While I was still in school I noticed that the same urban legends were passesd among the students. The same was true of jokes and secrets for bugging specific teachers. Today while subbing an AP Chemistry class (in most school systems the designation AP signifies the nationwide standard "Advanced Placement" tract some students are on - but not Presque Isle. AP in SAD1 means applied) the students were using the laptops to write single page synopsis of current events pertaining to Science. This would not normally be a chatting sort of event, but in this class it apparently was. The students were talking about this and that and then out popped the phrase - "I think the only big word I can spell is antidisestablishmentarianism."
Now this word is not used in any class that I know of - at least any that I took. The word is simply part of the communal memory of the Presque Isle High School student body.
Through time the memory is erased, however, or minds are changed. Pastor Matt was commenting on the idle drum set on the platform at church. He had hoped I was a drummer, but I am not. Some people in the church are opposed to having drums in the worship service so the current situation suits them just fine. This irritates the Pastor to no end. They did away with an organ recently and had the opposite fallout. Pastor would like to replace the organ with the drums. As he puts it - centuries ago when the first person put an organ in a church everyone revolted the "devil's instrument" was being placed in a holy cathedral.
My years-old fasenation with the Emergent movement addresses this memory. I am reading Ancient-Future Faith by Robert Webber. Webber says that we are in the middle of a paradigm shift from the postmodern (characterized by society holding science and reason of highest value) period to the postmodern (characterized by society holding community, symbol and mystery of highest value) period. There is nothing better about the postmodern period than the modern, or any other previous paradigm. I should also state that the Christian faith is not owned by any specific period.
Unlike McLaren, Webber does his best to focus our attention on the past to help us shape a postmodern faith. The values of postmodern society are most closely related to the first century - which was the era when the church was born. Webber would like us to study the "classical" church and learn what we can about how the faith was lived at that time so the church can relate better to current society. In this way we would jog our communal memory.
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3 comments:
"There is nothing better about the postmodern period than the modern, or any other previous paradigm. I should also state that the Christian faith is not owned by any specific period."
Very well said.
Since we no longer have SGA desks to pontificate from, I guess I'll have to throw my half-formed thoughts into the ether of the wwweb.
Regarding Paradigms:
Do you see any parallels between the various "paradigms" that the church goes through and the basic notions of dispensationalism? The way you present it, the new paradigm is not privileged over the old-- and thus we avoid the hierarchy of worth found in dispensationalism-- but still, though, the idea that the church "evolves" sometimes rubs me the wrong way. Obviously the church is a social institution and thus it will reflect the ethos of the present day, but the little ogre in the back of my mind can't help but think that the bulk of the religion should be timeless and unaltered by social forces and we should resist ideological saturation from the culture. This all flies in the face of my Eckley training, but as I question Protestantism, I am forced to challenge my former assumption that it is "right and natural" for a church to change (in major ways). For the record, I think that the church can be shaped by revelation and council decree... but seeing it fall prey to the pop tastes of the current "ism" makes me think that the church is better off defined AGAINST mass culture rather than BY it. Just a few thoughts.
Also, tell me more about this Emergent church thing.
Scott - I have responded to your wonderful comment, but it got too long so I posted it on the front page.
How are your studies? Jess and I counted up the people in our extended groups at Houghton who are working on terminal degrees (mostly PhDs) and were AMAZED at how many there were. I think at least 10 are. I am SO proud of all you ambitious academics and wish I could be quite as efficient as you all. I will start my MDiv this fall but I am SURE a PhD or DMin will be years behind!
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