July 1 - The Reformed Church

Calvin had a legal and humanities background. He was in Geneva, they loved not having a Pope but also not really excited about what Calvin was positing. He was basically writing the law for the local government. He was paid by the government to be a reader at the church. He was focused on training nominal Christians into devout believers. He was run out of town. He then went to Strasbourg and becomes a preacher. 3 years of turmoil in Geneva led to them inviting Calvin back, and they pass his previous rules into law. very strong sense of discipline, those that do not flourish in this could be denied communion. He thought Luther's church was too much like the Catholic Church. So he changed the Eucharist to look less like the Catholic Church. He thought that the Eucharist connects us to God, the true presence of Christ (differentiated from the true presence). He really drivers for pastors to have the power to excommunicate, which means that they have the power to exclude people from essentially ALL community. You could not choose to miss church (you could be banished from the city) nor would you want to because it would isolate you from the community. Luther sees that law is overcome (it is to be avoided) whereas Calvin says that the law shows us our sin, it is a good thing. Calvin is an advocate of stewardship, to take care of the city/countryside. The preached word was also an essential for Calvin, you had EVERYONE coming to hear your words.

June 30 - The Lutheran Church

Luther lived from November 10, 1483 – February 18, 1546. He actively soldiered for reform for 30 years before his death.

Europe was ready for something to happen, the printing press, invented in 1440, was having a vast impact (it is often seen as the birth of individualism, no one could ever learn for themselves/by themselves/ on their own), the Bible was translated in to simple English. The influence of the Pope was weakening as individual, increasingly autonomous, local magistrates were open to breaking from the authority of the Pope. Penance was snowballing into a pillar of the Catholic Church's budget for building projects, because the Church depended on this income they became increasingly willing to accept money for satisfaction of sins committed. Between 1100-1500, the divide between clergy and laity was radically solidified. By the time Luther began positing the priesthood of all believers, this was a shocking assertion. Luther did not challenge the unification of church/state but wanted to see this order be reduced to a local authority. Luther was an Augustinian monk and sees the visible church as having the saved AND unsaved (for the Catholic Church, just being a part of the Church is being part of salvation), Luther still resides in Christendom. Worship changes as The Word becomes a focus, preaching of the gospel, and focus on scripture. Less focused on the ceremony of the Eucharist. The Eucharist has a dual nature: bread-wine/body-blood. Transition from the monastery to finding the sacred in family and vocation:

chastity - marriage as a sanctifying institution
obedience - priesthood of all believers/local authority
poverty - sacredness of vocation and production

June 29 - Narrative of the Church after Constantine

The church is filled with non-invested Christians and worldly power. The church and the roman empire become one. There is no longer a place that models Christian life. Responses to this include Monasticism and the Donatist schism. The Donatists held that the emperor was basically Satan and continued to hold this view even when Constantine became a patriarch of the Catholic church. Monasticism may have actually saved Hellenistic culture as the "eternal city" was pillaged by raiders. These new kings actually depended on Bishops for civil administration during this time. Thus the Roman Empire is dead, the Church is now more political than spiritual/pastoral, only the monasteries remain as a beacon for dedicated Christian life.

June 29 - Saint Patrick, a case study

He did not make a Roman Church in Ireland, it is a very indigenous/earthy faith that is not co-opted by the Roman church for another 200 years. During his life Ireland went from having NO Christians to having Christians spread throughout the entire country. This is also an interesting case study because Christianity had been spread through Western Europe largely by sword, you worshiped who your prince worshiped. Christianity spread from tribe to tribe without the sword in Ireland under St. Patrick.

June 26 - pre constantinian analysis

Much more oriented around the Bishop. The Bishop began to represent Jesus rather than the resurrection community of the first century.

Steady but HUGE growth:
100AD- 10,000 Christians to
300AD- 6,000,000 Christians (10% of the Roman Empire)

Martyrdom became a new witness, and defined the church in many ways. Turtullian: "The blood of the Martyrs are the seeds of the church". Kingdom of God language begins to fade as people start to see the Church as the kingdom of God. The expectation of the kingdom was no longer imminent.

June 25 - end of first century to Constantine

Church polity begins to be solidified with Bishops becoming a class of priests that were ontologically different from the laity. Practices were also solidified and dictated by this new class of leaders. This is where we see the Eucharist being viewed as substantial, as literally administering grace, and only being valid if administered by a Bishop. This is also where the office of Bishop becomes a vocation. Churches begin to pay these individuals a salary. Rome begins to emerge as an authoritative focal point, yet this was resisted even to 400 and beyond.

Women in leadership began to be discriminated after 200. Rather than having women in any role of church (there is even a woman apostle in scripture) women are now limited to particular roles. These roles were significantly less substantial than roles available to men.

June 24 - Early Churches

The Church sees itself as the Body of Christ

The church is made up of first century households

Worship, at first, was Probably like synagogue but in a house

They would hear the apostle's teaching, probably have table fellowship and a Eucharist ceremony. the Eucharist involved remembering the life of Christ and anticipation of his return

The first churches were Household churches (different than a contemporary house/house church). Households were like a small organization or network centered around a father (though sometimes it could be a woman). Leadership of household churches did not bear on ethnicity, social standing, or gender. There is no evidence of leaders being appointed, it looks like it resulted as a movement of the spirit. There were a number of women who lead household churches Including the first European Christian, Lydia. The Holy Spirit was among all who believed there was no distinctions where the world tends to make them.There is no evidence that the original apostles had substantial leadership roles. The new apostles (the sent ones, Paul is one) would go to various cities and stay until they got kicked out. They fulfilled roles (apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers) but did not exercise top-down authority. There is no evidence that Paul appointed another apostle, but he did work with a number of apostles. It appears that this was a role that the spirit would confer.

Bishop/Elder/Deacon - looks like a household church leader.

June 23 - the first followers of Jesus

The church is focused on outcasts.

The "church" does not have a firm structure.

There is a substantial leadership of God. The leadership is not human.

The first followers were worshiping by prayer

Christ was baptized and demonstrated the first Eucharist

Jesus proclaimed the kingdom among outcasts

Jesus demonstrated the kingdom by healing, preaching, and forgiving

The church fellowship was upside down, the first were last and the last were first

This is demonstrated by Jesus washing the feet of his followers

Jesus went to the outcast and the marginalized to proclaim that the Kingdom was near. Jesus witnessed to the kingdom by performing miracles and pronouncing forgiveness.

notes on the kingdom - more from June 22

-Christ did not invent the concept of "the kingdom of God/heaven" but entered into a contemporary conversation.

-Rome was the kingdom with a significant presence.

-The landscape was a people in exile, Jews expected that Yahweh would return to rule.

-This would fulfill messianic (pre NT meaning) expectations

-The kingdom is presented in little stories that turn logic on its head

-Its presence is demonstrated in the miraculous and in Christ's inclusion

-followed the prophetic grid but was deeper and more radical than his predecessors

-the kingdom no longer has human enemies but spiritual enemies (replaces rome with satan as enemy)

-the revolution against rome, as a political power, used love as its vehicle for change

June 22 - introduction MC500

I liked the introduction to the class in light of my recent church experiences. I have been working for "a different kind of Church". This church is keen on the emmergent movement, informed, community based, and relevant. I soldiered for this church and became part of their staff for about a year and a half. Yet, as Bolger identified in class it was really a "liquid church" meaning a completely normal church but more fluid. The challenges I faced until I was invited to leave include traditional church structure, capitalizing, and polity. With all of the hip talk and chill demeanour it still has all of the hesitations of a traditional parish ministry. Changing methodology did not change model. My point was proven when I suggested we give back the money we were given and rid ourselves of a "staff" but this was rejected because it conflicted with the Church's by-laws, and the board would have never let it fly.