Themes – The BTS Center

Re-Mediation in the D-I-Y Church

Posted in 21stCenturyMinistry, 21stCenturyMission, DigitalMinistry, Re-mediating Religion, Themes.

Lately I’ve been thinking about a passage from the Gospel of John in which Jesus reminds Peter that our youthful vigor and self-determination will always fade. “Very truly, I tell you” Jesus says, “when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will... Read more

Hope Is a Map

Reflecting on Practices of Cultivating Hope

Posted in 21stCenturyReligion, 21stCenturySpirituality, Hope, Themes.

Editors Note: Each month, Bearings contributors offer insights on a key theme in the practice of life-as-ministry. As the final installment in the issue, The BTS Center’s scholar-in-residence Pamela Shellberg, PhD reflects on the articles in the issue and poses questions for further reflection by Bearings readers and the communities in which life-as-ministry plays... Read more

Map is Not Territory

Navigating Ministry-as-Life in the New Bearings Season

Posted in AboutBearings, Hope, Themes.

When we began Bearings three years ago—all the way back in the world of September 2014—we had some modest aspirations. In his introductory post, Bob Grove-Markwood contextualized the blog by drawing on his navigational experience as a Marine and a transplanted Mainer. He explained that Bearings aims to help those in ministry—in what often feels like a church unmoored... Read more