Mark Calhoun

Oberlin Day 5

I’m a tad late on the day five post, but this was the last day of the Oberlin outing and included a lack of sleep, a little breakfast, and a short session prior to the trip home with my friends on American Airlines. Today’s agenda included three training workshops…Faith and Order & State/Local Ecumenical Ministries, Faith and Order & Higher Education, and Faith and Order, Bilateral Dialogues, and Churches Uniting in Christ. While all three sounded extremely interesting I felt compelled to take in the Faith and Order & Higher Education workshop. This particular workshop was broken down into two tracks…1) A Panel Discussion: Teaching Ecumenism and Ecumenical Method and 2) a sampling of an Inter-seminary Seminar that was held in the Philadelphia area. The teaching and method track was led, and moderated by, Keelan Downton and included Lorelei Fuchs, Jeffrey Gros, and Rodney L. Petersen. Each of the panelists had an opportunity to share on the topic and then respond to a few question. From my perspective, one of the key issues facing Faith and Order is spreading the word… and that has to happen on multiple levels. It was interesting to see a sampling of innovative ways that this occurs in academic environments… not to mention spending some quality small group time with Keelan, Lorelei, Jeff and Rodney. The second part of the session was led by a group of students and a professor that shared the experience of and inter-seminary seminar centering on ecumenism. To me this seems like an incredible model, especially in areas where there are multiple seminaries. In this instance the students were selected and invited to participate in the seminar. Each time they gathered, I think 7-8 times throughout a semester, one or two students shared a 15 (?) page paper on the topic of ecumenism and the others prepared and shared responses and questions that served as the basis for group discussion. Actually, I was excited to be a part of this session and especially to see, first hand the ins and outs of the inter-seminary seminar. This seems like an extremely fruitful model that would work well in the Kansas City area where I attend seminary. I know that Saint Paul has engaged in some inter-seminary stuff, but I think it has mostly been with only one seminary at a time and not centered on the topic of ecumenism. My advanced Praxis seminar was on ecumenical theology, which was extremely helpful, but it seems like an inter-seminary seminar on ecumenism would be a helpful addition to our curriculum. We had a few protestant denominations represented in our class, but it would be nice to extend the level of participation to other seminaries and traditions. This workshop got me thinking a bit about the class I took and perhaps a couple of additions. For one, maybe a required text could be a local phone book… in the sense that a few times during the semester each student would pick a couple of traditions outside of their own, invite a representative to lunch for a dialogue, and then post their experience on a forum board discussing the theological implications of the dialogue as well as areas of resonance, dissonance, non-sonance. In addition, though I haven’t completely read the text they gave us at the conference, it seems like “Ancient Faith and American-Born Churches” would be a great addition for a sound domestic perspective on the ecumenical movement. I think a final addition to any course on ecumenical theology would be to offer some of the papers presented at the Oberlin conference. It seems to me that each student could select one or two papers of interest and then reflect theologically on the basis of resonance, dissonance, non-sonance.

Two more NCCCUSA articles .... here and here

Oberlin Day Four – Part Three

It is getting more and more difficult to try to identify the highest point or points regarding my trip to Oberlin, but I would have to say that the worship gathering that we all experienced tonight is in the running for one of the high points of the conference. At the afternoon conference, we were encouraged this way to participate in the evening worship gathering… “If there is anything you do… you will want to hear tonight’s preacher before you go to heaven,” or something close to that. I am currently reading Dr. Graves' book the “Sermon as Symphony : Preaching the Literary Forms of the NT.” I’m only a few pages in, but tonight I am guessing that we heard the conductor of all conductors… tonight we were intimately introduced to the preaching experience of Rev. Dr. James A. Forbes who taught us, in about 40 minutes, how to sing this little light of mine (and a little bit about Pluto).  I am not sure if tonight's preaching moment focused entirely on the literary form of the text, but I am sure that it rang out like a symphonic masterpiece. I can promise you that I have never ever seen anything or experienced a preaching moment quite like this. I spent the last semester in Dr. Graves Intro to preaching class learning about all the elements of preaching and I am guessing, though I haven’t confirmed it with Dr. G, that Dr. Forbes is a more than adequate living example of the images of preaching that we engaged in class… I think that I am fairly clear, now, on what it means to ‘embody’ a sermon. I am not sure as to exactly who is on the global, top ten, who’s who in preaching list, but I am quite sure that Dr. Forbes is near the top… Dr. Forbes’ preaching, coupled with our singing and prayer time, made for an extraordinary moment in the life of Oberlin II.

Here is a link to a pretty good article on the National Council Of Churches Website... NCC Oberlin.

For all of my Oberlin 07' posts go here...

Oberlin Day Four – Part Two

The afternoon theme of day four was… “Hearing from the Participants and Observers.” During this section our delegate from emergent village, Rev. Dr. Dwight Friesen, had an opportunity to share his reflections of the conference. I hope to catch up with him at some point to get his written comments to post. Here’s what I know… true to Emergent Village form there are a number of people that I am thankful for in the sense that, through their innate ability to communicate effectively, end up summarizing experiences well and are able to put words to the notions running around in my head. It has been a great pleasure to spend time with Dwight and to add him to the lists of folks who have helper me see through the fog… Jon, Tim, Mike, Brian, Tony, Doug, Jason, and many many others. In the brief conversations I had with Dwight, I found that he was willing and able to bring understanding and enlightenment to various elements of this conference with respect to the postmodern/postcolonial/post-Christendom context. His thoughtful approach to engagement in this historic event was crucial, critical and made me proud to have him has the official EV delegate… Did I mention that the dude is wicked smart with a personality that makes him an asset to any dialogue…

Dwight was just one of about 7 panelists that brought a great deal of value to this closing section of the conference. In addition to hearing perspectives from these panelists, we also heard from some folks in the audience including our very own Saint Paul ecu-maniac… Alberto Silva who did an amazing job of sharing his perspective on the conference and where he thinks Faith and Order should go in the future…

Oberlin Day Four – Part one

The day today started with extended sleep, till 8:30… and then we were whisked off to various places of worship around Oberlin and into some other nearby communities… There were lots of choices… I took a ticket on the Greek Orthodox train. I was hoping to catch the Armenian Orthodox option, for obvious Wesleyan ties, but the vans filled up. In the long run the Greek Orthodox option turned out to be an amazing choice. First off, we commuted with, and were instructed by, the Orthodox dude at the conference who wins the ecumenical award for being the coolest looking delegate to the conference…  Our experience was amazing. We showed up with a few minutes remaining in the “matins” section and then we moved right into the beginning of worship. Prior to our entering the sanctuary we were invited to light a candle and approach and venerate the icons… a first for me, but an incredible way to enter a worship space. Once in worship, we had several Orthodox folks from the conference, around us, that helped guide us through the worship experience. I was thankful for the help because 90% of the worship was in Greek. Highlights for me were the incense, the liturgy, the intentionality of the Eucharist, and the chanting. The highest point came at the end when we were invited up by the priest to take a piece of bread and pay our respects by kissing his hand… For some reason, that I can’t exactly figure out how to explain, this was an extremely sacred moment for me. The Eucharist, that proceeded this moment, was served by spoon… the priest mixed the elements, over a 10 minute span of time and then placed them in each persons mouth with the spoon.   The ‘censing,’ prior to the delivery of the elements, was extremely intentional as the priest censed the icons and then censed each of us in the congregation. In all, I think the worship gathering lasted about an hour and a half… it was an incredible worship experience.

Oberlin Day Three – Part Three

Sections two and three of the paper presentations introduced us to the Faith and Order implications brought to the table through the electric elements of the postmodern context and religious plurality. With respect to the postmodern theme I would say that this has been my area of greatest interest and anticipation. During this section we were exposed to two great papers…”the bible on postmodern surfaces,” and “Orthodoxy, Post-Modernity, and Ecumenism: The Difference that Divine-Human Communion Makes.” The two presentations were then followed by a response presentation that critiqued the two papers and attempted to challenge, while at the same time add value to their content. As I told my small group today… one can evaluate a fruitful critique by its ability to inflict pain, or, in some instances, its ability to ‘sting’ a bit. I’d say the responder covered all the bases within the context of his response.

Points of resonance for me…Havea (the bible on postmodern surfaces)…who hales form Tonga,   gifted us three codependent ripples of the ‘current’ of postmodernity; story, identity, and Diaspora. On this notion of Diaspora, Havea painted an image of, ‘home’ as in location or context. Ultimately he painted a picture of the Bible as ‘home’ for Christians… further expanding the notion to suggest home is not always the place where we live. For instance… the Calhoun clan lives in Kansas, but our ‘home’ is in Wyoming. Perhaps as Christians we live in a certain context, but our home is in the stories of the Bible….

Another point that resonated with me comes from Michael Roots critical response paper in which he proclaimed, “The ecumenical movement itself is a child of modernity and the metanarratives of the modern world have shaped it’s outlook” EXACTLY!! How then can the propositions of the current ecumenical movement survive in the postmodern context? I suggest that they cannot, and that they must be re-shaped if they are to transform our commitment to unity…. In another instance, during our religious plurality session, Root arose from the audience and basically proclaimed that inter-faith dialogue had no place in Faith and Order conversations. That might be the case within the compartmentalized reality of modernity, but it simply won’t fly in the airspace of postmodernity with her strong commitment to relationality.

Oberlin Photo Share...

Meal Time...

Prayer Time...

                            

Film Festival...

Ecumenical Beverage Cart...

Social Time...

Holy Ground and a Friesen foot...

Oberlin Day Three - Part Two

One of the biggest blessings of this conference has been the opportunity to participate in small discussion group dialogues. I don’t want to brag too loudly here, but I think that our group was not only the best :-), but possibly one of the most diverse (which was intentional I’m sure).   Three times, thus far, about a dozen of us have gathered on occasion to share our experience here at Oberlin. Our diversity comes through age, race, and positioning within the ecumenical dialogue… We are undergraduate students, graduate students, pastors, Doctors, seminary professors, a denominational representative, and a National Council of Churches representative. As we gathered today we were able to share our perceptions, ask questions, offer suggestions, identify voices that we think are missing from this conference, and moreover we have been afforded the opportunity to live into one another’s stories…. These small group gatherings have afforded us an opportunity to process all of the great stuff we are being exposed to here in Oberlin, or Oberlin II as it has been referred to from time to time. In addition to our small group time, we also have an opportunity over meals to engage in fruitful dialogue.   (Alberto and Dwight)

Oberlin Day Three – Part One

The day today, at Oberlin, was broken down into three major themes, or sections… 1) Evaluating Our Work, 2) Faith and Order in a Post-Modern World, and 3) Faith and Order in the Context of Religious Plurality. During the morning session, section 1, we were exposed to a paper entitled, “The Apostolic Faith Study and the Holy Spirit." This paper was presented Dr. Cecil Robeck, a representative of the Assemblies of God tradition. While the content of his paper was inspiring, I was more intrigued during the moments in his presentation when he gave us a glimpse of his journey through ecumenism. Many of his stories addressed those moments in time when he was persecuted for his divinely ordained call to participate in the ecumenical movement as a representative of the Pentecostal tradition. For Dr. Robeck persecution came from many different directions… as it turns out there were a number of folks within his tradition who were not supportive of his participation in Faith and Order work, and, at one point, was nearly de-frocked for his participation. As he continued to tell the story of his journey he spoke of one instance in which his own mother suggested that his work in ecumenism was, indeed, a waste of his life… Ouch… At one point Robeck told a story of a woman who confronted him at one Faith and Order gathering and confrontationally proclaimed that she was not happy about his participation in ecumenical work and his presence at the conference. The part of that story that stung the most came when he mentioned that this evil minion was associated with the Methodist tradition… ouch again… it was an embarrassing moment for me as I sat in disbelief that someone from my own tradition was capable of such exclusion… on a side note it does seem that we are at least consistent in that we still, as United Methodists, explicitly practice the spiritual gift of exclusion. Robeck’s presentation touched the hearts of everyone in the room and was the only person, to this point, to receive a standing ovation from the delegates and observers. A point of resonance... Early on in the conference, as I mentioned above, Cardinal Dulles mentioned that, “True progress in ecumenism requires obedience to the Holy Spirit.” I find it interesting that that element is the exact element that Robeck, in the context of his Pentecostal tradition, has attempted to bring to the ecumenical table throughout the entirety of his ecumenical journey.

Oberlin Day Two - Part Two

The second half of the day opened with more papers including one from Cardinal Avery Dulles entitled the Search for Unity Since 1957: A Catholic Perspective. While the overtone of, “If you all would just be a little more like us, we wouldn’t have this problem” was evident in the Cardinals presentation I did greatly appreciate the level of wisdom that he openly brought to the table… At the end of the day… the Cardinal asked this question, “How then can Christian unity be envisaged?” His first point, “The first condition, I believe, is that Christian communities be ready to speak and listen to one another.” His final point, “True progress in ecumenism requires obedience to the Holy Spirit.” Both our points that I vehemently agree with… I would actually like to see these two valuable nuggets filter down into the life of local ecclesial communities. Active an proactive attention to these two notions would not only change the face of ecumenism itself, but also the face of local congregations. After hearing from the Cardinal we heard two more presentations and a response by our very own United Methodist representative, Doug Mills. Following these afternoon presentations we broke for small group discussion time which was both fruitful and ‘interesting,’ and then it was off to dinner (the cafeteria is great, it actually reminds me of the cafeteria at the University of Wyoming… Go Pokes) The post dinner presentations commenced precisely at 7:00 and were drawn to a close by the extremely thoughtful, creative, and intriguing work of Keelan Downton, a friend of the emergent conversation.   I would say that Keelan represented us extremely well even with flighty comments from the likes of "Billy" Abraham who quipped something about a, “snow balls chance in hell,” blah, blah, blah… interesting to say the least...

Here are my questions for the day….1) Exactly how are we defining Unity? For me it is becoming more a notion of harmony than any thing else… and 2) How exactly can something, like the ecumenical movement as we know it, be bred, born, and given birth to in the context of modernity, have a shot at maturity within a post-colonial, post-Christendom, postmodern context??? It seems to me that modernity had her chance and now it might be time for a revision of the ‘rules.’ From my perspective, ecumenism has a more fruitful future in an era where it’s a given rather than an option.

The theological significance of the Graham Cracker…

While there are a number of significant historical attributes to the development of Oberlin College, including an early focus on; manual labor, moral reform, joint education of the sexes, curricular reform, non-sectarian revivalism, and the scripture doctrine of Christian perfection, I feel inclined to expose you all to the attribute of physiological reform… (From Barbara Brown Zickmund’s paper…)

"Physiological Reform: A second special passion of early Oberlin was its commitment to health reform. Consistent with evangelical enthusiasm about the important relationship between body and soul, Oberlin settlers abstained from the use of strong drink and tobacco. Tea and coffee were also suspect. Very early Oberlin embraced a particular philosophy of health that regulated all community and campus life – Grahamism.