Archive for January, 2010

Race and the Church in America

Christian congregations, when possible, should be multiracial. It is unlikely that any Christian would disagree with such a proposition outright. However, the overwhelming majority of Christian congregations in America do not reflect racial diversity, and this is even truer within the evangelical tradition. Evangelical congregations, holding to a firm belief that the entire world must hear about the salvation offered by Jesus, should be at the forefront of making the above proposition a reality, but, unfortunately, this is not the case. Thus, evangelicals must take to task the proposition that all churches, when possible, should be multicultural.

When authors Curtiss Paul DeYoung, Michael O. Emerson, George Yancey, and Karen Chai Kim were writing the book United by Faith: the Multiracial Congregation as an Answer to the Problem of Race, the magazine Christianity Today summed up much of what the authors have proposed. The authors define a multiracial congregation as that which 80 percent or more of the church’s membership is made up of one race. The lack of multiracial congregations is simply unacceptable since the racial landscape of America has changed dramatically even over the last few decades. As the article states, “In absolute numbers, the United States had well over 35 million more people of color in 2000 than it did in 1980” (par. 5; emphasis original).

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I have not done one of these in a long time, but I feel that I should update everyone a little on my life.

Kid #2

Highlights:

1. Amanda is pregnant, and we just found out last Thursday that this one will be a boy! His name will be “Evan” named after my grandfather, father, and me (in that order, too). I am very excited. As a dad, you have fantasies of playing catch with your son, going to games together, camping, fishing, etc. I hope to do all these things and more. Giselle tries her best to pronounce “Evan.” It started like “Ibann,” and now sounds more like “Ebbin.” Close enough.
2. Yesterday, our church plant Redemption Church voted Gary Alloway as our pastor. Gary had been with us from the beginning, and we on the leadership team believed God had called him to be our pastor. However, we wanted confirmation from the congregation, as well. This was confirmed! Pastor Gary Alloway.
3. I am in my second semester at my job, and I am beginning to feel like I know what I am doing. Overall, I love my staff and the people I work with. This sounds bad, but I like my job more than I thought I would. I guess that’s a good thing.

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Re-posting a post from June 26, 2009 because I’ve been asking myself “Why?” once again:

My most recent post on Everyday Liturgy’s website dealing with the question of purpose is now up:

Why?

Recently, I’ve been asked to join the leadership team for a new church plant that will be happening in Bristol, PA. I’m excited about this venture. As of late, we have been struggling over the question, “Why?” Why are we doing this? What’s our purpose? Are we hoping to be the young, cool, hip group? Or are we hoping to reach the poor of Bristol? Or the families of Bristol? The question, Why?, gives us guidance and helps us understand what the next steps should be…

Caesar Augustus

Many of my recent studies have been focused around Rome and the New Testament (as with my post on Warren Carter’s book). After doing much research, I have put together a document comparing Caesar and Jesus. We must remember that many (if not all) of these titles/topics were dedicated to the Caesars before Jesus so the New Testament’s critique on empire should not be missed. I know I left off some other important titles such as “son of God,” but this should be a good starting point. Also, I must state that I am indebted to Richard Smith from Biblical Seminary as his lectures have assisted me in these studies.

View the document “Comparison between Caesar and Jesus” here (.pdf).

Is there anything I missed?

What are your thoughts after viewing this document?

Church Marketing

From the experience of many in the American church, Kenneson and Street’s words are comforting. It is difficult to argue with much of what the authors are stating. It is discomforting to hear church marketers speak of people in terms of cost and effectiveness, and it is equally saddening to see that many great church leaders have fallen into the marketing trap. There is little to contend with and much to praise in the work of Kenneson and Street. Three specific points are worth noting.

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Selling Out the Church

Much of the American church has emphasized the need to be heard by the culture around it so that society will listen to what the church has to say. However, these churches often do not think about the consequences of emphasizing this thought. Philip Kenneson and James Street have found an unnerving trend in American churches that shows many yielding to marketing strategies, and the authors have dedicated their book Selling Out the Church: the Dangers of Church Marketing to reveal this. Many churches have become obsessed with marketing techniques in order to bring more people through the doors and have neglected their call to be a peculiar people, diluting the gospel in the process. Although Kenneson and Street at times overemphasize the dangers of church marketing, the American church, as well as, the international church should heed their overall message.

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The Roman Empire in the days of the New Testament is the focus of Warren Carter’s The Roman Empire and the New Testament: an Essential Guide. Carter attempts to show the reader that the Roman Empire was at the forefront of the first century, Christian writers’ minds, and the empire is engaged in every chapter of the New Testament text (2006, p. 1). The contemporary reader struggles to see clearly each reference to Rome, but first century readers would have recognized the subversive nature of the text in every manner explicit, as well as, implicit. Warren Carter’s argument is quite convincing. He does well to develop the mindset of the first century writers, and he accomplishes his goal that the writers had Rome on their minds.

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I understand that a lot of Christians are upset with Pat Robertson, and, in a sense, so am I. However, our response must be one of love, but we must also point out where we, Christians, go wrong. I do believe Pat is a Christian, and I do believe much of his theology is poor. I am perturbed that Pat would say these things about the Haitian people when they are down (I suppose, kicking them when they are down). But he’s not the first to claim a disaster is God’s judgment on an area. I have pointed out another time recently when Christians have made rash statements about God’s judgment. Regardless, Pat’s statement was foolish (and I mean this in a “lacking wisdom” way, not a “he’s an idiot” way).

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So, after my “30 day” sabbatical from blogging, I have some fresh ideas as to what I want to do.

You will first see that I have updated the look of the blog, and, yes, I am aware it is a picture of the Brooklyn Bridge, but oh well.

Second, I have become increasingly interested in Rome and the New Testament so we will likely hit much of that in the next few posts.

Third, there are some updates from my life, and I will try to get back into the habit of updating that every week or two.

Fourth, I read so many books, but I hardly do any book reviews so I will focus on doing that.

Fifth, I am part of a church plant and believe it is the way for the future of the church. I hardly ever mention this on my blog, and I will seek to portray the struggle as well as the joy of church planting.

Last, I am a proponent of men and women going into seminary for training. I will be basing many of my posts on what I am learning at Biblical Seminary, and I hope it gives readers a chance to peer into how seminary is going for me, and what seminary is like.

Grace and peace,

Evan