Folks, I am behind in posting this week. “My soul doth ache.” Cause I’m in the middle of some stuff going on in church/world/seminary that I was hoping to blog on this week. It is my therapy afterall. Blogging helps me process eh? And in the process I hope to help provoke others. To understand what I mean check out this SCARY interview by my friend Martin Robinson on why I blog, how I got started.
The reason why I am behind in the rhythms of my week is because I am at a Faculty Retreat for Northern Seminary. Ah, the dreaded faculty retreat. But as measured by my tweets, this was a retreat well worth the time. Highlights included:
a.) discussing how seminary education is important yet cannot be separated from practice (tweet Sept 15- At the beginning of Northern Seminary’s faculty retreat – discussing how Seminary educ cannot be separate fr on-ground-ministry – YES)
b.) learning about my teaching style ( tweet Sept 15 – Prof Cosgrove says my teaching style is a “prickly Socrates” No! “mad scientist who blows things up+ carefully puts them together again”),
c.) spending time jabbering with other professors on the back porch on the Stone manor of the Kern family (tweet Sept 15 – Talkin church-mission on Chicago’s south, southwest side w/ profs Hamstra, Freeman, Price, 2 Afri-Americans, 1 (Dutch) Reformed and me. Rich!!!), and
d.) and the president of Northern promising some group affections (tweet Sept 16 – President of Northern just promised me a “hug-a-professor @ Northern” day. I need this … 🙂)
So the Faculty Retreat was good and rich. We look forward to a great le
arning community developing this year at Northern. One of the things we’re doing is starting a D.Min program in Missional Church Ministry/Leadership this year. Craig Van Gelder and Alan Roxburgh have “signed” to come alongside me and teach this 3 1/2 program. My goal was to bring some of the best of minds on missional theology, ecclesiology, cultural engagement and leadership together to intersect, teach but also be challenged and develop further what these ideas might mean on the ground for practicing pastors and ministry leaders. This D.Min is one of the few that provides for such a concentration. You can get info about it here . SPECIAL THANKS!! to Len Hjalmarson who posted about the program at his blog NextReformation, Todd Littleton who did the same at his wonderful blog, and Jamie Arpin Ricci here at his blog Living Alternative . Also Brad Brisco, Rick Meigs and Brad Sargent (who wrote a lloooooong one in protypical futuristguy style). Thanks for getting the word out!! And may God bless these efforts for the furtherance of His Mission in the world.
Missio Alliance Comment Policy
The Missio Alliance Writing Collectives exist as a ministry of writing to resource theological practitioners for mission. From our Leading Voices to our regular Writing Team and those invited to publish with us as Community Voices, we are creating a space for thoughtful engagement of critical issues and questions facing the North American Church in God’s mission. This sort of thoughtful engagement is something that we seek to engender not only in our publishing, but in conversations that unfold as a result in the comment section of our articles.
Unfortunately, because of the relational distance introduced by online communication, “thoughtful engagement” and “comment sections” seldom go hand in hand. At the same time, censorship of comments by those who disagree with points made by authors, whose anger or limited perspective taints their words, or who simply feel the need to express their own opinion on a topic without any meaningful engagement with the article or comment in question can mask an important window into the true state of Christian discourse. As such, Missio Alliance sets forth the following suggestions for those who wish to engage in conversation around our writing:
1. Seek to understand the author’s intent.
If you disagree with something the an author said, consider framing your response as, “I hear you as saying _________. Am I understanding you correctly? If so, here’s why I disagree. _____________.
2. Seek to make your own voice heard.
We deeply desire and value the voice and perspective of our readers. However you may react to an article we publish or a fellow commenter, we encourage you to set forth that reaction is the most constructive way possible. Use your voice and perspective to move conversation forward rather than shut it down.
3. Share your story.
One of our favorite tenants is that “an enemy is someone whose story we haven’t heard.” Very often disagreements and rants are the result of people talking past rather than to one another. Everyone’s perspective is intimately bound up with their own stories – their contexts and experiences. We encourage you to couch your comments in whatever aspect of your own story might help others understand where you are coming from.
In view of those suggestions for shaping conversation on our site and in an effort to curate a hospitable space of open conversation, Missio Alliance may delete comments and/or ban users who show no regard for constructive engagement, especially those whose comments are easily construed as trolling, threatening, or abusive.