It appears that The Church is Alive at both Union Theological Seminary (video courtesy of Brian Blount) and Columbia Theological Seminary (video courtesy of Laura Mendenhall). I studied with Dr. Blount at Princeton before he left and studied at Columbia while Laura served as President there. I have great amounts of respect for both of these seminary presidents and am glad they have chosen to participate in this project.
I have a question for Iain Torrance, President of Princeton Theological Seminary: “Is the church alive at Princeton? Will you tell us about it?”
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Dear God I hope Iain doesn’t stoop to this silliness.
@Jason – I’d love to know what is the ‘silliness’ here. The fact that a group of people are creating a project in which they discuss where the church is alive today?
Or the fact that I’m calling out Iain to submit something, as other respected presidents of other seminaries have…?
It’s just silly. Saying the church is alive doesn’t make it so. If only we could raise the dead so easily….
To an extent, I agree with @Jason. Speaking words doesn’t necessarily entail action or truth as consequence, but I see something deeper happening in this movement. Speaking the words: The Church is Alive, for some, can be a very difficult endeavor. Especially those who have experienced great trauma in their lives and if they’re involved in the church and have experienced a ‘falling out’ for whatever reason. It is a first step, to inspire others to the reality that the Holy Spirit is still working in/through the Church in powerful ways and they are trying to foster that beautiful idea.
I especially appreciated Dr. Blount’s words pointing out that its easy to consider ourselves dead and not want to do anything about it. I think these videos are signs of what it to come for our church, with the uprising of very passionate disciples of Jesus ready to lead the Church.
-Wesley
Seems you should be asking if Iain Torrance is even alive. Somebody should take the man’s pulse. And the way he’s running Princeton Seminary into the ground, the next question should be whether Princeton Seminary is alive. If the accreditation process fails again this spring the answer will be a resounding NO.
@Garrett
You sir are what I like to call a hater. PTS is nowhere close to losing its accreditation, that is a vile rumor from a vile “newsletter” circulated around campus. All the man has done is reform the curriculum (bless his soul) and spend more time with muslim clerics than students (okay, that’s slight hyperbole). So far I have to give him a thumbs up, especially as he looks to lead the school during these turbulent financial times.
All this hater-aide up in here. I say silly is taking ones self to serious.
If I may, I’d like to speak on behalf of the church is alive.
Jason, you make a good point. A few people saying “the church is alive” won’t get us anywhere. Turning words into action is vitally important. This is why we’ve made this a video project. Instead of a few people saying “the church is alive,” we envision TONS of people SHOWING us why they believe “the church is alive!”
Wesley, you pick up on another good point. Saying “the church is alive” is not so easy to do for many people! This is true in at least two instances. Like you say, people who have fallen out from the church for various reasons will struggle to make this claim. Likewise, longtime churchgoers caught up in the politics of the church often get bogged down in statistics of declining membership. These statistics will cause many people to also struggle to say “the church is alive.”
So please envision with us…over time, thousands of lay people, ordained people, “non-church” people sending in videos where they are telling or showing their personal stories of why they believe the church is alive. As these videos accumulate, they begin to leak out into churches, colleges, websites, etc.. People who have had “fallings out” with the church can hear, see, and be inspired by the exciting new ways people are finding church. People who have become burdened by statistics of a declining membership will likewise hear, see, and be inspired by the vast amount of people who ARE alive in the church.
As a final note, PLEASE know that this is not meant to be just a seminary thing. Seminaries are a ripe place to see God at work in people seeking out God’s call to ordained positions, but they are also not the only place where these type of discussions are happening. Please spread the word of this movement BEYOND seminary too (but a Princeton submission would be nice too…)!
Peace,
Mike
In the spirit of calling people out…
Where is YOUR Church is Alive video, Sir Adam? ;)
Hope to hear from you soon. :)
I don’t get it…PTS is a Seminary, not a church. Now whether the Church is alive in the PCUSA- that seems to be a pertinent question since the PCUSA purports to be constitutive of the global Church whereas PTS is an academic institution FOR the Church.