Andy Rowell

Church Leadership Conversations

  • Reflections on Eugene Peterson

    On hearing of Eugene Peterson beginning hospice care: 

    Eugene Peterson inspired me to want to pastor by his emphasis on immersion in Scripture and his encouragement to pastors to subtly resist consumerist pressuring by congregation members.

    October 15, 2018

    https://twitter.com/AndyRowell/status/1051846489146880000

     

    And upon news of his death: 

    A thread by Andy Rowell

    https://tinysubversions.com/spooler/

     

    One of the people who has most inspired me has died. I was astounded by Eugene Peterson's description of what a pastor, shaped by Scripture, should look like.

    I read the books he recommended in Take & Read so as to be more like him and imitated his practice of Sabbath.

    When I visited Regent College in 1998 as a college senior, Eugene Peterson preached and presided at the table in chapel. I met with him later and asked him about my concerns about attending seminary. "Well, if you are asking whether this an ivory tower, the answer is no!" I went.

    I did not want to be a pastor until Eugene Peterson taught me it was about being a person of quality–steeped in Scripture, prayer, and people. Then I wanted to be a pastor.

    Eugene Peterson was a pastor of pastors. I have no greater compliment.

    Here is the description of Eugene Peterson's final days by his son Eric. (m.facebook.com/story.php?stor…) 

    My wife Amy answered Eugene Peterson's mail as Regent College faculty secretary in 2000 after he had left in 1998. His instructions were to decline all invitations and books because he was trying to finish The Message in Montana. "Dear Rev. Lucado, Eugene regrets he cannot attend . . ."

    Another update here from Eugene Peterson's son Eric about funeral arrangements: (facebook.com/EricEPeterson/…)

     

    See also about Peterson's last presentation, which was about Karl Barth: https://twitter.com/TheBarthCenter/status/1054439375034036224

     

    See also the post by David Taylor: 

    https://artspastor.blogspot.com/2018/10/in-memory-of-eugene-peterson-1932-2018.html

     

     

     

     

  • How to get started with Twitter as a Pastor

    If you are a pastor or seminary student getting started on Twitter, here is a list of people that I suggest you consider following:

    https://twitter.com/AndyRowell/lists/for-seminary-students

    Below is my Bethel Seminary Fall 2018 Leadership Communication in Global Perspective assignment.

    Trying out Twitter and reflection on utilizing social media

    With a president whose leadership communication is Twitter, and with a professor who likes Twitter as well, I want you to try it.

    Please create a Twitter account. Please follow 100 people.

    Here is a list of 180 people that I suggest you consider following: https://twitter.com/AndyRowell/lists/for-seminary-students

    But it is good to choose only those who are interesting to you. I don't agree with all of these people. It is just a good sample of Twitter. 

    The idea of giving you some people to start following is that you start to see how the medium works and you are able to say: "Aha! I see how this could be cool and interesting and informative." 

    If you follow people who say ignorant things, it is less fun to be on Twitter. If you follow insightful, witty, thoughtful people, it is more useful. It is like reading an interesting magazine. These people are some people that I have found to be not terribly annoying, but rather interesting. However, your opinion about who is annoying is valid and you should unfollow people who are annoying because they tweet too much or about things that are not of interest to you or say things that you think are not true or helpful. In other words, when trying out Twitter, just follow the people you feel like following. You need not only follow pastors and Christian people. You can also follow people who are tweeting about sports, music, hobbies that interest you. 

    If you see someone that you like or respect like Beth Moore or Andy Crouch, you can look through who they follow and follow some of them. You can do this however you like.

    I would like you to set it up in September but you can wait until the Communication module. I want you to try Twitter for 10 days. Please check it at least once a day for 5 minutes on each of those 10 days. You can use an alias rather than your real name. However it is possible that someone could find who you are through your email address you use so consider that even if you use a pseudonym for your handle: @seminarystudent101 @PastoronTwitter316 @Revtweets10 @churchiscool100 , etc. and a pseudonym for your name: (Seminary Student, Twitter Newbie, Anonymous Pastor, etc.) remember that your likes and retweets might be visible to people so be careful what you do. 

    You are welcome to delete your account at the end of the semester.

    Please do at least 10 tweets. You may tweet a great quote from something you are reading or a Bible verse or an interesting article that you read. Or you can do what you like. Please also retweet at least 10 tweets and like 10 tweets. I just want you to get a feel for what it is like.

    Pastors are generally very careful about what they share since they do not want to offend people. Professors and journalists can speak their mind a bit more freely.  

    In the forum reflect briefly on your experience with Twitter. I liked it! . . .  I still don’t get it. . . . It is too chaotic.

    Also if you are familiar with them, reflect on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat as communication mediums. Also briefly comment on your observations on what screens are doing to teen (and adult) self-perception, their lack of ability to interact in real life, and inability to concentrate. There is a lot written on this topic but it is ok here to just give your opinion and observations on these matters.

  • What does it mean to be as shrewd as snakes?

    A key emphasis in the leadership and management literature is planning and preparation. Sometimes Christians worry about such "business practices." Why not just trust God?  Why not just operate in the world in a childlike fashion? Indeed, Jesus says we are to "become like little children" (Matt 18:3). Then again, Jesus himself certainly operated in rather subversive and surprising ways. He criticized religious officials. He did not answer the questions posed to him directly. He said not to throw one's peals before swine (Matt 7:6). He used dramatic symbolic gestures. He appeared in public but then also spend time with just a few of his disciples and also went off by himself. He knew what he was doing when he entered Jerusalem and was arrested. Jesus has served as an inspiration for Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. in their mass movements to bring societal change. When one considers this context of subversive, savvy leadership, it should be less surprising that Jesus says to be as "shrewd as snakes" (Matt 10:16).   

    The Greek word for shrewd or cunning is φρόνιμος phronimos. It is also praised elsewhere in the Synoptic Gospels and translated as "wise:" Matt 7:24; 24:25; 25:2, 4, 8, 9; Lk 12:42; 16:8. The context has to do being prepared. It reminds me of the Scout motto: Be prepared. 

    Though this word is praised here in Matt 10:16, it is qualified with "innocent as doves" and that is crucial. Good preparation should not become scheming or expedience or cutting corners–doing whatever it takes to get something done regardless if it is right. We are to think ahead and anticipate with might happen. But we are not to manipulate (trick) and deceive. We should be appropriately cunning, shrewd, wise, prepared, and proactive; but we as Christians should also absolutely be people of integrity ("innocent"). If people were to see what occurs behind closed doors via a hidden camera or our email messages or text messages, they would not see anything amiss. They would see us making plans, having meetings, considering what might happen, doing training, taking precautions. They would not be scandalized by our scheming to do things in underhanded, sketchy ways. 

    Phronimos is also used by the apostle Paul (Rom 11:25; 12:16; 1 Cor 4:10; 10:15; 2 Cor 11:19). When he is using it pejoratively, the sense is that they are "conceited" in the sense of overly wise or overly confident in their own intellects or overly confident in their own plans. They think they have arrived and do not need to learn anything new. This too is a distortion of what it truly means to be shrewd, cunning, wise, and prepared. Someone is not wise if they are so confident they are wise that they are unteachable and arrogant. 

    In summary, we are to be prepared but not scheming. And we are not to get so confident in our preparation that we think we have nothing else to learn. 

    So, what does this mean in terms of application? We are to make careful plans but not trick the person we are trying to reach out to. We are to market our programs but we are not to lie about numbers or exaggerate our credentials. We are to appropriately save money but not to build up our barns with massive amounts of savings because we are living in fear. We are to take appropriate precautions about being among outsiders but being shrewd does not mean refusing to leave the comfort and security of home because it is safer. There are people who live utterly in fear for their lives, the lives of their children, and about their financial future. We should be prudent, sober, wise, cautious, prepared but we do not need to live in anxiety and fear. 

    Proverbs 16:9 reads "In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps." This verse puts preparation in perspective. There is sometimes an exaggerated application of this passage that suggests the more naive and less business-like, the more authentic and organic and spiritual. It is a zero sum game. The more humans beings plan, the more God is crowded out. But God's plan has always been to utilize human beings to do his work. Consider God's promise to Abraham to bless him that he might bless others. In this work, it is good for human beings to be shrewd as snakes and innocent as doves.