Civil Society – striving for order out of chaos

The word civil society is a neutral one, but perhaps one of the things we are called to do is to dirty our hands so that we can make a difference in the world rather than hiding behind the separation of church and state.

In what way is it appropriate for people living in civil society as Christians to interact with the state?

What boundaries do you feel are necessary to maintain between the state and religion?

 What about the story of creation strikes you?  What is the very first thing done in the story of creation?

God brings order out of chaos.  Every political organization is created to bring in order, the question is what kind of order.  If they see the current order as corrupt and chaptic then they seek to re-order the world they are a part of.  As a part of a civil society we have to be prepared to deal with other religious ideologies.  But what do we do when there are ideologies that do not seem capable of co-existing?

How do we deal with the reality that there are of people in the world who do not agree that there are multitudes of legitimate ways to order life as a member of a state and as a person of faith?

Civil Society invites Christians to be a part of putting the world in order.  To be a part of that work we must be willing to ‘get our hands dirty,’ work with others, and we will face resistance.

How can we best help create order in the world?

What actions result from the call to help create order in the world?

What implication does our Christianity have on our relationship to the state?  Do we have different expectations of what the state should do to help order the world than people who are of other faiths?  than people who do not have any faith?  than other kinds of Christians?

Terrorism has become a part of our world.  Yet, what makes someone a terrorist rather than someone who supports a similar philosophy to a terrorist organization?

How do we define what is a terrorist in a way that does not trivialize the liberation movements in some countries?

When is force an acceptable strategy?

What is the difference between terror as a result of state sponsored activities by globally recognized armies, and religiously motivated actions by locally formed militias?

Seeing the Parable of the Prodigal Son in a new way

Vicki here sets the stage for a discussion about the parable of the “prodigal son.”

An initial reaction is one of feeling sorry for the older son. One sentiment is that the older son does not deserve his father’s forgiveness. Have you ever been forgiven for something you did not deserve to be forgiven for?

In this clip we are asked to consider what we think about these three characters in this story.

We do not know what happens to these characters, or how the story ends. And Vicki says “That is the way of the parable. We are always invited into them.” What is it about the way that the parables are written that ‘invites us in?’ Which charachter do you initially resonate with the most fully, the father, the older son, or the younger son?

Brian here discusses how the younger son actually took a sophisticated spiritual position of having to admit his own sin.

How have you faced the reality of your own sin in your life? In what ways have you turned your back on God, your family, or your friends? What did it take to reconcile you to God? to your family? to your friends?

“He came to himself” Here you will find Vicki discussing a profound moment in the text which describes the son as ‘coming to himself.’

The moment in which the father cuts off the son in the midst of his attempt to apologize is astounding. Who is someone in your life you waited for you and ‘cut off your repentance even as you spoke it?’

Have you ever had a moment which could be described as “coming to yourself?” What did that feel like? Did you feel that God was in the midst of that moment?

Life Stages

Our physical, social and even academic development is required for us to exist in the world. Their are correlations with how we develop spiritually but the reality is that we don’t have to progress spiritually. Yet, it is true that there are stages of spiritual development. Interestingly, Vicki notes that our sacred texts themselves reflect the stages of development.

In what way do our sacred texts themselves serve to illustrate faith development?

What (or who) in your life enabled you to develop spiritually? How can you be a part of helping others to continue to develop their spiritual life?

‘Jesus Camp’ – reclaiming our Christian identity

‘Jesus Camp’ is a documentary about a camp run by Evangelical Christians. To quote the movies cover “Jesus Camp follows Levi, Rachael, and Tory to Pastor Becky Fisher’s ‘Kids on Fire’ summer camp in Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, where kids as young as 6 years-old are taught to become dedicated Christian soldiers in ‘God’s Army.’…” In this clip Vicki discusses a section of the movie, and what they are doing to the children going to the camp.

What makes the formation experiences we offer our children different from those described? How do we know that we are not locking them into a particular stage of faith development?

Vicki says “Faith gives us a lens through which to look at the rest of the world. And the glasses they are giving these kids has to do with a lot of terror.” What then are the glasses that we wear? What lens are we giving those involved at Church of Our Saviour to see the world through? II

In this clip Vicki discuss how the word Christian has come to refer to a particular kind of Christian. The public face of Christianity is related to this movie, and the types of Christians involved.

Do people outside of your church know you are a Christian?

Has the public face of Christianity impacted your choice to share your religious beliefs with people outside of your church? What is the most common assumption about Christianity which is made, but does not reflect your understanding of the Gospel.

What is it that you are saying to the world, about the Gospel each day of you life through your interactions with other people? How do you live your Christianity out in the world?

The God Father and Chocolat

In this clip Vicki describes how the ‘Godfather’ is a movie that helps us to explore our own spirituality. In it we see the movement from innocence to corruption.

The Godfather provides an interesting insight into human nature. We watch as Michael is corrupted by the ‘family business’ and at the same time are drawn into complicity in so far as Coppolla convinces us to love these characters.

In this clip Vicki compares the movie ‘Chocolat’ to a section of Luke in which Jesus interacts with the outcasts of society.

If you haven’t seen ‘Chocolat’ before watch it! Consider how it compares to the section in Luke Vicki describes. Which characters in the movie do you resonate with? Which ones do you find do be difficult to understand or appreciate?

Who Am I? Through the Lens of Moses, Alice in Wonderland, and Bilbo Baggins (Lenten Program Week 2)

Vicki Garvey, joined us for the second week of our Lenten Program. Below you will find some clips from her time in our midst and some questions to help you reflect on her comments.

In this first clip Vicki is describes Moses encounter with God as the burning Bush…

When have you found yourself faced with the question “Who am I?”

Are there moments in your own life when you have struggled to find an answer to that question?

What does that question have to do with our relationship to the people we choose to live our lives with? How does knowing “Who we are” impact those relationships?

In the second clip we find Vicki using the examples of “Alice in Wonderland” and the “Lord of the Rings” to motivate for us one of the central questions that Moses faced “Who am I?”

Vicki provocatively quotes Bilbo Baggins “who is asked at one point to identify himself and responds by saying ‘It would take a long while my name is growing all the time and I have lived a very very long long time. So, my name is like a story. Real names tell you the story of the things they belong to.’ “

What then is your ‘real name,’ the name that would tell the story of the things you belong to?

Do you feel that your sense of identity is closely linked to your own name? What would your real name be?

Does your name change depending on who you are with, or where you are? Are there places in which you feel you have to hide your ‘real name’? Are there places where people know your ‘real name’?

The third clip shows the group after doing a modified Johari (Joe-Harry) window [The activity was modified because we were not asked to think only in terms of traits, but also in terms of specific facts about ourselves]. We were asked to consider what sorts of things fit into 4 distinct categories of knowledge about us. (1) The things we know about ourselves that other people know. (2) The things we know about ourselves that other people do not know. (3) The things other people know about us that we don’t know [of which we can find examples from our past relationships and experience.] (4) The things about ourselves we don’t know and no one else knows. Vicki goes on to discuss how the self-knowledge gained through even “silly little” exercises like this benefit us because they help us come to know who we are. And further, about how when we learn new things about ourselves it is often a result of our interaction with other people or unexpected events.

In your life have you had any experiences that taught you something unexpected about, who you are?

How would you have answered the question, who are you, last year? five years ago? ten years ago? When you were 18? When you were 10? How have you changed?

In this fourth clip Vicki explains that one of Moses question amounts to needing to know who God is. And further that Moses need to know who God is parallels our own need to know one another when we are in the midst of intimate relationships with one another.

Why is it so important for Moses to know who God is?

Have you ever had an experience of not knowing another person as well as you thought?

How do we come to know other people more fully?

In the fifth clip Vicki responds to a question about whether it changes the situation if we read the real question as being about, “Why me”, rather than, “Who am I”.

Vicki identifies a strain in the Gospels in which we find Jesus asking, “Who do you say I am?” So, there it is, a question which we too are called to respond to. Who do you say Jesus is? Do you find anything about answering that question difficult? If so, where does the difficulty arise from?

Nice Neat Endings… or not… (Lenten Program Week 2)

In this clip Vicki discusses an assignment she gave to some seminary students and the tendency we have to try to make stories in the Bible have nice neat endings, when what often happens is that we are left with many loose ends.

What assumptions have you ever made that have been completely wrong?

How do the vine growers assumptions cause a problem in the story?

Why do you think that the parables tend to not be finalized with statements like “and they lived happily ever after?”

Assumptions about Worship (Lenten Program Week 2)

In this clip Vicki describes the relationship between a group of 8 o’clockers and the assumptions they made about one another.

What assumptions do you make about the people you worship with in Church?

What assumptions do you think other people make about you?

How can you prevent those assumptions from creating problems in your relationships with other people?

Why Do You Go To Church (Lenten Program Week 2)

In this clip Vicki expresses a desire to know why people go to Church because in knowing that we would be given an opportunity to see God in new and exciting ways.

Why do you go to Church?

Have you ever asked anyone else why they go to Church?

Consider asking someone this week that very question. Who knows what you will learn both about them and about God.

Formation at Church of Our Saviour

Welcome to the formation page for Church of Our Saviour, the Episcopal Church in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago.   We will be using this  page to communicate about the various formation opportunities happening at the parish.  We will also use this page to provide you with an opportunity to participate in those formation events even if you can’t attend.  We will post questions, resources, video, and whatever else we can to help broaden people’s ability to participate.  If you have any thoughts on how we can best serve you let me know.

-Kevin Caruso