Final Day at the Christian Life Conference

This morning was the last session of the Christian Life Conference. Dr. Bailey again lead us in a walk through the parables of Jesus. Today's was the parable of the Good Shepherd. Again, he brought us from the Old Testament to the New, showing how Jesus took an OT theme, one well known to the Pharisees, and then turned it on its ear to show up those Pharisees in front of the rest of the community.

After the teaching, we celebrated Communion. SWMBO and I had the honor to serve along with 7 other couples. It was a very moving ceremony, my eyes got all blurry as we sang the Lord's Prayer to close the conference.

Depending on where we are, we will probably attend again next year. Next year's conference is being held at the same time as the 2010 GA. One of the goals for next year's conference is to fill the Anderson Center to overflowing. So, if you aren't a commissioner to the GA, come to the CLC as there will be prayers flowing from Montreat asking that the Spirit helps renew the PCUSA.

Third day at Montreat.

Last night ended with another great talk by Dr. Ridgill, who managed to get the assembled Presbyterians to witness when asked with a loud Amen.

Today, started out with a great devotional, then a bible study wrap-up by Dr. Bailey on his insights into the parable of the Prodigal Son which, when viewed through Dr. Bailey's over 20 years in the Middle East, showed us that the usual take on this parable would not have been the point (or points) that Jesus was making when He told the story.

As real estate agents say Location, Location, Location, Dr. Bailey emphasized Context, Context, Context, and the context of that parable was of the 1st century Palestine, when the head of the household, in this case the father of the parable, would have never acted in the way the parable describes. I would heartily recommend finding Dr. Bailey's Jacob and the Prodigal: How Jesus Retold Israel's Story to discover Dr. Bailey's insights. BTW .. he is still finding themes in the parable that he did not notice previously.

A Seminar with PFR's Paul Detterman and Bob Snelling was next on my list, Congregational Renewal in the 21st Century. This was interesting as it was more a way for Paul and Bob to get some ideas on how to target renewal training in the future. We had about 4 groups of 5 or 6 discussing questions as put out by Bob. This group had some great insights on what may be needed for reaching out to the 30 & 40-somethings who do not get church or who may not see a need for church renewal.

Right now SWMBO is attending a seminar on Holistic Faith Nurture in a Fragmented World, which will cover faith nurture at home and church. How can the joy of nurturing faith spill out of a 45-minute Sunday School class into the whole of our congregations life? I hope to get some insight from her. Me ... I need a breather. They sell a t-shirt here, that reads Montreat ... its not flat. Boy do I agree !!!

Second Day at Montreat

Second day at Montreat, fantastic morning devotion, a bible study by Dr. Ken Bailey, worship with a Dr. Bailey sermon; and a concert by David Bailey (Dr. Bailey's son), could a Sunday be made better? Yes, another plenary session with sermon by Dr. Alice Ridgill.

And so it goes ...

Renewal at Montreat

SWMBO and I are attending the Christian Life Conference held at Montreat every year by Presbyterians for Renewal (PFR). This first evening consisted of registration, and then the keynote speaker. This is our first time at the conference, but it has been going on since 1972.

Our keynote speaker, the Rev. Dr. Alice Ridgell, is a very powerful speaker, coming from the African-American tradition of preaching. Having listened to my friends from Plodding Theological Seminary talk about the homiletics classes they've gone through, it was very interesting to hear her, and pick up on the repetition that a good sermon must have to reinforce the teachings therein.

The conference theme this year is Our Father's Love, and the sermon's topic of No Greater Love kept referring back to that theme, which was printed on the banners hanging from the Anderson Assembly Hall stage. She kept referring back to those banners and its theme, by gestures and turning toward them when emphasizing her topic. Very effective preaching. A few AMENs were heard from the Frozen Chosen in the pews at salient points, something you would not have expected considering the light complexion of the assemblage.

The worship leader is the Rev. Dr. Robert Austell, who blogs at lighthouse/searchlight church. He brought some of his worship team with him, and the group is fabulous. He's doing a blend of traditional and contemporary music, and I can really get into that. However, some in the assemblage do not feel the same way.

After the keynote, many of us migrated to Assembly Hall's upper lobby for a hymn sing. Using the blue hymnal, we sang many outstanding traditional hymns. The Rev. Paul Detterman, Executive Director of PFR, and an outstanding musician and singer in his own right (his very precise tenor kept me on the tenor line all evening ... well mostly), accompanied on the piano as people called out their favorite hymns. That said, I wished for a red hymnal so that we could sing Onward Christian Soldiers which didn't make it into the blue hymnal as (I'm given to understand) it was too militaristic. Talk about misunderstanding the words and thoughts behind that great hymn.

Anyway, one gentleman of great years remarked at the end of the sing, that the earlier worship music time left him unfulfilled, and this hymn sing made him filled. As my wife commented as we walked to our car, we weren't singing for him. Kind of sums up many of the issued of the music wars in our churches. What are now traditional hymns were as contemporary in their day, and probably had the same complaints as our contemporary hymns do today. Which reminds me, I need to get in touch with the music director at Stodgy Presbyterian. We need to select a few contemporary hymns and songs to start our praise and worship time starting on the 12th. These ten minutes prior to our Summer worship is the closest we can get to a contemporary or blended worship right now.

And so it goes ....