Turkey Day

When I was an intern at ECHO, a friend shared with us how she had a list of things she wanted to do before she was 30. And one of those things was to cook a turkey. I thought that was a swell idea, so I decided to set a similar goal. Another goal of mine is to do less procrastinating, so in order to kill 2 birds with one stone, I cooked a turkey for Thanksgiving, one FULL year before that big birthday milestone. This was a big deal to me since I 1)don't have a lot of confidence in my cooking abilities 2)H-A-T-E touching/cleaning/cooking/eating raw meat and 3)would be feeding a lot of people with this bird. So in order to try to avoid common pitfalls, I chatted with everyone who may have cooked a turkey in their life to learn from their experiences in the weeks leading up to the big day. Some of the common responses included:
* be sure to take the bag of guts out of the turkey before cooking it
* burning it may not look pretty, but will seal the moisture in
* you can never use too much butter

What people didn't tell me was how long it takes a frozen turkey to defrost...5 hours/pound, if you didn't know...that's a long time for a 17lb turkey! Also, the heavy wire that's wrapped around the legs doesn't need to come off before roasting it. And let me tell you, it won't come off short of heavy-duty wire cutters (which I couldn't find laying around anywhere). So I had planned to stuff some herbs, apples, onions and veggies in the cavity, but the cavity was a lot smaller than I imagined it to be. Nevertheless, I rammed as much colorful stuff in there as I could.
My roommates were there for moral support, and we all made multiple calls to our moms for instructions on anything from pie crusts to oven temperatures to how much stuffing it takes to feed 16 people.

The meal turned out gloriously, and we did feed 16 people.

Book Review #5

Emerging Churches Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Cultures
by Eddie Gibbs and Ryan K. Bolger

Chapter 1 A brief look at Culture
Churches in the west face a missional challenge...there is a great need to understand the relationship between the gospel and culture. In parts of the world where Christendom was once prevalent, this issue has not been addressed. In order to understand the mission of the church, Christianity in culture must be addressed. The western church is in rapid decline and movements that are growing are ones that deal with the role of culture in faith.

Chapter 2 What is the Emerging Church?
The Emerging church appeals to "Gen Xers" who have abandoned their parent's faith for something more authentic and relevant. But it's not just about one generation. It is vital for the emerging church to be solidly rooted in the larger historical church. Emerging church leaders prefer to not be labeled by a particular brand or age bracket. There is a strong effort to separate themselves from labels and get back to the basic premise of Christianity, to be a follower of Christ. Simon Hall from the UK says, "My main aim for the community is not to be 'post' anything but to be 'and' everything." The 3 core practices are 1)identifying with the life of Jesus; 2) transforming secular space; 3)living in community. And because of these 3 main practices, they practice hospitality, serve with generosity, create as created beings, lead as a body, and take part in spiritual activities (p. 44-45).

Chapter 3 Identifying with Jesus
This is about rethinking the meaning of church. Mark Scandrette of ReIMAGINE in San Francisco described the difference between megachurches and what they're about. He said, "We started out thinking about what form the church should take, as opposed to what the life of Jesus means in this time and place." This is about being Christ. "Jesus served and forgave others, and the early church was encouraged to do likewise." One understanding is that God is already working in the world, so our job is to find out where and move along with that. Andrew Jones from the UK put it simply, "We find what God is planting and we water it." To be a Christian is to be missional, seeking to embody the kingdom at all times.

Chapter 4 Transforming Secular Space
All life must be sacred in the emerging church mindset. Bridges are made between the secular/spiritual worlds in order to rid people's perceptions of the division. For instance, in some churches secular music is played during the service, and different forms of the arts and media are used. In that process, the secular becomes holy. "As many church people fight to keep the dying church modern, emerging churches abandon the modern church while bringing new life to the church (p. 72). The intention is to stay true to both their faith and their culture. This is not only to make the transition from the outside world to church feel less contrasting and uncomfortable, but also to allow us to take our worship from church to the outside world. This idea of culture embodied gospel is distinguished by its creative nature, as well being highly participatory and community-oriented.

Chapter 5 Living as Community
Because the secular space no longer exists, church becomes a 24/7 event, not just 90 minutes on Sunday. There is an understanding that the risen Christ now works by his Spirit, who operates through the community as well as beyond it, in the furtherance of his purposes in the wider world(p. 90). The church must first be the product of mission before it is an agent of mission (p. 91). Community must be present and healthy in order to exude a product of mission. There is a shift, as mentioned above, from the emphasis on church to emphasis on kingdom. As the body of believers become like a family, the institutional practices will change. Generally speaking, the church rises and falls based on relationships. It takes commitment and intentionality. Meeting together is an effort to serve the community and strengthen relationships. Because of this, the groups tend to stay small and intimate, with no great desire to grow large. The focus does not seem to be as much about deepening one's faith, though I imagine that is part of it. It does say that emerging churches believe the church should shape its corporate life in accordance with the practices of the kingdom of God (p. 115).

Chapter 6 Welcoming the Stranger
Emerging churches are inclusive, just as Christ was inclusive and welcomed the stranger. There is a tremendous value placed on hospitality to create a comfortable, safe place to worship. There is a belief that sharing the gospel should flow naturally as a reflection of one's life, and not some contrived proclamation. There is a stress on dialogue and being engaged with the contradictory opinions rather than an indifferent disregard for other people's backgrounds and influence. Christians are called to live their life publicly so that those on the outside can be attracted to the faith (p. 130). The following sentence is key for me in understanding Fuller's perspective on interfaith dialogue: "We deemphasize the idea that Christians have God and all others don't by attempting to engage in open two-way conversations. This does not mean we have lapsed into relativism, as we still believe in the uniqueness of our own tradition, but we believe that it teaches us to be open to all. We are also genuinely open to being wrong about parts and perhaps all our beliefs - while at the same time being fully committed to them" (p. 132).

Chapter 7 Serving with Generosity
Hospitality and generosity are both important to emerging churches, in effort to serve both those inside and outside their specific communities. In referencing our consumer culture, church can become a producer/consumer relationship and the church seeks to market their brand to consumers. If church becomes that, there can be no sustainability. If Jesus stops satisfying, they will move on to another spiritual expression and never truly be satisfied. "Consumerism both pacifies and disempowers people and robs them of their individuality and creative potential (p. 139). Instead, in the emerging church, consumers must become active participants. They believe that people must be rescued from their greed and wastefulness in order to live a life of service and generosity. And this service is not viewed as a social service; instead, it is a spiritual practice that is part of their holistic way of life. Generosity stems not just from material wealth, but also giving of one's time and self, such as through one's vocation. Generosity is never calculating. It is extravagant (p. 152).

Chapter 8 Participating as Producers
In order to be incarnational participants in God's kingdom, church must be viewed as the body rather than the place. People must be given the space to use their gifts, making each one feel a sense of ownership and belonging. And in order to make the worship meaningful, it must be indigenous to the locale and not prescripted.
Seeking to be open and authentic can allow room for individuals to really wreak havoc on a community. However, the rest of the community must be prepared to handle those situations. The ultimate goal is to create a genuine worship environment for all people to fully participate in.

Chapter 9 Creating as Created Beings
God is a creative God. And he created us with the ability to be creative. This is a major emphasis of the emerging church. However, our society tends to McDonaldize life, seeking efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control. Bad news! We are each unique human beings born with creativity (even though I don't feel like I received a whopping helping of it!). Yet, creativity gives worshipers the opportunity to embrace aspects of God's character they normally would not acknowledge (p. 178).

The Reformed Church

Well, talking about the Reformed Church in class should be a review for this Presbyterian-raised girl, right? Not so much...
We learned a bit about Calvin's background - how he wrote the Institutes of reformation at the age of 27. He was a preacher, not a renowned theologian. His goal was to make the church more personal. He proclaimed the priesthood of all believers, not just the apostolic succession honored by the Catholic church. The main focus was on the word of God rightly preached and the sacraments of God rightly given. Before this time, sermons were delivered in Latin, so most church attenders (which was basically everyone during this time of Christendom) didn't understand the message. How preposterous that sounds to us now. I mean, I've attended church services in other countries where I don't understand anything, but it's more about being there out of respect for the people there. Why would I attend a church in my own cultural context where I didn't understand any of it? Yet, that was how it was back in the day. So this new idea of "go to church, listen to a message, live it out" idea was radical! Maybe today radical things would happen if all of us believers practiced those 3 parts.

Luther and Calvin

I've been thinking a lot about the role of church and state. How should they interface...or should they at all?
Learning about Luther and Calvin gives some insight into the importance of both realms engaging with one another. Luther's teaching was a reaction against Catholicism, declaring the priesthood of ALL believers. This was one of the impetuses to foster individualism in church and society - which at the time, was viewed as a positive move, but today is very questionable.
There are benefits to recognizing our individual value and role in God's Kingdom, but we cannot lose sight of the importance of the church, which is the body of Christ...we are called to be in community with one another, and not to be an island. Our professor said something along the lines of: As long as we think of church as a time and place, we will have the sacred and spiritual compartmentalized in our lives.
We discussed the cultural passivity many demonstrate regarding paid leadership in the church. When someone gets paid, others view their work as their job and don't see a need to play a role. I believe this is the exception rather than the rule, but it does have an impact. We also talked about how church buildings can become distractions rather than assets to support the work of the church. I think this was true in my home church, where the emphasis became social activities more so than ministry opportunities; and upkeep on the building was a constant concern.
The measure of growth in a church cannot be simply number of attenders...while that can be some indicator, there should be different kinds of fruit produced - such as hospitality in opening your home to others, serving the poor, organizing Bible studies, etc.
The constant theme in this class has been to rethink what it means to be church. John Calvin said that the "Marks of a church are a sermon rightly preached and sacraments rightly given." It is not some all-inclusive box that contains pews, hymnals, a pulpit, projector, etc. Those things are not inherently bad. We just need to be open to let God be God...and what a creative God we serve!

New Monastacism

Today we talked a bit about the New Monastacism movement, and watched an interview with Shane Claiborne online. I've heard a lot about this guy and the Simply Way intentional community that he and some friends started in the poorest neighborhood of Philadelphia. However, I had never heard him speak. I was impressed with how down-to-earth and humble he was. He didn't speak out in anger against the traditional church, but rather challenged people to think about what it truly means to follow Christ. He pointed out that's there's a huge different between believing in Jesus and following him. And he said that in his pursuit of Christ, he found him in unexpected places...not necessarily in the church, but rather in his poor communities with homeless moms and drug addicts.
Living in community is still a challenge for us in our very individualistic, compartmentalized lives. But I believe that's one of the biggest draws towards Africa for me...the interconnectedness of one another is their means of survival. Everyone is a brother, sister, cousin, aunt, uncle. And you take care of your family. I know there are a lot of churches here that are really good at taking care of their own, and even those in the community, or outside of country. But does it stop with material goods? What this New Monastacism group has done is plant themselves in a place...a place that from the outside appears to be very dark and hopeless...and be fully invested in that community, building relationships and supporting one another in a humble, self-sacrificing way. It's a beautiful model...but of course not everyone can or should move to the inner city and join this group. Yet, what would it look like to build a stronger community and serve your neighbors wherever you are? Opportunities abound when we start to look outward.

Class reflection

In today's class, we addressed some of the questions and thoughts the stemmed from the Missiology lecture last week. On the topic of how diversity is fostered in these "Fresh Expression" church movements, we learned that the small gatherings that form out of similar interests (surfers, youth, pub churches) are still connected to the larger body of the Anglican church. And justice is at the heart of the church plants. So there may not appear to be diversity, but the entire larger network has great diversity.
Our lecture then dealt with the movement of Catholicism around the world. The Portuguese sent voyagers south into West Africa, where they established themselves and the church, taking the natives as slaves. The faith was always viewed as the white person's religion and was imposed on them. However, time has healed wounds, and Africa now accounts for 10-15% of the worldwide Catholic population. In Asia, several sincere leaders, such as Francis Xavier and Matteo Ricci, brought Catholicism to the people. And in Latin America, of course, is the largest population of Catholics. The Catholic church does not seem to be in decline in any part of the developing world, largely due to charismatic movements that are rising in these areas.

Book Review #4

Global Pentecostalism by Donald E. Miller and Tetsunao Yamamori

"Religion is a rather earthy phenomenon that is mixed up with escapism, cultural baggage, and fraud. This observation is not new; it is what the prophets of the Hebrew scriptures and all of the great religious traditions have denounced. But there is another side to Pentecostalism that marches to a different drummer...."(p. 224).

This book is basically a global overview of the movements and social action taking place within Pentecostalism. The book questions whether Pentecostalism, in all its diverse forms, can make an impact on the major issues in our world, particularly in the developing world. The researchers also investigated the influence of church plants created by outside missionaries, as well as the impact of liberation theology on the current trends within the Pentecostal church.

Ch. 1 Global Pentecostalism
The major growth within the Pentecostal church is happening in the global south, and therefore Christianity is being reshaped by very contrasting cultures.
Three common misconceptions about Pentecostalism are dispelled:

1. Speaking in tongues, being slain in the Spirit, prophecying, etc. are not all demonstrated in every Pentecostal services 
2. Pentecostals are not comprised of lower-class, marginalized, or uneducated people
3. Because Pentecostals are believed to be fixated on the afterlife, they give no consideration to redeeming this earth

There are legitimate arguments for where these stereotypes originated, but this movement has evolved and grown out of that narrow point of view.
A primary focus of Pentecostalism is worship, and the heart of it is through music. 
 The movement was in part a reaction to the Enlightenment, which said that through reason and science everything can be explained, squelching the role of the Holy Spirit. Pentecostalism focuses on the spiritual realm, and this resonates with many non-western societies whose traditions are rooted in animism.

Three means that the Pentecostal faith can potentially lead social transformation include:

1. Through encouragement and offering people hope in eternal life, free from poverty and oppression.
2. Through improving social welfare, largely due to their stance against alcohol, drinking, drugs, gambling and womanizing.
3. Through focusing on human rights.  They practice equal leadership opportunities for all people to have a role and proclaim that we all have direct access to God.

Ch. 2  Progressive Pentecostals
This chapter describes some of the work being done around the world and the profound impact it's having.  For example, in Ethiopia, a local doctor has opened a clinic, training "health evangelists" to do home visits with parents to encourage a more healthy and sanitary living environment. This has, in turn, helped the community serve one another by working together to collectively solve their problems.  It moves beyond simply charity to create a community development program.
Pentecostals such as this doctor believe that it is impossible to separate their Christian faith and commitment from their community involvement.  Florence, the Doctor, said, "It is through poor and disenfranchised people that we encounter Jesus" (p. 40).
One pastor commented that they feed the hungry in order to share the gospel with them.  There is a belief that in order to escape poverty, one must have a strong faith in Christ (prosperity gospel).  There is also a consciousness of not wanting to create dependency, but wanting to empower people through economic opportunities, all the while being sensitive to local needs and political structures.
The types of programs they encountered included: emergency relief, education, counseling, mercy ministries, medical assistance, economic development, the arts, and policy change. The researchers concluded that all these initiatives seemed to flow naturally out of their sincere commitment to carrying out an incarnational ministry. Their mission is to view human lives holistically, recognizing both the physical and spiritual needs.


Ch. 3 Building a New Generation
This chapter looks at the various programs focused on children and youth, such as children's homes in Uganda for orphans, camp programs, schools, vocational training, rescuing street children and trafficked children.
Children are encouraged and trained in the arts to hold dramas in churches and play music for worship, which builds their self-esteem.
Women are also served through some of these initiatives because they are given key roles in serving, thus empowering them as community builders.
While many of the programs reach out to individuals, the intention is that it will impact the larger community.  The overarching belief is that children have rights and should be treated with dignity, and that the church has a responsibility to create a safe environment to allow them to flourish.

Ch. 4 Practicing the Faith
In order to further transform individuals and society into faithful followers of Christ, ministries such as drug rehabilitation centers are organized.  Teen Challenge is one of the largest of its kind, with a strong charismatic influence. There are also prison ministies, mental health services, caring for people with HIV/AIDS, and ministering to sex workers.
The goal with all these programs is not charity, but rather to prepare individuals to be contributing members of society.  They help with vocational training and microfinance assistance to encourage people to start businesses. 
In addition, effort is made to encourage political involvement.  While Pentecostal churches are generally known for seeing politics as corrupt and not having a lot of direct involvement, there are still some more progressive leaders who try to foster engagement and dedication to improving conditions for the poor through politics. 
This book seeks to highlight the emergence of a new group of Pentecostals who still recognize the vital role of the Holy Spirit, but also seek to engage the world around them.  They recognize the teachings and life of Christ as seeking justice for the poor, prostitutes and children.

Ch. 5 Encounters with the Holy
In looking at the worship traditions of Pentecostals, it is highly participative. People attending are fully involved and there is a particular emphasis on touch, as people lay hands on one another and share the kiss of peace. Music is integral.  The worship experience is centered around corporal singing and music.  The typical flow follows a general pattern: 1) upbeat, energetic songs, 2) contemplative songs, 3) pray, maybe some speaking in tongues, 4) offering of scripture, sermon, invitation for healing, and 5) celebratory praise.  Dance is another common element of worship.
Prayer are more simplistic and personal than the traditional scripted prayers of Catholics and other Protestant denominations. However, it said that sometimes people will get lost in their prayer, gradually falling into a sermon with their eyes closed.
Gifts of the Spirit, such as speaking in tongues, healing, prophecy, and being slain in the Spirit are all common elements of Pentecostal worship. As mentioned before, these are all very cultural accepted practices for many non-western cultures. Western modern worldview often dismisses the presence of the spiritual realm - demons, spirits, etc.
Some churches have multiple services and the music worship style is altered for a certain demographic attending the service.  (So this is not just a western phenomenon, or was it transported?)
It was addressed in this chapter that Pentecostalism should not be viewed as a reversion to primitivism, but instead it is "ironically postmodern rather than primitive. It encourages people to merge mind and body into a unified expression that honors emotional and physical expressions as integral elements of worship" (p. 142).
The building structure of Pentecostal churches comes in many shapes and sizes, from multi-million dollar facilities, to simple shacks.
"It is the divine-human encounter that empowers people to help their immediate neighbor, as well as engage in various community building activities (p. 132).
The large emphasis is made on displaying unconditional love to all people. 

Ch. 6 Born in the Image of God
This chapter addresses the interaction of religion and economics.
The Pentecostal ethic aligns most closely with the Protestant ethic, fostering an honest, disciplined, transparent work ethic, viewing their vocationo as a calling by God that they must remain committed to. However, one step further, Pentecostals are strongly encouraged, as a new creature in Christ, to refrain from "pleasures of the flesh." Therefore, they have more money to invest in education, business, or other family/friends. 
There is a strong belief in the blessings one receives from tithing. Several testimonies were shared from individuals from India and Kenya who were successful in business, which they attributed to tithing. 
The Pentecostal tradition really emphasizes the dignity and worth of each individual, as a child of God.  Their core value proclaims the priesthood of all.  They were one of the first to give equal rights to women in ministry.
The church's vast services help members get a bit of an advantage in competing for business opportunities and jobs. The researchers recognized a correlation between Pentecostalism and capitalism, as many converts demonstrated upward social mobility.

Fresh Expressions, part 2

Bishop Cray is probably on an eastbound plane heading back to the UK, but not before really leaving a mark on this community and giving us much to ponder and wrestle with.  His talk really delved into what the essence of Christianity is and how we build a community of people who seek to embody that.  It centers on the cross.  We can't lose that focus in the midst of church hierarchy, rules, structure, traditions, etc. 
People say that humans are born with an intrinsic desire to understand the meaning of life and to recognize a power beyond ourselves.  However, this seems to be lost from a large population of the British, according to what we heard about the status of faith in British society.  So many do not even know who Jesus is or what a church is for.  The days of Christendom are long gone, though the Church of England is still in existence.  It's still hard for me to fathom a place where church is an oddity.
The challenging part for me in hearing about these "organic" church initiatives is, where does the diversity come in? I think it's wonderful to work within existing networks to grow a church, but it becomes a very homogeneous community.  If I hang out with a bunch of farmers forever, how will I ever learn to appreciate and relate to city folk?  And we're instructed to respect and learn from our elders; so a community of youth have little guidance and wisdom to draw upon in their circle.

Big Bear

It's been a while since I've shared any pictures on here...it's also been a while since I wrote something other than school work.  I apologize.  The reason for no pictures is because I lost my battery charger, so I've had a dead camera battery for a couple months.  The reason for no fun posts is because I've been too consumed with school and work to do anything fun, let alone write about it.
However, after an intense 2 weeks studying poverty and development under the renowned Bryant Myers (Walking with the Poor anyone??  I know my fellow CCSPers and ECHO folks are with me!), my brain was jello.  It was a lot to take in 3 hours a day for 2 weeks straight, in addition to working and taking my other classes.  So I needed a weekend without thinking!  Thankfully, largely in honor of Daphne's birthday and the fact that they are moving to Cambodia in several weeks, Daphne's husband, Ryan, organized a weekend away for 10 of us in a cabin in Big Bear, a lovely town in the mountains 2 hours northeast of LA.  People were actually skiing up there already, though the temperatures were still in the 60's!
It was such a wonderful weekend to relax, go hiking, journal, enjoy the hot tub, play dominoes, realize how bad I am at pool, breathe fresh air and just decompress! 
I wish I had some pictures to show what a gorgeous setting it was, but I'm sure Daphne will post pictures eventually:
http://ryandaphne.typepad.com/

Fresh expressions

The annual missiology lecture is happening this week at Fuller.  This year the Right Reverend Bishop Graham Cray from England is coming to speak about the new church planting movement happening within the Church of England.  As you probably know, the church in Europe has shrunk in the last several decades to less than 10% of the population calling themselves Christian.  In England, the statistics say that 40% of the population have never attended church in their lives, 40% have attended at one time but no longer go, 10% attend sporatically and the last 10% are regular attenders. 
The movement, called "Fresh Expressions," that Bishop Cray is part of seeks to bring church to the communities in their natural context.  It's not about creating a "cookie cutter" church like the ones before, or even exporting successful models of church from the US or other parts of the world.  The motivation is to see how God is moving in different communities and join those movements.  These include cafe churches, pub churches, even surfing gatherings and an entirely youth led church. 
If the church is dying, we have to breath life back into it.  This has to be done with creativity and innovation, working within the cultural networks to draw people in.  It's not about watering down the message. Christ is still central and the mission is to raise others and ourselves to become disciples, building one another up in community. 

Book Review #3

Disciples of All Nations - Pillars of World Christianity by Lamin Sanneh
This book looks at the movement and growth of Christianity in postcolonial world Christianity's role in "cultural innovation and historical change" is surveyed throughout Asia, Africa and Latin America and the faith's interaction with Islam, indigenous religions and political ideologies such as Marxism and nationalism. 

Chapter 1 - Whither Christianity ~ a Study in Origin, Thought and Action
Peter and Paul both determined that Christianity had no set birthplace and therefore, no territory to defend. It was a faith for all of humanity for all seasons.  Yet,persecution followed Christians since the beginning.
God is placed at the center of cultures, implying equality amongst all people groups and gives credibility to all languages.  Christianity is a "translated" faith, which means it is an interpreted religion. Therefore, it cannot claim adherence to one singular cultural tradition. "Christianity spread through established cultural patterns - sometimes flowing with the tide, and sometimes grinding agaisnt the flow - but always making local appropriation of its claims a necessary prerequisite" (p. 29).
Islam grew in the Arab world as a result of Constantine declaring the Roman Empire a Christian nation.  In order to inhibit Christianity from securing too great a force amongst the Arabs, Islamic influence increased.
Due to the battle over what language should serve as venacular of the Christian faith, Charlemagne became Christendom's "ill-willed architect." So, despite being earlier framed as a faith for all people, the impact of Christendom - blurring the lines of church and state - created a negative opinion amongst people.

Chapter 2 - The Christian Movement in Islamic Perspective
The organized structure of Christianity as we know it today was heavily influenced by the Roman Empire, and the western theology was formed by Greek ideas. "Dreams, visions and prophecy linked Christianity to the old religions, and through them lay and ordained alike had access to the divine" (p. 59). Monasticism was believed to be a force for social change, particularly in the Eastern world.
To the Arabs, Christianity was a Greek religion, while Islam remained unaffected by Greek influence.  So this became divisive over political boundaries, and then "the Greek Christ ended up trumping the Jewish Jesus, a civilizational split that had irreversible consequences for all history" (p. 63). Christianity was presented by the Greeks as a faith for rational inquiry. Because it became so consumed with debating theological arguments, there was no unity and no consideration made for their neighbors in the Eastern church. Therefore, the Eastern church proved to be the barrier that prevented Arab Christians from making the faith their own.
Ethiopia has a role in this movement; as the Israelites split in their exile out of Egypt, a small group went south and settled in Ethiopia. Despite pressure from a world surrounded by Islamic influence, this group developed a unique religious tradition all their own. "The instinct of an Ethiopian connection to a primordial Christian faith was several things at once: a rejection of foreign imposition, a charter of orthodox unity and credibility, and a stake in indigenous leadreship" (p. 68).
Islam gained establishment all around the Mediterranean Sea, except for the lands north.  They gained Spain in the early 8th century, and Baghdad, Iraq was the new "gravitational center."
It's fascinating to look at history and see how it parallels the present or gives insight into where we are today.  In Europe, there was an accepted ignorance of Islam.  Some complacently chose to not know details, while others felt threatened by their presence.  European countries supported Muslim citizens primarily as trading partners. Muslim communities, conversely, viewed the insurgence of Christian missionaries as secular foreign intrusion to be resisted.

Chapter 3 - Old World Precedents and New World Directions
Missionary groups established free association outside of national sponsorship to spread Christianity overseas.  However, this was counter-active towards the state's goal of colonial hegemony, and therefore setting up a situation that proved to be very damaging.
Coming to a stalemate with Islam, the remnants of Christendom chose to focus their attention on sea-routes created for trade.  Europe sought to conquer the Muslim would by colonizing other parts of the world in pursuit of global economy power. Missionaries decided to join this conquest, moving into Africa and Latin America.  However, most were not adequately prepared for such a venture and in the 18th century, interest in world mission waned and number of missionaries plummeted. Those in the field, without any support or supervision, became discouraged, took concubines or became slave owners. Slave trade became an enormous issue during this time in Africa. This was fueled by the growth of the foreign trade economy, and not necessarily as a result of spreading Christianity.
"As it was developed, the European impulse of colonization was driven as much by the strategic need to circumvent Islam as it was by economic interests, and any considerations of faithfulness to the church's teachings were scondary to calculations of political advantage and monopoly rights" (p. 106).
In the aftermath of the slave trade, Christianity was still well-received by Africans suffering from dislocation and resettlement,to help them readjust and be restored. 

Chapter 4 - The Yogi and the Commissar ~ Missions and the Colonial Pillar
Missions were organized, funded and directed from the West and easily associated with their goal of colonization.  Sometimes there was collaboration, but it is also important to recognize that some communities became faithful and sincere converts. Missions faced the challenge of melding the cultural influences with the principles of Christianity, such as adopting local idioms in Bible translation.
The overarching attitude seemed to be to go out and save Africa from its darkness. Many missionaries "bleached" the native culture of all it's natural elements (p. 138). So Africans saw this contradictory example of Christianity - from what they were taught of God's love and grace to these missionaries forcing their way of life, making them feel inferior.
The leader of present-day Kenya said in the early 1930s that "missionaries imposed their culture of individualism on the African and, by that process, wrought havoc on all African society!" (p. 158).
African saw religion as their ally in the cause of justice and freedom (p. 160).

Orthodoxy

Today's lecture dealt with a topic I had some firsthand experience with - Eastern orthodoxy. We learned about the original movements of orthodoxy throughout the Middle East - Constantinope, Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria and Rome, and also the Ethiopian Orthodox church.  While I was in Ethiopia, I was puzzled by the Orthodox church.  When the subject of religion came up, which was quite often, and I responded that I was Christian, it was always accompanied with "Protestant or Orthodox?"  Initially I wasn't sure how to respond.  What was the difference? How would I be perceived based on my response?  Generally, it didn't create any ill will, but when I would turn the question to them, if they were orthodox, they would basically infer "I'm Ethiopian, so I'm Orthodox."  My general impression was that the Orthodox church was a cultural religion and not necessarily a true faith.  However, that belief was discredited by people who held sincere faith convictions within their Orthodox traditions.  I will say that this group was the minority, but still it was heartening to know that some took their faith seriously. 
When the church becomes so intrinsically connected with the state as Orthodoxy often is, there is danger in confusing the identity and purpose of the church.  While our faith beliefs can inform our stances with regard to politics and the state, I believe there are severe consequences that result in combing the two.  During the Enlightenment, a separation was distinguished between church and state in the West.  However, in the Orthodox tradition, the name alone identifies these churches with the state - Ethiopian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, etc.  The church should not be our governing authority, but should inform our governance and desire to follow God's will.