Sun - January 8, 2006

Dr. Walter Brueggemann - January 8, 2006 (Streaming Audio)


Dr. Brueggemann provides an amazing and inspiring vision about an alternative human community he sees being called forth from the stories of scripture, particularly in the old testament and then in the parables and teachings of Jesus. In his presentation he describes the rise and fall of empires as the failed story of human history and how faithful people are called to a vision that God can deliver us from ourselves and our fears if only we recognize our common humanity. By implication we must believe in God and a world of abundance rather than scarcity, must place our trust in God and perhaps above all learn to value all human souls as the children of God we proclaim them to be.


Posted at 01:05 PM     Read More   |

Dr. Walter Brueggemann - January 8, 2006 (Downloadable MP3)


Dr. Brueggemann provides an amazing and inspiring vision about an alternative human community he sees being called forth from the stories of scripture, particularly in the old testament and then in the parables and teachings of Jesus. In his presentation he describes the rise and fall of empires as the failed story of human history and how faithful people are called to a vision that God can deliver us from ourselves and our fears if only we recognize our common humanity. By implication we must believe in God and a world of abundance rather than scarcity, must place our trust in God and perhaps above all learn to value all human souls as the children of God we proclaim them to be.

File Name File Size File Link
20060108 101241.wav.ff.mp3 43287.5 KB Download


Posted at 12:00 AM     Read More   |

Sun - October 23, 2005

Doug Bailey - Sunday, October 16, 2005 (streaming audio)


Doug Bailey spoke to the St. Luke's community during a forum on Sunday, October 26, 2005 on the topic of urban outreach ministry. An exciting and dynamic speaker, Doug identifies the welfare of the poor and marginalized in our midst as indicators - God's messengers - of the health or disease of the broader community and culture. Formerly the rector of Calvary Church (Memphis), Doug is presently Executive Director of the Center for Urban Ministry, Inc. in Winston-Salem and Associate Professor of Urban Ministry at the Divinity School at Wake Forest University. Memphis' Calvary Church was a parish in decline upon Doug's arrival in 1978. In tandem with efforts to revitalize the city after the urban crises of the 1960s and 1970s, Doug worked to bring life and soul to this downtown Memphis parish. Major emphasis was placed on congregational development and growth, as well as the formation of imaginative urban ministries. In those two decades, Doug founded or co-founded such wide-ranging and vital ministries as the Calvary Street Ministry for the homeless, the Samaritan Counseling Center, Teen Job Services employment program, and Calvary and the Arts noonday concert series. Under Doug Bailey's rectorship, Calvary Church became the fastest growing Episcopal congregation in the Diocese, and is recognized as one of the most dynamic and thriving Episcopal churches in America.


Posted at 11:54 PM     Read More   |

Mon - October 10, 2005

Thoughts on gay marriage


Thoughts on Gay Marriage

Here we sit you and I, in this pew, in this holy place;
In our polite deference to each other -
we've never talked about our differences;
and we’ve certainly never talked about gay marriage.

But committees have churned away over the decades,
forging ahead, the possibility of a new vision.

How I rejoice over that vision,
so much so that secretly I don't quite know how to respond to these recent events;
I've never really won on this issue in any way with the church before,
as accustomed as I am to unending edicts of “study” and “conversation,”
so unfamiliar am I to claim the privilege of majority.

In a political and social climate in which there seems to be no middle
ground unclaimed by fear and division, how can we who still differ speak to one another?
...with passions running so high
we who are so clumsy at this, once we know who we are, majority and
minority in this democratic church polity.
Is there anything revolutionary in this
development given the sad human history of power, minority, and majority?

So how can we put this in perspective?
Will the doors of the church be mobbed with the thousands of same-sex couples
whose relationships need the blessing that only God can give?
No. Most have been so wounded by this institution of
church that it’s simply the last place they would look to for support.

Can we converse about this in a civil way, you and I?
Can I trust myself to be as fully human with you as I'd like to be?
Can I be strong enough not to demonize you, nor patronize you?
Can we be that gentle with each other?
And in the event we fail even in our simple attempts,
can we forgive each other?
Is that the challenge that transcends not only all church polity but simply all?
Can we see and be Christ, each, one in and to the other, in actions that
plunder our enslavement to ego and ideology?

Posted at 07:23 PM     Read More   |

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