AP-immigration-trump-cf-170126_12x5_1600“Evangelical group writes to Trump urging him not to end DACA” – “A group of Evangelical leaders are writing to President Trump this week to urge him to reconsider plans to resubmit a filing to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Seven religious leaders encouraged the president to leave DACA in place until Congress passes legislation that permanently protects Dreamers, the young immigrants who were brought to the country illegally as children. The Hill reported this week that Trump is expected to refile paperwork this week to end DACA.”


monreale“Rehabilitating the Quadriga” – This may seem a little off the beaten path, but I came across this 2013 article by Peter Leithart on rehabilitating the Quadriga, while writing a book review that I hope will come out this fall. The Quadriga is the fourfold sense of Scriptural interpretation with roots in the early church fathers: literal sense, allegorical/theological sense, tropological/moral sense, and anagogical/eschatological sense. While usually discredited in discussions of modern models of biblical interpretation, there is a movement afoot to recover figural or allegorical reading of Scripture, not in the sense of fanciful readings, but in the sense of regaining the theological meaning inherent within the literal reading of Scripture. Leithart does a good job of summarizing it all.


Ennio Morricone“Ennio Morricone’s life in pictures” – Okay, we are all over the place today, but if you did not hear that Ennio Morricone passed away, you should stop for a moment and take a look at this quick summary of his life in pictures. Famous for writing the scores for “spaghetti westerns” directed by Sergio Leone, such as The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly and A Fistful of Dollars, Morricone continued to work on film scores, including those with more overtly religious themes. He received numerous Oscar nominations for his film scores, including that for The Mission, which was sometimes described as nearly overwhelming the movie in its power.


Music: Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer, and Chris Thile, “Scarcely Cricket,” from Not Our First Goat Rodeo.

[I do not necessarily agree with all the views expressed within the articles linked from this page, but I have read them myself in order to make me think more deeply.]

The Weekend Wanderer: 27 October 2018

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.

84055“Eugene Peterson Has Completed His Long Obedience” – Beloved pastor, author, and professor Eugene Peterson passed away on Monday, just shortly after his family announced he had entered hospice care. Peterson is probably best-known for his work on the paraphrase of the Bible, The Message. However, most pastors appreciate him for his astute writings on pastoral ministry. You can read reflections on his life by a number of pastors in Christianity Today‘s article “Ministry Lessons from the Life of Eugene Peterson,” as well as my own reflections on his impact on my ministry over at Preaching Today: “Remembering Eugene Peterson.”  Three outstanding further reads on Peterson are:

You might also enjoy hearing Mel Lawrenz’s two-part interview with Peterson about his memoir, The Pastor, or Fuller Seminary’s video project involving both Eugene Peterson and Bono of U2 interacting around the power of the biblical psalms.

 

83782Back and Forth on the 81% – Since the 2016 election, debate has flared over the fact that 81% of white evangelicals voted for Donald Trump. Some see this is a deep rift and compromise, while others see it as a sign of solidarity. Christianity Today  recently published a study debunking the monolithic nature of that fact: “Why Evangelicals Voted Trump: Debunking the 81%.” One of the key reminders of the study is: “The 81 percent fails to differentiate the motivations behind voting.” Of course, no study can fully narrate motivations, so this is a good reminder, but does not tell us much. One of the major conclusions of the study is this: “Many Evangelicals voted for Trump, reluctantly, because of economics and health care more than abortion and social issues.” Others have reacted to the conclusions of this study, leveling the critique that even the approach to the study shows the residual racism within white evangelicalism (see: “A New Study on Evangelical Voters Ignores Racism“). As I have said before, for multi-ethnic churches this is one of the greatest challenges to unity that we have experienced. For all of evangelicalism, it is a wake-up call to assess our kingdom allegiance.

 

_104003774_comp_976Speaking of the 81%, I encountered two recent articles on evangelicals asking hard questions about the current political climate. The first focuses on four white evangelical women who are questioning evangelical alliances with Trump in “The evangelical women who reject Trump.” The second article focuses on Minneapolis pastor Doug Pagitt, who is raising questions about losing our moral authority as evangelicals in “Finding ‘Common Good’ Among Evangelicals In The Political Season.” Regardless of where you land politically, all who self-identify as evangelical must grapple with these realities.

 

winner - dangers.jpg“When Christian practice (de)forms us” – James K. A. Smith offers a thoughtful review of Lauren F. Winner’s latest book, The Dangers of Christian Practice. “When Protestant theologians write about Christian practices, ‘they are almost always extolling the practices.’ The question that never seems to get asked is: ‘Why carry on with habits or practices, given the likelihood of their (and our) going wrong?’ What good did this renewal of practices do for Catholic children in Pittsburgh or women at Willow Creek Church?…Winner’s point is more trenchant: some deformation is uniquely generated by the Christian practices themselves. Some of the damage perpetuated by Christian practices is almost inherent, uniquely emerging from the sacred logic of those practices. In other words, when Christian practices become twisted and do harm, the contortion often reflects the kingdom curvature of the practices. Such characteristic damage reflects something about the very nature of the thing.”

 

gulagtitle3-mr“China’s hidden camps: What’s happened to the vanished Uighurs of Xinjiang?” – You will need to take some time for this deep exploration of what is happening to the Uighur minority group in China. Repression of minority groups in general, and the Uighurs specifically, has been a hideous aspect of China’s governance. However, with the increasing powers of President Xi Jinping, this repression has reached new levels of human rights abuses. Thanks to BBC for great journalistic efforts on this pressing issue. [Thanks to Kelly Erickson for sharing this article with me.]

 

Story_of_Redemption_Infographic_Blog_Header“Infographic: The Story of Redemption” – As part of the ESV Story of Redemption Bible, Crossway Publishers has put together a wonderful infographic-style journey through the story of Scripture. I’m not much for specialty Bibles, in fact I find most of them detestable, but I enjoyed the way Crossway put this together as an accessible resource online, regardless of the Bible itself. I hope you both enjoy and are informed by this visual story-telling of the Scripture.

 

astounding“Dawn of Dianetics: L. Ron Hubbard, John W. Campbell, and the Origins of Scientology” – While riding in the car with a couple of coworkers, our conversation took a strange turn into talking about scientology. It was just a few days later that I encountered a link leading me to read an excerpt adapted from Alec Nevala-Lee’s book, Astounding, a well-researched exploration of the history and ideology behind scientology. It’s not my normal read, but you might just find that this long-read article lives up to the title of the book.

 

[I do not necessarily agree with all the views expressed within the articles linked from this page, but I have read them myself in order to make me think more deeply.]

The Weekend Wanderer: 11 August 2018

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.

 

Chabros“God at the Margins (Part 1 of 3)” – My dear friends, Michal and John Chabo, share their story of God’s faithfulness in the midst of the challenging environment of Syria. You do not want to miss this amazing story from these two wonderful men. You will also enjoy finding out more about their work with Chabros Music, including leading worship at many churches and telling their story as an encouragement to others.

 

HybelsThe ongoing saga at Willow Creek Community Church continued to heat up with the August 5 New York Times article “He’s a Superstar Pastor. She Worked for Him and Says He Groped Her Repeatedly.” Shortly before this, Lead Teaching Pastor Steve Carter announced his immediate resignation in protest of the way the women who have come forward have been treated (read his “A Diverging Path”). Then, on Wednesday night, Lead Pastor Heather Larson announced her immediate resignation, and that the entire Willow Creek Board of Elders would be steeping down. If you don’t know the entire story about what has come forth in regards to former Senior Pastor Bill Hybels and the way in which leadership of Willow Creek handled accusations of sexual misconduct, take a look at Scot McKnight’s recent post in this regard. You may also benefit from reading Mel Lawrenz’s reflections on what this speaks into the lives of leaders.

 

Indianapolis“These 15 U.S. Cities Have the Most Churches” – While this article was created by basically dividing city populations by the number of church buildings that exist there and not something more complicated, it is still interesting to take a look at this list of fifteen cities that have the most church buildings in the US. You will probably be surprised by number 2. [Thanks to Warren Bird for sharing this article.]

 

83011“Rwanda Restricts Fasting as 8,000 Churches Closed” – This is not what you’d typically expect to see within a news headline, but the government of Rwanda has been addressing lack of training and safety concerns in churches and mosques in recent months. “About 8,000 official and unofficial churches, as well as 100 mosques, have been closed in Rwanda for failing to comply with health, safety, and noise regulations. This includes 4 in 10 congregations belonging to a nationwide association of 3,300 Pentecostal churches.”

 

savs-504074-unsplash-e1525470662382-770x400“A Letter from the Angry Black Woman in Your Pew”Lysaundra Campbell at The Witness speaks out: “This is not a time for performative theological discussions that do not result in action. We do not need a conference, panel discussion, or one-time awareness training about gender-based violence. If our conferences, panels, and pulpits are cultivating a culture that mirrors the broader society and diminishes the value of black women and girls through racism and sexism, we have a much deeper heart issue.”

 

EvangelicalImmigrationTableLOGO“Citing Religious Liberty, Evangelical Leaders Urge Trump Administration to Support Refugee Resettlement” – Evangelical Christian leaders have sent a letter asking the Trump administration to raise the refugee ceiling, citing religious liberty and our nation’s history of offering safe haven to people fleeing religious persecution. Signatories express deep concern that further cuts to the U.S. refugee resettlement program would harm religious freedom internationally. The letter was sent to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen and Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback.

 

82941“The Truth About the Catholic Church and Slavery” – Rodney Stark takes on one of the most-debated issues in relation to the culpability of the Roman Catholic Church in relation to the international slave trade. The claim that Christians were actively involved in promulgating slavery is beyond debate. However, Stark suggest that the role of the institutional church and its teaching came against that much more clearly and much earlier than often claimed.

 

Insert-ghost-“Ghosts on the Shore” – “Japanese awareness of ghosts – yūrei – goes back centuries, rooted in ideas of justice and injustice, and in a fear of unfinished business. If a person’s spirit is looked after at death, by a family providing a proper funeral, praying for that person, and visiting the grave, then the deceased is able to pass peacefully into the next world. From there, the dead look out for their still-living relatives, providing help and protection. Every year, in summer, they return to this world, welcomed by their families at the festival of Obon with food and drink, fireworks and dancing.” [Thanks to Micah Mattix and Prufrock News for sharing this.]

 

[I do not necessarily agree with all the views expressed within the articles linked from this page, but I have read them myself in order to make me think more deeply.]