Witness

sermon text; MS Word document

A Chosen Witness: A Sermon Preached in St. Stephen's Church in Memory of the Rev. Webster

Memorial Sermon preached in memory of the Rev. Walter Gardner Webster

Christian Witness on the Plateau Vivarais-Lignon: Narrative, Nonviolence, and the Formation of Character

This dissertation analyzes the theological and ethical convictions that led the people of the Plateau Vivarais-Lignon to shelter thousands of refugees between 1939 and 1945. It does so by examining the themes of narrative identity, hospitality, character formation, nonviolence, and the contextual witness of church tradition. Though a number of studies have been published about the rescue activity in this region of France during World War II, none have thoroughly analyzed the theological nature of this activity. Using the Plateau Vivarais-Lignon as a case study in theological ethics, the dissertation draws on historical sources as well as the work of contemporary theologians and ethicists to understand, interpret, and analyze the witness of this community. After situating its rescue and resistance work within the Huguenot narrative of persecution and exile, I examine the theological convictions of the Reformed pastor of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, André Trocmé, who played a key role in making the Plateau a place of refuge during the Holocaust. The study highlights the importance of narrative in the actions of this community and discusses the relationship between narrative, character, and ethics. It then examines the nonviolent commitments of key leaders of the rescue effort, using this analysis as a springboard to engage in broader theological reflection about the ethics of nonviolence. After examining the radical hospitality practiced on the Plateau in light of biblical narratives and Reformed history, I investigate the counter-cultural nature of Christian hospitality. The study concludes by analyzing the nature and witness of the church in light of the legacy of the Plateau Vivarais-Lignon. The dissertation suggests that increased academic and ecclesial attention be given to the relationship between narrative and character, the counter-cultural shape of Christian hospitality, and the active nature of nonviolence. It presents an in-depth analysis of the theological and ethical convictions of the people of the Plateau Vivarais-Lignon, arguing that their witness has ongoing significance for communities of faith as they grapple with how to form disciples, relate to the wider society, welcome strangers, and communicate God's shalom in a world of violence.

The United Methodist Church at 40: What Can We Hope For?

The necessity we face for the future of Methodism is the re-invention of traditions. To re-invent traditions is to re-visit the past with all of its richness; to discern what in our tradition is most central to Christian faith; to analyze those parts of our past that continue to give life; to discern and build upon what is of value in the newly emerging tradition; and to reflect on those aspects of the neglected and rejected past that challenge our present perspectives and practices. To re-invent traditions is to develop new perspectives and practices from the building blocks of the past and from the fresh movements of the Spirit in the present. To do so is to recognize that Christianity in general, and Methodism in particular, is marked by traditions that have continually been passed on, critiqued, eliminated, created, and re-invented for the sake of a living Christian witness. What we can hope for is that God is there in the future already, pulling us toward God’s own New Creation.

An Historical and Theological Analysis of Campus Crusade for Christ's Evangelistic Practice in Two American University Contexts

This dissertation, an exercise in practical theology, consists of a critical conversation between the evangelistic practice of Campus Crusade for Christ in two American university contexts, Bryan Stone's ecclesiologically grounded theology of evangelism, and William Abraham's eschatologically grounded theology of evangelism. It seeks to provide these evangelizing communities several strategic proposals for a more ecclesiologically and eschatologically grounded practice of evangelism within a university context. The current literature on evangelism is long on evangelistic strategy and activity, but short on theological analysis and reflection. This study focuses on concrete practices, but is grounded in a thick description of two particular contexts (derived from qualitative research methods) and a theological analysis of the ecclesiological and eschatological beliefs embedded within their evangelistic activities. The dissertation provides an historical overview of important figures, ideas, and events that helped mold the practice of evangelism inherited by the two ministries of this study, beginning with the famous Haystack Revival on Williams College in 1806. Both ministries, Campus Crusade for Christ at Bowling Green State University (Ohio) and at Washington State University, inherited an evangelistic practice sorely infected with many of the classic distortions that both Abraham and Stone attempt to correct. Qualitative research methods detail the direction that Campus Crusade for Christ at Bowling Green State University (Ohio) and Washington State University have taken the practice of evangelism they inherited. Applying the analytical categories that emerge from a detailed summary of Stone and Abraham to qualitative data of these two ministries reveals several ways evangelism has morphed in a manner sympathetic to Stone's insistence that the central logic of evangelism is the embodied witness of the church. The results of this analysis reveal the subversive and pervasive influence of modernity on these evangelizing communities—an influence that warrants several corrective strategic proposals including: 1) re-situating evangelism within a reading of the biblical narrative that emphasizes the present, social, public, and realized nature of the gospel of the kingdom of God rather than simply its future, personal, private, and unrealized dimensions; 2) clarifying the nature of the evangelizing communities and their relationship to the church; and 3) emphasizing the virtues that characterize a new evangelistic exemplar who is incarnational, intentional, humble, and courageous.