| | | | | | | | | | | | PRACTICAL WISDOM FOR LEADING CONGREGATIONS |
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | My colleague Christine Parton Burkett reminds preachers that children, after hearing a well-told story, never respond, "What does it mean?" Instead, with glee and abandon, they exclaim, "Oh, tell it again!" She reminds preachers that, as human beings, we never really outgrow our love of a story well-told; there is a part of each of us that wants to cheer, "Oh, tell it again!"
Several years ago in The New York Times Sunday Review, the Swedish writer Henning Mankell wrote that "a truer nomination for our species than Homo sapiens might be Homo narrans, the storytelling person." Mankell's argument was not that the biologists are wrong or that we are not thinking creatures but rather that we are also -- and maybe even primarily -- storytelling creatures.
We make sense of the world and our place in it through story. Story is how we create meaning, how we interpret reality, and how we come to know who we are and why we are. That is why when we hear a story that we know is good and true, we say, "Oh, tell it again."Literature professor John Niles, in a book called "Homo Narrans," puts it this way: "It is chiefly through storytelling that people possess a past." But it works the other way as well. Through storytelling we possess a past -- but that past possesses us, too. It's through storytelling that we find our identity.
I belong to a tradition in which the climax and culmination of Holy Week's liturgies is the Easter Vigil, when we gather in the darkness of Holy Saturday's night and proclaim the story of God's saving work, from the creation of the world to the resurrection of Jesus. We retell the scriptural stories to remind us of who we are, whose we are and how we have come to be. Each story is a reminder of the identity of God's people. Each story is a testament to the enduring and faithful love of God.
It's through story that we possess a past -- a very particular past -- and that the God of that very particular past lays claim to us. "Oh, tell it again."
Read more from Nathan E. Kirkpatrick » |
| | CAN THESE BONES PODCAST: KATE BOWLER |
One of the Scripture readings during the Easter Vigil is the story of Ezekiel's vision of a field full of dried bones and his encounter with a God who can breathe life into what is dead. It's from that story that the podcast "Can These Bones" takes its name.
In this episode of the podcast, Duke Divinity School professor and New York Times bestselling author Kate Bowler joins Bill Lamar for a conversation about facing death, her deep sense of God's presence and her new book. Then, Bill and co-host Laura Everett reflect on what it means to face one's own "valley of dry bones." Read or listen to this podcast »
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| | IDEAS THAT IMPACT: HOLY WEEK & EASTER |
A North Carolina congregation takes Palm Sunday and Good Friday outdoors and discovers how it feels to publicly claim their identity as Christians.
Read more from Lisa Fischbeck » |
Before clergy read to their congregations the stories of the betrayal of Jesus by those whom he chose to follow him, many take Maundy Thursday as an opportunity to remember the ways that they have betrayed their own callings and recommit themselves to follow and to serve.
Read more from Nathan E. Kirkpatrick » |
On this darkest of days, we hold close this miracle of God with us. As darkness falls and all is lost, as our souls crumble and our hearts break, we are handed the memory of a Savior who leaned over into the void of the darkness and refused to give in to despair, says Amy Butler.
Read more from Amy Butler » |
In order to worship Jesus, you must follow him. And Jesus refuses to stay put, says Bishop Will Willimon.
Read more from Will Willimon » |
The Wisdom of the Seasons: How the Church Year Helps Us Understand our Congregational Stories by Charles M. Olsen
The church year is often seen as a framework for church programs, but well-known Alban author Charles Olsen shows readers how it can be a prism through which congregations more deeply understand their own stories. By weaving together our narratives and those of Christian tradition, a congregation can clarify its identity, grow in wisdom, and discover a new vision and ministry. Olsen draws parallels between the church seasons and practices of spiritual formation -- letting go, naming and celebrating God's presence, and taking hold. He shows us how these movements are expressed in the three major cycles of the church year -- Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost. Focusing on communal narratives, he presents a process for telling a story and forming a corporate memory of the story, and then deepening and reflecting on it by exploring the season of the church year that captures its character.
Learn more and order the book » |
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