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The Public Presence of the Missional Church: Transient, Transparent, and Transformational

Denise Kingdom Grier The Samaritan woman showed up at the well that day and probably every other day before. There was no one there to welcome her. She likely felt she was in this situation because of her own doing, her own life choices. She was walking around in her space, in her own culture, yet she did not feel welcome. There was no one there to welcome her. No one inviting her to come and see. That was, until…
Denise Kingdom Grier
October 16, 2008
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The Dance of the Man on the Warning Sign

OCTOBER 2008: POETRY by Robert Lowes I slip on a glaze of water. I touch a hot wire and hop. When the bar of the gate descends on my head, I stagger and throw up my hands. The dance of the man on the warning sign. Attention. Achtung. Cuidado. Kids giggle and slap their knees at my stick anatomy, the skeleton of human error, the clown of consequence. The dance of the man on the warning sign. Attention. Achtung. Cuidado.…
Robert Lowes
October 16, 2008
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New (and Dull?) Apologetics

Debra Rienstra Two doctrinal sermons every Sunday, hymns thick with theological import, Bible class at school, and catechism class every Wednesday. That was my religious upbringing, heavy with Bible knowledge and theological terminology. This appealed to my bookish nature, and for the most part I lapped it right up. The part I hated was youth group, with its strained urgings toward "sharing" followed by activities that we cynically referred to as "forced fun." I would be hard-pressed to find a…
October 16, 2008
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Witchelder

It did seem odd bringing a witch to a denominational meeting. Not as odd as having Jo serving as an Elder in our church, but still odd enough. Serving two small congregations, sometimes a witch is what is offered in terms of spiritual leadership. We go with the horses we've got. These are matters not fully anticipated in church polity courses. So off we went, she cheerful as usual, and I was relieved she was not wearing the outfit I…
Thom Fiet
October 16, 2008
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Reformed & Missional

OCTOBER 2008: NOTE FROM THE EDITORS Reformed and missional--what does it mean to pair these two words together? One is such an old, familiar term, our understanding is probably more intuitive and inexact than we realize. The other term, "missional" is so new it may mean almost nothing to some people and is still so malleable it can convey a variety of things to others. The General Synod of the Reformed Church in America has initiated a conversation on what…
Perspectives Journal
October 1, 2008
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Books on My Bedside Table

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2008: BOOKS FEATURE For this late-summer issue of Perspectives, editor Steve Mathonnet-VanderWell asked a number ofPerspectives readers and contributors to share with us the books, blogs, and other reading resources that have been feeding their imaginations and stimulating their thinking of late. We now pass these titles and resources along to you in the hope that your mind and heart might also be enriched and quickened by tapping into this good reading material. Trygve Johnson, dean of the chapel…
Perspectives Journal
August 1, 2008
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Poetry by Barbara Crooker

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2008: POETRY by Barbara Crooker Prayer in Autumn Turn me to gold, Lord, burnish me; strip me of chlorophyll, all those green thoughts. Let me brown and dry, crisp as old vellum; let me sail a long way across the green lawn. Spin and skitter, the final dance, one long waltz, as the world flames scarlet, vermillion. All of this dazzle, all of it gone. From the Middle Kingdom: Tu Wi's Contemplates Buttercups Tu Wi's is an imaginary poet…
Barbara Crooker
August 1, 2008
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Crying for Strangers

When Tim Russert died suddenly in June, I felt like I had lost a friend. Millions of people felt that way, and it's not that unusual a phenomenon when someone famous--whose face and voice are a common presence in one's home--disappears from our lives. In this case, since I am something of a political junkee, I absorbed Russert's insights with great interest across the last ten to fifteen years in no small part because Tim was often uncannily insightful. Even…
August 1, 2008
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The Best of the West

Let me introduce you to the Wests. Perhaps I should say the "very" Wests, for George and Fiona live in Westfield Drive in the West End of Glasgow. She is a part-time solicitor working in the city; he is the regional director of a company based in Manchester. They have three children, the youngest of whom, Sarah, is still in school; and they have three cars--one for him, one for her, and one for whichever of the older offspring needs…
John L. Bell
August 1, 2008