Andy Rowell

Category: Emerging Church

  • Tony Jones, N.T. Wright, Richard Bauckham, Scot McKnight, James K. A. Smith, Robert Bella and John Milbank – Audio from SBL and AAR

    In the past, I have been enormously helped by people who recorded audio of various lectures and conferences and then kindly posted it on the web.  I have recorded a few of the sessions from the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) and the American Academy of Religion (AAR) annual meetings November 17-20, 2007 in San Diego.  See my previous post about attending the meetings.  There are literally thousands of lectures at the meetings but I thought I would give you a sample of the ones I attended.  At each time slot, there are about 30-40 choices to choose from.  Sometimes I bounce from one to another.  Other times I find someone to talk to and skip the sessions.  So some of the talks are not complete.  But I still thought I would post what my little MP3 player recorded and see if anyone was interested.

    For the next couple of years, SBL and AAR will not meet together.  Some AAR people led this divorce but people in my circles are hopeful that after a couple of years people will reconsider.   Typically theologians, historians, practical theology, and people who study other religions than Christianity attend AAR.  Biblical studies people attend SBL.  But in the past these have occurred together so that many of us have enjoyed sessions from both. April 28, 2008 Update: the AAR has decide to begin meeting with SBL again when they are able to work out the logistics in a few years again.

    Other places to find great audio: 

    If you like audio, see my now outdated Best Audio for Church Leaders (Aug 2006) but still useful list of MP3’s on the internet and my instructions about listening to podcasts in my also outdated post Best Podcasts for Church Leaders (Oct 2006).

    Also Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) has this on their site:

    As in previous years, ACTS, inc. will be recording all sessions at the conference. Online orders for these recordings may be placed on their web site at the following address: http://actsonline.biz/ets_21_ctg.htm.  The entire conference costs $149.00.

    I do not think AAR and SBL record their sessions at all.

    If you dislike my low quality recordings, check out christianaudio.com which has quite a good selection of Christian books on audio.  For example, you can download the unabridged 6 hour audiobook of Eugene Peterson’s Eat This Book for $20.98.  (This is the book Duke Divinity School first year students were required to read this year).  That would be a very rich six hour car drive.  They also offer a free download each month.  This month (November) it is The Religious Affections (Unabridged) by Jonathan Edwards.  In December it is Dark Night of the Soul (Unabridged) by St. John of the Cross.

    Instructions for playing MP3’s:

    I have given you MP3’s which play on any computer.  You just right click on it and click “Save Link As . . .” or “Save Target As . . .” and you can save it to your desktop (and it will be on your computer and you can listen to it whenever you want).  If you have an MP3 player, you just plug in to your computer like a memory stick and move the MP3’s from your computer to your player.

    I have pasted below the SBL or AAR description of the session (S is for SBL and A is for AAR) and then put a note in italics with my comment about the recording.  I’m sorry to say that I have not listened to these recordings nor edited them.  If you are interested, I thought you would appreciate them anyway.

    Let me know in the comments if you appreciated them or if they were too poor quality to be helpful.  I haven’t done this before so I just thought I would give it a shot.   I have emailed the speakers to let them know I have posted these and I will take down the talks if any of them wish.  But I do think this is good publicity for AAR, SBL and each of the speakers.
    Without further ado, here are the MP3’s I recorded from 9 presentations I heard at SBL/AAR this past weekend. 

    AM17-28
    ________________________________________
    Emergent Church Forum
    11/17/2007
    9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
    Room: 29 C – CC
    The panelists are Tony Jones, Diana Butler Bass and Scot McKnight and the moderator, from Azusa Pacific University, is Keith Matthews.

    I missed the first ten minutes of this one.  Tony was speaking when I arrived.

    Emergent Church Forum.mp3 (131 MB; 2 hrs. 19 min.)

    Update: December 18: The first hour of this lecture is also available now on the Emergent Village podcast website but honestly you didn’t miss too much in the 10 minutes I missed but Tony’s recording is a better recording.  I would expect that they would put up part 2 (the second hour) at the end of December.

    AM17-53
    ________________________________________
    Mission and Biblical Interpretation: toward a Missional Hermeneutic
    11/17/2007
    1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
    Room: 28 C – CC
    What would it mean to read the Bible with an explicit methodological starting point in an ecclesial location understood as fundamentally missional? Join us for our sixth annual session focused on such questions, as Princeton Theological Seminary professors Darrell Guder and J. Ross Wagner present their work on missional hermeneutics in the seminary classroom. We anticipate a thought-provoking and productive discussion.

    I only taped Ross’s brief comments about Philippians.  The first two minutes are the end of Darrell Guder speaking.

    Mission and Biblical Interpretation – toward a Missional Hermeneutic.mp3  (12 MB; 13 min.)

    S17-79
    ________________________________________
    Synoptic Gospels
    11/17/2007
    1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
    Room: San Diego C – MM
    Theme: Panel Review of Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006)
    Jeffrey Peterson, Austin Graduate School of Theology, Texas, Presiding
    John Kloppenborg, University of Toronto, Panelist (20 min)
    Adela Yarbro Collins, Yale University, Panelist (20 min)
    James Crossley, University of Sheffield, Panelist (20 min)
    Richard Bauckham, University of St. Andrews-Scotland, Respondent (25 min)
    Discussion (65 min)

    I only recorded Bauckham’s response.  The room was packed.

    Jesus and the Eyewitnesses – The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony.mp3 (23 MB; 24 min.)

    A18-122
    Scriptural Reasoning Group
    Sunday – 9:00 am-11:30 am
    Steven D. Kepnes, Colgate University, Presiding
    Theme: Pragmatism and Biblical Hermeneutics: A Discussion of the Work of Peter Ochs
    Panelists:
    David Lamberth, Harvard University
    Leora Batnitzky, Princeton University
    James K. A. Smith, Calvin College
    Nicholas Adams, University of Edinburgh
    Responding:
    Peter Ochs, University of Virginia

    Abstract
    Scriptural Reasoning Group
    Theme: Pragmatism and Biblical Hermeneutics: A Discussion of the Work of Peter Ochs
    The session will discuss the theoretical contribution of the work of Peter Ochs in terms of its contribution to the field of American pragmatism and to theoretical advances in biblical hermeneutics as well as in contemporary analyses of religious community and inter-religious dialogue. In particular the session will discuss the impact of Professor Ochs’ work on the recently developed set of practices referred to as scriptural reasoning. Panelists will speak from the perspective of their various disciplines including, philosophy of religion, Christian theology and contemporary Jewish philosophy.

    I recorded until from the beginning of the session until Smith was finished (the first three speakers).  Ochs was not present because he had to do a eulogy at a funeral.

    Pragmatism and Biblical Hermeneutics – A Discussion of the Work of Peter Ochs.mp3 (72 MB; 1 hr. 16 min.)

    A18-106
    Sunday – 9:00 am-11:30 am
    William Schweiker, University of Chicago, Presiding
    Theme: Living in a Secular Age: Charles Taylor and the Philosophy of Religion
    F. B. A. Asiedu, Middlebury College
    The Post-Secular Condition: The Usefulness of Belief in the Philosophy of Charles Taylor
    Jennifer A. Herdt, University of Notre Dame
    Secularization, Recomposition, and Bad Faith in Contemporary Christian Ethics
    Joseph Prabhu, California State University, Los Angeles, University of Chicago
    Re-examining the Secularization Hypothesis
    Robert N. Bellah, University of California, Berkeley
    Taylor on Religion and Modernity
    Responding:
    Charles Taylor, Northwestern University

    I only taped Taylor’s response and I was sitting in an area of the room where the sound was terrible.  The room was absolutely packed.

    Living in a Secular Age – Charles Taylor and the Philosophy of Religion.mp3 (44 MB; 47 min.)

    A18-200
    Sunday – 1:00 pm-2:30 pm
    Sponsored by the Public Understanding of Religion Committee
    Lawrence Mamiya, Vassar College, Presiding
    Theme: The Marty Forum: Robert N. Bellah
    Panelists:
    Robert N. Bellah, University of California
    Randall Balmer, Columbia University

    Abstract
    Special Topics Forum
    Theme: The Marty Forum: Robert N. Bellah
    Sponsored by the Public Understanding of Religion Committee
    The recipient of the 2007 Martin Marty Award for contributions to the public understanding of religion is Robert N. Bellah, Elliott Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Bellah has authored or co-authored numerous influential books and articles in the sociology of religion, including Beyond Belief, The Broken Covenant, The New Religious Consciousness, Varieties of Civil Religion and Uncivil Religion, Habits of the Heart and The Good Society. The Marty Forum provides an informal setting in which Dr. Bellah will talk about his work with Professor of American Religion Randall Balmer and will engage in discussion with the audience.

    I taped all of it except the last ten minutes when my battery ran out.  This should be a very good recording.

    Interview with Robert N. Bellah.mp3 (70 MB; 1 hr. 15 min.)

    A18-251
    Sunday – 3:00 pm-4:30 pm
    Paul Oslington, Princeton University, Presiding
    Theme: Theological Readings of Economics
    Panelists:
    Alasdair John Milbank, University of Nottingham
    Albino Barrera, Providence College
    Kathryn Blanchard, Alma College
    Rebecca Todd Peters, Elon University

    Abstract
    Wildcard Session
    Theme: Theological Readings of Economics
    This session is about religious voices in political economy. Deeper theological engagement with economic theory is needed because (a) much contemporary religious discussion of economics is ill-informed and superficial (b) economics dominates contemporary culture. In the session panel members will consider a number of recent theological readings of economics, followed by discussion. The emphasis will be economic theory rather than particular economic issues because religious engagement with particular issues depends on our view of the relationship between theology and the economic tools we use to consider the various issues. At the end of the session we will discuss the proposal for a new AAR group on religion and economics and its relationship to the Religion and Social Sciences Section.

    I taped Milbank and Barrera.  Barrera told me he listened to my recording and could make it out.   

    Theological Readings of Economics.mp3 (36 MB; 39 min.)

    S18-117
    ________________________________________
    God in Public?
    11/18/2007
    4:00 PM to 5:00 PM
    Room: Salon C – MM
    N. T. Wright, Durham Cathedral
    God in Public? The Bible and Politics in Tomorrow’s World (45 min)

    I taped all of this.  The room was packed.

    God in Public – The Bible and Politics in Tomorrow’s World.mp3 (44 MB; 58 min.)

    S19-50
    ________________________________________
    Pauline Epistles
    11/19/2007
    1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
    Room: 20 A – CC
    Theme: Paul and Empire
    Papers by John M.G. Barclay, Durham University, and Tom Wright, Bishop of Durham, with a response by Robert Jewett, University of Heidelberg
    Alexandra Brown, Washington and Lee University, Presiding
    John M.G. Barclay, Durham University
    Why the Roman Empire was Insignificant to Paul (40 min)
    N. Thomas Wright, Church of England
    Paul’s Counter-Imperial Theology (40 min)
    Robert Jewett, University of Heidelberg, Respondent

    I taped this in two parts as there was a five minute break after Barclay and Wright presented.  The first part has Barclay and Wright.  In the second part, Jewett responds and Barclay and Wright respond.  They then took some questions but I skipped out at that point.  Many New Testament scholars were there.  There is lots of talk on the blogosphere about this one.  If you google, Wright Barclay Paul Empire, you’ll get lots of hits.

    New link March 6, 2020

    Paul and Empire – Part 1 of 2

    (84 MB; 1 hr. 30 min.)

    Paul and Empire – Part 2 of 2

    (30 MB; 33 min.)

  • Bonhoeffer / Emerging Church paper and AETE

    [I have revised this post].

    At the last minute I was asked to be ready to present my paper on Bonhoeffer and Emerging Church movement at the Academy
    for Evangelism in Theological Education     meeting.  But as it turned out, they didn't need me as all four presenters showed up.  The AETE met this year in Ashland, Ohio
    at Ashland Seminary. 

    The paper I was going to present was the one I wrote for my Duke Th.D. application.  It has been on my blog for six months and I have made the changes people suggested there.  You can see it at: Bonhoeffer and the Emerging Church: Ph.D. Application Paper

    "Who is the Academy for Evangelism in Theological Education?", you
    might ask.  The professors on the board are United Methodist, Cooperative Baptist
    Fellowship, evangelical Anglican and Southern Baptist.  The theme of this annual meeting was "engaging the
    emerging church." (Download AETE
    publicity.pdf    ).

    The presenters this year were:

    Bob Whitesel – who is a church consultant, author, adjunct professor at Indiana Wesleyan University, and is finishing his Ph.D. at the School for Intercultural Studies at Fuller Seminary.  Bob tried to describe the way organic / emerging / missional church leaders think.  He tries to help older church leaders understand this mindset.      

    Paul Chilcote – who is a visiting professor of evangelism at Duke Divinity School shared a paper comparing various positive aspects of the emerging church movement to the work of John Wesley. 

    Bryan Stone – who is a E. Stanley Jones Professor of Evangelism at the School of Theology at Boston University, pointed out that though the emerging church may appear at first glance disgusted by the institutional church, it is deeply focused on seeing people connected into community. 

    Len Sweet – who is E. Stanley Jones Professor of
    Evangelism at Drew University also presented comments about the emerging church movement.

    There were also a couple of papers presented by Southern Baptist pastors, Adam Greenway and William Henard.  Henard is an adjunct professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY and Greenway is a Ph.D. student.  They both have concerns with Brian McLaren's view of Scripture, doctrine, atonement, evangelism, and ethics. 

    The United Methodist E. Stanley Jones Professors of Evangelism from various United Methodist seminaries sometimes attend this meeting and then meet afterward together.  The Foundation For Evangelism which funds the E. Stanley Jones professors of evangelism are also funding my doctoral program.

  • Book Review: Off-Road Disciplines by Earl Creps

    Offroad_disciplines_2 Today I received my copy of the Winter 2007 issue of Leadership Journal entitled "Going Missional."  My abbreviated book review of Earl Creps‘s book Off-Road Disciplines appears on page 76.  I have posted the full 1000 word review below.  Earl has a website.

    Earl Creps. Off-Road Disciplines: Spiritual Adventures of Missional Leaders. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2006. 240 pp. $23.95 (cloth), ISBN: 0787985201. 

    Reviewed by Andy Rowell, Christian Educational Ministries and Biblical Studies, Taylor University

    Over the last few years, Earl Creps, director of doctoral studies at the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary, has interviewed hundreds of young innovative church leaders.  In his first book, Off-Road Disciplines, Creps takes the very best of their insights, adds his own wise reflection, and describes twelve ways pastors can keep their ministries relevant and healthy.  Pastors will greatly benefit from this book for three reasons. 

    First, Creps tackles relevant and important issues.  For example, he brings up how to cope with feelings of failure when your church doesn’t grow as fast as you had hoped (ch. 1), how to assess how your church is doing (ch. 7), and how to resolve issues of young vs. old in the church (ch. 8, 11-12).   

    The second strength of this book is that Creps looks at the issues with a balanced perspective.  Often books on church ministry are written by practitioners who inform us what worked at their church.  We immediately think of twenty reasons why it couldn’t work in our church.  Creps makes conclusions after consulting a variety of perspectives.   

    Third, pastors will appreciate this book because the writing is so accessible.  Creps is a pastor’s pastor.  He graciously dispenses empathy, stories and appropriate challenge.

    Below I have given a short description of each chapter with a few lines that struck me as particularly insightful and convicting. 

    In the first chapter, “Death: The Discipline of Personal Transformation” Creps tells the story of bringing his “ministry paradigm of tidy principles” (8) to a small church in Maine and fully expecting attendance to boom.  He had been taught that the paradigm worked except in cases “of poor execution or weakness in leadership” (9).  “But our Mainers seemed to have missed a meeting somewhere” (9).  Creps calls this experience a “small crucifixion” (4). 

    Then Creps describes the different ways pastors are responding to the coming “post-Christian generation” in his chapter “Truth: The Discipline of Sacred Realism.”  In chapter 3 “Perspective: The Discipline of POV” (point of view), he helpfully outlines a ten-tier scale to depict the varying degrees of how people are affected by postmodernism (36).

    In chapter 4 “Learning: The Discipline of Reverse Mentoring” Creps describes the rich educational experience of humbly asking young people questions about things he “doesn’t get.”  He gives this advice: “don’t limit yourself to one person or format” and “check your attitude at the door. . . Remember, you are being crucified, not just educated” (49).

    Creps urges pastors to develop relationships with non-Christians, whom he calls “the sought,” in chapter 5 “Witness: The Discipline of Spiritual Friendship.”  He reflects on the positive changes in his preaching style after he began to compose his sermons in a coffee shop where he built friendships with the non-Christians owners.  “The length of my talks dropped by a third, concepts and vocabulary grew simpler, and text on PowerPoint slides gave way to images or nothing at all” (69).               

    Chapter 6 “Humility: The Discipline of Decreasing” invites pastors to wake up to our tendencies to: fake humility with a little self-deprecating humor (74), deliver infomercial monologues about ourselves (76), and bluff that we have read books we haven’t (78). 

    Next, Creps reflects on “Assessment: The Discipline of Missional Efficiency.”  He urges leaders to evaluate things that deserve it, “not just the things that are easiest to count” such as bodies, bucks and buildings.  He briefly describes today’s Traditional, Contemporary and Experimental churches in chapter 8 “Harmony: The Discipline of Blending Differences.”  He sets forth a basic model for theological reflection in chapter 9 “Reflection: The Discipline of Discernment.” 

    In chapter 10 “Opportunity: The Discipline of Making Room”, Creps describes how to create evangelism-friendly opportunities where the Spirit might move.  He critiques programs that imitate large successful churches but also criticizes those who would dismiss all forms of intentionality (143).  As a Pentecostal, Creps has done extensive thinking about the role of the Holy Spirit.  That pays dividends in his insightful description of the Spirit’s role in ministry.  The Spirit is not some “depersonalized vague form of divine background radiation” nor the “battery used to power big-personality leaders” (152).  Rather, the Spirit “fills individuals to make the mission of Christ a reality” and “reveals Christ to the sought” (153).

    Chapter 11 “Sacrifice: Surrendering Preferences” is the only chapter in the book that seems particularly directed to younger pastors.  Creps shares his pain of being discriminated against by younger people (158).  He explains that young pastors may need to sacrificially give up some of their preferences, as Timothy agreed to be circumcised, for the sake of broader mission.  Chapter 12 depicts the role of the older pastor in this process.  It is entitled, “Legacy: The Discipline of Passing the Baton.”  Here Creps casts the vision for loving younger leaders and having enough faith in them to share power with them. 

    You will enjoy reading this book more if I give you one piece of advice.  Don’t pay much attention to “disciplines” in the book’s title.  Though titled Off-Road Disciplines, the book has nothing to do with spiritual disciplines.  Don’t read this book if you are looking for insight into Christian practices, discipleship or spiritual formation.  The chapters make sense independently without that overarching structure. 

    If you are a pastor from the Baby Boom generation, this book is primarily written with you in mind.  If you read this book, you will better understand the convictions driving younger pastors and will come away a more gracious, thoughtful pastor.  All church leaders will benefit from the wise and gracious coaching of Earl Creps.