Saturday, February 18, 2023
lent resource
A spiritual takeaways resource I have put together for preaching at church on the Sunday before Lent.
The resource emerged from reflecting on the language of beloved, well-pleased and listen that emerges from the Old and New Testament lectionary texts. To help ground these Biblical texts, I will offer 4 different ways that folk might explore ways to slow to listen and beloved. I drew the practices from Adele Calhoun, Spiritual Disciplines Handbook, which I find a great resource.
I will invite folk to randomly choose one. If it doesn’t connect, they can choose another. Hopefully, the takeaway invites folk into a Lent of love.
Tuesday, February 14, 2023
Race, justice and mission – my 2023 University of Glasgow Library Research Fellowship
I’m delighted to have been awarded a 2023 University of Glasgow Library Research Fellowship. This provides access for a month to what is a unique archive collection of mission archives. It also provides some funds to aid with travel and accommodation, which I hope to do around September 2023.
My research project is titled Race, justice and mission and here is some of what I wrote in my application:
Understanding the past demands a contemporary reappraisal of race and justice in the expansion of empires. The history of slavery invites educational institutions to assess their complicity in education, empire and exploitation. Slavery generally tends to be framed in relation to the transatlantic slave trade. However, a unique history of coerced Pacific labour is called “blackbirding.” Pacific peoples were extracted from island communities to build sugar plantations in Australia and Fiji. Recently, scholars have called for a reappraisal of “blackbirding,” the need for new Pacific genealogies and a critical reassessment of the “racial imaginaries” at work in the empire’s expansion.
My research project aims to illuminate the Glaswegian contribution to the modern Protestant missionary enterprise. The archives at the University of Glasgow Library offer a significant resource. Several Special Collections contain pamphlets and sermons that illuminate historic attitudes to other cultures, as students from the University were encouraged into mission activity by Christian student bodies meeting in and around the campus. The University Library Missions Book collection includes descriptions by missionaries who sailed from the ports of Glasgow and wrote of their encounters with “blackbirders” in operation.
This unique archival material will be located in relation to the growing body of contemporary scholarship attuned to histories of slavery and the economic and educational complicities of British imperialism. My research project aligns with the University of Glasgow’s Historical Slavery Initiative, which seeks to respond to the University’s complicated entanglement with Scottish imperial expansion.
I am thrilled to have been awarded this Research Fellowship, grateful for the opportunity to access what is a unique collection and thankful for the help from Rev Dr Doug Gay in alerting me to the archive. I look forward to strengthening academic relationships with various colleagues and friends and am excited by the important work already being done at the University through the Historical Slavery Initiative. This research allows me to return to my roots as Melanesian born and reflect on the Pacific’s particular histories of slavery.
Monday, February 13, 2023
Scent in Lent: the aroma of Christian witness
A 2023 online sensory journey involving lectio divina, silence and participatory prayer.
A Scripture to help understand Scent in Lent – Exodus 30:22-25 – The Lord spoke to Moses; Take the finest spices… it shall be a holy anointing oil.”
Another Scripture to help understand Scent in Lent – John 11:39 “Martha … said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench.”
A prayer for Scent in Lent – “Lord God, you walk in all our memories; You know where we have been; What we have said, known and felt; Come to us in the scent we remember; The time when we walked with you; And know that we walk with you still” (Sense Making Faith, page 50)
A question for Scent in Lent – What does your church smell like? What would a stranger make of the smell of your church?
An exercise for Scent in Lent – Have a walk around your local area. Where are the pleasant smells? Where are the unpleasant smells? How might these smells guide the aroma of your Christian witness?
Thursday, February 09, 2023
the role of people and communities on the call to ministry
There is an excellent article on how social influences shape the call to ministry by Erin Johnston and David Eagle in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion.
“Expanding the Horizontal Call: A Typology of Social Influences on the Call to Ministry,” Erin Johnston and David Eagle, (2023), Expanding the Horizontal Call: A Typology of Social Influence on the Call to Ministry. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. DOI 10.1111/jssr.12816
While call has historically been seen as an interaction between God and the person called, their research demonstrates how call is socially structured. Theologically, call is thus understood as an embodied experience, shaped by relationships and the ways churches are socially structured, particularly in gender, ethnicity and participation.
Johnston and Eagle interviewed 36 first-year seminary students training for ministry. In the stories of call, six typical social others who play a formative role in the call to ministry were identified. These social others act as instigators, exemplars, interpreters, affirmers, challengers and co-discerners. Without social interactions, “a call can not emerge or be meaningfully enacted” (2). The research also examined differences in the social shaping of call by gender. Men are more likely to describe experiences of affirmers and exemplars, while women are more likely to have challengers and interpreters.
As I read it, I spotted four implications for churches interested in developing leaders:
- Clergy are the most commonly cited source of influence, mentioned by 58% of participants. They play significant roles as affirmers, co-discerners and examplars. Practically, helping clergy understand what good practice in these different social interactions look like would be beneficial.
- Gender of clergy. The research showed that gender-matched exemplars are particularly influential – seeing a woman in a position of religious leader can evoke and solidify a personal call. “Given that the number of women in congregational ministry remains relatively low and barriers to ordination and leadership remain high, women are less likely to interact with gender-matched exemplars and as a result, may be less likely to consider ministry as a potential vocational path.” (10) Practically, ongoing commitments to removing barriers for women and enhancing the visibility of women in leadership in religious communities is needed.
- Participation. Most of the participants were called “during a period of deepening involvement in a community of faith” (15). Practically, providing ways for people to participate and get involved are essential.
- Ethnicity. The data was from the US and in that context, more social influences were reported by Black respondents than White respondents. This requires further reflection. The article suggested this might be related to the denominations from which participants came. However, it might also be related to how different cultures nurture identity and develop leadership across generations.
A great piece of research, that has theological and ministry implications.
Wednesday, February 08, 2023
Theological Education as “Being With” the Future Church – some AngelWings Ltd applied research
I’m delighted to have an Applied Research Abstract on Theological Education published in Review of Religious Research. Steve Taylor, “Theological Education as “Being With” the Future Church: Applied Research Among Local Leaders in an Australian Baptist Denomination,” Review of Religious Research, DOI: 10.1007/s13644-021-00480-z.
Here is part of the conclusion:
“A changing world presents significant opportunities for theological colleges and seminaries to re-invent themselves. Providers of theological formation have a significant role in resourcing the future church, particularly as they attend to collaborative and relational partnerships … [including] a renewed focus on local contextual theologies, empirical research, and grassroots partnerships. Such participation requires accompanying the local church, not as a problem to be fixed or a base for recruitment, but in a shared human quest to learn in change.”
The Applied Research Abstract draws on research I did in 2021 for Whitley College (working with René Erwich and Darrell Jackson) and the Baptist Union of Victoria, listening to some 47 stakeholders. The complete report belongs to Whitley College Board.
However, the Review of Religious Research is a journal that uniquely facilitates the sharing and comparing of applied studies between denominational and academic researchers. They offer four types of articles – Original Research Articles, Research Notes, Review Articles, and Applied Research Abstracts. The Applied Research Abstract is a type of article that summarises (without any references) an applied research study. So, in dialogue with Whitley, some of the research can now be shared more widely.
The article is online and paywalled, but if folk want a pre-publication copy, just DM me.
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