For those who don't follow the twitters, here's a synopsis of what I learned or thoughts that were churned up via my time at CICW Worship Symposium. Each of these ideas is stated as simply as possible (140 characters certainly helps synthesize thoughts) and is open for further dialogue, nuance. Let me know if any of them pique your curiosity. I would be well served by further conversation.
(a "translation" note: # is used to search for various twitter users who are commenting on the same issue or event. if a # is popular, we say it is "trending." The # can also be used with a twinkle in our eye to make a joke or put the comment we've just made in context ... anywho ...)
They just announced my flight to "GrAAAnd RAAApids." #LordHaveMercy #wsymp13
Wonder how many fellow fliers are --> #wsymp13 If flight attendant begins instructions w/ "The LORD be with you" I bet we'd find out quick.
A meditative service of Scripture & song grounded in the Beatitudes at #wsymp13 next up, the incomprable Marva Dawn.
Meekness is more than our attempts at "nicety-nice-ness" - Marva Dawn #wsymp13
Heart d/n mean "mushy gushy." Heart = will. Feelings are the caboose ... & some trains don't even have those. - Marva Dawn #wsymp13
#wsymp13 Psalm 8 God pays radical personal attention to the world. We are to pay the same to God and to the world in God's name - M. Labberton
Christianity is fundamentally a communication event (therefore communication theory = theology) - Shane Hipps #wsymp13 #mindblown
#wsymp13 Our thinking patterns begin to mirror the thing we use to think with (icons, books, media ...)
God is an image-maker and therefore so are we. -David Taylor #wsymp13
You know what I never realized? How easy it is to navigate the traffic on 28th St. #DCperspective
Impromptu reggae in the CFAC. Where am I? #wsymp13 Well played, Luke Powery. Well played.
Worry is the result of theological amnesia until worry becomes our bested friend forever. #wsymp13
#wsymp13 Kenneth Bailey is on a quest to rescue I Corinthians 13 from the wedding industrial complex. Who's with him?!?
#wsymp13 Kenneth Bailey providing a stunning defense of women "praying and prophesying in he church"
You want to fall in love with the depth of the Scripture text? Listen to Kenneth Baily or pick up one of his books #wsymp13 #mindblown
Stuck in memory isn't an "old ppl" problem. Young ppl are just as (more?) likely to get stuck --> judgmental - C. Randall Bradley #wsymp13
Everything "old" in worship was new, with no memory attached. Everything "new" in worship requires the leadership of imagination. #wsymp13
Am captivated by the idea that IMAGINATION is a key attribute to leadership ... #wsymp13
Attending "Encouraging Creativity in Your Church." DC CRC, you've been warned. #wsymp13
Bad Reason for Creativity: we believe that, without our creative efforts, God might not show up. #ouch #wsymp13
"Every child is an artist. The trick is staying an artist when we grow up." - Picasso #wsymp13
"One benediction is hardly concluded before another prelude has begun." - Constance Cherry. Can I get a witness. #wsymp13
Give your worship team a compass not a GPS, check your control-freak tendency at the door & allow 90 degrees of latitude #wsymp13
At a seminar "Baptism in Art, Ritual and Symbol" in preparation for DC CRC's Lenten series: Fount of Every Blessing. #wsymp13
#wsymp13 Carolyn Gordon just brough a homiletical reference to hair extensions #firsttimeforeverything
Idealizing Christian community so that we c/n be grateful for the real (flawed) ppl around us is "spiritual pornography." - C Pohl #wsymp13
Making words visual requires particularity rather than generalization. Replace general statements with specific embodiments. #wsymp13
Turns out we low-church Protestants have a wonderful theology of embodiment. We just feel weird about bodies. - Labberton #truth #wsymp13
"I am a white, middle-class guy. Turns out, that's not a neutral lens. Others show me to see the world as they see it." - Labberton #wsymp13
The goal of the Christian artist is faithful, rather than "realistic" depictions of God's world. - David Taylor #selah #wsymp13
If we paint a nicey-nice God in Sunday School, we don't give kids the language to survive life. They need the Psalms. - L Keeley #wsymp13
"My religion could not be fiction but it had to transcend fact." - Bono #wsymp13
"Don't worry about suggesting how we could do this better. We have kids, so we are used to being told we are wrong." - B Keeley #wsymp13
#wsymp13 I'm out. #dropsthemike
So I guess I learned a few things ...
Re: "Nicey-nice God...": Only partial agreement from me on this one.
ReplyDelete1. I agree: Niceness only gets our kids/Christians so far.
I also agree: Psalms are a great language tool both for those that are struggling, and those that aren't.
2. I disagree: if she is implying that CRC SS materials specifically present "niceness" simplistically. A God that keeps promises, that loves unconditionally, that has a purpose for every individual? Yup. That's there. And, it's darn nice, any way you look at it.
I also disagree: In my opinion,that 'nice' picture of God is crucial to struggling. It's exactly that ingrained portrait of God--as good and loving and faithful--that keeps me from letting Him go in the midst of struggle. Lots of 'church kids' can't remember the first time they heard about Joseph or Hannah or the shepherds. Hurrah! Even when I WANT to 'quit God' (whatever that means) I am unable, because he is so much a part of my identity that I can't. That's what I want for my kids. It's always a struggle of reconciliation, isn't it? If you don't have the foundation of all God's 'nice' qualities, what's to struggle with?
huh. I agree with you completely, Sara. And I can't speak for Laura personally but I can tell you why what she said resonated with me.
ReplyDeleteI think what we have here is differing definitions of "nice." I certainly have no problem with presenting God's wonderful attributes of grace, mercy, kindness, etc. But, to me, "nice" is less than all those things. "Nice" means that everything turns out perfect and everyone is happy and God is nothing more than a kindly old man benevolently patting his children on the head. "Nice" is too small a word for the beautiful attributes you rightly assign to God -- good, loving, faithful. And it is only AFTER we have acknowledged these attributes in God that we can properly do the work of the laments and angry psalms because, wait a minute, God doesn't seem to be living up to God's own self-descriptors in Scripture. And a "nice" God (according to my definition, anyway) doesn't have the where withall to withstand the barrage of my disappointment. So I need a God who is bigger than "nice."
Hope that makes sense.