Assignment 2

I've gotten several questions from students about your next assignment. Let me answer some questions here.

Do you want a transcript of the interviews?
No, I don't. I want an essay about one or more of the topics that we're discussing this semester. The essay should describe the kinds of things your interviewee talked about, with your comments about his or her ideas, and if possible describing some of the ways his or her ideas connect with the readings.

Should the essay say everything that the interviewee said?
No. Be selective. Pick out what the person said that was interesting. Perhaps they said something that contradicted what we've discussed in the audioconference or affirmed something you read in the coursebook. Perhaps they gave a good illustration of something we talked about. I've done hundreds of interviews for my books and I've learned that people ramble all over in interviews, but they usually say a few interesting things. Figure out what you consider to be interesting in what they said.

Should the essay be structured in the same way the interview was?
Again, no. When people get talking about a subject, they tend jump from topic to topic. In your essay, I want you to provide structure that is based on the topics discussed, not based on the order in which the person talked about the topics. For example, perhaps the person talked about post-Christendom issues at the beginning and at the end of the interview. I expect you to talk about what they said about post-Christendom in one section of your essay. And for those of you taking the paper at the 300 level, you have to interview two people. You can structure your essay by writing first about what one person said and then second about what the other person said. That works best if they focused on pretty different topics. If they focused on pretty much the same topics, it might work best to structure your essay around the topics. For example, you might describe some interesting points one person made about postmodernism, then something the other person said about postmodernism, and then move onto another topic.

Does the essay need to cover more than one topic?
No. If the interview(s) covered one topic in depth, then just focus on that one topic. Or if the interviewee talked about a lot of topics but only one topic was interesting, feel free to ignore the other stuff they said.

Please feel free to email me if you have more questions.

discussion topics for audioconference Aug 18

On Monday night we'll begin with a discussion of what everyday life was like 50 years ago. We'll begin there because I often think the church's perception of itself is stuck in the 1950s. Then we'll talk about what has changed in the last 50 years and the implications of those changes. You can draw on the readings as you bring up those changes. I'm also hoping that many of you will have done an Internet search about aspects of daily life so you can tell us what you found online.

I want to spend about a half hour discussing the reading from The Crisis of Care, so please be sure to read that chapter carefully. I'm looking forward to our discussion Monday.

To those of you who have sent in your assignments, thanks very much. I'll begin marking next week, so I don't have anything to say about them yet.

next audioconference

I want to encourage you to do an Internet search for topics related to our next audioconference that are interesting to you. I just did a search for "divorce in New Zealand" and found some interesting statistics and support material for people who are divorcing and for children affected by divorce. You might search for:

• personal debt in New Zealand
• average hours of work in New Zealand
• family life in New Zealand
• pace of life in New Zealand
• families in New Zealand

Hopefully you can think of some other topics. The way people live their everyday lives has changed so much in the last 50 years. How can the church do a better job meeting people where they are? The megachurches in the US, which do a terrific job of serving and welcoming people, often offer seminars and support groups that are open to the community on such diverse topics as money management, overseas adoption, surviving cancer, marriage enrichment, parenting teens, etc. If a church in New Zealand wanted to offer a seminar or support group open to the wider community, what topics might they want to consider addressing?

One of the things I'm hoping is that this paper will help you learn to read or watch the news and to read statistics about everyday life with a eye for the impact on the church and on Christians of what you are reading. And with an eye for opportunities for the church to connect with people affected by whatever issue you are reading about.

Sidebar for "God with a Million Faces"

One of the students in our paper wrote me an email with this helpful information:

I just wanted to let people know that the Million Faces full article with sidebars is available electronically through the library. They just sent it to me today.

Talking about postmodernism and post-Christendom in congregations

One of the students in our paper visited a church recently. She was handed a little flyer with notices on the back. On the front was some text about postmodernism and our post-Christendom culture. The church is The United Church of Port Chalmers Presbyterian Parish and the text was written by Rev. Geoffrey Skillton, who is the interim moderator of the congregation. I think this is an interesting model for how to begin or nurture a conversation in a congregation about these issues. As you read it, see what you agree and disagree with. Here's what Geoffrey wrote:

Once upon a time

Once upon a time not so long ago, about a century ago, it felt like the church was at the centre of community life. Many people brought their children to the church to be christened when they were but a few months old. In their teens the same children, frequently as a group, took the baptism vows for themselves in Confirmation. Then they came to the church to be married. And eventually their spouse or children made sure they had their funeral in the church. It felt like the church was at the hub of important community rituals. This was how it was once upon a time…….. in the Age of the Church.

One hundred years ago the effects of the Age of Reason, of Science, which replaced the Age of the Church had significantly eroded the centrality of church in Western societies. This Modern period promoted rational thought as its god. Scientific logic and theory became the measure of truth — even absolute truth. This Age has been rather short and is being overtaken by what is known as Post-Modernism. The god of this latter age is individualism.

The effect of these shifts is that the church is at the edge of community life. For many in the church it feels like we are living in a strange and at times lonely place. Baptisms, weddings and funerals in the church are rare occurrences. Programmes that once attracted an audience are characterized by empty seats. Sunday worship is another optional leisure activity alongside going to the Mall with the family.

Jesus himself frequently sought, or was pushed to, lonely places. When he left these places and talked to people in everyday situations his message sounded strange and yet appealing. Perhaps the church is best placed to represent Jesus from the edge, from a place where its message and actions are most unlike the cultures which surround it.

A note on the reading “God with a Million Faces”

In the last audioconference, I mentioned an error in the course book. In case you weren't there, let me say it here. The reading for Monday, “God with a Million Faces,” is missing its sidebar. I mentioned the sidebar in the coursebook when I was describing the reading, but unfortunately the sidebar itself didn't make it into the coursebook. I'll read a few sections from the sidebar during the audioconference on Monday.

Audioconference August 4

The audioconference on Monday night will focus on our post-Christendom world. Here are some of the questions we will be discussing:

• What do people mean when they call our world "post-Christian" or "post-Christendom"?
• Why does it matter? What difference does it make?
• What does it look like in practice? What are the characteristics?
• How have you seen churches respond?
• How could Christians do a better job responding?
• In a post-Christendom world, what is the place of welcoming people into a community of faith versus going out into the community to serve?
• People often talk about ministry in our world being characterized by belonging before believing, hospitality, the arts, and teamwork in ministry. What do these have to do with the post-Christendom nature of our world today?