Finding a Church

A common criticism of the post-modern ethos goes something like this: “Young people today are unwilling to commit to formal structures and engagements, such as church membership.” And this year, I’ve come to realise I’m one of them.

Not that I’ve stopped believing in church membership. I’m still a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and I’ll probably stay that for at least some years ahead. I’m referring to local church here. Upon moving to the Copenhagen area, we knew that it would be a challenge to decide for or against joining a specific church, but we were not anticipating that we should still be in the void after 7 months.

This may be a negative result of being involved in church planting. For all its faults, Aarhus Café Church was my church – literally, since I was part of it from even before the start. When you join something existing, you have to accept it as it is, living with inconsistencies and imbalances. So how do you find a church family to belong to? Some of our criteria are: we want to be able to make a difference; we are looking for a church that has a clear mission and vision; we want a church that is going somewhere and which has potential.

If we limit the search to Seventh-day Adventist Churches, there are at least 5 within reasonable distance, but our considerations have mainly focused on two of these. There’s the one in which we were married; a large, traditional church which is pleasant but has a built-in inertia that, despite honest efforts, seems difficult to shed. And there’s the one which we attend most regularly; a newer church with lots of young people and a bigger potential, but which seems to be treading water at the moment, lacking the drive and vision of earlier years.

Then there is the radical option: start something new. We had talked about this even before leaving Aarhus, but know from that experience that church planting is a huge undertaking and needs a big commitment. Furthermore, partners are needed for such ventures – we would need to build a vision together with other people, expanding the thoughts we already harbour with the input of others willing to join such a project.

So what path should we take? That has yet to be decided. And while thorough thinking is a blessing, indecision can be a bane. Somehow, somewhere, something needs to happen.

In Real Life

This is a blog post. You read it in “cyberspace”. You may respond, you may not. Either way, it stays online. Unless you choose to hit Print – which is not recommended, for environmental reasons. Does the digital character of this interaction make it less “real” than if you were taking a walk in the park with me? Apparently, many people would think so.

Again and again you hear the thought voiced that meetings online, friendships in social networks, and digitally mediated discussions are just a shadow of the “real world”. Even the common expression IRL (In Real Life), builds on this assumption. Digital media can be good, but they can never replace the “real thing”.

Now I do believe there is a “real thing”, but I don’t believe that the digital world, the Internet, is fake, and but a poor replication of the world as it should be. But here’s the thing: all communication is mediated. Whether it is language, body language, telephone, email, or social networks, there is always something “in between” two minds interacting. Communication is indeed possible, but always mediated.

People are networking through social media. It’s not a game. This is real life. If you’re like me, most of your interactions take place online, and they’re not less real for this fact.

I post this during an Internet Evangelism seminar in England, focusing exactly on helping people to interact with their (digital) network and share the gospel with their friends in non-obtrusive, digitally mediated ways. There is potential in this, but apparently some mind-sets differ here.

Around Denmark in 48 Hours

On Sunday and Monday I will be part of a rather crazy venture: Travelling around Denmark in 48 hours, stopping in 48 different towns along the way. Flying and driving. Here’s the story.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church (worldwide) has launched a program called “Follow the Bible“. A specially produced multi-lingual Bible (with each of the Bible’s 66 books in a different language) is travelling around the world in 650 days. Two of these days are allocated to tiny Denmark. And instead of just doing one or two events, we decided to copy the world tour, only on a smaller scale. So the Bible will visit every single Adventist Church in Denmark during its two-day visit.

Why are we doing it? Simply put, we want to draw attention to the Bible as the word of God. Hopefully, this event will encourage Christians all over to (re)commit to reading the Bible and sharing it with their friends.

Such a venture demands a heavy logistic effort, a private plane, several sponsored cars, and many hands on deck. My part is largely in communications, updating web sites, writing press releases and so on. So I will join the entourage, armed with wireless internet access, and try to keep people updated on the progress. We will work somewhat in shifts, so I won’t be at all 40 sites. But you may meet me in either of these towns along the way: Hjørring, Østervrå, Jerslev, Aalborg, Randers, Viborg, Silkeborg, Lille Nørlund, Herning, Holstebro, Odense, Svendborg, Nyborg, Slagelse, Faxe, Haslev, Ringsted, Roskilde, Nærum, Copenhagen, Lyngby, Køge, and Holbæk.

Danish readers should follow the event on followthebible.wordpress.com.

Olympic Gays

Tomorrow the second instalment of World Outgames begins here in Copenhagen. A mixture of sports and culture, this is a festival of all things queer. Homosexuals from around the world will visit our fair city and make the streets colourful. More than just a sports tournament, this is a celebration of diversity. And as such, I’m proud to live in a city this open. (In many other ways we’re somewhat closed, actually, but in my opinion this festival is a good thing.)

Some would doubtless criticise, and they might ask questions such as:

Why do gays need their own event? Can’t they just join the regular Olympic Games? To be short, no. In many countries being openly gay means condemnation, expulsion from professional sports or other careers, or even (capital) punishment. That’s not right.

You’re a Christian – shouldn’t you be condemning gays? It is true that the Bible opposes practised homosexuality. But much more vehemently, the Bible teaches love, acceptance and non-condemnation. Homosexuals and Christians are both minority groups, and as such we ought to have a common cause: the right to live as we wish, regardless of what the majority thinks. Instead of fighting each other, wouldn’t it be wonderful if gays and Christians could join hands in fighting for diversity and minority rights?

Are you gay? No, but if I were, would you think less of me? I hope not.

Now What?

Sitting in a nice but hot office in the sun with no air-con, I realise it’s been three months since we returned to Denmark. Spring has turned to summer, much has fallen into place, and my life is arguably as stable as never before.

Just a few weeks ago, the combined efforts of ourselves and family and friends resulted in the perfect wedding day. We’re settling into our first house together, and the future looks fairly bright.

Planning the wedding has been an almost year-long endeavour, surpassed only in scale by writing my MA thesis last year. So after pulling off two such projects, what is going to be the next one? Where do I focus my energy from now on? There are several possible answers.

Obviously, building a good home and marriage needs energy and devotion. On the horizon looms writing that first book, but probably not in the very near future. My best guess is that any big projects will be within the scope of my (still) new job.

Also three months now I have been working for the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Denmark, in a newly created position of “concept developer and information officer”. This entails many interesting projects, but also hatching and nurturing a grander strategy for the church’s media work here. Strategy work takes time though, and over the next months I hope to be able to think creatively and listen to the needs and opportunities in, especially, new media. I look forward to this challenge.

Where does that leave this blog? It is evident that it has grown a bit stale recently. Is it worthwhile to resurrect it in its current state? Is a refocus necessary? Is it best to shut it down altogether and launch something more focused, perhaps in Danish? Or has the time of blogging come and gone already? If so, then I should move on to other ventures.

Whatever the outcome, I think that my online presence – especially within the fields of church, communication and media – should grow, not diminish. Finding the right outlet(s) to join the discussion should be a focus in the time to come. Stay tuned.

Happy Birthday, Dear Darwin

Today we celebrate the 200^th birthday of a man who changed the world. When Charles Darwin proposed the idea of evolution, biology was changed forever, and modern science today would not be the same without the foundations laid out by him. Not everything was correct, of course, but not everything was incorrect either.

I am a Christian. I believe God made this world and that he should be worshiped as supreme Creator. Tradition has it, then, that I should be bashing Darwin with all my might and exorcise the apostate teaching of evolution. But I will do no such thing. The war between creationists and evolutionists is clearly self-defeating, and I don’t want to represent either side.

Darwin’s bicentenary should be the occasion where Christians realised that Darwin is not the Antichrist, and evolution is not an enemy of the state. 2009 could be the year when relations between science and religion finally thawed, after too many centuries of misunderstanding each other. I doesn’t matter who cast the first stone. Someone should be the first to let down, and it might as well be the Christians.

Am I saying that creation is untrue? No. Am I saying that evolution is untrue? No. But they can’t both be true, can they? Yes, this is the path I would like to explore. In our postmodern world, different vantage points for viewing the world don’t have to be contradictory. Creation is religion, not science. Evolution is science, not religion. The two operate in different domains, and neither should try to be what it is not. But both should admit that the other may have some valid points from another view. Neither can claim to present a completely accurate picture of all of reality.

There are still issues to deal with, of course. How old is the Earth (but does it really matter)? Was there a literal six-day creation week, as told in Genesis? If so, there are conflicts with palaeontology. If not, what does it mean for, i.e. the teaching of the Sabbath?

Others have made similar calls. In Brian McLaren’s The Story We Find Ourselves In, the sequel to A New Kind of Christian, he explores finding faith in God through the marvels of evolution (and creation). And this post on The Spectrum Blog gives some good starting points for further reading. I will try to follow some of these, if I can find the time.

The Gospel of God’s love does not have to be in conflict with evolution. And telling the world about that love is more important than fighting a seemingly endless war against a perceived threat. It’s time to bury the hatchet. Happy Birthday.

Speaking in Tongues

Despite the title, I’m not about to embark on a thorough account of the different theologies of spiritual gifts. I do not deny a more supernatural meaning, but I also believe that a spiritual gift can be when God chooses to use a seemingly simple personal skill to the benefit of his church.

In this understanding, I have come to see excelling in translation or understanding different human languages to be an aspect of “the gift of tongues”; the gift of languages. Calling this a gift is not trying to make myself sound better. It is saying that, while I would certainly call myself proficient in English, using it for the glory of God is only possible through his power. As is the case with any type of work for the kingdom.

So yesterday I preached in English for the first time in my life. I accepted the invitation to stand in for someone who wasn’t able to make it, and delivered a sermon in Fox Valley Community Church’s “Opal Room service” (the more traditional-style worship service). From the ensuing remarks, I think it went pretty well – language was never an issue, and more importantly I believe the message was well received. If anybody is interested (which I’m doubting ) they do put recordings of all sermons on the website.

The Pilgrims’ Congress

The Pope is in Sydney, celebrating World Youth Day along with a couple hundred thousand (not all quite so) young Roman Catholics from around the world. It’s a huge event for the city, although much of the attention focuses on road closures and infrastructure challenges while the event lasts. I won’t be going in to watch him. Mainly because it’s not worth the hassle, and of course I’m hardly Catholic either, although I hope that the throngs of Christians have a good time here.

Nothing draws a crowd like a crowd, of course. And several not so pope-friendly people are using the opportunity to point out some of the darker sides of the Catholic Church. One of the more ingenious (and very Aussie) ideas was T-shirts with the inscription “The Pope touched me down under”.

This highlights one of the main battles of the church in recent years: the sex abuse scandals involving Catholic priests. I wouldn’t suggest that the Church actually condones such behaviour, but the handling has probably come short. What struck me today was the news report of the Pope’s meeting with PM Kevin Rudd, and his commending of Australia’s recent apology to the aboriginals: “Thanks to the Australian Government’s courageous decision to acknowledge the injustices committed against the indigenous peoples in the past, concrete steps are now being taken to achieve reconciliation.”

These are bold words from a man who has yet to formally apologise for the sex abuse by Catholic clergy. No, Ratzinger did not to my awareness personally abuse anybody. I’m not saying that he did. But the hierarchical structure of the Catholic Church is such that the pontiff should acknowledge responsibility and offer an unambiguous apology, not just the “regret” he has so far expressed. If nothing else, it would be a wise communication strategy to do so.

Salvation, Facebook-style

Asking Questions, and the Future of the Church

Why are we here? What is our mission as a church? How do we describe God? How should we view other Christian denominations? What is at the core of sanctification? How should a Christian regard the environment? alcohol? sex? politics? abortion? evolution? There are many questions.

Last week I was chatting with a friend about the state of the Adventist Church in Denmark. In that conversation the idea was floated of launching a new church magazine for people my age – people who will soon be growing too old for the youth magazine, but don’t really feel ready to join the mainstream. While there is probably too few resources for such an endeavour (and, as I pointed out, some bloggers try to fill the gap) it highlighted an issue of change. Change in the broader culture and now also in the church.

For years the education system (in Northern Europe, at least) has been teaching everybody how to question the established; not to take truths for granted; how to judge anything and anybody on their merits, not on our own presuppositions. I believe this is good. And while church has been slow to catch on (as it has with many things – music is one), this is now the predominant way of thinking among the educated young and middle-aged, within the church as well as outside it.

The church has been actively, if not explicitly, encouraging this, at least at the youth level. Many years of teen retreats, pathfinder camps, the boarding school Vejlefjord, and other things have somewhat contributed to a new way of thinking: that asking questions is ok; no, that it is good. The church planting projects of the last decade have, despite their very different styles and missions, had this in common: they ask questions. They do not take established truths for granted. They wonder: why don’t we do like this instead?

Once upon a time the Adventist pioneers did exactly the same. They asked questions, they sought answers for themselves, and they didn’t accept the argument: that’s how we’ve always done it. Today much of the Adventist establishment has grown stale. And while older generations may tolerate young people asking questions, many do so with an expectation that eventually they will find the right answers (i.e., theirs).

I don’t think finding the right answer to every question is possible, or even desirable. There are some things people will never fully agree on, and this doesn’t have to be a problem. I believe and hope that the current leadership of the church in Denmark will acknowledge and encourage this. I dream of a church where nobody ever stops asking questions; and nobody ever stubbornly holds that they have the only right answers. Because they never do – only God can claim that right.