It Is Well With My Soul

I'm teaching a class all day, everyday at the Lutheran seminary in Chicago this week. The title of the class is "Being & Doing Church in the X-Box Era." In the syllabus, I introduce the class this way:

OK, here’s my bias: Even and maybe especially in the midst of our changing culture, I believe theology matters. Many people who love Jesus, care about the church, and feel called to lead the church into mission in God’s world, get impatient with talking about this stuff. They just want to do it. Some of these people are my best friends. But I believe there is a deep connection between what we do and why we do it. The more articulate we are about what we think and what we know and what we believe, the more effective our actions will become. Transformation happens when people discover new categories, concepts, and language (or rediscover old ones!) that make sense of their experience, their lives, and their world. Just ask Martin Luther about this. Or Karl Marx. Or Jon Sobrino. Or Rosemary Radford Ruether. Or Jesus. So, you want to lead God’s people in mission in the midst of this X-Box culture?!? Well, what are you going to tell them? What language will you use to help them more deeply understand what God is up to? What theological categories will you use to help provide a framework for your work together? What biblical images will you turn to for motivation, direction, and encouragement? How will you answer the hard questions when they come up? How will you make decisions in the midst of confusing situations? How will you lead?? That’s what this course is all about. What actually happens in this course, though, is entirely up to you. We’ll read a couple of different authors and books together. We’ll spend time in Scripture. We’ll do a lot of talking, trying to sort this stuff out together. But the goal isn’t for you to figure out what our authors believe. It isn’t to figure out what I believe. The goal is to figure out, more deeply, what you believe; and to be able to express it – in word and deed – in a way that is authentic, inspired, and life-giving.

It was all catchy enough to get a nice size group to register. And we are having a roller coaster ride of a week together. It's been fun. But it's also been exhausting. 

Our reading list included these books:

The Augsburg Confession (or another appropriate confessional document). 

Bass, Diana Butler. Christianity for the Rest of Us: How the Neighborhood Church is Transforming the Faith. Harper Collins. 2007. 

The Bible. 

Escobar, Samuel. The New Global Mission: The Gospel From Everywhere to Everyone. Intervarsity Press. 2003. 

McLaren, Brian. The Secret Message of Jesus: Uncovering the Truth That Could Change Everything. Thomas Nelson. 2007. 

Roxburgh, Alan & Fred Romanuk. The Missional Leader: Equipping Your Church to Reach a Changing World. Jossey-Bass. 2006

The course is designed (as the syllabus says!) to help participants:

(Re)imagine what it means to be a missional leader in the 21st century, within a church that has been called to participate in God’s mission, by engaging them in a conversation about some of the most critical questions being asked in the church today: What in the world is God up to? What is God up to in our communities? What is God up to in our congregations? What is God up to in my life? We will explore the biblical and theological foundations of the missional (and, by extension, the emerging) church conversation towards the goal of helping participants articulate their own answers to these questions. Also, attention will be given to strengthening practical skills for missional leadership within a congregation. Themes will include: 1) learning to ask purposeful questions, 2) assessing and understanding a particular context, from a missional perspective, 3) “doing theology” with congregations in context, 4) cultivating in others an imagination for doing ministry in new and contextually relevant ways, 5) making use of participative, playful processes, and 6) creating an openness to change, for the sake of mission, within a congregation.

Did I mention that this is a week long class?! 

That's what I'm talking about: Exhausting. 

But this group has been engaged and passionate, willing to think new thoughts and dream new dreams, courageous enough to push back (I can be kind of scary), prayerful and hopeful and eager to be a part of what God is up to in this new world.

It's been good for my soul. 

By the way, check out what my friend, Chris, is doing at his church over at the Lutheran Zephyr this week. Not only is he trying something new, the thing he's trying is to help people be on the look out for what God is doing EVERYDAY and everywhere they go, AND he's being open about what's not working and what he hopes to do better as he goes. 

God is on the loose.

Comments

[Chris]

Thanks for the shout out, Kelly. I have found your "God is on a mission" language very helpful as a fresh way of speaking of Two Kingdoms - the two ways in which God is at work in our world.

Thanks!

[Jennifer]

Wow Kelly! I wish I could be a mouse in the corner of that class! How totally exciting! Thanks for sharing the reading list too!

[Ivy]

One week! Sounds like you have a semester's worth of information. We had similar conversations in a couple of my undergrad classes. When are you coming to LTSG? Peace.

KELLY'S RESPONSE: I'd love to come to LTSG! Put in a request to the dean. :)

[John Stiles]

Hi Kelly,

John Stiles, here. ELCA Pastor in Oakdale, MN. I've checked on your posts off and on in recent weeks and have found your "L" word book useful with our council and adult forum. This post on reaching the X-Box generation really caught my attention.

Speaking of just doing the mission work, I am currently exploring the possibility of outreach through Second Life (an online virtual world). There is only one ELCA Lutheran group to date and I have been serving as their "pastor" for the past few months.

I have met folks from all over the world in this environment (which is a strange cross between a comic book, video game and chat room). Most folks use SL for role playing (Star Wars, military, even an Elven village).

There are groups worshipping in Second Life from all faiths and denominations, plus several non-profit organizations (Relay for Life, NPR's Science Fridays, American Cancer Society, etc.)

There are obvious limits to "worshipping" online (sacraments & weddings... have been tried by some, but I'm not buying it...) There are also seedy sides to this environment (as with much of the worldwide web).

Anyway, I've proposed using your 5-point mission for starters in our group ("SL Lutherans"). Hope that's okay (I posted the copyright info from the book in our statement of beliefs, which is patterned off of the Lutheran World Federation). If you know of any other computer gamers, seminarians or clergy who might be interested in this endeavor, pass it on or check it out yourself. Not sure how long I'll keep up the weekly pace with it on my own. We meet most Wed nights at 9 CST and there are some 50,000 folks "in-world" at any given time. SL Lutherans also have a new facebook page I just set up.

The jury is still out with me, as to how much staying power this movement has (remember the CB craze of the 70s? Everybody gets a "handle" for their avatar in SL!) Is it just a passing fad? For now, it's been an interesting venue to preach, do some live music, hear prayer requests from those gathering (usually 5 or 6 on a typical night) and connect with folks who might never set foot in a real church.

Take care and blessings!
John Stiles