Study Notes for Intuitive Leadership: Embracing a Paradigm of Narrative, Metaphor & Chaos Section 2: Engaging Context pages 103-213
The first part of Tim Keels Book invited us to look at our own story or narrative and to start to understand how our story and narrative relate to God’s story and narrative. The second section of Intuitive Leadership looks at the context of our ministry and how we engage the context. Keel describes the “Postmodern” culture as “living in a time that is simply past modernity” (pg. 104). He goes on to say “Postmodern culture is a culture with porous boundaries and loose definitions. Postmodernity is about the collapse of the rigidly defined categories of modernity and of the blending of previously untainted essences…it is the culture of the remix…mixing of ideas, images, values, and words”. (pg. 113) How do you describe this post modern time? What are some of the challenges and some of the opportunities offered by such a context for ministry?
Keel talks about the “Graphic Revolution that begins to move communication increasingly away from mere word conveyed through text into the world of images..” (pg. 127) Keel says that “If we want to be transformed to live, serve, and love in the way of Jesus, we must creatively and faithfully cultivate space (physical, emotional, intellectual, relational, artistic) where the whole person (body, soul, mind and spirit) can encounter God, others and themselves in the context of creation.” (pg. 130) This sounds in harmony with our VBS curriculum and the Shema “Love the Lord your God with all you heart and soul and might” (Deuteronomy 6 :4,5) How do we at Covenant cultivate space for the whole person to encounter God? Do we provide opportunities for left AND right brained people in worship, education and mission?
Keel offers some suggestions to help us rekindle our imagination. “We need to begin to engage the Scripture to fire our imagination…We need every kind of intelligence fully engaged and playfully and creatively leveraged for the kingdom of God. We need women and men who have previously been on the margins…we need mystics… poets…prophets… apostles… artists. We need all these types of people to reclaim or discover faith in new ways.” Would this really be a good thing? What might this look like in our church?
“Former congressional chaplain, Dr. Richard Halverson once said, ‘Christianity was birthed in Galilee as a relationship. It spread to Greece and became a philosophy. It spread to Rome and became an empire. It spread to Britain and became a culture. It spread to America and became an enterprise.” (pg. 142) What do you think of Halverson’s characterization of Christianity and its evolution? What are the implications for us today in our “postmodern world.” Keel observes that “Willow Creek represents the final creative response of the modern church in America grasping for identity, impact, and influence as Christendom gasps and breathes its last breath in the West.” (pg. 151)
Keel finally argues that the church must become missional. “In a culture that has moved out of Christendom and into a marginal identity, the whole context of the life of the community becomes mission… The church is that community of people gathered around Jesus Christ in order to participate in his life and incarnate it into the context where he has placed them. The invitation from God is for us to start right here, not just the exotic out there.” (pg. 155) Keel is arguing that every local church is in fact a mission in the culture in which we find ourselves. HE argues that “the work of Jesus was not a new set of ideals or principles for reforming or even revolutionizing society, but he establishment of a new community, a people that embodied forgiveness, sharing and self-sacrificing love in its rituals and disciplines…it is an alternate reality based on the person of Jesus Christ.” What do you think about this? This sounds like the radical Jesus Bill Brewer used to talk about. What are the implications for this type of understanding in the church?
Keel says “we cannot approach God acontextually. We always experience and know God provisionally within a context.” In other words our understanding of God is always influenced by our context. Keel also says that “Communities engaging with the missional context of our age must be aware of the fact that they are theology-generating communities….Theology is always the by-product of an implicit or explicit dialogue that churches (personally and communally) are having with the tradition from which they arise and the living culture in which they reside.” What is the embedded theology of Covenant? “The missional context of our culture is one that increasingly demands creativity…It requires a different kind of organization that empowers and unleashes creativity.” (pg. 200)
Friday, July 18, 2008
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Three Journeys to Jerusalem
When I started in ministry 22 years ago I never thought I would have the opportunity, or take the opportunity to go to Jerusalem. Now twenty-two years later I have been to Jerusalem three times and each time I have discovered something new in this embattled city which still carries a "vision of peace" for the world.
The first trip Joan and I took was nearly 20 years ago with the Presbytery of Philadelphia as we were trying to understand the Palestinian/Israeli conflict. It was during the Intifada (the uprising) and we spoke with politicians on both sides. We toured a Middle Council of Churches school in the Gaza Strip, a settlement in the West Bank, the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, the Western (Wailing) Wall in Jerusalem, a School in Nazareth, the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, a hospital in Ramalla, and the Holocaust Museum. It was a heart wrenching trip as we heard the pain and fears of Palestinians and Israelis alike. I came away understanding that the issues were more complext than I could imagine or fully understanding. It was a once in a lifetime experience that I didn't think I would ever do again.
The second trip caught me by surprise. Our denomination passed an Overture at the 2004 General Assembly to consider divesting in companies who were involved in bulldozing Palestian houses or building the security fence (wall) seperating Palestinian and Israeli territory. After this GA action, I received a call from Sam Muyskens at Interfaith Ministry who said there were several area rabbis who wanted to talk to Presbyterian pastors about this GA action. Joan and I were two of a group of several Presbyterian and Jewish clergy and leaders that started to meet regularly to talk about why the security fence was being built and the issues around it. We discovered that we had very different perspectives on this issue and in an effort to try to understand each other we decided to engage our churches and synagogues in a shared study of Genesis. We discovered that even when we look at the same scripture that we interpret that scripture differently. So we decided that perhaps we needed to go to Israel together to see through each others eyes, and to hear with each other's ears to better understand each other around this issue. We also decided that the trip must include not only Christian and Jewish representatives but also Muslim representatives and include a visit to Jordan as well as Israel and the Palestinian territories. When we left for the Holy Land in the winter of 2008, we were a group of twelve: 7 Christians, 3 Jews and 2 Muslims. I hadn't planned on going back to Jerusalem but I couldn't resist this opportunity to see the Holy Land through different eyes and to share my faith with other colleagues and friends. It was a powerful experience and very different from the first trip. Several of our Jewish colleagues had lived or extended stays in Israel. Our Muslim brothers reflected Suni and Shiite faith and were originally from Syria and Iran so we had an opportunity to learn about these distinctions and perspectives as we toured each others religious sites together and processed what we saw and heard each night. Again we worshipped at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre but it was different as our Jewish and Muslim friends looked on. Again we visited the Western Wall but it was different as we heard the whole history of the Wall and worshipped at the site with our Jewish and Mslim friends We all woshipped toether at a synagoge, we spent time in prayer with a Suffi Shiek and we went to a Lutheran Church and worshipped in Arabic and English. We studied the Koran, Torah and the New Testament together in the origianl langauges and in English. We discovered that indeed our faiths are different, our stories are different and yet we could appreciate each other's perspective, story and faith. We went on our journey as travellers together and we came back as friends and colleages. And we met Muslim, Jewish and Christian leaders during our trip who were working on the ground, every day for peace. We were an encouragement for them and they were an encouragement for us. And our trip to Jordan bore fruit as we met with a wonderful Palestinian family who had realtives in Wichita and a heart warming sory to share. As we shared dessert in this home we knew that we had been blessed with a life changing experience. On the way back to Israel we stopped at Mt. Nebo, where Moses had seen the promised land that he would never get to inhabit. In some ways we felt like Moses. We had a vision for peace, but it was unclear that we would see peace in our lifetimes.
And that gets me to the last trip to Jerusalem. This trip I took without leaving Wichita. It was our Vacation Bible School curriculum this year: Jerusalem Market place. Our VBS planners transformed our church and Great Room into a Jerusalem market place. We has potters, spice mearchants, weavers, bakers, carpenters, basket weavers, beggars, prophets, rabbis. The kids were put into the twelve tribes of Israel and we learned about the last week of Jesus life even as we learned about Jerusalem life and culture. And the kids taught me not just to learn with my mind but to learn with my heart and soul and srength. They taught me to use all my senses: touch, taste, smell, sight and hearing to discover the Gospel. And in the closing ceremony, as I was talking about the concept of "shalom" as peace, wholeness, health, welcome; a little boy raised his hand. He said, you forgot "chevarim" the Hebrew word for "friend". The song we sang was "Shalom chevarim". He was right. He was reminding me of what I had learned on my last trip to Israel. It is not so much what you learn about peace but who you learn from and with. It is about the God who loves us so much that he entered into Jeruslaem even at risk to his own life so that he could save our lives. It is about Christ's commandment to "love each other that all will know we are his disciples." It is about loving the stranger, the alien and even our enemy. My latest trip taught me that the peace we seek in Jerusalem is for our children and the Israeli children and the Palestinian children and it will come as we get to know each other and care for each other the way I now know and care for my travel companions. I thank God for my three trips to Jerusalem and for my partners in each journey.
The first trip Joan and I took was nearly 20 years ago with the Presbytery of Philadelphia as we were trying to understand the Palestinian/Israeli conflict. It was during the Intifada (the uprising) and we spoke with politicians on both sides. We toured a Middle Council of Churches school in the Gaza Strip, a settlement in the West Bank, the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, the Western (Wailing) Wall in Jerusalem, a School in Nazareth, the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, a hospital in Ramalla, and the Holocaust Museum. It was a heart wrenching trip as we heard the pain and fears of Palestinians and Israelis alike. I came away understanding that the issues were more complext than I could imagine or fully understanding. It was a once in a lifetime experience that I didn't think I would ever do again.
The second trip caught me by surprise. Our denomination passed an Overture at the 2004 General Assembly to consider divesting in companies who were involved in bulldozing Palestian houses or building the security fence (wall) seperating Palestinian and Israeli territory. After this GA action, I received a call from Sam Muyskens at Interfaith Ministry who said there were several area rabbis who wanted to talk to Presbyterian pastors about this GA action. Joan and I were two of a group of several Presbyterian and Jewish clergy and leaders that started to meet regularly to talk about why the security fence was being built and the issues around it. We discovered that we had very different perspectives on this issue and in an effort to try to understand each other we decided to engage our churches and synagogues in a shared study of Genesis. We discovered that even when we look at the same scripture that we interpret that scripture differently. So we decided that perhaps we needed to go to Israel together to see through each others eyes, and to hear with each other's ears to better understand each other around this issue. We also decided that the trip must include not only Christian and Jewish representatives but also Muslim representatives and include a visit to Jordan as well as Israel and the Palestinian territories. When we left for the Holy Land in the winter of 2008, we were a group of twelve: 7 Christians, 3 Jews and 2 Muslims. I hadn't planned on going back to Jerusalem but I couldn't resist this opportunity to see the Holy Land through different eyes and to share my faith with other colleagues and friends. It was a powerful experience and very different from the first trip. Several of our Jewish colleagues had lived or extended stays in Israel. Our Muslim brothers reflected Suni and Shiite faith and were originally from Syria and Iran so we had an opportunity to learn about these distinctions and perspectives as we toured each others religious sites together and processed what we saw and heard each night. Again we worshipped at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre but it was different as our Jewish and Muslim friends looked on. Again we visited the Western Wall but it was different as we heard the whole history of the Wall and worshipped at the site with our Jewish and Mslim friends We all woshipped toether at a synagoge, we spent time in prayer with a Suffi Shiek and we went to a Lutheran Church and worshipped in Arabic and English. We studied the Koran, Torah and the New Testament together in the origianl langauges and in English. We discovered that indeed our faiths are different, our stories are different and yet we could appreciate each other's perspective, story and faith. We went on our journey as travellers together and we came back as friends and colleages. And we met Muslim, Jewish and Christian leaders during our trip who were working on the ground, every day for peace. We were an encouragement for them and they were an encouragement for us. And our trip to Jordan bore fruit as we met with a wonderful Palestinian family who had realtives in Wichita and a heart warming sory to share. As we shared dessert in this home we knew that we had been blessed with a life changing experience. On the way back to Israel we stopped at Mt. Nebo, where Moses had seen the promised land that he would never get to inhabit. In some ways we felt like Moses. We had a vision for peace, but it was unclear that we would see peace in our lifetimes.
And that gets me to the last trip to Jerusalem. This trip I took without leaving Wichita. It was our Vacation Bible School curriculum this year: Jerusalem Market place. Our VBS planners transformed our church and Great Room into a Jerusalem market place. We has potters, spice mearchants, weavers, bakers, carpenters, basket weavers, beggars, prophets, rabbis. The kids were put into the twelve tribes of Israel and we learned about the last week of Jesus life even as we learned about Jerusalem life and culture. And the kids taught me not just to learn with my mind but to learn with my heart and soul and srength. They taught me to use all my senses: touch, taste, smell, sight and hearing to discover the Gospel. And in the closing ceremony, as I was talking about the concept of "shalom" as peace, wholeness, health, welcome; a little boy raised his hand. He said, you forgot "chevarim" the Hebrew word for "friend". The song we sang was "Shalom chevarim". He was right. He was reminding me of what I had learned on my last trip to Israel. It is not so much what you learn about peace but who you learn from and with. It is about the God who loves us so much that he entered into Jeruslaem even at risk to his own life so that he could save our lives. It is about Christ's commandment to "love each other that all will know we are his disciples." It is about loving the stranger, the alien and even our enemy. My latest trip taught me that the peace we seek in Jerusalem is for our children and the Israeli children and the Palestinian children and it will come as we get to know each other and care for each other the way I now know and care for my travel companions. I thank God for my three trips to Jerusalem and for my partners in each journey.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
An Adventure in Leadership
I teach a class on "Leadership & Discpleship" in the Friends University Master of Arts in Christian Ministry program and I am always looking for good resources on Leadership. I was looking for a resource that would speak to leadership in the church today that is reformed and always being reformed according to God's word. I was not interested in another formulaic resource, "Do as I do and your church will thrive and grow like mine" but rather a resource that spoke to the ever changing, growing, and organic church systems that I have come to know and love in my 22 years of ministry. My friend and colleague Dr. Chris Kettler introduced me to such a book, Intuitive Leadership: Embracing a Paradigm of Narrative, Metaphor and Chaos, written by Tim Keel of Jacob's Well in Kansas City, Missouri. I was so impressed with the book that I introduced it to our Session (elders in our church) and we are studying it over the summer. Included in this blog is the study session for the first section of the book. You are invited to read it along with us and use these study notes to explore leadership in the real, messy and wonderful churches you serve.
Intuitive Leadership: Embracing a Paradigm of Narrative, Metaphor and Chaos
Written by Tim Keel of Jacob’s Well in Kansas City, Missouri
Three parts to the book
-Entering the Story- June reading pages 1-100
-Engaging Context- July reading pages 101-209
-Embracing Possibility- August reading pages 210-266
Keel argues that our stories shape us and that we need to understand our stories in order to better understand where we are on our faith journey. How did you first learn about your faith? Who was your mentor or guide? How did you live out your faith?
“Stories shape and create identity- not just for individuals. They shape identity for families, communities, and cultures. We are awash in stories, and when they are good and well told, they can locate us in the world even when that world seems chaotic and without purpose. Throughout history people have told stories and been shaped by them and in doing so they have discovered and constructed ways of understanding who they are and what is happening in the world around them.” (page 33 )
“Following Christ and seeking to be faithful has hijacked my life in a way that I could never have anticipated. That part of being faithful to Christ has led me to participate in the growing of a church plant.” (page 49)
Tim Keel argues that rather than accepting what other churches are doing and jumping into the latest theological or evangelical fad, that we pay attention to our own story, embrace our own story and let our story, our strengths and our unique character and faith guide us. If we were to look at our church, what story would we tell? How did we start? Where did we come from? Where have we traveled in the past 27 years?
“Our faith became domesticated, made in our own image, deprived of its wildness. In our pursuit of the systematic, rational, objective, and universal, we lost the particular, imaginative, poetic, and creative. I am afraid that we lost the ability to discern and follow the Spirit of God, especially as he leads us un places unfamiliar and unknown to our domesticated faith” (page 43)
“We have been called to freedom and courage. We are called to story; to remember; to live; to tell.” (page 43)
Keel argues that our individual stories and our corporate story intersect with God’s story as revealed in Scripture. What are the stories that shape our lives in the Bible? What are the stories that we go back to as our organizing principal in work, parenting, faith, community, church? Who are the theologians who help us interpret scripture and our own faith? Karl Barth wrote a book called The Strange New World of the Bible.
“The Bible as the story about the confusing presence of a personal deity engaging bizarrely unpredictable people in astounding and mudane wasys over a long period of time.” (page 36)
“God revealed himself in a specific time, in a specific place, among a specific people. God did not create a divine subculture and then wait for humanity to wise up and join in. God joined the story. God got dirty. God entered. God engaged. And this is the calling of the church as well- to join in and participate in God’s story at work in the world.” ( page 70)
Tim Keel’s critique of twentieth century suburban Christianity: “They lost their way of life. They entered a way of life that was compartmentalized, disintegrated, individualistic, subcultured, ghettoized, programmed, and purpose driven.” (page 72)
Keel’s recommendation: “Is there an alternative? I believe there is, and I am beginning to hint at it with the concepts of story, community and experimentation. When we think about creating an environment that might give rise to life in response to the Holy Spirit and the world we live in today, we must cherish and engage our context.” (page 77)
Keel's own experience with Jacob’s Well: "We wanted to be a place where people who were searching could join us, ask real and probing questions, and together with us seek God in spirit and truth. We wanted to create a space that would allow us to form a community what would be hospitable to the people in our lives whom we wanted to bring to the Messiah. And to do this we experimented our way into finding the kingdom that Jesus declared in our midst." (page 88)
What are the main ideas we can take with us as leaders at Covenant? What ideas do we not accept as we explore Keel’s writings in the context of our church and culture? Where do we already connect with the concepts he is lifting up in our living our faith and being the church?
Intuitive Leadership: Embracing a Paradigm of Narrative, Metaphor and Chaos
Written by Tim Keel of Jacob’s Well in Kansas City, Missouri
Three parts to the book
-Entering the Story- June reading pages 1-100
-Engaging Context- July reading pages 101-209
-Embracing Possibility- August reading pages 210-266
Keel argues that our stories shape us and that we need to understand our stories in order to better understand where we are on our faith journey. How did you first learn about your faith? Who was your mentor or guide? How did you live out your faith?
“Stories shape and create identity- not just for individuals. They shape identity for families, communities, and cultures. We are awash in stories, and when they are good and well told, they can locate us in the world even when that world seems chaotic and without purpose. Throughout history people have told stories and been shaped by them and in doing so they have discovered and constructed ways of understanding who they are and what is happening in the world around them.” (page 33 )
“Following Christ and seeking to be faithful has hijacked my life in a way that I could never have anticipated. That part of being faithful to Christ has led me to participate in the growing of a church plant.” (page 49)
Tim Keel argues that rather than accepting what other churches are doing and jumping into the latest theological or evangelical fad, that we pay attention to our own story, embrace our own story and let our story, our strengths and our unique character and faith guide us. If we were to look at our church, what story would we tell? How did we start? Where did we come from? Where have we traveled in the past 27 years?
“Our faith became domesticated, made in our own image, deprived of its wildness. In our pursuit of the systematic, rational, objective, and universal, we lost the particular, imaginative, poetic, and creative. I am afraid that we lost the ability to discern and follow the Spirit of God, especially as he leads us un places unfamiliar and unknown to our domesticated faith” (page 43)
“We have been called to freedom and courage. We are called to story; to remember; to live; to tell.” (page 43)
Keel argues that our individual stories and our corporate story intersect with God’s story as revealed in Scripture. What are the stories that shape our lives in the Bible? What are the stories that we go back to as our organizing principal in work, parenting, faith, community, church? Who are the theologians who help us interpret scripture and our own faith? Karl Barth wrote a book called The Strange New World of the Bible.
“The Bible as the story about the confusing presence of a personal deity engaging bizarrely unpredictable people in astounding and mudane wasys over a long period of time.” (page 36)
“God revealed himself in a specific time, in a specific place, among a specific people. God did not create a divine subculture and then wait for humanity to wise up and join in. God joined the story. God got dirty. God entered. God engaged. And this is the calling of the church as well- to join in and participate in God’s story at work in the world.” ( page 70)
Tim Keel’s critique of twentieth century suburban Christianity: “They lost their way of life. They entered a way of life that was compartmentalized, disintegrated, individualistic, subcultured, ghettoized, programmed, and purpose driven.” (page 72)
Keel’s recommendation: “Is there an alternative? I believe there is, and I am beginning to hint at it with the concepts of story, community and experimentation. When we think about creating an environment that might give rise to life in response to the Holy Spirit and the world we live in today, we must cherish and engage our context.” (page 77)
Keel's own experience with Jacob’s Well: "We wanted to be a place where people who were searching could join us, ask real and probing questions, and together with us seek God in spirit and truth. We wanted to create a space that would allow us to form a community what would be hospitable to the people in our lives whom we wanted to bring to the Messiah. And to do this we experimented our way into finding the kingdom that Jesus declared in our midst." (page 88)
What are the main ideas we can take with us as leaders at Covenant? What ideas do we not accept as we explore Keel’s writings in the context of our church and culture? Where do we already connect with the concepts he is lifting up in our living our faith and being the church?
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