Hebrews 8:6-7
[In comparing the ministry of Jesus to the High priests of old, the writer of Hebrews assures us...] “The ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises. For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another.”
We began this conversation about Covenant back at the end of May using materials and a framework provided by our national body. This curriculum, titled A Covenant Conversation, came into being because of recent revisions to the Design of the Christian Church – revisions which it was thought might help us better live out our calling.
As part of that work, it became clear that what was needed was not only a review of the specifics of the Design, but an exploration of our theological foundations. Hence, this curriculum was developed and offered to us to use as best fits our own circumstance.
We were given several sessions, each with its own short video and a list of discussion questions. Unfortunately, we were forced into a “make-shift” access to some of the materials when I had to go on medical leave for a few weeks. Now that I’m back I’m attempting to gather these random bits and form them into a coherent narrative again. Forgive me if I repeat myself in all this. I just don’t want to miss out on something worth studying.
Last week I recapped the first two videos that were shared – the first from Dr. Sandhya Jha and the second from Dr. Casey Sigmon, mostly discussing what I considered the major points of each presentation. This week I want to continue that re-cap with a collection of questions for each of you to answer, based in your own experiences and your own theological reflections.
Dr. Jha’s video particularly focused on the history of the Disciples, and the first question asked with this session reminded us that at the time the Design and the Preamble were being created -- in the late 1960’s -- the nation (and much of the world) was going in a direction that seemed to say that racial reconciliation was impossible, while the Disciples were choosing to move in the opposite direction --- choosing unity and reconciliation.
What can we learn today from that history? What can that time, that movement, and our choices back then teach us about how to choose today? Not only what did we choose and why, but what did we resist?
What other movements today call us to that same kind of resistance? What in our world today cries out for resistance?
Another question from this same session states that three things are named in the Preamble as weaving us all together: baptism; faith in a living Christ; and a table of gratitude. Have you seen these three play any role in the life of your church? To what end?
Moving on to Dr. Sigmon’s video, she spends much of her speaking time describing the kind of church she spent much of her prior life in and her reasons for leaving it. The first set of questions to be answered are about how you came to be a Disciple. Were you born into a Disciples home? If so, what keeps you here? Is your current congregational home the same one you were born into? If not, how did you end up in this particular congregation? Sometimes it appears that we simply drift with the flow. In that case, why did the drift bring us here? Such questions really do matter.
If you weren’t born a Disciple but came from another church at some point, another denomination, what moved you to leave your prior affiliation and join the Christian Church? Can you name it?
If you were previously un-churched, what drew you to us and what keeps you here? What keeps you in this covenantal relationship with our particular tradition?
Another point Dr. Sigmon makes in her video is the connection between covenant and assembly. We have only recently gone through a rough two or three years when we could not assemble, due to plague and laws to mitigate that plague. When we could not even assemble in one room for months on end, how did we do at staying in covenant with each other? What did the loss of a physical connection do to our covenantal connection? What could we have done to do it better? What new ways did we consider that we would never have thought of in the past? Were they effective for you?
We had to stretch and grow our imaginations and learn new ways to connect – not just learn them, but accept and use them. We here at Church of the Open Door went all the way back to snail-mail as one of our first connecting points. And then to YouTube, as well as connections on our Facebook page and our web site. We didn’t go as techie as some other churches because we didn’t have the resources, but we did what we could do. Was it enough?
These first two lessons especially, ask us to look behind us, into our pasts, but this last question asks us to look into our future, and just as in the 60’s we were called by covenant to reach beyond the separations we had previously accepted as normal, and move into unity with all of God’s people, so now we are being asked to expand our ways of coming together to include not just the neighbors who live near us, but also those who may live at a distance but still, for some reason, feel called into union with us. We appear to be being called to make further changes in how we do “assembling.”
As we continue our discoveries into who we are, and why we are, may we make the effort to dig deeper in this thing called covenant – and find out where and why it may call us next, because covenant is a living thing, constantly moving and evolving. Where is it taking us now?
As part of that work, it became clear that what was needed was not only a review of the specifics of the Design, but an exploration of our theological foundations. Hence, this curriculum was developed and offered to us to use as best fits our own circumstance.
We were given several sessions, each with its own short video and a list of discussion questions. Unfortunately, we were forced into a “make-shift” access to some of the materials when I had to go on medical leave for a few weeks. Now that I’m back I’m attempting to gather these random bits and form them into a coherent narrative again. Forgive me if I repeat myself in all this. I just don’t want to miss out on something worth studying.
Last week I recapped the first two videos that were shared – the first from Dr. Sandhya Jha and the second from Dr. Casey Sigmon, mostly discussing what I considered the major points of each presentation. This week I want to continue that re-cap with a collection of questions for each of you to answer, based in your own experiences and your own theological reflections.
Dr. Jha’s video particularly focused on the history of the Disciples, and the first question asked with this session reminded us that at the time the Design and the Preamble were being created -- in the late 1960’s -- the nation (and much of the world) was going in a direction that seemed to say that racial reconciliation was impossible, while the Disciples were choosing to move in the opposite direction --- choosing unity and reconciliation.
What can we learn today from that history? What can that time, that movement, and our choices back then teach us about how to choose today? Not only what did we choose and why, but what did we resist?
What other movements today call us to that same kind of resistance? What in our world today cries out for resistance?
Another question from this same session states that three things are named in the Preamble as weaving us all together: baptism; faith in a living Christ; and a table of gratitude. Have you seen these three play any role in the life of your church? To what end?
Moving on to Dr. Sigmon’s video, she spends much of her speaking time describing the kind of church she spent much of her prior life in and her reasons for leaving it. The first set of questions to be answered are about how you came to be a Disciple. Were you born into a Disciples home? If so, what keeps you here? Is your current congregational home the same one you were born into? If not, how did you end up in this particular congregation? Sometimes it appears that we simply drift with the flow. In that case, why did the drift bring us here? Such questions really do matter.
If you weren’t born a Disciple but came from another church at some point, another denomination, what moved you to leave your prior affiliation and join the Christian Church? Can you name it?
If you were previously un-churched, what drew you to us and what keeps you here? What keeps you in this covenantal relationship with our particular tradition?
Another point Dr. Sigmon makes in her video is the connection between covenant and assembly. We have only recently gone through a rough two or three years when we could not assemble, due to plague and laws to mitigate that plague. When we could not even assemble in one room for months on end, how did we do at staying in covenant with each other? What did the loss of a physical connection do to our covenantal connection? What could we have done to do it better? What new ways did we consider that we would never have thought of in the past? Were they effective for you?
We had to stretch and grow our imaginations and learn new ways to connect – not just learn them, but accept and use them. We here at Church of the Open Door went all the way back to snail-mail as one of our first connecting points. And then to YouTube, as well as connections on our Facebook page and our web site. We didn’t go as techie as some other churches because we didn’t have the resources, but we did what we could do. Was it enough?
These first two lessons especially, ask us to look behind us, into our pasts, but this last question asks us to look into our future, and just as in the 60’s we were called by covenant to reach beyond the separations we had previously accepted as normal, and move into unity with all of God’s people, so now we are being asked to expand our ways of coming together to include not just the neighbors who live near us, but also those who may live at a distance but still, for some reason, feel called into union with us. We appear to be being called to make further changes in how we do “assembling.”
As we continue our discoveries into who we are, and why we are, may we make the effort to dig deeper in this thing called covenant – and find out where and why it may call us next, because covenant is a living thing, constantly moving and evolving. Where is it taking us now?
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