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.

Labels, Identity and Community (Campmeeting 2015)

On Wednesday at Campmeeting, we spent some time exploring one of the questions I've (David) been thinking about: What does it mean to say I am Adventist?  For some, this is seen as a hostile statement by which I separate myself from other people, particularly Christians.  But does it have to be so?  Who decides what the name "Adventist" means?  Can I provide meaning for it?  Or does it belong to "Adventists"?  Or does it belong to those I interact with?  Or is it something bigger than any of us?  Of course, this moves into a larger discussion of the stakes, risks and value of claiming identity with a particular group through the use of labels--in particular the recent case of Rachel Dolezal.

Our apologies for the background noise.  There seemed to be a lot of people coming and going when we were recording.

Again, thanks for listening and enjoy!

What Do Labels Mean?

Community Questions (Campmeeting 2015)

It's been a long time since Dale and I have recorded together, but we finally sat down at Hope Campmeeting this year to explore some ideas we both been thinking about.  Our central focus is community--what is it?  how do we build it?  what are barriers to community (particularly within Adventism)?  More specifically, we focused on the connections between boundaries, identity and stories and how our conception of those can help or hinder deep and meaningful relationships.

For each of us, this discussion sprang out of significant personal experiences in the past year or so.  We start by talking about those experiences and the questions raised.  That discussion leads into a rather wide-ranging consideration of various themes and struggles in living together and relating to those with different stories.

As the week went on, we dove directly into specific questions raised in this opening discussion and got to share the experience with some friends who came along for the ride.  I will be posting those as I get time, over the next few weeks.  Thanks for listening and enjoy.

Community Questions (CM2015)