The Privilege of Belonging

Heidi Shott (October 2015). Posted in 21stCenturyCulture, 21stCenturyMission, Bearings Review 2016.

One weekend this fall my husband and I flew to New Mexico. One of our twin sons is a college junior in Santa Fe, and we find that the 2,500 miles between us pulls at our heartstrings. Parents’ Weekend offered us a legitimate pretense for visiting. This particular son, our picky eater, has grown up to be a foodie. With the parents in town to foot the bill, he... Read more

Addicted to Certainty

Allyson Dylan Robinson (October 2015). Posted in 21stCenturyMinistry, 21stCenturySpirituality.

It was the third and final night of our church’s annual revival and, despite the guest evangelist’s renowned theatrics, the prospect of disappointment loomed over the event like a dark cloud. The previous two nights had produced only a single convert—the seven-year-old son of one of our deacons, who'd walked the aisle, tears staining his cheeks, after a particularly... Read more

Our Savior of the Soccer Pitch

Keith Anderson (October 2015). Posted in 21stCenturyMinistry, Bearings Review 2016.

Like many young families, our weekends in the fall are busy with soccer. We have four kids on three different teams. That means three practices and three games each week, mostly clustered on Friday night and Saturday morning. While the schedule is hectic, we love to see our kids play, and we track their progress year over year. (That said, we aren’t those crazy... Read more

Rethinking Church, Communally and Creatively

Xochitl Alvizo (October 2015). Posted in 21stCenturyMinistry, 21stCenturyMission, ChurchChange.

I spend a curious amount of time discussing, studying, and writing about polity—the structures and procedures of congregational/denominational governance. As other theologians and sociologists of religion speculate about the decline, revival, or re-emergence of Christianity and the church, I focus on how emerging congregations organize themselves and structure... Read more

The Bible in One Hand, Beer in the Other

How to Make Oktoberfest Holy

Adam Copeland (October 2015). Posted in 21stCenturyBible, 21stCenturyCulture, 21stCenturySpirituality, Bearings Review 2016.

Autumn is the best season. I love it all: gorgeous leaves, crisp temperatures, flannel fresh from the closet, and, if you’re into that sort of thing, pumpkin spice lattes. There’s so much to love this time of year, but my absolute favorite marker of the season is Oktoberfest beer. A few weeks ago, when I saw the first Oktoberfest display in my local liquor store... Read more

Bearings: Navigating Life-as-MinistryOctober 2015

Bearings: Navigating Life-as-Ministry
October 2015