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October Newsletter
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October 31, 2008
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In this issue....
The Politics of Fear
Meet the EP
Christian Calendar
The EP Forums
Book Notes
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FOLLOWING JESUS & THE POLITICS OF FEAR
"Stirring up fear in the U.S. electorate is about as American as baseball in October."
So begins The Other Journal's recent interview with EP-er Scott Bader-Saye, author of Following Jesus in a Culture of Fear (Brazos, 2007), one of the most recent books in the EP's The Christian Practice of Everyday Life series. Check out the interview for Scott's reading of the current presidential campaign, and browse the rest of this month's edition of The Other Journal for timely reflections on "The Politics of Change."
As always, we invite you to take a few minutes to visit the EP weblog, bLOGOS, where Jessie Larkins, Debra Dean Murphy, Brian Volck, and Joel
Shuman continue to post insightful reflections on recent political and
economic events.
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MEET THE EP
John Varden, a participant in the EP
since 2002, and his wife Nancy Johnston Varden, a recent endorser of
EP, are both United Methodist ministers serving in North Carolina.
John is currently serving a small rural church near Pittsboro, NC while
Nancy serves on the clergy staff at a suburban church in Cary, NC.
With these ministries, as well as young children (Virginia age 5 and
Hannah age 2, plus the shock of learning another one is on the way!) life for John and Nancy can be
quite a ride. John found EP to be a lifeline after September
11, 2001, when he needed the friendship of like-minded pilgrims in a world mad
with war and patriotism. Nancy officially became an endorser this summer, when the annual gathering spoke to her heart for racial justice and reconciliation.
A valuable aspect of
EP for both John and Nancy is the dialog across denominational lines.
They get their fill of Methodist gatherings, and have discovered that they need the expanded view
of faith and faithfulness provided by Ekklesia.
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UNIVERSITY HILL OFFERS CHRISTIAN CALENDAR
University Hill Congregation
in Vancouver is pleased to announce that the 2008-2009 "Salt of the
Earth: A Christian Seasons Calendar" is now available. The Christian
Seasons Calendar tells the story of the Christian Year through
scripture, liturgical color and artworks. Beginning with Advent and
turning with the seasons of Christmas, Epiphany,
Lent, Holy Week, Easter & Pentecost. This annual re-telling and
re-living of the narrative of the gospel is a
powerful teaching resource for discipleship.
This 8th edition of the Christian Seasons Calendar includes:
* the work of four gifted contemporary artists --
Kirsten Malcolm Berry, Linda Witte Henke,
Vanessa Wright Hollifield & Janet McKenzie;
* descriptions of each of the traditional Christian seasons;
* large format - 18" x 11�" when open; and
* scripture readings for each Sunday in year B of the revised common lectionary.
Order online
or by phone at 604-696-1295.
"Few
things are more important for Christians today than reclaiming the
calendar as our time. This wonderful calendar helps us do that by
reminding us that we are
constituted by the narrative that is quite different from Canadian or
American national holidays. What a wonderful gift this calendar is and
makes." -- Stanley Hauerwas
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THE EP FORUMS ARE...BACK!
Actually...they've been back for quite a while, as almost 80 EP endorsers have discovered. But for those of you who have been waiting for the Forums to return to the EP website, please take this opportunity to check them out and launch a discussion. We are working through Google Groups, which allows added flexibility and ease of use. To access the Forums, go to the main EP webpage and click on the "log-in" link in the top lefthand corner. This will take you to a Google Groups page that will ask you to sign in. You will need to select a username (an email address that you are already using) and a password. There is no need to join via a gmail account, though you will see this as an option. If you have any questions about accessing the forums, please contact Zach Kincaid. If you have any questions about what's going on in the forums themselves, please contact Gary Wake.
And thanks to Denise, Heather, Jessie, and zok, who have begun to converse with the bLOGOS writers using the "Comments" feature of the new website. Posting a comment is easy. Just email Zach Kincaid and ask him to set you up.
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EP Book Notes from Jon Stock
Those of you who have heard Bill Cavanaugh speak at the annual gathering
know that he is a poignant and effective communicator. Last spring Bill
published Being Consumed: Economics and Christian Desire. This collection of
Bill's essays does not disappoint.
Among other things Cavanaugh discusses how God, in the Eucharist, forms us to
consume and be consumed rightly. Examining pathologies of desire in
contemporary "free market" economies, Being Consumed puts forth a
positive and inspiring vision of how the body of Christ can engage in economic
alternatives. At every turn, Cavanaugh illustrates his theological analysis
with concrete examples of Christian economic practices. (Eerdmans)
Bruce Benson and Peter Heltzel have edited a new volume with Brazos
entitled Evangelicals and Empire: Christian Alternatives to the Political
Status Quo. With contributions by Jim Wallis, James K.A. Smith, John Milbank
and others, it is sure to be engaging and provocative.
The collection considers empire from a global perspective, exploring the role
of evangelicals in political, social, and economic engagement at a time when
empire is alternately denounced and embraced. (Brazos)
Longtime EP endorser and current board member Barry Harvey has provided us with
a new volume entitled Can These Bones Live? A Catholic Baptist Engagement with
Ecclesiology, Hermeneutics, and Social Theory.
"Harvey contends that free churches in North America, and throughout the world, do not merely
exist in a state of division. Like the dry bones of Ezekiel's vision, they lie
scattered and lifeless. This book constructively shows how to understand what
it might mean for Christ's dismembered body to be re-membered." - Curtis
Freeman (Brazos)
Followers of Christian Peacemaker Teams will be interested to know that Kathleen
Kern's history of the CPT, In Harm's Way is just few days away from publication
with Cascade Books. (Wipf and Stock)
Brent Laytham's God is Not... volume is gaining a companion in January. The new
volume includes contributions from EP members Kelly Johnson, Jason Byassee,
Joel Shuman and Dan Bell. (Brazos)
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FROM THE EDITOR In the EP's early years, new endorsers were specifically asked to support
the EP with our tithes. Or at least I was; maybe I looked gullible.
In terms of total financial stewardship the annual gift my spouse and I make to the EP is a
modest one, but those are dollars we give very gladly. I therefore find
it surprising that only a minority of endorsers and friends support the EP
financially. Perhaps it is because the EP's overall budget is not large
and our most significant annual event -- The Gathering -- is designed to pay
its own way. Or perhaps it is because no one has asked you to include the
EP in your financial stewardship. If so, consider that oversight
corrected. We should give to the EP for the same reason we give to our
local churches -- not because "we need to make the budget!" (throughout
my years in parish ministry I tried, not always with perfect success, to keep
that theologically bankrupt theme out of my stewardship sermons). Rather
we should give because we are grateful people who believe that the EP glorifies
the Triune God and is working God's purpose in a fallen world.
John McFadden
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