Last November the Rev. Dr. Peter H. Nafzger was the speaker for the annual Vern Gundermann Reformation Heritage Lecture sponsored by Concordia University – St. Paul, Minnesota. Much of what Dr. Nafzger said resonated with aspects of our research on the adult catechumenate and its role in congregational life. With his permission, I’m sharing some […]
As the “Week of Prayer for Christian Unity” closes, framed by the Confession of St. Peter and Conversion of St. Paul, we again commend to our readers seeking resources on the adult catechumenate the website of Journey to Baptismal Living: https://journeytobaptism.org/. Here’s this week’s sampling of some helpful JBL resources: “What Is the Adult Catechumenate?” […]
In 1908 the Franciscans Friars of the Atonement in Graymoor, New York, proposed the week spanning the Confession of Peter (January 18) and the Conversion of Paul (January 25) be designated the “Week of Prayer for Christian Unity,” and a century later many denominations commemorate this week by praying for greater understanding of our unity […]
This week we return to Hirsch’s final characteristic of mDNA/apostolic genius: Communitas. Hirsch contrasts communitas with community. Community is understanding the church in light of a consumerist culture and attractional forms of church. Community in that perspective is preoccupied with middle-class values: safety, security, comfort, and convenience. When those are the values sought within community […]
Kent and Rhoda are taking a week off from blog posting to attend the Annual Meeting of the North American Academy of Liturgy. It is a great opportunity for us to engage with other scholars in the field, to read and discuss papers on liturgical topics written by colleagues and offer feedback on works-in-progress, and […]
This excerpt from Leo the Great’s Christmas sermon (preached in 450) draws together biblical themes of baptism with the mystery of the Incarnation: May these ancient words by Leo the Great draw our readers to contemplate the Incarnation and its meaning in daily life in new ways. When the faithful meditate about divine things, dearly […]
(Note: We are taking a break for the next three weeks from our series on discipleship. We’ll conclude it the week of January 11.) Yesterday was the Commemoration of the death of Katie nee von Bora Luther, the patroness of all pastors’ wives. Luther said of her, “I would not trade my Kate for France […]
The 1st characteristic of mDNA that Alan Hirsch discusses (but the 4th in our series of blog posts) is disciple making or discipleship. This is what the catechumenate aims at: to form disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ and of his Father. So how does Hirsch define discipleship? “Following Jesus and becoming increasingly like him […]
Alan Hirsch’s 4th characteristic of missional DNA (mDNA) or Apostolic Genius is what he calls Organic Systems. This entails perceiving and structuring the church’s life in mission on organic, living models rather than institutional and bureaucratic models. As Hirsch says, “A living systems approach seeks to structure the common life of an organization around the […]
We took a one week hiatus a week ago from the blog but continue this week after Thanksgiving with our series on Alan Hirsch’s five characteristics of genuinely missional churches, the mDNA that constitute Apostolic Genius. This week, however, isn’t so much one of the characteristics, but the central definitive feature that permeates all of […]