Emerging Women

So we have passed the holidays and from what I have heard many of us are still in recovery mode. I know things have been slow around here recently as life has taken priority over cyberdiscussions, but I hope that we can gain momentum and jump back into more conversations soon. As the last year drew to an end some of you gave your opinions on things you would like to see here at Emerging Women which I want to mention today.

Gatherings
I hope that the small gatherings can continue around the country to help women connect with each other. This is up to you guys to instigate and so far they have been great successes.

The Northwest Emerging Women have their Convergence gathering in February which I highly recommend anyone to attend (I had an amazing time last year). Other gathering are still in the works but no concrete plans are set as of yet.

Interviews
But one suggestion that I want to institute as soon as possible is that of hearing the stories of Emerging Women from around the world. The idea would be to collect interviews from women we admire who are out there making a difference. I’m not talking just about “famous” women, but any women we can learn from and by inspired by. I am envisioning simple email interviews that will be posted here in multiple installments. And while I think it would be great to hear stories from all sorts of women, I would like to limit it (at first at least) to women who are connected in some way (however small) to the emerging church. We so rarely get to hear the stories of these women and I would love to bring the presence of women in this conversation into greater focus.

So what I am asking from you all here are three things –
1. Who would you like to hear from? Name whoever you want.
2. What sort of basic questions would you like asked of these women?
3. And are you willing to contact the people you know and conduct the interview? (we can work out details later)

I am excited about this and can’t wait to start hearing the stories of these women.

Book Discussions

And I know we are a bit behind in announcing the upcoming selections for our Tuesday Book Club discussion, but here is the list for the next few months. We have chosen somewhat lighter fare from a diversity of perspectives and all selections are available at the Emerging Women Resource Store. Once again we are looking for volunteers to lead select weeks of the discussions. If you are interested, leave a comment or email emergingwomen@gmail.com. I look forward to exploring these books with you all here.

February – Forever and Ever, Amen: Becoming a Nun in the Sixties by Sister Karol Jackowski

March – A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf

April – The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs

This week we continue our discussion of Becky Garrison’s Rising from the Ashes. Given the nature of the book as being interviews from a wide variety of people, it is full of various and sometimes contradictory perspectives. But one theme that I found repeated from interview to interview was that of the need for accountability for the church. There seemed to be concern that new expressions of church (like emerging churches) might be prone to dangers because of a lack of structural accountability. Here are a few quotes that address this issue –

Phyllis Tickle – “One of the things emergent has to do, and do soon, is provide some kind of seminary education, instead of simply having people lay hands on someone and say, “You’re now a pastor,” or having someone set up a blog with a green leaf logo and decide to regard themselves a pastor. Another question has to do with accountability. Some of the gatherings have pastors who may or may not be a tentmaker, that is, who may be making their living elsewhere. If people only have accountability within their own group of thirty or so folk, there’s the potential for going off into idiosyncratic theology and/or into a cult of personality.” (p. 4)

Martha Grace Reese – “Any time there’s some rapidly growing ministry, there are all sorts of contentions, struggles, distractions, confusions, crashes, and burnouts. We all need accountability.” (p.14)

- Do you see this same danger/need for emerging churches?
- How do you see such a structure of accountability logistically working?
- Do you think this concern might be greater for those from a high church background as compared to those more familiar with low church structures?
- what sort of accountability do you see existing already in new and emerging churches?

One suggestion that seemed to be a common theme as well was to retain accountability but avoid hierarchy. Many of the voices called for stronger lay leadership and flattened authority –

Isaac Everett – “I love the Episcopal Church and it’s been very formative for me over the years, but I’m not entirely comfortable with the hierarchical structures of authority and the way those power dynamics affect the church’s culture. Liturgy tends to be very clergy-centric, and the laity are mostly passive during worship. A lot of people out there have become so distrustful of institutions that they have no desire to sit quietly in a pew and listen to an elite authority figure define truth for them. we don’t trust the government, we don’t trust corporations – why should we trust the church?” (p. 68)

Brian McLaren – “What I think will happen in this emerging church phenomenon is that we’ll find a blurring of boundaries so that old hierarchies and institutions are actually part of emerging networks – they’re networked in. As a result, everybody has the capacity to learn from, influence, and enrich everybody.” (p. 86)

- How do you react to the idea of flattened or horizontal leadership in churches?
- Do you think such a leadership structure would solve problems or cause more problems?
- How do you see such a structure aiding accountability?

Greetings all,

I was tooling around just now and I was happy to find Prince Caspian is coming out May 16.

Did anybody enjoy the last film?

I really liked it. I ADORED the books as a child, and have very much enjoyed reading them to my daughter. I was glad to see the new film will be coming out as I think my daughter can probably see this one now that she a little older. She was too younger the last time to get much out of the film but has really come to love the DVD.

I saw the trailer, and the only thing I felt was regrettable–that really stood out right away–was how old the “children” looked. Lucy looks about 10 years old or so, and the story she should be about 6-7. The film wasn’t shot too quickly after LWW was finished, and I guess they were not sure if it would succeed and if other films would be forthcoming.

Anyway, anybody planning to see the film, any Narnia fans out there, or just me?

After a break for the holidays, we are finally returning to Weekly Round-ups. Here are a few of the posts of note from Emerging Women around the blog world recently. If you find a post that you think should be included in this weekly list send a link to emergingwomen@gmail.com. Happy reading!

Sonja writes on why we should care about what is happening in Kenya.

Jan gives her thoughts on pastoral image and the trend to hire pulpit candy.

Sally writes on telling the difficult stories of the Bible.

Amy reflects on understanding and knowing God.

Kim writes on getting lost and embracing the unexpected.

Megan reflects on the theology conveyed in testimonies.

And I just wanted to let everyone know about a new blog that has recently been launched – Christian Feminism. This is a group blog that seeks to explore feminism as it relates to Christianity. It is just getting going, but I am interested to see where it leads.

I first considered myself an Emerging Woman when my husband and I knew we needed to find a new church. It was a long long Summer. Week after week of “Hi, my name is….” We tried it, every flavor of church. Churches that called themselves Emergent. Churches that were United Methodists and very embracing of women. You name it, we tried it. I wanted to give you an update on how God is finding me on my journey.

We’ve been going to this new church since the end of the Summer. It’s a Vineyard church. One of the things that drew me to the Vineyard and made me a pariah at my Baptist church was that when I worship God I get too locked into the tractor beam of loving on Jesus that I cannot be still. I don’t realize I’m raising my hands until my hand accidentally touches my husband’s chin or something like that. I didn’t even realize till it was too late that I had developed a reputation at my church for being “too charismatic”. This developed not out of a desire to be “showy” or overly excited or contrived and deliberate like a high school pep rally. It was instead born out of Christ doing a deep work in my heart over a two year period, almost like open heart surgery and the only pain relief was worship. Worship was no longer dessert it was meat and potatoes. It was nourishment and life and breath to me. So when the way I worshipped made me unpopular, I was surprized no shocked that people who had so known my walk with the Lord for years would judge me and dismiss me treating me like some kind of charismatic lunatic. I was disspointed. But it was no contest. Worship my lavish affection upon God or stand still and pretend just so I could get man’s approval? Stop breathing oxygen or start breathing helium instead? Yeah. What. Ever. No can do, buddy boy.

So here we are at the Vineyard where it is okay, even desirable for all the gifts of the Holy Spirit to operate. In a grounded and nonflaky way. And worship at this church had such an overt hunger for God. I loved it. My husband even pointed out to me when a couple of ladies were gently dancing while they worshipped. I was so so hungry for that. But still shy. Real shy. Shy to move my feet. I had no problem with raising my arms. That felt like giving God a hug. But my feet. I was too afraid to move them. But we started sitting in some seats where I had room to move so my hands would not bump somoene’s arm or chin accidentally when I opened my arms wide to embrace God while I sang. But for weeks, when I sang, I would close my eyes and visualize myself as a little girl, standing in a field or meadow with my arms outstretched twirling around with my eyes closed and face to the sun. This image would come to my mind unbidden. I knew it was an inviatation from God. This Sunday, when we sat down, my husband said, “So we’re sitting here cause there’s twirling room.” He’s never said that. and when the worship started, at first, I was just along for the ride. Hiding from God. Still cringing from the month I’ve had. But in my spirit, Jesus kept saying that verse from Song of Solomon, “let me see your face let me hear your voice for your voice is sweet and your face is lovely.” So I did. I quit holding back and started letting my facial expressions show. I directed my gaze and all my energy in singing to the Lord to love on Him. and I could feel it. Honest to God. I could feel His delight. Like Eric Liddell said, “when I run I feel His pleasure” So I kept going. I raised my hands. More like I let them raise themselves. and again, that vision in my mind of me as a little girl twirling in a field smiling with the sun on my face arms outstretched. I knew God wanted me to do it. So in my mind I’m saying, “God are you sure?” “Yes. Yes.” So I said, “Okay. I’ll wait for the chorus.” Which is so funny. But real. It’s like I was a kid standing on the edge of the high dive. Today. I move my feet. Gulp.

So the chorus came. and I did it. I kept my arms outstretched hugging God and I closed my eyes and turned my face up to the sun and I twirled in a slow gentle circle. It. felt. awesome.

I felt all the innocent freedom and joy of a little girl.

After church, I was talking with a friend from homegroup when a lady I’ve never met walked up to me. She was waiting to talk to me. She said, (she was so shy) she said, “God told me something to tell you. I dont usually do this. Is that okay with you.” “Sure. Yes. Go ahead.” This shy lady said, “Um God wants you to know that he likes the way you worship. He likes it very much just the way you do it today.”

Is THAT AWESOME OR WHAT??

The lady and me were both smiling and crying.
It was awesome.
Thanks for letting me share.

By (our very own) Becky Garrison

Rising From the Ashes is an easy book to pick up, read a few snippets between activities or in the bathroom. Each interview question and response is pretty brief, so you can take a substantive quick bite and have something to chew on for a while. If you haven’t already, go ahead and pick up a copy. Alot of emphasis is on sacred space, ritual, the creative process and the trend toward a more collaborative, bottom-up approach to worship. This book especially emphasizes engagement with emerging ideas and Anglican/Episcopal tradition.

As an explanation for bringing symbols and materials from the real world/everyday life into worship, Johnny Baker explains:

So living in London I am interested in how everyday life can be re-infused with God’s presence. This is part of the journey of alternative worship — use the stuff of everyday life and culture in church and God’s presence will be noticed when those everyday things are encountered in the real world. (p 114)

1. What aspect of life is hardest for you to include in your awareness of God’s presence?

2. What symbolizes this aspect of life for you?

3. What ways can you imagine incorporating this symbol into worship in order to sanctify that area of life for you?

Brian McLaren offers this cautionary note about technology in worship, based on the scholarship of Marshall McLuhan:

…when you invent the wheel, your legs become weaker. When you invent the television, your ability to become present becomes ewaker. When you invent the amplifier, your voice becomes weaker. We need to reflect on this powerful insight and ask, In what ways is technology subtracting or amputating just at the moment we think it’s adding and empowering? We should always remember that Jesus modeled personal incarnation, not projection and amplification. (p157)

Nadia Bolz-Weber (Yeah, Nadia!) does her Sarcastic Lutheran thing describing her opinion:

“A room full fo worshipers who stare for an hour at a huge video screen (not unlike the rest of their lives) with Tom Cruise film clips and vapid “Jesus is my Boyfriend lyrics: evil.”

Yet, Nadia also talks about how her blog and internet community has opened the way for prayer and friendship on a profound level. …”the prayer part is just as central as the checking their blogs part.” (156)

This was a good reminder for me. I can easily get sucked into viewing and writing blogs and find myself disaffected from my actual life.

Here’s a quote from an interview with Patricia Hendricks that spoke to me. Patricia is writing about the experience of young people but I think it applies to older adults as well:

Most busy themselves with school, work, extra-curricular activities and a social life. They are tempted by the trappings of a popular culture. They are in constant communication via today’s technology, and rarely do they experience quiet…Ritual invites a person to slow down, to be quiet, to look to the mystery. (p 119)

4. What is the most significant ritual in which you participate or would like to participate?

A Zen Christian Poem

By Jemila Kwon