Trinitarian Formation

 I think that formation is one of the key issues going forward for the church in relation to climate and environment emergency. This is because some degree of change -no; damage and loss- is baked in and the only question is how bad it will get and where? And following on from that is how will we Christians respond? In response to those challenges, I think we need, NOW, to be discipling each other in ways that will equip us to be good neighbours in climate and environmental emergencies. So it is vital that we re/consider how to disciple well -or to put it otherly: how to do good Christian formation. So my interest in this book is to enable to make sure my own thinking about formation's current agenda is Trinitarian.

One of the things I found helpful in reading this is the interaction with JKA Smith, where the latter's questioning of the Reformed Christian 'cognitive first' approach is affirmed though the replacement with centring desire/love/worship is critiqued because a more plural and interactive approach is argued to be needed (drawing on Frame's insights) -all of head, hand and heart, so to speak. I think that this is right and found myself calling to mind times when I had noticed in myself and other learners times when different ones of the list are to the fore but noting also that it is interactive, complex, feedback sensitive.

This helped me to become clearer about what the basic model being offered is proposing. I found it helpful too that it was also secured within a Trinitarian theological framework. I hadn't previously come across James Frame's epistempological work and this, for me, was a good way to find out about it.

I think I take away into my further explorations about Christian formation in climate emergency the need to attend to all three dimensions of human learning/formation as well as to consider the ways that they may typically interact and support or reinforce one another. It reinforces my having begun to think about CSF in this sort of multi-pronged fashion and gives me an overview map of the dimensions to consider and how in broad terms they work together. This, I think, should help give me a degree of clarity in assembling and laying out proposals.

Link-Love for this Review

Trinitarian Formation on Amazon
J. Chase Davis’ Website

Tag #TrinitarianFormation

I should mention I received this book for review on the basis that I would review it but I was under no obligation to make the review favourable -or otherwise.

Turning over the Church's year

 I find myself saying from time to time that we should make more of Holy Saturday. I know that the Orthodox have a liturgy about the burial of Christ's body. I think that holding it as a day of lament, a day to consider what it would be like to live, for example, in a meaningless universe without God, a day to remember the finality of death -holding back from anticipating a relativising of that finality. This appears not to be what the Orthodox do -as they think about the harrowing of hell and the 'resting' of Christ -which still seems framed by the hint of resurrection. I think we could do with an exploration of the darkness, maybe.

But then as I think about adjusting our liturgical practice, a flow of other things I'd like to explore about the church's year starts (some of which I've posted before) ...

I think that we should perhaps start the church's year with Creationtide; in September. This would align with the new academic year and draw us much closer to our Jewish roots. I'd suggest that the liturgical colour should be green and that to compensate, we might take another colour for 'ordinary time'. I'd suggest a pale grey or cream -something basically perceived as neutral.

Then in November we've lately begun to have Kingdomtide. How about we have that as the penitential preparation for the Christmas season? -And use purple or deep blue as the season's colour? Maybe during this season we might fast a la Ramadan -not eating during daylight hours.

I'd suggest then we swap the Advent colour for a festal red (and inter-shot with green?) recognising that December is essentially in experiential terms in our society, greater Christmas: let it be and don't fight it -hence penitential prep in November, Kingdomtide which lends itself to the themes of death, judgement, the last things etc.

I think I'd suggest that the liturgical colours for Lent should be brown and/ or sack-cloth should be used. This suggests soil, humility and the basis for new growth. To support this, I'd suggest we use ash and/or soil instead of (or as an optional alternate to) holy water at the entrance to church buildings during this season encouraging people to mark themselves with a streak or two. I'd also suggest exploring a fresh ashing on Good Friday -perhaps as a way to start a Stations of the Cross or similar.

During Holy Week, I reckon black and grey should be the theme palette. This resonates with the way that black is generally conceived in wider society as a colour of sombreness and mourning. Perhaps dark grey during most of the week and black for Good Friday and Holy Saturday -which we should definitely do more with liturgically. A day of lament and consideration of loss -including the death of God, hope etc.

Easter. Yes, gold is a good colour. But how about also using vivid spring greens? -Certainly for the Easter season. I'd strongly discourage any celebration of Easter before sunset of the eve. I'd encourage more careful consideration to strengthen the experience in the liturgy of darkness contrasted by light -which is often lost in the practical enactment of the rites. I've written more about this elsewhere.

I keep wondering whether at Pentecost, we should take an idea from the Holi festival in India (and beyond): "one and all, chase each other around with dry paint or coloured water, in water pistols or balloons!". And perhaps a good colour to use in this season would be sunny yellow or a warm orange to pick up on the fiame imagery of Pentecost.

I also think that it'd be great to have a festival -a change of colour- somewhere between the end of Pentecost and the start of Creationtide. So, there's midsummer, traditionally associated with the feast of John the Baptiser on 24 June and there's Transfiguration on 6 August.  The latter should be bright white and maybe a week or two of  that. Midsummer might run from 20 -25 June? Gold?

The other thing is to think through the environmental dimensions of many of these seasons and give them greater prominence. This is important because of the times we live in: we need to bring our relation to the non-human creation into a bigger part of our thinking on the way to becoming better climate citizens. So this could involve recognising Lost Species Remembrance day at the end of November -which would fit with All Souls on 2nd and Remembrance day on and around 11th. Transfiguration could have a dimension of the transfiguration of all creation in the Fullness of Time. Easter holds promise for all of creation. Some days hold seasons of the year significances which could be brought out more: spring, midsummer, autumn and midwinter have ecclesiastical near-neighbours which have traditionally been celebrated togther. There or also cross quarter-days of Candlemas, Mayday, Lammas, Hallows'eve which could be opportunities to consider our human relationship to our environment and our Christian discipleship in the natural world in which God has placed us and in which so many of us encounter God. 

I'd suggest that we should be holding days of penitence and lament around Earth Overshoot days. And Rogationtide might gain more prominence as days to consider and pray about our food systems globally as well as locally. Since Rogationtide is tied to the feast of the Ascension, it would serve as a short penitential lead-in to that feast. It might be that we look at the tradition of 'beating the bounds' at Rogationtide, -maybe to take in how our 'bounds' have been breached by pollution and by extraction, globalisation and colonialism. The message would be that, yes, we have to look after and know our own patch but also it is not possible to be simply parochial.

There are probably things I've been thinking about that I've for the moment missed out. I'll add more if/when I recall any.