Personal Vision Statement

Of the ways I live the text now, my reflections keep coming back to preaching. I love to preach; it is a discipline that combines my love for the Bible, theological reflection, and words communicated well. While I do not preach regularly now, I will be ordained as a Presbyterian pastor in the next year and anticipate preaching will be an important part of my pastoral life.

We discussed four Biblical ways to use the Bible: word, image, oral reading in the community, and dialogue. I have considered how I use these four ways in my preaching. My word muscle is strong. I take great pleasure in reading, writing, and storytelling. My Reformed heritage values the Bible as the Word. I am “word-biased,” and it is no surprise that I have thrived on traditional forms of preaching, e.g. a twenty minute sermon based on careful exegesis of a text, the findings communicated logically to a listening congregation.

My image muscle is weaker, but I do not anticipate this being a hard muscle to build up. While Presbyterians have a history of mistrusting images, we also love story, and story thrives on word images.

Dialogue and the oral, communal reading of the text are the weakest muscles for me. These muscles are weak in part because I have been trained to be a passive learner. This style of learning fits the modern context well. In the search for Truth, it makes sense to trust the “experts” who have learned all they can about a particular subject. Applied to the Bible, we look to Biblical scholars, theologians, and preachers to tell us what the Bible says, because they have the training and time for study. My Master of Divinity training reflects this bias. I have learned to study the Bible carefully to discern its meaning, reading the texts in their original languages and using the tools of Biblical exegesis.

I believe this training is good. Not all meanings gathered from Scripture are equally true or good. I have tools that help me discern the truth of a proposed interpretation. As a pastor, I have time to study the text carefully, to pray about its meaning in my context and the context of my community, and communicate those findings and reflections to the community. However, I am not the holy “expert” who knows all. I have my blinders; I am a redeemed sinner like everyone else, and I struggle to live the text in my everyday life. It is ironic that the Reformed tradition, which places a high value on the priesthood of all believers, i.e. on the value of community, also places such a high value on Biblical experts. What does it mean to truly be the body of Christ if only the pastor really understands the text that shapes the community?

Dialogue emerging from the communal reading of Scripture is a way to actively engage the community. It moves us from being passive to active learners, not relying solely on the experts, but understanding that God speaks through the text to each community member. As the seminary trained individual in the community, I have knowledge to contribute to the conversation, but my voice is not the only one that creates the community’s shared meaning.

My ego is slightly bruised at this realization; I have invested money and time into my seminary education, and I take pleasure in people attending to my ideas as I preach. But, I am also relieved, for as the pastor, I am not the only one responsible for discerning the meaning of the text for the individuals within the community. Because we place such as high expectation on our pastors to be the experts, we can be extra hard on them when their words do not help us or at the very least entertain us. Learning to live the text within the community gives every member an opportunity to discern what it means. It respects the community as a whole, recognizing the pastor as one member of that community contributing to the conversation.

I am intrigued and encouraged by this discernment of the text via dialogue within the community. However, I expect to pastor congregations who have been trained to be passive learners. Engaging these communities to be active discerners of the text will take time. Nevertheless, I have gleaned ideas from this class that I plan to try as I teach my communities to be active engagers with my preaching:

1. Engaging the voices of the community as the sermon is shaped:

• I plan to find forums for engaging the text with the congregation as I study and prepare to preach, whether via email dialogue or small group time of quiet reflection on the text via lectio divina or Dwelling in the Word.

2. Engaging the voices of the community as the sermon is preached:

• I would love to train up the congregation in which I serve to be able to offer reflections and feedback in the context of the sermon itself. However, that won’t happen right away. Perhaps the more I engage multiple voices in my sermons, whether the diverse voices of Scripture itself, differing voices of interpretation, cultural voices, or the voices of the congregation, the more comfortable the community will become engaging in a dialogue in the context of worship.

3. Engaging the voices of the community as the sermon is digested:

• The church at which I interned had one adult Sunday school class, and its sole purpose was to discuss the sermon. This discussion group gave the community a chance to dialogue about what they heard in the sermon. I plan to make this kind of forum for feedback a priority in the congregations in which I preach.

Baby strokes

I learned to swim at a pretty early age. My parents got me into one of those toddler swimming classes...and I discovered that I loved the water, even if was I only splashing around in a wading pool. Still, I didn't jump immediately into the deep end of the pool. It took awhile to learn all the strokes, all the ways to tread water, all the ways to help me breathe even as I played in and moved through the water.

Taking this course, Living the Text in a Postmodern Context, feels a little like learning to swim. It's not like I'm drowning in unfamiliar waters. I waded into the postmodern pool long before this course. But, I never really dived in. I am an analytical thinker, and I like to order the information that comes to me in a sequential, logical fashion. We've spoken in class about the fragmentation of postmodern society and the ways it allows people to pick and mix their identities and lifestyles. Pick and mix? Fragmentation? Flashes of multiple images, texts, voices all at once often don't help me process and think, but overwhelm my senses. Yet, this is the world in which we live. So, rather than refusing to get in the water, I am learning to swim, learning to live the Text that informs my life in new ways within this postmodern context.

As for the basic facts on me, I am a Master of Divinity student at Fuller Seminary. I'm almost done (after this class, I will have 16 units left). I'm seeking to be ordained as a pastor in the Presbyterian Church (USA). I love to preach and teach and hope for church positions that will allow me to hone those gifts. One hope I have for this class is that it will give me some new ideas to apply to my preaching and teaching. No matter how old we are, whether we call ourselves "modern" or "postmodern," we want to hear God's story in a fresh way that connects to our own story. We want to be refreshed by the life we find in Scripture.