Personal Reflection on Living the Bible..Course

My journey into pastoral ministry was via many years of children’s and youth ministry and as I sought to minister in a way which was relevant to them, I often advocated the need to use more ‘creative’ ‘elements’ in church worship services. Years of positive comments from adults who had encountered God through these creative worship or teaching experiences has convinced me that there are lots of ways we can “unleash the power of scripture in a way that leads to personal and corporate encounter with God” and “open up the possibility of transformation.” (Jonny Baker, “Preaching- Throwing a Hand Grenade in the Fruit Bowl” Course Reader) Postmoderns want experience and conversation more than lectures and distrust anyone who sets themselves up as an expert / authority figure- the clips from the Anthropology class and of the Gen X’er were excellent reminders of the postmodern world.

“Living the Bible in a Postmodern Context” has been refreshing, encouraging and exciting for me as Dr. Steve Taylor presented a wide range of options, experiences, and opportunities for creative and imaginative presentations of the Bible text, to enable people to connect with God’s Word, be transformed by it, and live out the text in our postmodern world. Steve kept reminding us that it is essential to keep the Biblical text central and to have a theological rationale for what we do. It was reassuring to reflect on the ideas that God’s Word has been expressed in the person and life experiences of Jesus; that Jesus (God’s Word) was spoken of as the image or revelation of God; that God’s Word was read and confirmed in the community and that people heard God’s Word in dialogue with God and with God’s people. This confirms that creativity and imaginative methodologies are not just gimmicks but are inherent in the biblical understanding of God’s revelation of Himself and His Word to His people.

As a newly ordained minister of the Word, with the responsibility of leading a small local church, I will be able to explore some of the new and different ways of presenting the text at our monthly ‘creative’ intergenerational services (e.g stations, Godly play, Lectio Divina, listening to and reflecting the other, artistic displays, colours). However even on the other Sundays, when there is an expectation of ‘hearing’ a sermon, there are more imaginative ways of presenting the text and “a creation of imaginative space in our preaching could be considered an essential part of its contextualization in a postmodern world.” (Wilder quoted in lecture notes)

There are sound theological reasons to value creativity and imagination. God is creative and we are made to be creative (and imaginative), in His image. Secondly Jesus in his person revealed God to us, therefore we should “live the text” in ways which honour our whole bodies, including all the senses.

The DVD about the illustrating of the Bible text, challenged me to think about giving colour to God’s Word to make it more appealing to the postmodern world. The use of art, illustrations, photos, symbols, cartoons, images etc., help to fire up the imagination of both communicator and hearer. I was inspired by Steve Taylor’s Easter Sunday sermon (in the Course reader), about “Noli Me Tangere” (described in “The Passion in Art” by Richard Harries, p. 123) to use paintings to bring different perspectives to the text. Steve’s use of the painting certainly inspired a fresh look at the story of the Resurrection and its impact on our lives in the present.

I have been using an inductive, conversational style similar to that of Lucy Atkinson Rose in the Course Reader (Sharing the Word: Preaching in the Roundtable Church) which has included story-telling, sharing my own experiences, and on occasions inviting dialogue from the people. Steve Taylor’s ideas about DJing the samples from gospel and culture (to engage with the surrounding culture more authentically) and the outline of other sermon styles i.e. dialogical, multiple voices, abductive has encouraged me to add more variety to my preaching. I also need to share some of these ideas with other preachers in my congregation.

Other ways of creatively engaging with the text, by offering the text as a sensory experience are: the use of displays; enriching the environment; the use of stations and varieties of activities and giving take-aways, as an ongoing engagement with the text. I would like to use these ideas more often, but I am the only pastor, working part-time, in a small church of limited resources and I find this a difficult challenge. I have been able to use a few simple things like balloons and candles and simple displays and it does make a difference to the people’s receptiveness to the text. I am challenged to be more intentional about seeking out people to work with me in this area and to give greater opportunities for them to use their artistic and creative talents to interpret and represent biblical text for the community. This will require a significant length of planning and preparation time, support from the leadership and the setting of some boundaries e.g. budget and space. However as Olive Drane says “It is a matter of using the arts with integrity, rather than (as frequently happens) as a gimmick.”(Olive Drane, “Clowns, Storytellers, Disciples, Spirituality and Creativity for Today’s Church,” BRF, Oxford, 2002, p. 156)

During the course it was helpful to think of my creativity as a well which needs to be refilled. I need to allow myself time to go places and do things which energise my creativity. I also need to plan for and give adequate preparation time for even greater creativity.

Another valuable part of the course was about developing story-telling skills. I believe the use of stories is very effective in capturing people's imagination and opening them up to learn more about themselves and others and to explore the potential for living with God in their lives. I use stories often. Postmoderns love stories. People identify with the characters in stories. The experience of Steve’s presentation of the story of Paul and the authentic responses of the group inspired me to plan Godly play for my next ‘creative’ service.

I have found it extremely valuable to reflect on living the text in community. Matt 18:20 says God is present when 2 or 3 are gathered so the Spirit of God inspires the faith community as it engages with the Scriptures. In our conversation around the text we are creating shared meaning and there will be a greater revelation of God and the Word from the shared thoughts and feelings of the community than just in my knowledge as the pastor. I loved the thought that God’s story is an unfinished story and that telling the story in community kindles the new thing God is calling into being in us-living the Bible in the present.

So, it is important to encourage good community sharing and listening. We need to give people a voice in our faith communities, especially the marginalized. And there are many ways of involving others: acting out the text; small group discussion or ‘activities’ and reporting back; Godly play; Lectio Divina; sharing stories during the sermon; and inviting response about thoughts and feelings. Two helpful ‘open’ questions we used in class were “What struck you?” and “What questions might you ask of a Biblical scholar?” I am challenged to ask of myself more often, “How is the community involved in this sermon?”

Finally I have been again reminded of the awesome responsibility of enabling God’s people to engage with the text so that God’s Word is revealed to us in community. We must acknowledge that the text is from a different country, language and culture, and honour its complexity by exploring the different perspectives, conflicts, and tensions it portrays. I may find the task challenging and daunting at times but God’s people are transformed as we encounter God in the text, and answer His call to live the Bible in our postmodern world.