It has been a busy week at the Clontz house and at Trinty, so imagine my surprise when I looked at the calendar and realized it was Saturday--again! But here are some of the articles that have caught my attention this week.
Over at Emerging UMC, Taylor Burton-Edwards has been blogging about some recent comments by Lovett Weems regarding the missional future of United Methodism. I thought this week's reflection regarding the whether or not the church needs to change in order to reach younger people and a new generation to be particularly challenging. He basically means we have to go back to our roots to meet the challenges of the future.
As usual, nothing I think about it terribly cutting edge. This week both US News and World Report and Time magazine addressed some of the issues, I have been exploring in this blog. If you don't have a subscription to either, check out US News and World Reports articles on "A Return to Tradition" and "Mixing Jesus with Java." And then surf on over to Time to read "The Hipper Than Thou Pastor" (i.e., Rob Bell).
For those who are interested in reading more about the different generations and how they impact the world, the Harvard Business Review has an excellent article that is somewhat summarized over at Tribal Church in her articles Futurama and Futurama II. Their premise is not only does each generation have a different take on the world, but that there are four different archetypes that rotate througout history in a predicatable pattern. Really fascinating stuff by the authors of the Fourth Turning. I found the Harvard Business Review article worth the cost of the download and I recommend it to anyone who teaches, employs or works with folks of any age and wonders why the different age groups approach things differently.
1 comment:
Returning to traditional practices; participating in weekly communion; interacting with the culture; ignoring the culture; it seems that the "church" is opening to every tool in its tool box, but using those tools to encounter and transform our inner nature and thus the culture. There seems to be a real desire to go beyond rote practices that leach experience from deeply spiritual moments, making them sterile periods that build walls between authentic expression and desire for connection with God.
As busy as people are and as isolated as technology makes us, we value those moments that bring connection, realization, and awareness of God and neighbor. We are seeking deep meaning in the practices of the church ... we want traditions that are explained or at least taught with feeling and reverent expression. We really are "clanging cymbals" if we cannot connect with the holy — both in the word and traditions of our faith and the holy in those around us.
Worship dies if we try to box it in by saying that it is defined by only certain practices and closed to all the tools and expressions, both old and new, that reveal the fascinating mosaic of God's nature. As long as we are open to real connection through tradition AND new ways of encountering the culture, we are more likely to experience the grace and the needed transformation to participate in the kingdom of God.
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