logos redux

I am ashamed to say that I am just now posting links to the lectures given at the recent Conversation on Denominational Renewal recently given here in St. Louis at Memorial Presbyterian Church. I have to say, nothing has made me more optimistic about the future of the PCA than these lectures in years. They are wonderful. Download them. Listen to them. Be invigorated by them. The charitable spirit, ecumenical hope, and future goals are a true inspiration.

Click here and then click “who’s speaking” to access downloads of all the lectures. Unfortunately it seems that the link to the Introduction is broken. I will try to provide a corrected one soon.

I am a co-author for a campus newsletter here at Covenant that has just started up. Our most recent issue summarized the February Conference on Denominational Renewal. Below is my summary of Bill Boyd’s lecture.

Rev. Bill Boyd spoke on the topic of worship at the February conference On Denominational Renewal. While his talk was excellent it was largely illustrative rather than propositional, so I have a rather difficult job in being asked to summarize it. Boyd’s primary emphasis in the lecture was on worship as feasting. He used the images of a banquet hall and a lecture room to contrast what we as Presbyterians sometimes slip into in our thinking about worship with what a more Biblically informed conception would look like. Starting in Genesis when God gives Adam and Eve the whole world as their banquet hall and all that is in it as their food, and tracing the theme through the fall, when man decided to take the one bit of food that God had not given him, violating table fellowship, Boyd began tracing the theme of eating and feasting through the entire Bible. He moved quickly through the rest of Genesis hitting a few highlights throughout the Old Testament to Jesus who comes to eat with sinners and then offers them his body and blood to eat and drink that they might live. Finally Boyd reminded us that it is a feast to which we look forward in the Consummation, not a lecture. Boyd’s purpose in this was not so much to be critical of us as Presbyterians, but to remind us that this is the Biblical imagery. God wants us to think of worship as a time when we are invited to his dwelling place to feast with Him and one another. If this is the case then Boyd is right to point out that this is an area in which we can and are learning from those of other traditions as well as our spiritual forefathers who seem to grasp better than us what it means for worship to be a feast. Accordingly, Boyd cites Orthodox theologian Alexander Schmemann, as well as Bernard of Clairveaux and the Episcopal church as influences on the continued development of his thinking about worship. As I mentioned at the beginning of this review, Boyd’s approach was largely in keeping with his content: rich, relational and storied which makes his lecture a pleasure to listen to but quite difficult to summarize. However, there is one other aspect of Boyd’s lecture that I should mention. Boyd argues compellingly that faith in Christ, the Christian life, ought to make your world bigger not smaller. A full understanding of the Bible ought to heighten our aesthetic sensibilities, ought to increase our desire for and understanding of things like beauty, richness, and music. Accordingly our worship must reflect this. Worship that is bare, stayed, and stoic is not honest. It does not match what the Bible says happens in worship and it does not demonstrate the lavish richness of what we are invited to do and have done to us every week. This is why for example, although Boyd only hinted at it, citing the trend among new church plants, weekly communion makes so much sense given the logic of Boyd’s lecture. How can worship be a feast if we remove the eating and drinking? How can we fellowship appropriately with one another if we don’t commune with our Lord. If worship is pictured in the Bible as a feast and Christ has instituted the eating and drinking of bread and wine as a means of life how could we worship without partaking in this most glorious of all meals? While what I’ve given here is at best an eclectic account of a few of the most helpful points in Boyd’s talk I hope it’s been enough to convince you that it’s worth your time to listen to the lecture. It really is a model of conversation that stimulates further thinking.

Christ, the Lord, is risen today, Alleluia!
Sons of men and angels say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!
Sing, ye heavens, and earth, reply, Alleluia!

Love’s redeeming work is done, Alleluia!
Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!
Lo! the Sun’s eclipse is over, Alleluia!
Lo! He sets in blood no more, Alleluia!

Vain the stone, the watch, the seal, Alleluia!
Christ hath burst the gates of hell, Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids His rise, Alleluia!
Christ hath opened paradise, Alleluia!

Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Once He died our souls to save, Alleluia!
Where thy victory, O grave? Alleluia!

Soar we now where Christ hath led, Alleluia!
Following our exalted Head, Alleluia!
Made like Him, like Him we rise, Alleluia!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!

Hail, the Lord of earth and Heaven, Alleluia!
Praise to Thee by both be given, Alleluia!
Thee we greet triumphant now, Alleluia!
Hail, the resurrection, thou, Alleluia!

King of glory, Soul of bliss, Alleluia!
Everlasting life is this, Alleluia!
Thee to know, Thy power to prove, Alleluia!
Thus to sing and thus to love, Alleluia!

Hymns of praise then let us sing, Alleluia!
Unto Christ, our heavenly King, Alleluia!
Who endured the cross and grave, Alleluia!
Sinners to redeem and save. Alleluia!

But the pains that He endured, Alleluia!
Our salvation have procured, Alleluia!
Now above the sky He’s King, Alleluia!
Where the angels ever sing. Alleluia!

Jesus Christ is risen today, Alleluia!
Our triumphant holy day, Alleluia!
Who did once upon the cross, Alleluia!
Suffer to redeem our loss. Alleluia!

Charles Wesley, 1739. Stanzas 8-10, author unknown, 14th Century

Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples went back to their homes.

But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.

On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”

The Gospel according to St. John, The 20th Chapter

The conference begins this evening at 7 at Memorial Presbyterian here in St Louis. There are still spots open. If you are a young person in the PCA training for ministry you really ought to go to this if you have any interest in the direction of the denomination.  Speakers include:

• Bill Boyd
• Matt Brown
• Jeremy Jones
• Greg Thompson
• and Jeffrey White

And the topics of discussion will be:

• The ethos of our church
• The theological practices of our church
• The worship of our church
• The ecclesiology of our church, especially as it relates to other ecclesial bodies
• The mission of our church to the world

The cost is $125 unless your a student in which case it’s only $25. 

Unfortunately I missed most of it. I had the time wrong. This is supposed to be the last one until 2010; hope you enjoyed it.

Sorry for the scantness of updates. I wrote a long and (I thought) helpful post on Ash Wednesday and somehow managed to lose it before I posted it. I was not happy. Maybe some lenten meditations will be forthcoming. Maybe.

I did however make it to Church of the Resurrection (AMiA) over in west county for an Ash Wednesday service. This is my second year to go there and I must say it’s really quite a treat. Fr. Paul Walter is a very kind man and does an excellent job both of leading the parishioners through the liturgy and of preaching a nice simple homily on an appropriate subject. This year he preached on Victory in the Chaos of Life from II Corinthians 6.4-10. Church of the Resurrection is having an event coming up for young people (single and couples) dealing with sexuality that sounds good. I’ll try to remember to blog the details soon. The flyer is in my car.

By the way, did everyone notice Romney dropped out? What the…? This came as a total shock to me. Now Huckabee is likely to pick up the vast majority of Romney’s votes assuming he doesn’t drop out hoping for a VP nomination. This whole election season has been bizarre.