With a Deep Sigh

Just read this article...

 And now I'm shaking my head and sighing....


Lord God, 

In penitence we come before you, 
acknowledging the sin that is within us.

We share the guilt of all those who,
bearing the name Christian, 
slay their fellow human beings.

Forgive us and change us by your love,
that your word of hope may be heard
clearly throughout the world,
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.

AMEN.

GoodReads Book Review: Click 2 Save

Click 2 Save: The Digital Ministry Bible by Elizabeth Drescher
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Excellent source for the novice Christian techie, or for the techie seeking theologically guidance in their (or their church's) online presence. Very easy to read. Contains how-to's on all the major social media platforms. Also, what-not-to-do's and how to respond to specific negative situations.

I am a Religion & Media student at a Lutheran Seminary and highly recommend this book for rostered ministry persons and lay persons, because whether your individual context realizes it or not, media and technology will be a relevant ministry issue in the years ahead.

View all my reviews

London 2012!

The Olympics started today!!!! I'm so excited!


What? You think I've got something wrong?


No.


The Olympics started today. Really. They did.


You think I've been sleeping under a rock for the whole month of August?


Believe it or not, a group of American athletes are in London, competing for gold medals. Right. Now.


They represent the variety of God's creation. They have gifts. Not better, not worse, and not different. They are God's.




So, I don't know about you, but I feel more inspired by this commercial than I was watching any of the olympic events a few weeks ago...

We Welcome All but ya have to get here first...

Today we discussed the accessibility, or inaccessibility, of media. This situation has been dubbed, quite poetically, the digital divide. 

Most of what I can find about this topic (online, because I have ACCESS) concentrates on the access of internet by the global community. 

I really couldn't find much that speaks to my line of thought in this topic. I already fear missional work that creates and "us" and "them" situation, and its seems that much of the work by American churches in this field is about increasing access in underdeveloped countries. 

( Don't worry. I won't go on right now about my distaste for the use of the phrases first world and third world) 

But what about here in our own back yards? How often do those of us in ministry settings take a step back, quite literally, and approach our churches and ministry buildings from the perspective of someone without the same access and property as us? Have we thought about how our church looks and is experienced by others? 

So I pose some questions - Each of these has the assumption that one of our "goals" as a church is to create a community that gives witness to the coming reign of God. That is, to me anyway, a community of inclusivity and perfect love that only God can give and we can only hope to express.

• Do we make information about public transportation available? Do we coordinate car pools? How many more would be with us each week but can't because of transportation. Don't forget, there are more than just elderly members with limited access to transportation!
• Do we print complete contact information in our bulletins? - websites, email addresses, physical addresses not only for the church structure, but for the pastor, any visible leaders, and any one else that might be in the weekly news of the church? Just this week - a bulletin was soliciting donations for new hymnals - "see so-and-so" it said. But that was it! I was a visitor and wanted to give in memoriam but had no way to find this person. And it was the last week to do it!!
• Do our doors open easily? Nothing worse that not getting that door open! If we have ushers and greeters, are they all inside only?
• Do our altars only have stairs? How can we be inclusive without making those that cannot access the rail feel pitied or different? 
• Do our sermons presuppose knowledge of pop culture only accessible via the internet? To understand the sermon do worshippers need to be and insider? Not to say that we cannot use this information, we just need to bring it to them in worship, either let them see what you are talking about, or explain it. 
• How can we address the social-economic differences among us???  One fabulous example I've seen and recently been reminded of, is when churches have computer labs accessible to the community and especially youth. Doing homework without a computer is nearly impossible isn't it?!? 

These are just a few things I've been thinking about. While searching for more resources I did come across a video by a church. They recorded an "Access Sunday" worship. Having never heard of it, of course I did more research. Turns out a lot of churches do this. I found some resources and share them here: 

The Episcopal Disability Network: Ideas for integration into worship and education

Calvin Institute of Christian Worship: All God's Children Have Gifts: Disability and Worship

Rev. Craig Satterlee: ELCA Pastor, legally blind, and prefers phone calls to emails because of the limitations the 
technology creates for the visually impaired!

ELCA Social Statement regarding people with disabilities

Canadian Conference Catholic Bishops

Memories Resurface

My work in disaster response and community rebuilding were major factors in my decision to attend seminary. I've felt called to service for as long as I can remember.

Putting myself in direct contact with people that have suffered from environmental disasters was difficult. Beyond the emotional weight of witnessing such destruction, being involved in such work means being a public theologian.

I am sad that I still don't have answers to the questioning and pondering that precede and follow such events -

"Why would God do this?" "Why did we deserve God's wrath?" "God will protect us" "Why didn't God protect us?!"

The heartbreak and hope I felt and witnessed in those days are still very vivid emotions and feelings for me.  I cannot begin to imagine how vivid they must be for those preparing for Isaac.

So, today, I can't think about much else. And, as if God were speaking to me again in the storm, just today I discovered a classmate works in the public relations office of FEMA. We haven't had much time to talk about her role but I am excited to join in conversation with her as the semester (and the storm) progress.

The link below is for a Huffington Post article containing interviews with survivors.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/27/isaac-hurricane-katrina-_n_1834685.html

Class Participation Time!

This was posted on facebook today. Please watch.

The intended audience is the student body of a public land grant university.

The intended message might seem obvious; the text on the page. But is that the only message this video is sending?  

What about the emotion elicited while viewing? 

How do you feel about the motion - pause - motion rhythm? 

What about the choice of words on each sign?

Does the scenery and set up tell you anything? 

Now watch it again with these questions in mind.

So, what do you think? 

Please let me know. Tomorrow I will post what this video says to me and reflect upon your answers. 

Thanks!

The Truth, the Whole Truth, And Nothing But the Truth...

In true Stephanie fashion, I showed up late for class the first day...and without textbooks.

So, during lunch, I bought, "To Know As We Are Know," by Parker J. Palmer. The discussion of the day centered around chapter 4, "What is Truth?"

So, what is truth?

How about truthiness?

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The Word - Truthiness
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog Video Archive

In his own satirical way, Colbert affirms Palmer's view that "all truth is known in personal relationships," (48) and is not found in Webster's or Britannica. 

I have friends from all walks of life, in far reaching placing, and with a variety of views on religion and the existence (or non-existence) of God. Some of us are compelled to express our stance and attempte to convince others using logic, reason, and fact. 

Unfortunately logic, reason, and fact, don't go very far. When it comes down to it people are going to believe what they believe because of their personal experiences with that particular religion, or with God. 

People want to feel their faith in very personal ways. Their own personal truth is created in their community. 

Palmer lends some support to the idea that "non-believers" are inherently "spiritual seekers" because of human nature. [Christians would say, because of God's creation.]

He says on page 50, 

"To say that truth is personal is to affirm the image of truth that lies within each person, regardless of creed or institutional affiliation. Indeed, if truth is personal, then creeds and institutions are only the objectified shells of the truth-seeking life that pules in every human heart. We will find truth not in the fine points of our theologies or in our organizational allegiances but in the quality of our relationships - with each other and with the created world." 

I love that- the idea that we each have a truth seeking life pulsing in our hearts. 

What's pulsing in your heart? Are you seeking life? Are you seeking truth? What barriers are stopping you from experiencing the truth of the world, in its people, nature and creatures? Politics? Religion? Hatred? Racism? Anger? ...

Imago Dei

The above image of the Christ child is a classic renaissance image. I find beauty, and divine delicacy in the softly painted image. The curly hair, the smoothness of the skin, are all appealing.

I still have an appreciation of this work as art. Increasingly, however, I am troubled by the image of a white Christ. You may think this is because of my seminary education. I guess, in part, that is true. Certainly seminary has increased my awareness of the exclusivity of some of our language in the Church.

But more and more I am angered by use of the white Jesus image in American politics. I've seen uses of this image of a Christ to propagate a anti-social justice platform, often going directly against the social activism Christ's very life calls us to do. How does such a misinterpretation of Christ and of God's creation continue vicious cycles of racism, religious intolerance and encourage ignorance?

But still, he sure is a cute baby.

Religion & Media Day 2

Dr. Hess said in class today, "Sadly we are more likely to connect our world to our film database than we are to connect to our faith database," or something like that. I know. Not the best practice of journalism ethics, but I'm disclosing my possible error so that makes it OK, right? 

This statement struck me very personally today. But let me get back to the beginning. We started by viewing this popular TV commercial,

While I can't say everyone understands the film or musical reference in this commercial, most do. Our mental catalogues of music, pop culture, and TV contain long pages full of information. Meanwhile, most of us laypeople have just one page or two of Biblical or faith based knowledge. 

I have to admit, I felt terrible. My bible knowledge proved inadequate. Eventually a text did come, but not without really struggling.

The final step in this exercise was to determine, "What is God calling me to do?"  What action is now required of me after looking theologically into this commercial's content, and into the scripture that my brain had connected to it?

Well it is, of course, complicated, but the gist is that I need to work on some familial relationships.

But how did God speak to me through this entire exercise? Through my feelings of inadequacy? What do I need to do now??

BIBLE STUDY BIBLE STUDY BIBLE STUDY.

Relgion & Media Day 1

Seminary - Round 2.

This go 'round I will be concentrating on the convergence of media and religion. Given my background in journalism and entertainment production, I am extremely excited for the opportunity to join these two areas of my life.

Class started today. The Religion & Media Keynote course, with Dr. Largen of LTSG, and Dr. Mary Hess of Luther Seminary. I have high hopes that because the class is so small, we will have excellent, fruitful discussions.

Our backgrounds vary, but much to my surprise I'm the only one not pursuing ordained parish ministry. [meaning no, I won't be a pastor!] I hope that this doesn't prove to create an atmosphere of exclusivity, as it has for me in the past. Sometimes, though not in an intentionally harmful way, professors have a habit of speaking in terms of parish ministry, or by using the phrase "as ordained leaders..." In the spirit of inclusivity they may say "as future church leaders" instead. While I appreciate this effort, it too implies a role within the church [small c] verses Church [big C]. Or, maybe, its just the unfortunate way that I hear it.

I feel ministry is everywhere. God's Church is everyone. No matter what I do in life, as a grocery store cashier, a stage builder, a lighting tech, or a non-profit communications director, I believe I am working in God's kingdom.

A few months back I started receiving a Christian financial magazine title, "Do Well." I have NO idea how I started receiving it, but I found the first two issues insightful. When I moved back to Gettysburg I didn't think it would follow. So in the mailbox today comes the newest issue. I opened it, and saw this:

Oooo media, religion, and my personal theology, right there on the first page.

To add another layer to the timely-and-accurate cake, the editor references Gettysburg -

"After the battle of Gettysburg in the Civil War, Union general George Mead telegraphed President Abraham Lincoln to inform him that his army had "driven the enemy from our soil." Legend has it that Lincoln responded, 'It's all our soil."

Let me stop now before I go into how to verify references and gain accuracy regarding a "legend."