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Review & Contest: “What’s the Least I Can Believe and Still Be a Christian?”

Posted on June 29, 2011 by Adam J. Copeland

With the help of the publisher, I’m running a giveaway for a copy of this book. Make any comment on this post, and I’ll enter you into a contest to win a free copy! Randomly drawn on July 6th.

I work with 20-30 somethings who are not connected to a faith community. Many books published by denominational publishing houses are, well, nice for me to read but not particularly applicable to my work as a mission developer. Martin Thielen’s new book, however, is spot-on for those interested in the Christian faith but skeptical of its tenets.

In “What’s the Least I Can Believe and Still Be a Christian: A Guide to What Matters Most,” Thielen uses a conversational style to walk a seeker through what matters — and what doesn’t. More a Christian appetizer than a main course, Thielen employs the sensitivity and seasoned story-telling of an experienced pastor.

The book is in two parts. Part one is “Ten Things Christians Don’t Need to Believe.” Topics Thielen includes tend to be extremes held by conservative Christians such as beliefs in a literal six-day creation story, that women cannot be preachers, and a “rapture” view of the end of the world. Part two is the flip-side, “Ten Things Christians Do Need to Believe.” Thielen uses the person of Jesus to organize this section as each chapter begins with Jesus — Jesus’ Identity, Jesus’ Grace, Jesus’ Example, Jesus’ Death, etc. Leastbelieve

As a pastor in the PC(USA), I found the book both approachable and perfectly congruent with my theology. Thielen dabbled in more conservative circles early in his career but is now Senior Pastor of Lebanon First United Methodist Church in Tennessee. The book would be appropriate for all mainline protestant denominations.

In the opening pages, Thielen tells the story of how over many months he mentored an atheist, who later turned agnostic, and after many meetings with Thielen, eventually professed faith in Christ. I took the book to be sort of a companion piece to such conversations with folks who are both skeptical of and curious about Christianity. As that, I think the book works quite well.

It left me lacking in some senses, however. First, I grew tired of Thielen’s use of stories to illustrate his points. After a few chapters I felt overcome with cute almost kitschy illustrations and wanting more meat, more willingness to take-on the historical and theological aspects of each chapter. Second, I know it’s difficult to address (especially considering Thielen’s intended audience may be completely unchurched) but I felt like the reliance of movie references and other people’s illustrative stories overshadowed some core theological claims of Christianity like, the Bible is the word of God, what is a creed, and that we are called to respond to God’s love. It’s hard to explain, but when reading, several times I felt more gooey than educated or convicted. I’m not the intended audience, however, so read on.

WJK Books has a handy study guide and suggested 7-week course to help congregations to enjoy the book together. It’s difficult to find a book that would work for an entire congregation to read and study together, so Thielen does well to fit the bill. As studies have shown, mainline Christians these days are increasingly Biblically illiterate and what once were flash points of the faith are becoming mere footnotes to feel good religion. What’s the Least I Can Believe and Still Be a Christian might serve for some as a helpful starting point for theological conversation. For more details and to buy a copy, check out it’s WJK page by clicking here.

Update: Congratulations to Rev. Burton Cantrell, the randomly chosen winner of the free copy! It’s going out in the mail this week. Thanks to all who commented and read the blog (even when there’s no contest).

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New youth study on tattoos

Posted on June 22, 2011 by Adam J. Copeland

A TTC Gathering Voices post

To tattoo or not to? That is the question. At least it is for many folks these days. Some estimate that approaching 40% of people under 40 have tattoos. While I don’t have one, many of my friends do — of crosses, words (in English, Hebrew, and Greek), Bible verses, logos. In fact, I almost feel left out. So, a few months back I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to write the study, “Tattoos. A Good Idea?” for The Thoughtful Christian. It’s recently out and available for download. Here’s a few reflections on the project.

First, I did some research via social media and as to why folks got their tattoos, and what significance they have. That blog post is here and still remains active. Overall, I was struck by the wide range of responses. For some people, their tattoo really helped their faith and even strengthened their discipleship. For others — even someone who got a celtic cross tattoo — it was more of a spur-of-the-moment thing.

Adam Walker Cleaveland's tattoo

Second, though it’s often said by some Christians that tattoos are bad or un-Christian, it’s difficult to make a direct Biblical argument for this. While Leviticus 19:28 includes a prohibition on tattoos, the prior two verses make the old-school purity code seem awfully odd (I have “rounded off the edge of my beard” (v. 27) many times without, in my view, offending God). Also, while 1 Corinthians 6:19 is often cited when it comes to purity of body — “your body is a temple of the holy spirit” — the context is actually Paul speaking not of an individual but of the whole community. So he’s saying, “you all together — your corporate body is a temple together” which makes tattoos on individuals sort of beside the point.

Third, I have to admit to before researching for this study I thought of tattoos as a modern phenomenon. I was way wrong. Tattoos have been around for thousands of years and are present in cultures all around the world. Perhaps tattoos are gaining popularity in the 2010s as opposed to the 1980s, but they’re by no means a new trend.

Fourth, like sex and a few other off-limits social issues, I feel the church really does a disservice to its members if it doesn’t have forums to discuss contemporary issues like the growing prominence of tattoos. As I say in the study,

The church does not operate in a vacuum, so it is not immune from tattoos’ popularity. Many pastors have tattoos themselves, and tattoos are found on the bodies of many congregation members—some you might know about, and some that might surprise you. (For a little experiment, ask the pastor of your congregation to mention tattoos in a sermon. It’s amazing how many members shaking hands with the pastor at the door after worship will discuss—or even show—their own tattoos!)Tattoos, perhaps once seen as something unfit or unmentionable for church folk, are now fairly common and gaining acceptance.

It’s important that the church model healthy ways of reflection and dialogue about tattoos and other issues of cultural import.

Finally, it was interesting to reflect how I might have written this study differently were it for an adult group as opposed to youth. To be honest, I imagined youth to be more open-minded and willing to discuss other points of view than an adult group might be. If my imaginings were accurate, what does this say about adults who attend church and their willingness to consider differences both moral and aesthetic?

So, I hope you’ll check out the study. As I wrote, it’s designed to have youth explore questions from many sides and think of different perspectives so that they can discern how God is leading them, not simply say tattoos are good or bad, right or wrong. As the study shows, tattoos are not a black-and-white issues (and not just because they come in color too).

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A review of “Friending: Real Relationships in a Virtual World” by Lynne Baab

Posted on June 21, 2011 by Adam J. Copeland

Article first published as Book Review: Friending: Real Relationships in a Virtual World by Lynne Baab on Blogcritics.

In “Friending: Real Relationships in a Virtual World” Lynne M. Baab thoughtfully explores many aspects of modern friendship. Baab does so, largely, from a Christian perspective with particular consideration for how social media affects friendship these days — for better or for worse. I found the book an enjoyable read and recommend it to individuals and book groups who care to consider our modern friendship predicament.

The book begins with several chapters that consider the challenges of friendship in our virtual world. Baab, a professor in New Zealand with strong ties to the U.S., appreciates how communication technologies allow her to keep up her worldwide friendships relatively easily. Though, she admits, “nothing replaces a hug.”

Baab advocates a complex understanding of how social media affects friendships, longing “for leaders, ministers, writers and observers of culture to stop describing electronic community in black-and-white terms, to stop viewing it all as bad or, as occasionally happens, as all good.” This balance serves Baab well, and allows for folks who come to the book with different perspectives on technology to consider both sides.

Later, the work considers more broadly questions about how to make and keep friends, questions that are not specific to modern friendship. In chapters on friendship with God, and the practices of friendship — sharing, caring, being together, being apart, pacing, choosing, accepting, forgiving — Baab reflects on what makes friendships work (or not) and how to cultivate healthy friendships. Each chapter concludes with half a dozen questions for “reflection, journaling, discussion or action.”

As someone who has moved many times in the last six years, I’ve wrestled with many of the challenges Baab discusses. How and when it is it appropriate to initiate a friendship in a new place? How often should we hang out when we do become friends? How do I balance old friends with new? Though I often discuss such questions with my partner Megan, it is seldom that I read others considering the same conundrums. “Friending” does well to begin a broader conversation.

Perhaps it’s unfair, then, to criticize “Friending” for not going further. I did note, however, that Baab did not directly tackle one modern challenge of friendship in my life, mainly how to make and maintain friendships with people of widely different perspectives. U.S. culture, at least, is becoming more and more stratified and people are tending to associate only with like-minded individuals. A discussion of these challenges would have been helpful for me, especially with an eye to friendships across faith perspectives.

Overall, though, “Friending” is a helpful foray into what friendship looks like these days. At 182 pages, it can only do so much, but its personal and reflective tone reads smoothly and serves as a nice introduction to friendship. Thanks, Lynne Baab. You have a virtual friend in me.

InterVarsity Friending info

Lynne Baab website here

 

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Searching for the signal

Posted on June 15, 2011 by Adam J. Copeland

Blog Header Retouched

a Thoughtful Christian.com post

Recently I’ve been working a lot with a conference theme, “Searching for the Signal.” By, “a lot” I mean — preaching on it for two weeks, reflecting on a small group manual all about it, enjoying recreation based upon it, and listening to two weeks of keynote sessions addressing it. (I’m enjoying life at the Montreat Youth Conference at the moment.) So, after all this reflection, I’m struck how the theme connects to the different and sometimes seemingly disparate parts of my life.

Let me start outside the organized church, with folks with whom I interact at The Project F-M. In my conversations with people about the Project, many point to signals in their life. But these aren’t generally the sorts of signals church leaders want to embrace. Often, these are signals for why young adults were scared-off from the church, signals of close-minded church leaders who weren’t open to LGBTQ Christians, signals of hypocrites in the church who gave the whole organized religion thing a bad rap. Not always, but often, folks will point to one specific experience, one specific bad signal in the faith that, for them, was reason enough not to have much to do with an organized faith community.

For a smaller group of others, it’s not as if organized religion sends them a bad signal, it’s just not a signal they are searching for. There isn’t some big gaping hole in their life and they say, “If only I went to a worship service every Sunday morning and sang 3 hymns and listened to a 15 minute sermon my life would be perfect.” (Go figure!) The bias of folks who do attend church is often that people who don’t attend church really want to, they just don’t know how. Or that they feel like something is missing in their life. In my conversations, that’s simply not the case. And, in fact, sometimes folks don’t attend church very intentionally, almost as a spiritual practice itself. When I speak to congregations, I try to encourage a posture of openness towards these different spiritual disciplines.

OK, now moving to another group of folks entirely: high school youth at this church conference I’m helping lead in Montreat. For some of them, the week in Montreat marks a turning point in their faith journey, a time when they feel God’s signal as particularly strong. And, for some, they’ll tell me that they felt God’s presence this week in a way they’ve never experienced before, in a way that’s almost palpable, a way where — for a time at least — all doubts faded away.

Now while it might be nice to think these youth’s faith lives will now be happy and simple, that’s definitely not the case. Because, well, they have to go back to their home town, and away from these lovely mountains, and to “normal” life in their home congregations. The Montreat high is very difficult — well, it’s impossible — to keep up. It’s difficult to keep the Montreat high because folks have troubled lives, and church people are just as mean and petty as non-church people. The signals keep coming, but they’re mixed.

And that’s where the two groups come together in my mind. Broadly speaking, let’s say for many in first group there’s been some signal or signals that keeps them skeptical of organized religion. For the other group, there’s been some signal within organized religion (and specifically within a super-organized conference) that is so powerful it makes the everyday nature of church life seem like a letdown.

But, how about this….a significant connection between each of the groups is the search, the journey. What if the common thread of folks is that story of faith consideration, faith questioning, even faith not-caring (if it’s viewed in a way that sees faith not as a static thing but as a process). So, the challenge in my work with The Project F-M is how we can make a safe place for people to continue their search. And the challenge in the church’s work with youth is how we can make church a safe place to continue their journey as well.

Faith life is a journey, a process. If it’s static, something is wrong. So, I wonder, would emphasizing the journey, the search, the movement of faith (or not-faith) be a helpful common denominator for all? And, if so, how?

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You should probably be using Dropbox. It’s swell.

Posted on June 13, 2011 by Adam J. Copeland

Many technological moons ago — like, well, at least a year ago — someone told me about Dropbox, a cloud-based storage, sharing, and file backup system. I checked it out super-briefly online and thought, “I have no use for this.” Then, I moved on.

Now, I use Dropbox every day and totally recommend it to you. A few things changed in the meantime. First, I got an iPad and so needed to access files on my laptop from my iPad. Others of you may have a work computer and a home computer and would like to backup files on both, and have full access to all your files at all times. Dropbox enables seamless syncing, and you can even have easy access when not connected to the internet.

Second, I started working on my sermons for the Montreat Youth Conferences and it was very important that they be saved and backed-up. So, I saved them with Dropbox and rested easily.

Third, I started using the Dropbox share feature. If you want to share one of your files with a friend, just move it to your Public folder, right click, and send them the link that pops up. Simple sharing. No special uploading or attachments.

Finally, these past weeks in Montreat all the planning team members have used Dropbox to send files to the Montreat staff, to get orders of worship synced, and to share files for use in Anderson Auditorium. Dropbox is a simply smooth way to do this, and no more annoying easy-to-lose jump drives.

So, yeah, you should check out Dropbox. You get 2GB of storage for free! That’s been plenty for me. Don’t drop out of tech goodness, drop-in to Dropbox.

(disclosure: if you sign-up for Dropbox from my links I get more storage space. No pressure, I just want to be upfront.)

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Youth conferencing in Montreat

Posted on June 5, 2011 by Adam J. Copeland

For the next two weeks I’m in Montreat, North Carolina as the preacher for the Montreat Youth Conference. These conferences are a part — an essential part, I think — of Montreat Conference Center’s mission as it serves the PC(USA) and beyond. Volunteer planning teams of youth and adults serve a vital role in the conference organization, and they recruit a leadership team for two one-week-long conferences.

So, at the moment, my mind is mostly consumed with worship preparations, sermon editing, and a million details of coordination needed to help pull off quality conferences for 650 and 1300 youth this week and next. The blog may be quiet for a while.

There’s many things to love about Montreat youth conferences, but from my biased perspective as preacher here’s the first few that come to mind. First, the driving force of the conference is small groups in which youth meet twice each day. Small groups are made up of youth and a few adults, almost all of whom have not met before. Together they discuss the faith and grow in God’s love, and it’s all done in conversation and in community (personal come-to-Jesus experiences are less the point than personal relationships with those who seek to follow Jesus). Next, evening worship serves as a capstone to each day, and it takes place after a day of holy recreation, music, keynote presentation, and several small group meetings. Worship, then, (including my sermon) is a time at which the day’s theme can be claimed, wrestled-with, and honestly raised to God, but that only happens after a full day’s worth of contemplation. I’ve been thinking of worship as the capstone for each day. Finally, Montreat youth conferences are led by a team of leaders — music, recreation, keynote, preacher — and many support staff. So, hopefully, it’s not about individual personalities but how together we can consider how God is leading us to reflect upon the week’s theme.

I better be going, but here’s a list of some other Montreat youth conferences highlights (even before it begins):

  • youth and adults working on planning teams in partnership
  • hundreds of youth singing praises to God with new songs and old
  • beautiful mountain settings with flowing creeks throughout
  • fun fun fun recreation opportunities that build folks up and connect them to creation
  • seeing old friends and making new ones
  • being exposed to the faith of the whole church — both its similarities and differences
  • ice cream at the Huckleberry
  • wonderful college-aged summer staffers that make Montreat work so well
  • youth, from many states, loving God and serving their neighbors

image by benuski

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Down with the church women’s group…and the men’s too!

Posted on June 1, 2011 by Adam J. Copeland

A Thoughtful Christian.com Post

It’s a common joke for pastors transitioning to a new call, but it’s also deadly serious: change what you dare in a new congregation, but whatever you do, mess with the women’s group at your peril. The same can be said for men’s groups too.

Screen shot 2011-05-30 at 5.49.40 PM When the new Lutheran hymnal came out a few years ago, I attended one of the unveiling events in Canada. The hymnal’s full title is “Evangelical Lutheran Worship.” You might think to call it the “ELW” for short, but I’ve never seen a church lady explain something so fast as the Canadian hymnal committee member giving the presentation at the new hymnal event.

“We want to be totally clear,” she said, “that we honor and respect and value and give full credit to the Evangelical Lutheran Women” (the Canadian Lutheran women’s organization). “This hymnal shall never be referred to as ‘the ELW.” For short, it may be called the “Worship Book” as is indicated on the spine. But ‘the ELW’ abbreviation shall now and forever be reserved for our esteemed women’s organization.” And, at that, hundreds of Canadian Lutheran women breathed out a collective sigh a relief.

I’ve been pondering gendered church groups recently because a new church plant I visited on Sunday is about to launch a guy’s group. The girl’s group is already up and going, but interested guys were invited to the pastor’s house one night this week for their first gathering.

I wish the new men’s group well, but starting single-gender groups in my emerging faith community is the last thing on my mind. Why? At least these reasons.

Gender-segregated groups seem very old school — glass ceilings are being broken left and right, though we still have a long way to go. While it once may have been true that police officers were male and nurses were female, that is no longer the case (and thank God!). Men are often primary caregivers for children, and gender-segregated workplaces are increasingly rare. The world is moving towards a less rigid view of gender and sexuality, breaking down stereotypes and claiming a new freedom that one’s gender is neither one’s destiny nor the primary determining factor in who they are. Why would the church promote anything else?

Gender-segregated groups can promote sexism — now I say “can” not “always do,” but in my experience I find that many guy groups easily fall into accepting groups for sexity quips. Some such quips are demeaning to women, and others crack on guys who do their fair share of housework or who prefer baking to fishing. We have to fight these annoyances enough in other settings and the church should not add to the fray.

Gender-segregated groups may be extra-tricky for GLBTQ folks — This is just a more specific outcome of the previous critiques. I do know one Presbyterian church at which the guys group is made of up a significant number of gay men, but mostly I see gendered groups as tending to uphold heterosexist norms and assumptions. And, of course, gender-based groups may be particularly challenging for a transitioning transgendered person (assuming the group isn’t fully welcoming — I suppose the opposite could be true if it was fully welcoming. That’d be great!).

Gender-segregated groups prefer gender-sameness over common values — at a recent workshop I was reminded that when we meet new people, we first search for commonalities and then probe for differences. I suppose gendered groups do this too, using the sameness of gender for the basis of relationship. But, this seems odd to me. What about, instead, groups organized by neighborhoods, or hobbies, or family structure, or interests? I much rather gather with friends who share my love for books than guys who share a love for beer and burping.

Ok, now is the time in the post to say the essential: “Not all gender-segregated groups are bad. And, yes, they can be great in some ministry settings, especially established ones” Indeed, I was a member of a fantastic guys group in seminary that I still miss dearly. I, of course, value same-gender friendships and think they are essential for both congregations and life. And some gendered groups are great at some churches. I don’t mean to paint in overly-broad brushstrokes.

But, in the main, same gendered groups just strike me as an overly simplistic and out-dated model of church association. Then again, I suppose I may be confused. I mean, I’ve been known to do the laundry and look forward to seeing my stylist.

image by Svilen Milev

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