Session 3: Tammie

Chapter 13
Much of what Webber describes on page 111 is similar to the Christian calendar as it is practiced in my church. You can count on the Mother's Day program and a Father's Day program. The topic for the sermon on July 4th, Memorial Day and Veterans Day are typically related in some way to the holiday, though perhaps not directly to the holiday.

Don't misunderstand. I have nothing against mothers, fathers, veterans or workers, but I think the church (and I speak of the evangelical church in general) has placed undue emphasis on these civil holidays, often at the expense of those observances that point us more directly to the work of Christ.

Returning now to my church, Pentecost, at least in my memory is hardly mentioned in terms of the Christian calendar. Advent consists of a series of messages relating to the Christmas story along with a few special services such as the choir cantata and the Christmas Eve service. Lent is quiet. There may, as with other holidays, be special messages leading up to Easter Sunday.

What the calendar in the church lacks in these observances - particularly Lent and Advent - is the sense of preparation leading up to the holiday itself. Of course, the church encourages personal devotions throughout the year, but does not encourage any practices specific to Advent or Lent, such as giving something up for the duration of the season. I may try to make up for it in some way in my personal devotions, but I wonder what it would be like for the church, as a body of believers, to observe Lent together, knowing that the other members of the church, for example, are reading the same Scripture passages.

Chapters 14-16
Webber's interpretation of Pauline spirituality is hopeful. No matter what we have done as the "old self", we have been transformed into the "new self." It is, in part, a teaching that is familiar in my church. The idea of dying to the old self and rising to new life is taught as are Paul's teachings on grace. I only say that the Pauline spirituality is taught in part because we are encouraged to have a quiet time or devotional time, but there are rarely specific lessons on what or how to do so. For the most part, it seems the church relies on devotional books such as The Upper Room or Our Daily Bread. Both of these resources are fine, but I suspect there are people in the congregation who, like me, have come to find them inadequate. For me, such resources quickly become something on a checklist that had to be completed each day. I just absorbed what the commentator of the day said without thinking too much about my own reflections on the passage.

I believe that is what God had been telling me over the past few years about my spirituality; that is, that I can't just read what someone else says about a passage. I must engage it more fully in my own way. To be honest, one way that has been happening is through my blog. For some reason, I find it easier to sit in front of a computer and write complete, moderately coherent thoughts about a passage than to write in a journal (although I do both). He's also calling me to better combine Pauline spirituality and the spirituality of Matthew. I tend to swing one way or the other. For example, I will feel a great conviction that my prayer life is lacking so I will concentrate on that, but neglect some of the more practical aspects of spirituality. After a time, I will sense that I need to "do" as well as "be", but then get all caught up in ministry that I start to neglect my prayer life again.

Chapter 17
Evangelism in our church takes on characteristics more than one trend. For example, like the Reformers, there is an emphasis on faith while works are deemphasized. Yet the church also takes on some of the characteristics of modern evangelism as it is presented as a highly individualized activity most commonly framed as an individual church member witnessing to friends or inviting friends to the church. That is perfectly fine, as far as it goes, but more could be done. As described in Webber's discussion of modern evangelism, particularly as described on pages 144 and 145, there is an emphasis on the cross and on making a decision for Christ (as the terminology goes), but we do not have classes or small groups in which new believers can be taught the basics of the faith beyond the work of Christ on the cross. Also like other moderns, our presentation of evangelism has also separated evangelism from baptism. To understand that, you probably need to know nothing more than that it has been probably two years since we have held a baptismal service.

Chapter 18
I can only speak generally about evangelical churches other than my own, but it seems that often the responsibility for disciple making falls to the believer himself. Certainly there are Sunday school boards and church councils that may set guidelines for classes within the church, but it is often left to the individual to attend those classes or small groups.

This is, I believe, the case in my church. The pastor selects the message topics in the morning worship service. The Junior Church directors select the curriculum for their classes. The youth leaders select their lesson topics. The Sunday school board designates the classes, which are arranged generally by age though there are multiple offerings for adults. The individual teachers choose the content. It is up to the individual to choose which classes to attend, if any. So, you can see, there really isn't a process per se in the local church.

While reading this chapter, I began to question the idea of dividing the church into age-related groups for educational purposes. Certainly, there are some topics that are more relevant to adults than to youth, but I wonder if reliance on such topics as the material on which a class is taught is demonstrative of the moralistic teaching Webber discusses; that is, Bible stories being distilled into morals. I also began to think about some of the youth in my youth group as I read pages 162-163 on which Webber describes a model for Christian education. There are youth in the youth group and in the senior high Sunday school class who would be more than ready for deeper instruction such as you might find in an adult class, but they remain in the class segregated by age rather than joining others of all ages who may be on a similar level of understanding.


Chapter 19
Denominations under the classic PM Christian model may not hold the importance they seem to hold for the modern mindset. The plurality common to the postmodern mindset would not lend itself to top-down denominational decisions and directives about where a "good" member of the denomination stands on particular issues.. In some senses, we see this happening in some liberal denominations who are taking stands on hot topic issues that the members of the denomination do not agree with. Postmoderns don't want to be told precisely what to believe on every issue as they would be more likely to explore the issue and come to their own conclusion. Under the classic model, it would be more likely that churches would find other churches who more closely match their congregational praxis, which also would undergo significant changes as the classic PM model would be adopted. For example, if a church adopts an educational model similar to that of the third century church, it would likely seek out churches who are using that model as one with whom they can consult, compare notes and share resources.

As to the Evangelical/Charismatic/Amish/Messianic model, I don't know that I know enough about what you might be thinking there to offer an intelligent opinion, but I can say that I have seen a great increase in the interest my youth group students have for the Old Testament teachings and how they relate to the New Testament and Christ's mission on earth. It is a way for them to connect to the story of God and his work in the world from creation through our present time and into the future.

I haven't thought through a detailed model of the emergent church, but this much I can say ... there would be less of an emphasis on "doing" church (that is, showing up on Sunday and putting in your time) and a greater sense of "being" the church. That is, it would be a church active in its community in many ways, stepping beyond what is considered "normal" church work. Maybe this church offers babysitting to single moms while they go to school to finish a diploma or gain job training. Maybe rather than a traditional fellowship meal or church picnic, the church flings its doors wide open to welcome the homeless and the hungry or maybe just the lonely old woman on the corner in for a meal. There would be an emphasis on the worship, spirituality and the arts.

Closing Comments
There was, indeed, a lot in Webber that caught my attention. I loved the discussion of the politics of Jesus in chapter 19 and the idea of the church being a countercultural movement that did not align itself to world politics. We have done much in modernity to tame Jesus and to mainstream his message that we have lost the revolutionary sense of Jesus and his message. I was intrigued by the educational model inspired by the third century church.

Overall, though, the one thing I thought about long after I closed the book is the way in which Webber described the church in the medieval era as standing in the center of town with everything revolving around it. Certainly, the church in modern times has had this happen with the parish churches and such things, but not to the extent that Webber describes the medieval church. In particular, I was struck by the line, "From the church proceeded philosophy, music, art, and literature." What would it look like for the church to again become the place where writers write, artists create, musicians play and thinkers think? It would be a church that involves the verbal as well as the visual and would, ultimately, be very inviting.

Continuing in that chapter, Webber talks of the church as a place of "otherness" - a sense that we have lost in today's world. Personally, I think we (evangelicals) need to recapture a theology of architecture. Many churches today have that pre-fabricated feel with characteristics indistinguishable from a school or office building. Maybe it will never happen in a cost-conscious society, but I would love to see churches recapture the art of creation in their very buildings. High vaulted ceilings drawing the eye upward, artwork (whether stained glass windows, photographs or paintings) that depicts Scripture, a decor that is as inviting as it is sacred. In essence, it would be a place set apart, a place markedly different from the world around us.