Finding our way again ncli 2014

finding our way again


how we lost our way

institutionalismmale hierarchy

anti-Semitismsyncretism with Greek

thoughtdeals with Roman politics

embrace of violenceConstantine’s cross

obsession with certaintycreedalism

we turneda way

into

a

destination

truthcorrectness

purity

we thought we had arrived.

maturity

a brief history of

rediscovery

desert fathers & mothersSt. Patrick & Celts

St. Francis & Claire Reformation

radical reformationsocial gospel

black & liberation theology

feminist & eco-theologytheology of multitude

a generous orthodoxyChristianity worth believing

generative Christianity emergence Christianity

a new kind of ChristianityChristianity for the rest of us

new paradigm Christianitymissional Christianity

progressive Christianitythe next Christians

convergence ChristianityChristianity rediscovered

postmodernpost-colonial

post-capitalistpost-industrial

post-christendompost-protestant

post-denominationalpost-institutionalpost-eurocentric


3 dimensions


1. a way of community


practicing one-anotherness


practicing leadership “among ...”


practicing the courage to differ graciously ...


what center holds us together?


2. a way of spirituality


why gather?public worship as group

spiritual formation

liturgy: the work(out) of the people

bad liturgy: the checklist of the clergy

ritual: using bodily action to bond to meaning

ritualism: action without meaning

ritual: using bodily action to bond to meaning

ritualism: action without meaning

what meaning?what stories? what larger

narratives?

A table of elitism and exclusion ...

reinforcing violent sacrifice?

or a feast of grace and reconciliation ...

recalling God’s self-giving?


promoting secrecy:spirituality “in the closet”


“guard your heart well, for from it flow the well-

springs of life.”


3. a way of mission

3. a way of mission

community and spirituality:

formation for missionbeing/belonging/

becoming for doing

3. a way of mission

engaging disciples in the big 3:

planet, poverty, peace

3. a way of mission

witness as with-ness

3. a way of mission

salvation:saving the world

fr. vincent donovan

After some time among the Masai, Donovan described, with some disillusionment, the version of Christianity he and other Western, Euro-American missionaries had imported into Africa: “an inward-turned, individual-salvation-oriented, un-adapted Christianity” (8). He became so disillusioned with this approach that he felt the need to move away from the term salvation altogether. One paragraph in his book especially intrigues me:

“Preach the gospel to all creation,” Christ said. Are we only now beginning to understand what he meant? I believe the unwritten melody that haunts this book ever so faintly, the new song waiting to be sung in place of the hymn of salvation, is simply the song of creation. To move away from the theology of

salvation to the theology of creation may be the task of our

time”

salvation - not evacuation plan from damned

humanity

salvation = transformation plan for

damaged humanity, based on

God’s saving lovefor all creation.

3. a way of mission

joining God in God’s saving love for all creation


1. a way of community2. a way of spirituality

3. a way of mission


1. a way of community2. a way of spirituality

3. a way of mission

governance

insu

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secu

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authoriz

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standard

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two ways: life & death


we have a long way to go!

finding our power again

what you focus on determines

what you miss.

49

50

51

52

what are we focusing on?the power we have?

the problems we have?

a pub in London

What’s missing today is a high-quality discourse on rethinking the design and evolution of the entire system from scratch.

- Otto Scharmer

The quality of results produced by any system depends on the quality

of awareness from which the people in the system operate. (Otto

Scharmer)

The quality of results produced by any system depends on the quality

of awareness from which the people in the system operate. (Otto

Scharmer)

ANXIOUS?ANGRY?

HOPEFUL?

JOYFUL?

DEFENSIVE?

Death Resurrection

Burial

Letting Go Letting Come

Letting Be

Marching to the old drumbeat

frantic, desperate activity


Being still



pensive pacing


Being still



pensive pacing

Are we open?

Truly open?


pastor power

pastor powerpeople power

pastor powerpeople power

pastor-people power

refusing to be complicit in your own diminishment

parent power

parent powerkid power

parent powerkidpower

family power

enlisting parents to teach a new kind of Christian faith

music power

why do the fundamentalists have all

the good music?

sermon powerstory power

setting yourself on firesetting the world on fire

youth power

rediscovering Christianity as an empowered youth

movement

diversity power

what will it take to face America’s original sin?

faith power

becoming cynical about our cynicism

Death Resurrection

Burial

resurrection powerSpirit power

embodiment-of-Christ Christ-in-you

power

death isn’t the worst thing that could happen


finding our momentum again

Three possible futures:

Continuing contraction

Extremist resurgence

Pregnancy

Three possible futures:Continuing contraction

- Shrinking numbers- Wrinkling members- Low retention- Low evangelization- Constrained

leadership- Secure finances

Three possible futures:

Extremist resurgence- Immigration fears- Western domination- Terrorism

fears/revenge- Playing to bases- New alliances (global,

ecumenical)

Three possible futures:Pregnancy

- Theological reformation- Missional reorientation- Post-national, post-

partisan identity/ethos- Spiritual-social

movement(Peace, planet, poverty) - New alliances (global,

ecumenical convergences)

we need a theology of

institutions, movements. and Communities

Communities

Families, individuals, and organizations linked to a common environment, collaborating for the common good.

Institutions:

Organizations which conserve the gains made by past

social movements.

Social Movements

Organizations which make proposals or demands to current institutions to make progress towards new gains.

Both movements and institutions...

Organize for their purposeNeed one anotherAre frustrated with one

anotherBenefit or harm communities

Without movements ...

Institutions stagnate ...

Without institutions ...

Movements evaporate ...

Some movementssuccessfully inject their values

into the institutions they challenge

Other movementscreate their own institutions,

or pass away

Vital movementscall people to passionate,

sacrificial personal commitment

Sustainable institutionscreate loyalty across

generations through evocative rituals & traditions

critical communitiesmovement visionaries

movement organizersmovements

Parker Palmer’s 4 stages of social change

1. Divided no more

2. Communities of congruence

3. Going public

4. Alternative Rewards

From Greg LeffelFaith Seeking Action: Mission

and Social Movements

Movements unite people to create or resist change. Through them, individuals seek a common voice to challenge, social, political, economic and cultural powers; movements, in fact, multiply the power of individual action through their unique form of collective, non-institutional power. (47-48)

Social movements are non-institutionally organized human collectives, that put meaningful ideas in play in public settings, that actively confront existing powers through the strength of their numbers and the influence of their ideas, and that grow in size and power by inspiring others to act, in order to create or resist change (48)

A movement is “a segmented, usually polycephalus cellular organization composed of unites networked by various personal, structural, and ideological ties. (50)

It takes collective, non-institutional (or prophetic) power to bring change to institutions.

You can’t change the center/inside/priestly without

proposals and pressure from the margins/outside/prophetic.

Movements are diagnostic, prognostic, and motivational (51)

- They say what’s wrong- They say what’s needed- They motivate and mobilize for concerted action.

Movements are context dependent.In certain periods, fundamental contradictions

in a society’s core understanding of itself create the possibility of widespread and

socially disruptive change. (52)

Movements exploit opportunity:1. An active interest among elites in changing the political structure2. Conflicts or corruption within elites3. Events that weaken established social control (war, disaster, economic collapse)

Leffel’s 6 Characteristics of Vibrant Social Movements

1. Opportunity Structure (Context Awareness)

Current restraining realities ...

in tension with ...

emerging opportunities.

Opportunities:- Problems needing to be solved- Elites who hold power, resist change or promote negative change- Fissures, Problems among elites that make the status quo vulnerable- Values of the movement in conflict with values of elites- Potential advocates and allies in academic, civil society, arts, church, government, business, science, etc.

2. Rhetorical Framing/Conceptual Architecture

Movement leaders have to make a conceptual and verbal case for their movement by answering questions like these:

How do we redefine reality?How do we disrupt or change current realities?How do we name our grievances? Articulate our positive vision for the way forward?How do we motivate and sustain dissatisfaction with the status quo, and affection for our shared vision?How do we justify our aims in terms of 5 lines of moral argument (Jonathan Haidt): justice, compassion, tradition, loyalty, and purity?How is the movement liberating? (liberal)How is the movement conserving? (conservative)

3. Protest (messaging) strategyRaising awareness, attracting growing numbers of participantsCampaigns, tactics, deployments, making demands, public relations, sustaining conflict, forcing a crisis, managing internal tensions, managing stigmatization, showing results, maintaining momentum, not overreacting, defining acceptable level of disruption,

- Gaining attention - demonstrations, sit-ins, teach-ins, etc.- Building Networks of Participants and Allies- Wisely Identifying and Engaging Opponents

Movements must be convergent (creating broad, vigorous alliances) and insurgent (confronting real problems upheld

by elites and the systems that privilege them).

4. Mobilization Structures & Strategies

- Authority and Decision-Making Structures- Transparency/Confidentiality, Communication Plans- Leadership development, Relational Development, Conflict Management Plans- Coalition development- Resource, Technology, Finance Mobilization and Management- Evangelism, recruitment, induction- Renewal and Increase of commitment- Awareness of levels of commitment (core, activists, supporters, listeners, opposition, indirect impact, unaware

5. Movement Culture

“Movements are about changing a society’s lifeway; a movement itself

becomes an experimental field where a new way of life can be, to some degree, experienced and where the movement’s

ideals, values and common vision are put to the test.” (61)

5. Movement culture

- Emotional vibe (fun, serious, angry, playful, heady, gutsy, etc.)- Feel of spaces, physical and digital- Songs, slogans- Virtues, values, moral ethos- Dress, Graphics, - Nicknames, terminology- Emotion, motivation, motion

6. Participant Biography

How does involvement benefit - or harm - participants? How does the movement promote emotional and social sustainability ... avoiding burnout, squabbles, etc.How does it contribute to personal formation:- character- attitudes- knowledge- recovery from trauma- relationships- renewalWhat do participants gain from being involved?

1. Opportunity Structure2. Rhetorical framing3. Protest (messaging) strategy4. Mobilization strategy5. Movement culture6. Participant Biography

Jesus says the kingdom of God is like gardening (an organic movement) not warfare (institutional action): It spreads through seeds ... sown into systems to grow.

The seeds of the message.

The seeds of people who personally embody the message.

The seeds of communities who socially embody the message.

Jesus seizes the opportunity structure provided by conflicted elites (Pharisees/Sadducees; Herodians/Zealots) and struggling masses (Galilee/Judea)

He provides rhetorical framing on hillsides, in houses, on retreats, in public teach-ins, in debates, through parables, through rituals and practices. He repeats key themes - commonwealth of God, life to the full, life of the ages, liberation - rooted in dynamic tension with tradition.

His protest (messaging) strategy includes public demonstrations (healings & miracles), teach-ins (sermon on mount), civil disobedience (turning tables), guerilla theatre (exorcisms), festivals (feasts & feedings), naming evil (woes), naming heroes (blessings).

He develops a mobilization strategy based on 3, 12, 70, and multitudes. He entrusts freely with responsibility and expresses high confidence in his agents (greater things shall you do ...)

Jesus and the 12- Intense time of modeling, relationship building and vision sharing- Contagious passion- Periodic sending and returning- Final sending/Succession insured- Warnings of expected trials, failures, conflicts- “Polycephalic” structure - connection without control- Self-organizing units- Welcoming of new leaders (Paul)- Reproducible expansion- Both individual agency and group agency (Paul, Philip, Antioch)- Both planning and spontaneity

He associates his movement culture with love, joy, justice, risk, hope, creativity, courage, service, willingness to suffer, nonviolence.

He provides his disciples challenge, rest, retreat, encouragement, recovery after failures. They testify that their participant biographies have been forever changed for the better.

What spiritual movement is trying to be born among us today?

What are its demands/proposals?

What role might we play in its emergence?

What convergences are necessary for this movement to begin moving?

3-D Mainliners +Progressive/Post

Evangelicals +Progressive Catholics +Peace Churches +Civil Rights Legacy

Churches +Emergence/Convergence

+Multi-faith collaborations

Movements make proposals/demands

of participantsof communitiesof institutions

Movements inspire a passion for the

possible.

Movements move with the Holy Spirit -

- the Spirit of creation/creativity

- the Spirit of evolution- the Spirit of Jesus


The kingdom of God is not a matter of food

and drink ...


and drink ...

buildings, budgets

deficits, hierarchies

plans, pensions


and drink ...

doctrinal disputes

power struggles

desperate attempts

buildings, budgets


plans, pensions


and drink ...

doctrinal disputes

power struggles

desperate attempts

fear

playing it safe

running for cover

buildings, budgets


plans, pensions


and drink ...

doctrinal disputes

power struggles

desperate attempts

fear

playing it safe

running for cover

buildings, budgets


plans, pensions

personal ambition

political games

trivial pursuits


and drink ...

doctrinal disputes

power struggles

desperate attempts

fear

playing it safe

running for cover

personal ambition

political games

trivial pursuits

hostilityconflictanger

buildings, budgets


plans, pensions


and drink ... but of justice

peace

and joy

in the Holy Spirit
