At this critical moment in our lives together, Pastor Carrie describes the TCL response to the COVID-19 crisis as we consider how to care for ourselves and our communities.
Please read by clicking here.
Vision for 2020 from Pastor Carrie Graham
For The Church Lab, the year 2020 means experimenting with being a full-time operation. It means continuing to deepen our dialogue community while also walking with other leaders as they learn how to try their own ministry experiments. It means new efforts in asking granting entities to partner with us to reach new experiments we haven't been able to try before. It means 4 new board members, a new chair and a new fundraising chair!
Most importantly is what remains the same for The Church Lab this year:
God's guidance comes first in our experiments, which seek to help folks spiritually grow.
Shrewd stewardship and resourceful strategy are points of pride in our operational culture.
Yet the filter for our decisions - stewardship, programmatic and otherwise- is the heart of our mission, and we seek to faithfully go wherever this mission takes us. Sometimes this means risk or sacrifice. Sometimes it means those of us serving The Church Lab doing our own spiritual work to be prepared for the uncertainties involved in non-traditional ministry.
The most central aspect of this experiment is the hypothesis that we are guided by God who is Love itself, that we are being directed toward wisdom and into the places and spaces which makes our world more fully alive, one relationship at a time.
I am grateful to all who are a part of TCL's community, and I am excited to see where God guides each and all of us this year!
The key words I'm excited to be using for faithful discernment processes this year are:
*Whole-hearted
*Mission-centric
*Action-oriented
*Creative!
*Spirit-led
With gratitude,
Rev. Carrie Graham
Dialogues Pave the Way to a Better World
Over the last half year, it has been a joy to regularly participate in The Church Lab’s ‘Dialogue’ group. As someone who endeavors to live a life of faith and service, balanced with an ongoing search for truth, the dialogue group’s mission of bringing together people from many faith (or no faith), cultural, philosophical, and political backgrounds holds very strong appeal. I love that each meeting’s different topic provides for a broad range of deep conversations.
Introducing myself, I am a Bahá’í, which is a Faith I learned of a number of years ago, while a student at The University of Texas, here in Austin. I grew up mainly Methodist, and in the Midwest. From a young age, faith has been important to me though, from around age 12, I’ve experienced some not-uncommon questions and dilemmas about certain ideas taught in church. In short, I wondered how a loving God could send good people of different faiths, especially those born into a different faith, to an afterlife of eternal punishment.
For me, it is the Teachings of the Bahá’í Faith, discovered as a sophomore in college, that bring resolution for this dilemma. The Bahá’í concept of progressive revelation teaches that the founders of the world’s major religions are sent from the same loving God, kindling a process of divine education which spans human history. While initially this concept raised more questions for me, further investigation yielded answers which I found resonated with the God of the “still, small voice”, affirming that, while the "Kingdom of God" can be found within each person, God's Kingdom is also furthered as love and cooperation increase among all people. As more awaken to this truth, more of us become able and willing to work toward a bright future of justice and peace for all of God's children.
The Church Lab’s ‘Dialogue’ group, infused with spiritual growth via discussion and fellowship, is a tremendous example of the path to this inspirited future. Of discussions attended so far, the most powerful for me personally have been “When Faith Kept Me Afloat”, “Violence & Pacifism”, and “Grace & Forgiveness”. In each of these meetings I witnessed growth in attendees as they shared thoughts connected with the topics, and I am grateful to be pursuing growth here also. On a further personal note, in recent years I have spent time reflecting upon my father’s drafted combatant service in the Vietnam War. Dad passed in 2013 due to war-related health complications, and his final years were, sadly, difficult ones for himself and those close to him. TCL’s ‘Dialogues’ group is one venue that has provided me perspective on these life events. In the “When Faith Kept Me Afloat” conversation, I shared about connecting with, then later meeting, some men from my father’s infantry company, just over a year ago. My faith in a brighter future led me to these connections, which have brought context and healing for the pain of Dad’s final years, and early passing. During the “Violence & Pacifism” meeting, TCL Dialoguers shared a broad range of views about war, spanning from “necessary and inevitable”, to “we must end it”. I found remembrance that my own strong belief in peace is best-lived by viewing non-violence as an active endeavor, fueled by the conviction (as taught in Bahá’í Scripture) that cooperation and harmony are far better means of problem-solving than warfare and violence. Finally, I was moved by the “Grace & Forgiveness” conversation, where the group elucidated that Grace comes from God. While we humans only catch glimpses, we can reflect this divine attribute in the practice of forgiveness, a vital part of the spiritually-attuned life.
As conversations and lessons like these enlighten and transform hearts, I know that TCL’s Dialogue group is an integral part of creating a better world, and a group of which I am grateful to have become a small part.
Jay Braden, member of the Austin Bahá’í Community, has a Visual Arts Studies degree from The University of Texas at Austin. A free-lance artist and designer, he reads voraciously and loves to joke about being a “self-guided Grad. student in 5 or 6 different subjects”
TCL's Border Trip Pt 3
In October, The Church Lab sent a small contingent to explore and build relationships along the Mexico-Texas border in order to address the immigration crisis occurring there. Sara Burbank, one of TCL’s board members, flew in from out of state to make the journey. She shares her story here.
Click HERE to read
Waiting at the Border: A First Hand Account of Conditions in Tent Cities
Sara Burback served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Kazakhstan, and received her MA in International Human Rights at the University of Denver’s Korbel School of International Studies. She is on the Board of The Church Lab and recently completed a contract with UNRWA USA, where she organized its first Relay Run for Refugees. She is currently studying at the Spanish Language Institute in Puebla, Mexico.
2019 Annual Report
The Church Lab experienced a fruitful year in 2019! Please take a moment to peruse this year’s Annual Report for comprehensive view of our mission, milestones, and future plans.
Please download from this link: TCL 2019 Annual Report
TCL's Border Trip, part 2
Terra McDaniel traveled with TCL to the Texas-Mexico border last month to serve the migrants waiting there and as a witness to their treatment and resilience. She reflects this month upon her experience in a recent blog.
Click HERE to read:
I Spent a Week at the Texas-Mexico Border
Terra is a spiritual director, pastor, teacher, and writer who loves making space for people of all ages to tune into their own souls. You can find her on Facebook, Instagram, and at terramcdaniel.com.
TCL's Border Trip, Part I
TCL friend and colleague Rev. Matt Gaventa took a trip to the border with Texas Impact’s Courts and Ports just before TCL did so in early October. He wrote the following article for The Christian Century about his experience in the precise areas where we spent time, and his reflection so resonates with ours, we wanted to share this first. More stories to come from our experiences. We hope Matt’s reflections will be a great start to gaining awareness and being empowered to take the next faithful step to help.
Click HERE to read:
VISITING A TENT CITY IN MEXICO…
Rev. Matt Gaventa is the senior pastor of University Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas. His favorite prophet is Charlie Brown.
Yearly Board Meeting and Retreat!
"I know the plans I have for you..." Jeremiah 29:11
Our staff and Board of Directors met together in August to strategize, recap, imagine and inspire. We got to know each other better, bonded in common mission, and established roles and responsibilities for the coming year! We set and prioritized strategic goals for the Board members and assigned committees, approved the budget for 2020, engaged in a workshop under the care of Megan Carvajal from Mission Capital, voted on policies, and gained clarity on fundraising. We had naps and hikes and cooking together. We met our incoming first ever TCL intern Marianne Garvey. We told our stories and listened intently, learning to love and appreciate our histories and paths. We wound up our weekend by praying together in worship and communion led by Carrie.
We are also excited to announce our 2 local incoming board members and their roles:
Rev. Trey Haddon has accepted the role of Board Chair.
Andrea Ballard Carroll has accepted the role of Fundraising Chair.
We wish to extend a warm welcome to these new team members!
As we wrapped up our work, Carrie invited everyone present to prayerfully reflect on key questions. Here are some responses!
What are your prayers and hopes for our board team?
"more and more possibilities; a slingshot of momentum;
cohesion and drive; a tangible togetherness;
seek and recognize God's provision; ownership & agency"
Where are you with your role in TCL?
"Inspired, encouraged; energized;
joyful and excited; confident and hopeful"
How is God moving through TCL?
"Building bridges across social divides; finding meaning and understanding in our differences; meaningfulness and connection is being created and discovered;
pioneering, innovative + healing spaces for discipleship"
The BOD participated with the TCL dialoguers in a discussion on the topic of "Violence and Pacifism" prior to the retreat, joining long-time, online, and brand new attendees!
The Church Lab is strong and growing. We look forward to amazing work in the coming year!
"And you shall be called repairers of the breach..."
Isaiah 58:12b
Community and D&D
This month The Church Lab welcomes aspiring pastor Erica Nelson.
We invited Erica to ponder the ways she finds community outside of the church, and what the church could learn from such groups. Welcome, Erica!
Erica Nelson is a Presbyterian candidate for ministry who graduated from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. She works at Texas Impact, an interfaith advocacy organization that helps people of faith connect their faith with public policy.
Growing up, my parents played a game called Dungeons and Dragons. This game, nicknamed D&D, is a role-playing game where the success of decisions is determined by dice rolling. You create a fantasy character alongside several other people, and you all play a storyline put together by the Game Master. Within this storyline, you will work through combat situations, puzzles, and social interactions using skills, spells, and equipment that your character possesses, which are determined by a carefully cultivated set of rules.
Watching my parents play, I was always fascinated by the storytelling, the fantasy, the ingenuity, and the fun that my parents and their friends experienced. So, when I came to Austin Seminary to pursue theological education and found out there was a student led D&D group, I was eager to join. We met for two of the three years I attended seminary and out of this group, I formed some of my best friends, friends I still have even though we have almost all graduated. I also enjoyed D&D itself so much that I went out and found other groups to join.
There is a sort of magic that comes out of the community formed between people who laugh together, solve problems together, write a story together. There is power in exploring new ideas or ways of being by embodying a character who may be completely alike or different from yourself. There is growth in the experience of team building, learning to adapt to new situations both real and imaginary, and exploring different ways of problem solving.
For me, that community was formed out of shared interests and fun. But more importantly, that community was formed in learning that we are not alone. For this reason, that community lasted because we found that those of us who came together, despite our vast differences and walks of life, had more in common than anything else.
As a member of the Christian community, I know that D&D has a lot of stigma for being ‘satanic’ or ‘blasphemous’. Some of the people I play with were surprised when I told them I was going to seminary to become a Christian minister. But I do not view this as something that is opposite of my faith. I view this as an expression of my God given gifts, a way to use the imagination, the critical thinking skills, and the curiosity that God imparted to me.
Ultimately, what I get out of this type of community that I could not get in the Church is a form of self-expression that encourages ways of being that are outside of ordinary. Many of my friends, and I myself, have used our characters as a way of exploring alternative gender expressions, sexualities, manners of speaking, behaviors or quirks that might otherwise be shunned or mocked in more conventional settings. The Church could learn to encourage this kind of exploration, this kind of self-expression. But most importantly, the Church could learn to encourage this kind of fun and storytelling.
Strategies for Successful Dialogue, No Matter the Setting
After the 2016 election, TCL’s pastor Carrie Graham shared some thoughts on building community in successful dialogue. In a charged cultural setting growing more divided each day, TCL revisits some strategies gleaned within our community that not only keep us healthy and productive, but that may be carried out to the community at large.
Expand Proximity! Sometimes we mistake being “open-minded” for being around like-minded people. Take note that embracing diversity and trying to understand people you don’t already understand are at times different things. We have good work to do. To do it, it takes intentionally placing ourselves in less comfortable, less like-minded environments. It may not be comfortable, but it is fruitful over time!
Note the Narrative! Strongly held within us are narratives that we subconsciously affirm and perpetuate. When we have new experiences, what stands out to us are the pieces that endorse already-held beliefs. We follow a script that is hard to change, and it is bewildering when we encounter someone that doesn’t follow a script very similar to our own. Necessary in dialogue is humility. Specifically needed is a willingness to change, question our own biases, and to take a step back and wonder what else might be at play when we are tempted to make the world simpler by blithely dismissing others’ convictions.
Gauge Readiness! There is such a thing as someone who has been talked into a dialogue, attends, and is not ready. For instance, I often say if someone “needs to win,” they are not ready for the dialogue and would do better to wait to attend until a different season of life. There is also such a thing as a dialoguer being well-meaning and not ready for certain topics within a particular dialogue. A dialogue’s success depends in part on the honesty and vulnerability of its participants. We validate and invite, which allows for participation at the level each participant is prepared for.
Watch for Undercutting! When someone asserts something about their own convictions, feelings or reasons for actions, and another dialoguer contradicts that person's lived experiences, the dialogue is dismantled. If one person is permitted to undercut someone’s feelings or convictions, then we lose the vital dialogical commitment of seeking to understand before being understood. Here, we must pause, back up, and work toward collectively to re-committing to the legitimacy of each dialoguer’s experiences.
Self-Awareness is a Work in Progress! Sometimes we may encounter a feeling or response to something someone shares that we simply didn’t expect, or that we do not understand. This is an opportunity to grow, to reflect beyond the dialogue, and perhaps to seek pastoral care or the care of your worshipping community. We expect difficult moments when we risk vulnerability around sensitive topics! We ask for grace and compassion for ourselves and others when caught off guard.
We at TCL invite you to employ some of these considerations as you engage in any number of settings with others who are different from you. If you are curious to engage in TCL’s dialogue community or have any questions about successful dialogue strategies, please visit our contact page!
Dialogue Encounters Difference
One person describes her mini-internal-roadmap when encountering
significant difference during dialogue.
Pam Jarvis attends dialogue and assists in the running of TCL. She raises her high school freshman daughter, enjoys watching The Office with her cat, and likes to have people over for dinner. She graduated just last spring with an MDiv from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary and is currently discerning her place in ministry and mainline religious denominations.
Having gone to a Christian seminary and spending four years thinking about my faith, I felt pretty good coming into dialogue for the first time. I figured I could easily describe what I believe and why. Which did, in fact, turn out to be true! But my participation in dialogue pushes up against other areas that turn out to be challenging. In fact, I suspect that these are the very areas dialogue is supposed to push up against, and the ones that perhaps provide challenge for many people who participate. Specifically, I want to share about my experiences in those moments when I encounter difference. Especially difference that contradicts what I believe.
We talk each gathering about a specific topic, some more sensitive than others. That sensitivity touches on me to varying degrees, sometimes in surprising ways. I knew the week we were scheduled to talk about death would be hard and anticipated that the joy conversation would be fairly easy! Both of those turned out to be true. I find it difficult to predict which other topics will push emotional buttons for me overall. In some cases, the conversations simply disclose information that adds to my overall technical understanding about other belief systems. Nevertheless, I can guarantee that each discussion will include one of my fellow participants saying something about their beliefs that runs up against what I believe.
When this initially happens, I feel a flush through my body, like heat. Sometimes it almost feels like my breath is taken away - I stop breathing for a second! At these moments my initial reaction is to come back with a counter-statement, the way I might with one of my friends over lunch or on facebook. So I have to intentionally stop myself. I keep myself from saying anything out loud. That’s the first step, and a big one for someone who occupies a position of privilege in our culture. I’m used to offering my opinion and getting my voice heard. So, I remember the rule we have set for our gathering: seek to understand before being understood.
The next thing I do is breathe. I take a breath and bring my attention back to the conversation, which has continued in my internal absence! And I listen. I continue to listen. Then, most importantly, I let go of whatever it was that popped in my head to counter with. I just let it go and try to hear what the person is saying in real time across from me. When I do that, I have created space to actually hear their experience instead of sitting in my own. I recognize that I can’t just paper over another’s beliefs or dismiss them, relativizing or replacing them with my own narrative. I start to wonder and want to know more. And at that point, questions arise rather than statements. I find myself in a relationship rather than an argument.
What makes this so hard is that my faith is not just something I believe. My Christian identity is just that: a very part of what makes me who I am. I deeply value my faith system and my own faith path within it. Someone expressing their path can sometimes feel in the moment like a threat to my very being. I recognize that it might feel this way for others as well. And in our culture, Christianity is dominant. I understand better now that it is my responsibility to internally make a space and leave room for those practicing non-dominant faith traditions and for variety within my own. This seems like a small thing, but for me, I realize now that I benefit when I try. Things stay complex and have grey areas and don’t get nailed down into a neat package. The real people I am talking with take on dimensions having nothing to do with me. And what I have gained is a group of people I’ve come to value and care deeply about, regardless of our differences or similarities. Within dialogue, my challenge has become my blessing.
Where Did Church Go?
The Church Lab’s pep talk to those of us on the winding religious road in America.
Rev. Carrie Graham, founding pastor of The Church Lab
Church these days can often be a “butts in the seats” kind of game. There is not just competition from other worshipping communities of a multitude of faith traditions, but also at yoga centers, co-working spaces, coffeeshops, meetups and podcasts that pipe wisdom into the ears of joggers and drivers alike. The latter options provide community and connection in a way that the Protestant church could exclusively offer just decades ago in the United States. None of these options create stressful experiences around when to stand or kneel, what outfit to wear early on a weekend morning, or whose names one can remember when folks likely only see each other a couple of times a month at best. So, what is the point of church, and what is it for in 2019 and beyond?
Worshipping communities of many traditions do offer distinctive experiences, but you won’t find our culture encouraging such experiences in commercials or on billboards or even in your spam filter. Worshipping communities offer spiritual maturity - an ongoing growing opportunity that both provides an uplifting sanctuary for our souls - alongside a continuous sharpener of the wisdom our traditions each offer, literally to the infinite degree. There is no limit to the depths that a lifetime of spiritual engagement can offer when it comes to encountering a wholehearted life experience. Worshipping communities representing traditions that have wrestled with these questions and practices for thousands of years are here amongst us, ready to offer specific approaches that bring limitless depth for any generation, throughout any lifestage, period.
What a beautiful opportunity! Wow!
But where are all the crowds filing in for such fulfillment? There are a couple of massive obstacles in the way of this beautiful opportunity. The communities and their leaders are the first. You are the other one.
Worshipping Communities and Their Leaders
Let’s use Protestant churches as a very live example of this obstacle. Congregations and their leaders become their own obstacles for growth because the very framework we’ve come to depend on often threatens to take the place of God and the richness of life we experience when seeking God. This framework says we have services that must be in certain types of rooms, with certain types of furniture in certain arangements, led by certain types of rhythms, and fully funded by a devoted community that focuses on resourcing the church above any other commitment. However, the gears that run these frameworks have turned against each other in recent years, creating a well-meaning but inevitably discombobulated system.
Our society is no longer unified about which religion to engage with, if any religion at all. This can be scary to those who have been inside the church walls all this time. For instance, when congregants demand that the leadership provide them with the comfort of their historic rhythms, movements and songs, regardless of theological integrity, they may be making a dangerous trade. Perhaps they could instead trade their own comfort for the accessibility newcomers need. People coming in are looking for a place they feel at home enough to encounter both connection and spiritual depth. Some church leaders or congregants may yearn to create this accessibility by shifting old patterns. But they are often kept hostage by tithers who say, “You better make the decision we want or we’ll leave.” Decisions of integrity become difficult, as the systems that once helped the mission of church now work against its own health. Stewardship is just one example of something that can become twisted into power plays that shut down new ideas with the stroke of a pen.
The Church Lab is, in large part, an experiment in how to align the workings of a ministry with its mission in our shifting religious landscape. How can the community, the leaders, the funding, the environment, the communication channels, the very operations, all align themselves with the mission? How can The Church Lab also come alongside leaders and systems to say, “What vital things need to be shaken loose which are bound out of habit - ultimately keeping communities from fostering meaningful growth in their spiritual lives?” What needs to be sacrificed so that, out of the ashes, a new expression of a timelessly meaningful core can be offered to communities? This is an exciting question worth pursuing. It often takes leadership finding help and support. The Church Lab seeks to be that for other communities going through “integrity growth spurts,” if you will.
Of course, the only way it can be pursued is if we first commit to get out of our own way.
HEY YOU. AND ME.
It’s true, admittedly, and probably not a surprise to you. We are often our own problem. We like to talk about change as long as it doesn’t need to be difficult or internal, even though that’s often how the very world is ultimately changed. We like to talk about depth, as long as it doesn’t ever hurt to reach for it. For instance, we often talk about the country desperately needing to build bridges. However, we don’t rush out in great numbers to make friends with folks with whom we vehemently disagree so we can listen deeply to understand them, and not try to convince them of anything. We talk about the need to welcome folks into our communities, but it is hard to grieve the death of the tools we have used for so long to connect with God and others. It is hard to take the netless leap of faith that there are tools to be shared, tools others can invent, perspectives not yet heard that can delight and grow us closer to God and maintain the timeless pieces of our traditions that could never go extinct. What the church and other worshipping communities offer are depth. They offer growth in wisdom offered in the crossroads of ancient communities and our world today. There is mystery that we often opt to oversimplify, for comfort’s sake. There are questions that would grow us, but we often don’t believe God is big enough to tend to them, or we ourselves choose to ignore them. This is extremely hard work. It is not quickly “sold” on anyone. There are no shortcuts. It is not easy.
Rarely do humans volunteer for change, and almost never do we dedicate ourselves week in and week out to not just a service, but a lifestyle that involves great commitment with few metrics. Not so marketable when put that way, eh? This lifestyle won’t make us money. It won’t make us look glamorous. To the contrary, such work will likely confuse people. They might judge you, lest you fulfill the religious stereotype of judging them first. This lifestyle will not numb difficulty. However, it will bring riches that cannot be conceived outside of dedication to depth, plied with a specific direction.
The Church Lab just completed its 5th year of ministry. We are experimenting, day by day, with what faithfulness looks like when it is sustainably offered in this changing religious landscape. Here, we are continuously striving to remove the obstacles that we, our communities, and our leaders may toss in our own way. Even as we strive to deep dive into spiritual maturity, forsaking religiosity for its own vanity’s sake, we trip up. We sure can benefit from any blueprints in the making.
The Church Lab is in the blueprint making business. We seek to foster care, commitment, depth and service through dialogue over sustained periods of time in a diverse micro-community. At times we also do so via worship and outreach and intentional discipleship (depth development). We are learning how this shapes and deepens folks’ spiritual lives, within the specific depths of their chosen tradition(s). As mentioned above, The Church Lab also experiments with its own operational alignment so that it can also walk alongside other traditional and nontraditional systems and leaders, caring and supporting them through risky but worthwhile operational discernment into the next exciting, faithful chapter of religious life.
No matter the numbers, let’s grab some tools and join hands as we follow this road together, wherever it may go. There are many blueprints to record as we are led on new paths, many lessons from our adventures to share with those depth-seekers to come.
Who’s in?
Email carrie@thechurchlab.org for more info.
How Dialogue Speaks to Core Convictions: Partners in Enlightenment
Gene Goldfeder
This year, Gene Goldfeder retired from the Borough of Catasauqua after serving 40 years as Borough Manager. He still serves the Borough part time as Zoning Officer. Now retired, he enjoys spending more time traveling, visiting family and friends, reading and cooking, all with his wife Donna.
Gene earned an MS in Architecture with a focus in Urban Planning from Penn State University and a BA from Lehigh University. In 1989 he received a Certificate in Management from the International City/County Management Association Training Institute.
Gene was brought up Jewish by parents who were born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. While he lived his entire life in eastern Pennsylvania, the New York influence plays a major role in his food (deli style) and cultural (Broadway theater) preferences.
As a person who considers himself to have a scientific viewpoint in most matters, I found the Dialogue discussion on Science and Religion extremely interesting and enlightening. I try to understand and explain everything. For that reason, I’ve never fully accepted the concept of creating the heavens and earth and everything on earth in seven days, at least as we now measure days. Dialogue gave me the opportunity to explore this apparent conflict between religion and science with the group and find a way to reconcile it in my mind.
Recently, I was reading a book by Stephen Hawking. He stated that all of our theories of physics work only as far back as the Big Bang. Prior to that (if there is a prior to that) time and the theories don’t follow the established rules. To accept the Big Bang, one might also accept that something “created” it and that before the Big Bang time might have been indeterminate. We have no way of knowing what occurred before earth’s creation, since we have no way of looking back farther than the Big Bang. This could explain how seven days for the creation might be millennia as we now measure time. For me this concept helps reconcile science and the biblical story.
I found it extremely interesting to discuss and discover how many rules, dictates and laws in the Bible have in modern times been shown by science to have medical value. Before partaking of the Passover meal we ceremoniously wash our hands; after Sabbath service as we enjoy the Kiddush (social gathering), we also wash our hands. This cleanliness, while a religious ritual, has obvious health considerations. In the Torah there is a list of those foods which are “unclean” and are not to be eaten. Many of them, like pork and shellfish, are scavenger animals. In Biblical times there was no medical or scientific reason for these prohibitions, yet today we know of the illness potential from improper storage and preparation of them, as well as the general health related reasons to at least limit their intake, such as fat and cholesterol and their relation to heart disease and other medical concerns.
Prior to Dialogue, I never had a reason to consider the number of times things that are discussed and “taken on faith” in the Bible, today have a scientific explanation. Those that still seem to be miraculous may be true miracles – I am not discounting that possibility – but they may also be something that we don’t understand yet. Dialogue has fostered the more in depth thinking to explore where and how science and religion are not antagonists but partners in enlightenment. They are coming at the issue of life and growth from different perspectives, but in the final analysis both have the goal of making our lives better.
The Church Lab's Harvey recovery work featured on The Texas Standard
We are thrilled to share that the Texas Standard highlighted some of The Church Lab’s Harvey recovery work with photographers supplying new family portrats to folks that lost photos to the hurricane last year. We are so thankful that stories from The Golden Triangle, and the beauty of the families there, has been shared on a statewide basis. Thanks to all who were involved with our efforts!!!
Click here to listen to the story!
TCL's 2018 Annual Report!
We are thrilled to share with you our 2018 Annual Report, which among many things, celebrates our 5th birthday!
Click here to view digitally!
Click here to see a format with larger text.
Gratitude for Growth: Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is nearly upon us. This week, dialoguer Donna Goldfeder shares what she is most grateful for about her experience with The Church Lab dialogues. Enjoy!
Donna Goldfeder is new to dialogue at The Church Lab this year. She and her husband, Gene, connect remotely from their home in Pennsylvania. Donna has an MEd in Counseling and served as Director of Career Services at Lehigh University for almost 25 years. She and Gene are thoroughly enjoying retirement.
When I first became interested in participating in the dialogues offered by The Church Lab, I was seeking self-exploration. As hoped, I have found guidance for the self-exploration that I sought …and so much more! One of the guidelines of dialogue is that participants should seek to understand before seeking to be understood. Taking this to heart I soon learned that while I was on a personal journey for growth, I was now part of a group that was seeking greater understanding for all.
The group immediately made me feel welcome and accepted. I connect to the group virtually through the computer from Pennsylvania. The first time I connected to dialogue I was concerned that it would be difficult to form a personal connection with the group from such a distance, but that has not been the case at all. Every time dialogue meets, I feel the warmth and acceptance of the room over all the miles.
Dialogue is an experience that promotes spiritual, emotional and intellectual growth. Every topic we discuss is challenging and our exploration of the topic always goes deeper than I anticipated. For example, when we discussed the topic of Science and Religion I expected we’d discuss how people feel about evolution vs. creation. And we did. But the discussion also led to how often our religious writings predicted later scientific findings, such as how rituals like hand washing can promote a healthier more fulfilling life or how dietary laws often focus on restrictions on foods or substances that are now known to be addictive or potentially harmful. Every time we meet I learn so much!
That is an example of intellectual growth, but the spiritual and emotional growth I’ve experienced is even more fulfilling. As I hear the others share their experiences and how their faiths have helped them work through issues, it creates an atmosphere where I can explore and accept my own flaws and can start to resolve some of my own life challenges. I hope that the experiences, insights and perspectives that I share help others in the group to explore the topics and their own issues more fully. I didn’t anticipate that the group could be like a “support group”, but it really does provide emotional and spiritual support.
I am very grateful for the acceptance and support of the dialogue group. I thank The Church Lab for creating such a warm and welcoming place where personal and group growth can thrive. And, I especially appreciate that The Church Lab had the foresight to utilize today’s technology to include those of us that attend remotely.
My experiences at dialogue have truly been a blessing.
Dialogue Is Relationship: Bringing It Into the World
We have wrapped up our summer series on Interfaith Misunderstandings and are now entering into the fall season. This week, we hear from Dialogue member Sarah Shannon-Wildt. She describes what motivates her to participate in Dialogue and what she takes back out into the world. Enjoy!
Sarah has been a part of TCL for over 2 years, regularly attending dialogues and Christian discipleship groups. She has her MDiv from APTS, and is currently working on her second master’s in counseling. She works for UT in administration and as a part time pastor at Church of the Savior.
Interfaith Dialogue has been something that I’ve valued and wanted to participate in for years. In college I took a class called “Dialogue,” and in that class I read an article by Diana Eck. She says that “dialogue” and “relationship” are synonymous--that dialogue is relationship. This concept has stuck with me ever since. When I learned about The Church Lab, I was so moved that Rev. Carrie was doing exactly this--creating dialogical relationships by having us participate in Interfaith Dialogue on a regular basis. The premise that deep systemic change occurs on the relational level--a friendship level, building bridges with people who believe differently than me, spoke to me so deeply. I knew that I had to be a part of this bridge-building.
Before my regular involvement with TCL, I would get stuck in the “us vs. them” phenomenon. My “them” tended to be Conservatives because I struggled to understand where they were coming from. Thanks to TCL, I can genuinely say that I have built friendships with people who identify as Conservative, and because of this, I have been able to humanize my “other”. This deep humanization has shifted the way I interact with people who I disagree with in my regular world. Though I still disagree, I can disagree in love rather than in hate. The way I speak about others has morphed from a place of anger and frustration, to a place of seeking to understand and discovering their humanity.
Our society today is becoming more and more and more polarized, and this polarization is only creating more hatred and discomfort, rather than unity and understanding. When I would approach conversations about those who identify as Conservative with the same hostility that so many people I know do, I was contributing to the problem, rather than the solution. I can still be angry with political decisions that negatively impact those I care about, but that doesn’t mean I need to demonize those who agree with those same decisions. There is a difference between fighting power structures and systems and hating people. Hating people does not change the systems--loving people is how we can change our world. This is why I come to TCL and why I continue to come back. As a Progressive Christian, I believe that goodness will always overcome, and I believe that the only way to create true goodness is through seeing the goodness in all people.
Salvation and Reconciliation: A View from Christianity
Welcome to Part III of our summer blog series about misunderstandings we have about one another's belief systems. Last month, Dash Kees gave us a roadmap for paganism. This month, Church Lab dialoguer and conservative Christian Eileen Drake describes the shape of her faith by clarifying law and grace. Check it out below!
Hi, my name is Eileen. I am 31, biracial, and am a follower of Jesus. I grew up in Austin and immensely enjoy my family, chocolate torte, birdwatching and two-stepping.
I believe a common misunderstanding of Christianity is that Christianity is a set of rules to follow; namely if you are a “good” Christian and follow all the rules, God will be pleased with you and you will go to Heaven.
My thoughts that follow are my perspective from the lens of a Christian.
There are commands today that God gives Christians for their good. Examples include the Ten Commandments (Do not have any idols, honor your father and mother, do not steal, do not murder, etc. Exodus 20) and a summation of God’s commands which is love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind and love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:36-40).
While God gives Christians these commands, the Christian faith is about what God did for us, not about the commands He set in place. As Scripture states, humanity’s relationship with God was broken when man chose to disobey God in the Garden of Eden. God is a holy God (Leviticus 11:44) and requires that sin (evil) be reconciled. God chose to do this through himself (Jesus Christ, God the Son). In the book of Romans it states that sin is punishable by death. Jesus was sent to earth to take on all the sin of humanity upon himself as fully human and fully God. God’s wrath against evil was fully manifested against Jesus on the cross where Jesus died to be the perfect sacrifice for all of humanity’s sin. According to Scripture, when Jesus died, the curtain in the holiest part of King Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem separating man from God was miraculously split in half symbolizing man’s new relationship with God.
Because of the free gift of salvation and reconciliation of our relationship with God through Christ (not by our works, Ephesians 2:8-9), the Christian life is a life of devotion, gratitude and willful obedience to God. It is a relationship between God and me. God already paid the price for us to be in his presence (Heaven) forever. When I accept the invitation to follow God, nothing I can do will change (negatively or positively) His love for me (Romans 8:29) because He loves me unconditionally. I live for Him because He has given me everything of true value. Recorded in John 10:10, Jesus says, “I have come so that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly.”
I believe a relationship such as this is relatable to all people, not just Christians. If I respect and uphold someone in high esteem in my life, I want to hear what they have to say, listen to their advice, and spend time with them. That is true for Christians in regards to their relationship with God and why we choose to obey His commands on earth.
Paganism Understood (or at least less misunderstood)
Welcome to Part II of our summer blog series about misunderstandings we have about one another's belief systems. Last month, Qamar Zafar illuminated the concept of love in Islam. This month, Church Lab dialoguer and Pagan friend Dash Kees helps us understand the shape of Paganism a bit better than we did when we woke up this morning. Check it out below!
David Dashifen Kees is a professional nerd and amateur theologian. But, starting in the Fall of 2018, he'll be pursuing a Master of Divinity from Iliff School of Theology so that one day he can be a professional nerdy theologian instead! He, a Pagan, and his partner, Megan -- a Catholic, live in Virginia and use the magic of the Internet to be involved with the Church Lab as often as possible.
Paganism is, by and large, a fairly misunderstood family of religious traditions. Because there are very few of us—a Pew research report from 2008 estimated that 0.4% of the United States population practiced some form of “New Age” religion, in which they included Paganism—it’s pretty easy for a person to simply never have met one of us. Or, to not realize it when they do. This is further compounded by the fact that not everyone has the freedom to share their religious beliefs, especially when they differ from those of your friends, family, and community; there are a lot of Pagans still living in the so-called broom closet.
All this is to say that it’s hard to narrow it down to one thing that I wished others would understand about modern Paganism. Further, there’s a lot of information online relating to some of the most common misunderstandings, such as whether or not we worship the Devil (answer: not generally), if we believe in magic and spells (answer: sometimes), and do we actually work with the gods of the ancient world (answer: some of us do, yes). So, herein, I’ve decided to try and share a different tidbit about Paganism, one that might be a little harder to find elsewhere online.
Typically, when one thinks of a faith group, there’s a sense of a unifying characteristic around which that community revolves. Christianity, for example, tends to share a belief in the divinity of Jesus Christ whose sacrifice on the cross ushered in a new covenant between God and humankind as described in the New Testament of the Bible. Things get harder for atheist and agnostic communities, but I suspect that many could probably agree on a shared value for science, observation, rationality, and reason
Paganism doesn’t really have that, and this a hard thing for many to understand. Instead, it’s a group of traditions inspired by cultures of the ancient world, especially those of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. Essentially: if Rome fought it, it’s a culture we’re probably fascinated by. But, this means that there are people in the community that believe in the gods of ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt, or Mesopotamia; the Aesir and Vanir of the Norse and Germanic people; or the Tuatha de Danann of Irish myth and legend. And new traditions continue to sprout and grow; the Wild Hunt—an online newspaper for the modern Pagan and polytheist community—posted an article in June 2018 about a revival of Gaulish polytheism, for example. And, there’s a growing community of Atheopaganism—atheist Pagans—who live a Pagan lifestyle and sensibility without, as Mark Green phrases it in the prior link, “supernatural credulity.”
Without that central, organizing foundation on which to build a community, there is sometimes very little that holds the Pagan world together. The Wiccans do their thing while the Celtic Reconstructionists do theirs; the Druids worship in their groves while the Heathens congregate in hofs. And, while there are differences between, for example, Methodists and Catholics, there are a lot of strong ties that bind them together. A practitioner of Kemetic Orthodoxy doesn’t even work with the same gods as a Gaulish polytheist!
So, when you meet a Pagan, understand that the point of view they share with you may not have much in common with the one you learn about from a different one. Our cosmology is often shaped by the “hearth culture,” i.e., the people whose culture and religious practice we seek to understand is a way to better understand ourselves, and that cosmology is going to result in different theologies, different ways of living our faiths, and maybe even different understandings about what it means to live a virtuous, righteous life.
In short: Paganism is a complicated community with different and sometimes contradictory beliefs and practices. But, we sort of like it that way; we tend to be fairly individualistic. If you search for more information online, you’re bound to run into many differences, sometimes even within a specific tradition. That’s not a bug, it’s a feature.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart | A Quranic perspective
This summer, we are engaging a 3-part series regarding misunderstandings of other belief systems, whatever "other" may be for any given person. We are excited to give you Part I here!
Love is a beautiful concept in Islam, thought at times misunderstood for those unfamiliar with the tradition. We are honored that in the blog below, Ahmadiyya Muslim dialoguer Qamar Zafar shines a light on what it means to love God.
Bio: Qamar, his wife and two daughters made Austin their home 3 years ago when they moved from Atlanta. Qamar works at an Industrial Automation company and resides in North Austin. He belongs to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community i.e. Muslims who believe in the Messiah Mirza Ghulam Ahmad – peace be upon him of Qadian.
Here I will elucidate upon the concept of loving your God
according to the Islamic and Quranic perspective.
We read in the Bible:
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. -Mark 12:30, Deuteronomy 6:5
The sacrifice, steadfastness and submission to God’s will demonstrated by Jesus Christ – peace be upon him is quite remarkable. In a similar manner, Quran describes what love of God means and accordingly Holy Prophet Muhammad – peace be upon him left us an example to emulate.
Before getting into this discussion, I want to acknowledge that the English word ‘Love’ is quite limited in its expression of the emotion it tries to evoke. Unlike some other languages, it carries neither the depth nor the breadth love can take.
Let’s now turn to expressions of love in relation to God from the Quran.
Never shall you attain to righteousness unless you spend out of that which you love; and whatever you spend, Allah surely knows it well.
Chap 3, verse 93
And there are some among men who take for themselves objects of worship other than Allah, loving them as they should love Allah. But those who believe are stronger in their love for Allah…
Chap 2, verse 166
So Allah gave them the reward of this world, as also an excellent reward of the next; and Allah loves those who do good.’
Chap 3, verse 149
‘And seek forgiveness of your Lord; then turn to Him wholeheartedly. Verily, my Lord is Merciful, Most Loving.’
Chap 11, verse 91
O ye who believe! whoso among you turns back from his religion, then let it be known that in his stead Allah will soon bring a people whom He will love and who will love Him, and who will be kind and humble towards believers, hard and firm against disbelievers. They will strive in the cause of Allah and will not fear the reproach of a faultfinder. That is Allah’s grace; He bestows it upon whomsoever He pleases; and Allah is Bountiful, All- Knowing.
Chap 5, verse 55
Having referenced the Islamic scripture on love, let’s go over how this teaching was practiced by Islam’s Holy founder. In short, every aspect of the Holy Prophet Muhammad’s – peace be upon him – life appears to have been governed and colored by his love for and devotion to God.
Once on a cold winter's night, he asked his wife’s permission to spend the night in worship. Upon being granted permission, he spent the greater part of the night in devotion; supplicating before his Lord so that the place of his prostration became wet with his tears. His prayers were so full of pathos that when praying he sounded like a boiling pot.
On one such occasion his wife Aisha – God be pleased with her – said to him: "God has honored you with His love and nearness. Why then do you subject yourself to so much discomfort and inconvenience?" He replied: "If God has by His Grace and Mercy conferred His love and nearness upon me, is it not my duty in return to be always rendering thanks to Him? Gratitude should increase in proportion to the favors received"
His love for and devotion to God found expression in many ways. For instance, whenever after a dry season the first rain-drops began to descend, he would put out his tongue to catch a rain-drop and would exclaim: "Here is the latest favor from my Lord."
It should be evident by now that building a relationship with and seeking nearness to God is central to Islamic belief and practice. So far, only examples of love of man for God have been mentioned. That only tells half of the story. God does return the favor. I will wrap it up by narrating how God treats man who is fully devoted to God.
It is related that the Holy Prophet – peace and blessings be upon him – said: Allah says: Whoever is at enmity with one whom I befriend should beware of having to battle with Me. When a servant of Mine seeks to approach Me through that which I like best out of what I have made obligatory upon him and continues to advance towards Me by dint of voluntary effort beyond that prescribed then my love for him grows stronger. When I love him, I become his ears by which he hears, and his eyes with which he sees, and his hands with which he grasps, and his feet with which he walks. When he asks Me, I bestow upon him and when he seeks My protection I protect him.
In another narration: Holy Prophet – peace and blessings be upon him – said: Allah says: When a servant of Mine advances towards Me a foot, I advance towards him a yard, and when he advances towards Me a yard, I advance toward him the length of his arms spread out. When he comes to Me walking, I go to him running.
The above should provide a taste of what it means to Love the Lord your God with all your heart and how the Divine reciprocates this love according to Islam and Quran.