storying faith in a post-church world

one young girl

rich practices

another young girl

a different set of practices

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what is the role of a religious educator?

an adaptive challenge

seeing the whole thing…

how do we inhabit adaptive change?

as one quadrant shrinks, three others grow… is there a message worth noting there?

adaptive Christianity to be found in the heart of deep relationality with God

a story of faith that is born in an overwhelming love, and that embodies that love in communal sharing and practice

we get into trouble when we live from fear, rather than resisting the fear and leaning into God’s transcendent love

the printing press, the Reformation

digital tools and a new reformation?

what does it mean to “story faith” in this world?

we are living in a time rich with story

what would it mean for religious educators to begin from the clear conviction that God continues to reveal Godself?

what would it mean for us to base our search and any interpretive stances we want to use, on the conviction that God is a Trinity, a communicative relationship within God’s very self and then in communicative relationship with us? with all of Creation?

and if we see God that way we must also see ourselves that way?

given that we so often “get it wrong,” what helps us to do good discernment? and how do we do that in ways that ignite curiosity and wonder in the midst of everyday practices?

story is at the heart of all of these challenges

authority, authenticity, agency

context collapse

authenticity connotes emotionally appropriate, significant, purposive and responsible

and yet, the Truth shall set you free

and yet, God continues to reveal Godself

Mario D’Souza

• the unfathomable and the true are inseparable

• language is an indispensable means of encountering the real and reality

• the natural habitat of truth is human conversation

• be attentive, be intelligent, be reasonable, be responsible (Lonergan)

why does telling God’s story in this way matter?

all ideas compete on an equal footing contribution counts for more than credentials

hierarchies are natural, not prescribedleaders serve rather than presidetasks are chosen, not assigned

groups are self-defining and self-organizingresources get attracted, not allocated

power comes from sharing information, not hoarding it opinions compound and decisions are peer-reviewed

users can veto most policy decisionsintrinsic rewards matter most

hackers are heroes

Hamel

all ideas compete on an equal footing?

perhaps in the community of truth

contribution counts for more than credentials?

biblical witnesses say yes!

hierarchies are natural not prescribed?

even reddit users develop hierarchies

leaders serve rather than preside?

perhaps the best definition of leadership to be found in the community following Jesus

much within our tradition resonates with a generation shaped by Facebook — if only we are astute enough to give people access

confessing God as a Trinity is a confession of deep commitment to communicative practice, to relational understanding

create, share, believe

We believe in a God who creates everything — creative action is clearly a part of who God is and who we, being made in God’s image, are.

We believe in a God who shares God’s very Being into the world through Incarnation. Sharing is very much part of who we are made to be.

We believe in a God who continues to be very much present to us, breathing through the Holy Spirit, drawing us ever close into communion, ever more deeply into belief.

“digital storytelling is a workshop-based, participatory media practice focused on self-representation”

Vivienne

creating and sharing something in this way almost inevitably leads to deeper belief

Hilberath and Scharer

an example from a digital storytelling workshop

an example of doing theological reflection with a commercial

thanks to Killen’s work

what were you feeling? list some adjectives

is there any kind of cluster within those adjectives? a theme emerging, perhaps?

what is life-giving and joy-filled about the theme or image? what is broken and sorrowing? what possibilities for healing and newness?

brainstorm biblical passages, liturgical prayers, other ritual resources that have resonance for you in light of that theme

sink into that passage, that action, that ritual that came to you in the brainstorming — ask the same questions of it: what is life giving and joy-filled? what is broken and sorrowing? what possibilities for healing and newness exist?

two more steps involve taking action (see the reverse side of your handout)

this process assumes

• a robust theology of grace

• a profound conviction that God is always reaching out to us in everything and in every way

• that our human thirst for meaning is in fact a thirst for God, a God who is intimately caring and passionately involved in our lives

• that revelation is ongoing, intimately touching our daily lives while at the same time it is historically privileged in the gospels and the theological heritage of the Church

Killen

rest on the utter certainty that we are inescapably wrapped up in a community of truth

we do not need to build fortresses around our convictions — we can lean into them, and lean outward into the world which God has created

digital storytelling is an essential practice of faith formation in the world we inhabit

table fellowship

returning to the two young women

the new evangelization is at heart about listening carefully to people as we accompany them in their daily lives

thank you

references to various images and videos:

Spotify logo (http://kpcbweb2.s3.amazonaws.com/companies/329/logo/original/Spotify.jpg?1364424490) Youtube Nation logo (goo.gl/e9O6P1) Instagram logo (https://4.img-dpreview.com/files/p/articles/3759280259/instagram.jpeg) Adaptive change (goo.gl/VqnB3E) Luther’s small catechism (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Small-Catechism-Luther-1529.jpg) Iceberg image (https://cdn6.organisationsberatung.net/wp-content/uploads/Unternehmenskultur-Organisationskultur-verbessern.jpg)

further references:

Cranach image of Luther (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/Cranach_Martin_Luther.JPG) Cover of “Tweet if you [heart] Jesus” (goo.gl/zdFoFe) 60 seconds of digital life (http://www6.pcmag.com/media/images/329443-infographic-60-seconds-part-2.jpg?thumb=y) digital person (http://bit.ly/2nVEJJ8) context collapse person (http://www.netimperative.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/facebook-uni-1.jpg) context.fact cartoon (goo.gl/od7cKc)

further references:

Trinity graphic (http://rapgenius.com/Action-bronson-the-come-up-lyrics#note-1452273) Parker Palmer images (redrawn from the book Courage to Teach, pp. 103-107) Create/Share/Believe circle (Eric Celeste) Communicative theology diagram (from The Practice of Communicative Theology)

further references:

Wonder Bread video (shared in a digital storytelling workshop, contact me for more details)

#EatTogether, President’s Choice commercial (https://youtu.be/vDuA9OPyp6I)

title slide by Br. Emmaus O’Herlihy, OSB

all other photos by Mary E. Hess

more info:

accompanying handout

meh.religioused.org