For two weeks we learned about early church history. We studies Augustine, Aquinas and Anslem; of course there were a lot more ... but I think they have already left my mind... Professor Sundberg was fantastic! His passion for the church and its history was obvious and made it fun to learn from him! We were given a list of 12 questions at the beginning of class. The answers to all twelve questions were given in the lecture and powerpoints over the last two weeks. The task now is to answer six of the twelve questions by writing a three page paper on each. I did two questions earlier this week so I have four to go and better get to that sooner than later!
Then I took Mission 1 which was mission of the Triune God. Basically an introduction to mission in the church. This was a good food for thought class. Most churches (or at least the ones that I have had experience in) really don't have much mission. Mission isn't the occassional mission trip or left to the missionaries the church may or may not support. Mission is about reaching outward. Mission is about share the love of Jesus with our neighbors, friends, families and others that don't know Him or His love. For the final for this class we had two choices. The first was to pick a topic related to mission and right a research paper. The second and the one I picked, was to interview 5 - 10 people in your congregation on mission. There will be some data collection on the history of the church, the interviews and then reflecting on the findings. I decided to so the congregation study because I am not sure that the church I service in now is very "mission" oriented. We are embarking on a long awaited renovation project and all resources, time and energy are (and have been for a long time) focused inward on our own project. I hope to invoke some interest and curiosity within the congregation on how we can start to turn more outward, even as we are building. Why wait? There have been mission trips in the past and there are a few very mission minded folks in the congregation, but the congregation as a whole I would say lack any kind of mission mind. I wonder what I will find? I am looking forward to sitting with folks and interviewing them on this very important aspect of Christianity and the church! I am be very surprised! I hope to get interviews set up this week!
The third class I took was Mission 2 and it was World Religions with a focus on African Traditions. It was a great class! We were blessed to have about 7 international students all from Africa in our class! We took a trip to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts one day to spend time with African art. We were to find a piece of art that brought about a reaction. What drew you in or scared you? How did you feel? What were you thinking? It was really a great experience! We did case studies and the group I was in had to make a decision about whether we would marry a couple that came to the Protestant Pastor as a compromise. The bride is Roman Catholic and the groom was a form Christian but now is practicing traditional African Spirituality. They was some of the traditional African rituals to be a part of the ceremony. There is a lot to think about here. What I learned about myself through this case study is that I am pretty liberal! Our final project is to find an African community and interview someone from the community about traditional rituals with the hope of possibly being invited to experience a ritual or practice. I am thinking that unless I drove to Duluth, there will be no such community near Cook. I asked the professor if I could visit the Native American reservation near by. I hope this works out and I know I can experience a Pow Wow, but hope to be able to see some other rituals and traditions too. I have started making contacts for this project already so hope by early next week to have something set up!
I am LOVING school, the learning, the stretching of my mind and self discovery that is happening! I think I would go to school for the rest of my life if I can!
There is a lot of wondering and wandering to take place the next few days as I continue to process all the information from the last two weeks.
A very big loss for not only our faith community, but for the community as a whole has happened while I have been gone, so there will be a lot of wondering going on the next few days as we prepare to celebrate the life of a very loving, caring and gentle man. What a tragic loss.
It is time to turn in! It was so great to be greeted tonight will lots of hugs and loves from my family! I sure missed them and boy will my own bed feel great tonight!
I wonder if I can sleep past 6:37 am tomorrow? My guess is YES!!!
Until next time...
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