Session 10_11: Tammie

1) Reflect upon the philosophy, spirituality, and ministry in PM-->PC era of the future. How we think this next ideological era will pan out impacts our missiology and ministry strategy today (pp. 57-77).
Kimball's analogy of the tree planted in the postmodern versus the modern soil is an excellent one as it leads to his assertion a few pages later that we can't blame the emerging generations for having the viewpoint they have as it is the world they know (page 63). I think one of the greatest factors to affect those of us in ministry is that we can not make assumptions about anything. The Judeo-Christian atmosphere (which I believe was already starting to disappear when I was in high school and college) is no longer a formative force in our society as the words of the Bible writers become one voice in the chorus of religious writings. So we can't assume that the people to whom we minister have either basic Bible knowledge or a worldview based on its moral teachings. We can't assume people come from similar backgrounds anymore. We also need to realize that the postmoderns are often not thinking in strict black and white terms on moral issues. More often, they are comfortable with the shades of gray. We need to figure out how to approach such thinking in our ministries as we present the truth in a world that isn't so sure about truth.I think above all it means that those of us in the ministry have to be students ourselves. We must study our culture as a way of learning how to approach those who live in it.

2) Discuss your response to the Celtic/Roman strategies of evangelism (pp. 197-211).
YES! Like so many aspects of what we have been studying this semester, this chapter on the Celtic/Roman strategies of evangelism falls into place with what I have experienced over the years not only personally, but also with my youth. Just the other week, one of my older students (a junior) was talking about how one of the students in the Youth Alive club had brought in tracts for them to hand out and she took one to be polite to the student (she called the student a freshman who meant well), but would never dream of approaching someone about the gospel in such a way. As we talked, it became clear that the main means of evangelizing for these students is through the relationships they build and the conversations that result. Likewise, a student who recently became a Christian had been part of the youth group (i.e. part of the community) for a while, started to have conversations with leaders and other students and, through the group, was able to have experiences that allowed her to come to the gospel in a more organic way than the Roman model of presentation, decision and assimilation.

On the personal side, I have often wondered about the efficacy of the big event models of presenting the gospel as in many instances they play on the emotions to provoke a decision. I also wonder about follow-up (discipleship) in these settings. My personality is also one that is not only not prone to giving out tracts or to initiating a conversation with a stranger, but also I am prone to avoiding people handing out tracts or trying to initiate a conversation. I am far more prone to talk to someone I know about the gospel if there is an existant relationship - such as with a co-worker or with some students who are visitors to our youth group.

3) Design a EC worship service, explain your rationale. If you have time, experiment with a small group in experiencing your design (share your experiences).
The service I designed for our contemporary service at church incorporates many of the marks Kimball describes as it was in a darkened area, included large portions of Scripture reading, music and silence. Participants entered a darkened room, lit only by a few stage lights. The low lighting created a more spiritual, mysterious atmosphere while also serving to define the space. On screen was the logo for the service (which is a pen and ink drawing of water running through a person's hands with the word Overflow to the side). A sign in the lobby asked participants to enter in silence as a means of preparing their hearts for worship as we remember the final week in the life of Jesus. When it was time for the service to begin, the screen went blank and words started to appear on screen. They came up as if someone was typing them on the spot, but the slides were actually short movies that had been pieced together in a computer program ahead of time. These introductory slides told the participants what was about to happen. That is the service to follow would be different from anything they had done before in that no voice would be heard that night except for their own whether it was speaking or singing. We then did an entire service that had responsive readings interspersed with silent moments for people to meditate on what they had just read. The readings were taken from Scripture passages involving the Last Supper, the betrayal in the Garden, the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. It wasn't read verse by verse, but rather the passages were broken down into where the natural breaks seemed to fall. If the words appeared on the left side of the screen, the people on the left side of the room read the words. If the words appeared on the right side of the screen, the people on the right side read the words. If the words were in the middle, the whole group would read the passage. These passages would simply appear onscreen as typical Power Point slides so they could be distinguished from the "commentary" provided occasionally by the slides that looked like someone typing. The Last Supper section was followed by a contemporary song by Third Day called Communion. The crucifixion passage was followed by a set of songs including Grace Flows Down, Once Again, The Wonderful Cross and a reprise of Grace Flows Down. The Resurrection section closed with the upbeat songs Marvelous Light and Salvation is Here. A short commentary then came up which posed the question of what we should do in response to such amazing love to which we sang the answer in the song, We Fall Down.

My idea behind doing the service this way was to strip away all the extras we place around the Easter story and leave the participants with the plain and powerful words of the Scriptures and a few songs that might stick with them through the week. It was, as I said, very different from what people in our church expected or had experienced, but it was well-received. Everyone participated and some of the youth wanted copies of all the slides so they could read them through on their own. The best, though, was the e-mail from our pastor who called it an "innovative" program.