lifeasmission
exploring the mystery of life and mission as one and the same
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Archive of "malone" Category
Malone Thanksgiving 2009
Last weekend was the annual Malone Thanksgiving – the 5th since I started blogging (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008)
There was a twist this year. After a decade of gathering at the Hurst household, as our community has grown by marriage and birth, it seemed like a change of venue was in order. Thanks to the searching labors of a few friends, we decided on the Tara Lodge in Hocking Hills outside of Columbus. The place was amazing: 7 bedrooms, HD projector theater system, ping pong tables, pool table, darts, karaoke set-up complete w/ guitars, huge yard, hiking trails, hot tub, and on and on. Basically an amazing place for us to gather.Here are some pictures from the weekend.
And some videos.
Like every year, there were some dear friends who weren’t able to make it and they were missed, but a good time was had by all as we reconnected, shared the things we were most thankful for in the last year, and chatted about the future. With more and more kids being born into this community of friends, this was the first year that we really started thinking about what this gathering will be like when it’s our kids, and not us, who are most excited about playing the annual football game. Weird to think about.
These continue to be some of the most important and special people in my life making this one of my most looked forward to weekends of the year.
Bi-Vocational Ministry & Theological Education
I think this will be my last post in a series on bi-vocational ministry. If you’re looking to catch up, feel free to check out the earlier ones:2) Bi-Vocational Ministry & the Missional Church
3) Bi-Vocational Ministry & Spiritual Formation
4) Bi-Vocational Ministry & Support Raising
Thinking on this topic has stirred up a number of thoughts, ideas, and connections that I think will take shape in a next series of posts, so I won’t say too much here.
What I will say is this…
In 2004 when I began my education at Fuller Theological Seminary, I was on the fence about doing an MDiv. I wasn’t sure that my future was going to be in professional, paid, church staff ministry. I also wasn’t so sure that the structure of the degree was all that well equipped to prepare people for that sort of ministry given the trajectory of the Western church anyway. To my utter shock, I soon discovered that these sentiments were widely shared and many of the people who would have been the best candidates for MDiv’s were opting for less traditional and more flexible routes. (FYI – Fuller has since done some major and commendable course correcting regarding all their programs, including the MDiv!)
My hesitations confirmed by the sentiments and decisions of my peers, I chose to do an MA in theology which gave me the ability to take 1/2 my classes out of Fullers’ School of Intercultural Studies enabling me to craft a degree that explored a missiology of Western culture.
In contrast to the average School of Theology student, many of the students doing degrees in the School of Intercultural Studies had widely marketable skills and trades. Whereas the average SOT student was there to get an academic credential in order to get a job, the average SIS student was in school to learn how to be better a better missionary or to do more study regarding a particular area of interest. Unlike their SOT counterparts, they weren’t looking for a degree to get a job.
Now, Fuller as a school didn’t create this reality per se, they were merely filling two different needs, augmenting on the one hand, and preparing on the other.
If, as I have tried to say, churches being led by a team of bi-vocational leaders is more sustainable, healthier for leaders and congregations alike, and all-around positively spiritually formative, then theological schools would do well to intentionally structure themselves for the sort of education that Fuller’s SIS was offering de facto.
There is a lesson to be learned here from Christian Liberal Arts schools (yeah Malone!) which prepare men and women of God for service in all areas of life… AS FOLLOWERS OF JESUS. That people would “graduate” from this sort of education to one of specialized, professional theological training is a regrettable reality. I say this as one with the highest of value for theological rigor and advanced training. But, I also say it as one who thinks these things should never come at the expense of extending to Christian leaders the opportunity to lose touch with “the world.”
A missional ecclesiology calls for a missional approach to theological education that would be best described in terms of formational training. This is what I hope to explore further in my next series of posts.
Malone Thanksgiving 2008
About 10 years ago some friends started a tradition of gathering the Saturday before Thanksgiving to cook a meal together, play football, and to share with each other all that we were thankful for from the previous year. This tradition has become a linchpin in the life of our community of friends.
More than simply attending, it is not uncommon for us as a group to do everything in our power to help others find a way to to be there to share in the day. There is nothing magic about the day, but I do believe that there is something sacred about it. It is perhaps the day of the year that I look most forward to.
Yearly, this community continues to grow. Many people in our community are in the season of life where babies are coming into the picture. These little ones add an incredible dimension to our community. We have had conversations in the past about raising kids together and it was really cool to listen to Caris, the oldest kid in the group (almost 4), refer to all these people as “uncle” and “aunt.”
My friends Ryan and Heather have new born twins and I would venture to say that the rest of us cared for them more during the day – holding them, changing them, feeding them, and attending to their cries, than Heather and Ryan. They are awesome parents, it’s got nothing to do with that, but everything to do with the fact that for us as a community there is no aspect of life that is not shared.
As always, the day of feasting on food and fellowship was followed up by a big ol slumber party back in Canton at a couple different houses. The event on Saturday is special enough in and of itself, but some of my favorite memories are created after as we play games, continue to share meals, have coffee, share stories, and visit local favorite spots. Man, I am already ready for Thanksgiving ‘09!
Enjoy some pictures!
For the New Year
(more here)This year I had the good fortune to be able to host an annual New Year’s Eve Party for a bunch of my Malone friends and plenty of others. The party was doubly significant in that it also marked the completion of a bunch of restoration that I’ve been doing on my home. For the last four months I have been trying to put the pieces of my house back together due to some unfortunate tenants.Between the beginning of September and the end of December, and with the help of plenty of family and friends, we filled 2 dumpsters full of trash and broken items, patched 3 huge holes in my walls, ripped up and replaced 3 rooms of carpet with new carpet and a hard wood floor, replaced 2 screen doors, fixed the dishwasher, stove, and garbage disposal, replaced a broken window, fixed the garage door, cleaned the carpets (twice!), patched a hole in the dining room floor, stopped leaks, hung drywall, slapped on 6 gallons of paint, moved in a bunch of new furniture, and scrubbed and cleaned till our fingers were numb. It wasn’t easy or cheap, but it’s done and it feels good!
As 2008 jumps to a start, unlike the last 3 Januaries, I really have no idea what this year holds. In 2005 and 2006 I was in school full-time at Fuller, in 2007 I was working for Fuller full-time. Plenty of surprises in those years to be sure, but at least I knew where I was. 2008, not so much.
As near as I can tell, the beginning of 2008 is marked by beseeching God for 3 major things – a church community who shares a common Kingdom/Missional vision, a challenging and life-giving career in which I have the opportunity to really make a difference in the lives of others, and a lady who’d be excited to share in those sorts of things. I suppose any one of those three things could be the catalyst for change and direction, but at this point I really have no clue which one. So, here’s to 2008 and God continuing to do God’s thing!!
Malone Thanksgiving 2007
If you don’t count the sporadic delicious links that get automatically thrown up from time to time, it’s been a week and a half since I posted anything and it’s certainly not for lack of desire or content – just way busy.
I am putting in 25ish hours at Starbucks every week and another 30-40 at the Salvation Army as I oversee a few of their holiday programs.
My good friend Ryan moved in with me just a few weeks ago and I love having him around.
I have been making good progress on my house (destroyed by renters). Some major painting is getting done, a bought some flooring, and I’ll be getting some carpet here in the next few weeks as well.
Ryan and I had some other friends over the other night to sort of (re)christen the house as it gets back into shape.
Last Saturday was the annual Malone Thanksgiving. We weren’t sure that we were going to be able to, but we gathered, perhaps for the last time, at the Hurst’s. It wasn’t quite the same without folks like Sean and Julie, Josh and Rachel, Levi, Joel and Sarah, Branden, Tammy, Suzi, Abby, and others who are usually there, but nevertheless, we enjoyed an amazing game of football, a sweet meal, and, as always, the time of thanksgiving for all that God has been up to in our lives.
My brother made it home from NYC for the weekend, so I enjoyed some great time with him, my mom, and my 2 grandma’s. Mom hosted a kick-butt meal, and the following day we went to see American Gangster. Just a bit ago, my brother took my mom, grandma, his friend Michelle, and me out to eat at Papa Joe’s for the single greatest meal in recent memory. I had the Pumpkin Sage Gnocchi and it was out of this world.
I think that’s about it. I do however, want to offer a shout-out to my many friends back in Pasadena – from my house church community (Thias, Damaris, Mick, Tre, Kyle, Andrea, Jorge…) to my MAGL com padres (Chris, Dave, Mark, Deb, Brenda, Barbara, Mike, Ron, Joan, James, Wilmer, and others) to plenty of others – Wess and Emily, Matt K., Sam, Ryan, Autumn, Laura, and on and on. For all those of you that will see this – I love and miss you guys. All the best
Scot McKnight – The Whole Gospel
I just finished listening to this message/podcast by Scot McKnight (check out his blog here) entitled, “The Whole Gospel.”
It is definitely worth a listen and I’ll be adding it to my audio page. Incidentally, if you tend to only read my stuff through a feed reader, I have tried to catalog a number of good audio messages that you might want to check out – there’s stuff from Rob Bell, NT Wright, Mike Frost, John Piper, Brian McLaren and even (gasp!), Mark Driscoll. The vast differences in the theologies of these presenters are perhaps surprising, and all I can do is say a hearty thanks to my professors from Malone and Fuller who have helped me become the sort of Christian who is able to pull the best from all sorts of different sources and drop the rest – thanks.
There’s one thing in particular that I’d like to humbly disagree with Scot on here. Toward the beginning of his message he talks about the 20 million or so (says Barna in this book – my review here) believers in the United States who have chosen to live out thir Christian lives as part of house churches. He seems to say that this is indicative of their individualistic tendencies as they have abandoned the more formal institutional form of church. Quite the opposite, I’d venture to say that it’s specifically on account of the individualistic gospel proffered by these more formal institutional forms of church that has resulted in millions of believes seeking out smaller, more authentic and committed communities of followers of Jesus. At least this has been the case for me and many others I know well. Past that, Scot has a lot of great things to offer. Enjoy and please offer your thoughts.
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Hey, I'm JR - welcome to the blog.
I'm just an average guy trying to shape his identity around God's dream for the world and his place in it. This blog is a place for me (and you!) to reflect on and discuss all that might mean. Looking for a bit more on me? Check out the about me. Peace.
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