Living with Different Stories (Campmeeting 2014)

Great news!  Over a year later, I've finally found the recordings of our "Story" series of presentations from Campmeeting 2014.  The format is quite a bit different from our usual discussions--we had a plan for what we wanted to say, rather than simply discussing questions, and we had some good audience involvement.  Although we've covered much of the content elsewhere, these recordings are very different because we're trying to connect a lot of our ideas together into a more coherent series of presentations.  I'm working on cleaning the recordings up for posting over the coming weeks.

To begin with, I was finally able to track down the recording of our Sabbath morning presentation at The Wave from Campmeeting 2014.  We had a lot of fun with this presentation.  This episode, we talk about the difficulties we face when we start with different stories, and how that has impacted Dale and I on a personal level as we have worked and traveled together.

Thanks for joining us.  Enjoy!

Living with Different Stories

PS: If you have trouble keeping up with us on Facebook, you can subscribe for email notification of new podcasts via the box to the right of this post.

Also, if you've enjoyed our podcasts, please check out our new blog How Shall We Read?  We've decided to spend some time studying and discussing the question of Biblical hermeneutics (interpretation) while our church is doing so at a global level.  This is a question of importance for all Christians and Adventists--not just academics--so we will be reading and writing easy-to-understand (hopefully) summaries and analyses of relevant material.

Whose Community? Which Story? (WO) (Campmeeting 2015)

Today is the final episode we recorded at Campmeeting this summer.  It sounds a little different because we recorded at the bottom of half ledge after spending about ninety minutes rock climbing.  There are occasionally people passing by and background noise, as well as a few guests.  Don't worry, though, the mic picked us up loud and clear.

This time we focused on a major issue in contemporary Adventism--the vote about Women's Ordination at the 2015 General Conference.  While this is the main topic, our thematic focus is the question of "who decides which story to tell about our community?"  In turn, what does that story mean?  And, how is that decided?  These questions of community narrative and identity have much larger resonances than a single vote about how to include women in our community and impact on how we view our own relationships to the community in light of various stories being told.  The discussion is by no means finished within Adventism.

Thanks for listening and enjoy!

Whose Community? Which Story?

Community Stories (Campmeeting 2015)

In this session, recorded on the Thursday of Campmeeting, we explore the difficulty and necessity of telling community stories--stories about who we are together.  This begins with a brief summary of Derrida's discussion of hospitality and the competing needs for clear boundaries and for open boundaries.  This is the difficulty of telling our stories and sharing them with others, without become bound to them in unhealthy ways.  Of course, the discussion is much more interesting than this brief synopsis.  And yet again, we have a few guests sitting in on the recording.  Please join us.

Thank you for listening.

Community Stories

In other news, Dale and I are putting together a new blog project.  In the aftermath of the 2015 San Antonio General Conference, our Adventist world church has committed to an in-depth study of hermeneutics (basically rules and methods of interpreting the Bible).  Our interpretations of the Bible profoundly impact our picture of God and the way we live as Christians.  Our plan is to provide a series of concise summaries of relevant Adventist materials for those who may not be so inclined to academic studies.  Stay tuned for more information.

Community Discussion (Campmeeting 2015 Bonus)

Hey everybody.  I had the privilege of speaking in Comox Valley this weekend about loving our neighbours.  Unfortunately, in my focus on preparation, I forgot about posting another podcast.  Then Monday came, and I realized there were far more interesting things happening, at least in Canada.  So, I'm saving that podcast for this Friday.  In it, we talk about the conflict at the heart of community between telling a coherent narrative of our lives and identities and opening that narrative to change.

In the meantime, here's a recording I've been saving from the first of our Campmeeting podcasts.  After we finished recording the podcast, Community Questions, we spent time talking with some friends about various issues we had raised.  It's a little more raw than our regular discussions, but still quite interesting, I think.  Certainly not everyone in the world thinks like Dale or I, so you might appreciate hearing some different voices.

Enjoy!

Community Questions (Bonus)

Belonging Without Belonging (Campmeeting 2015)

This is our Tuesday podcast from Hope Campmeeting.  After our opening discussion, we turned to one of the questions Dale raised: Why is it that we can belong to a community for years and yet lack any real relationships with the people in that community?

We explore this through Homi Babha's idea of the unhomely--the ways in which we avoid the hard reality of encountering people who tell different stories than us, varying conceptions of community and society, and through Donnie's questions about privilege--about the ways in which we fail to attend to the specifics of our belonging in a particular group of people.

Thanks again for listening and enjoy!

Belong Without Belonging

Spectrum Review Part 5: Reflections on the Journey

This podcast closes our coverage of the 2013 "A Third Way" Spectrum Conference.  We've already covered the meetings and highlighted some of the ideas and speakers that stood out to us.  This week we decided to just share our stories and reflections on the journey across the border to Chattanooga--being Canadian in the South, the effects of sleep deprivation on Dale, observations of America from the outside, and finding yourself among family on the other side of the continent.  This was definitely the most fun we've had recording in a while.  I hope you enjoy it as well.

I don't know what we'll be talking about next week, but we already have a list of topics stored up from the conference and before.  Needless to say, we'll probably be referring back to our time in Tennessee for sometime to come.  In the meantime, enjoy.

Spectrum Review Part 5

Spectrum Review Part 4: The Difficult Paradox of Interfaith Relations

This week is our last discussion about the Spectrum Conference.  In it, we talk about the last set of presentations: Ryan Bell's discussion of the limitations of interfaith work (which turns into a complex analysis of the value of defending a particular (form of) community without undermining the very basis of its existence), and a panel discussion of lessons learned in interfaith work.  The discussion ranges across a number of topics including pacifism, community values, openness and respect for difference.

Enjoy!

Spectrum Review Part 4

Next week, we'll post part 5 which is a collection of stories from and reflections on our experience travelling to Tennessee.