October 2010
22 posts
Reflections on 'Living Mission: Vision & Voices of... →
A few years back, as I was beginning to explore Franciscan & monastic spirituality, I came across a book called “The New Friars: The Emerging Movement Serving The World’s Poor” by Scott Bessenecker. From that excellent and challenge book, Scott became a friend and someone I knew had the pulse of Christian mission with the poor around the world. So I was thrilled when I heard that he was...
'Vocations of Hope' :: by Chris Heuertz :: on Duke... →
It can be tempting for any organization to define itself by what it is not.
Some mission communities like mine, Word Made Flesh, used to juxtapose our emerging identity against what we perceived to be worn out models of mission and community. It took us a few years to figure out what we actually are.
We were helped by the arrival of Gabe Lyons’ first book, “ unChristian: What a New...
'Pilgrimage of a Soul' :: on 'Soul Midwife :: by... →
“In the spiritual journey we also face moments of temptation to return to the land of our slavery. It’s safe, secure, and known. Where God is taking us is risky and unknown and requires deeper trust, courage and greater maturity No matter the nature of our awakening—feminine or masculine—each of us faces aspects of our human condition from which we long to be free. Perhaps...
'Friendships at the Margins' :: on Some Strange... →
Friendship at the Margins: Discovering Mutuality and Service in Mission is part of the Resources for Reconciliation series, which pairs a practioner and an academic around a shared topic of expertise and interest. With an ongoing interest in shaping a practical theology that works itself out in actual relationships, I like the approach of this series. (Last year, I reviewed another book from the...
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"Food for Thought" by Amey Victoria Adkins :: One... →
Food for thought
in medias res
By Amey Adkins November 20, 2007
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I maintain a love/hate relationship with Thanksgiving.
Like anyone else, I enjoy the break from working, the chance to spend time with my family and the opportunity to share and fellowship over fried turkey and fixin’s. Our family traditions include everything from an annual...
Phileena Heuertz : 'It's Not Easy To Be Human' ::... →
"Embracing the Ambiguities" :: on 'Reconcilers... →
Embracing the Ambiguities
Posted by Chris Rice on September 25, 2010
In our second session at the Reconcilers Weekend conference, Christine Pohl helped us to embrace the ambiguities and the tensions that we find in friendships at the margins — and lead us toward imagining how to build communities that yield authentic friendship.
Often when we form friendships at the margins, we are the ones who...
"Extending Hospitality" :: on 'Reconcilers with... →
Extending Hospitality
Posted by Chris Rice on September 25, 2010
The greatest challenge to forming friendships at the margins may be us.
Are we willing to be vulnerable with our friends? Will we risk feeling betrayed? Will we respond in gratitude to the possibility of friendship across divides because we were first called a friend of God?
All good words from Christine Pohl.
Christine...
"Friendship at the Margins" :: on 'Reconcilers... →
Friendship at the Margins
Posted by Chris Rice on September 25, 2010
Last night, we welcomed several hundred friends, new and old, to Duke Divinity School for the start of Reconcilers Weekend. The first gift of the weekend was to realize that the vast majority of attendees are from Durham, our own city. Using the language of Jesus in Acts 1:8, Durham is our “Jerusalem,” and so it strikes me as...
"The Dangers of Over-Identifying" :: on... →
The Dangers of Over-Identifying
Posted by Chris Rice on September 25, 2010
“Let’s change our language. Let’s not talk about ‘the poor’ anymore. We talk about our friends. The problem is, most of us don’t have friends who are poor. That speaks to the poverty of our friendships.” — Chris Heuertz, co-international executive director of Word Made Flesh
"Wall Street and the Apostle Paul" :: on... →
Wall Street and The Apostle Paul
1 Timothy 6:6-19 NIV
6But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10For the...
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"Having the Humility to be Blessed" :: from the... →
Mission or ministry with people who are poor or vulnerable often assumes that “our” task is to meet “their” needs. Whether their need is for the good news of Christ or for bread and a place to sleep, we tend to think that we have the resources and they have the needs. A focus on friendship rearranges our assumptions. What if the resources they have also meet our needs? What...
Heuertz Family Update Letter for October 2010
1 October 2010
Dear Friends,
These past few weeks have been pretty full. Phileena and I just returned from visiting all the Word Made Flesh communities in Asia. We celebrated the 15th year anniversary of our first WMF children’s home in Chennai, India; in Kolkata we were able to visit the first Sari Bari community center and the new Sari Bari community center as well as the first Sari...
"The Temptations of Friendship" :: on 'Reconcilers... →
The Temptations of Friendship
Posted by Chris Rice on September 27, 2010
“When we use friendship instrumentally to get something else, the beauty of it is undermined … There is a temptation to use friendship because it makes us feel good about ourselves. We can get a high from helping … We can end up feeling superior.” — Christine Pohl
"Costing Someone Something Somewhere" :: on... →
Costing someone something somewhere…
Posted by Chris Rice on September 25, 2010
In our first morning session at Reconciler’s Weekend this morning, Chris Heuertz shared with us a challenging story about his friend Sujana — a story that reflects how our individual “consumption causes violence” in our world today.
Chris and his wife Phileena met Sujana when they were working in South India. Sujana...