Theology of place and camping ministry
Thinking, thinking, thinking. I've been doing a lot of thinking as I revise my final project proposal.
Tracy's brother Bret, in an effort to keep from steering my final project too heavy handedly into his field refrained from offering some fascinating commentary here on the discussion of thinness and the kingdom of God. Bret did his PHD in an interaction of Theology and Geography and has some very significant things to say about place as a dynamic creation of humans and non-humans. It turns out, the question I posed, Can Calvin Crest be a thin place, is exactly a question of the theology of place.
I wish for my readers' sake that Bret had written his thoughts here. Alas, we spent an hour and a half on an intercontinental phone call hashing out the issue. I have to go read a chapter of his dissertation.... and I have four or five new titles to pick up.
Calvin crest is a place by the testimony of many witnesses where God and his activity are more apparent. Because it is such a place, we take pilgrimages there. We leave our normal settings to spend time in this place. While we are there, we have an opportunity to encounter God, to grow as people, and gain a God-oriented perspective on our life back at home.
Why is Calvin Crest such a place? It is a dynamic between non-human things are and aren't there, and our activities there. It is a place formed by the lack of things that distract us from God, by an abundance of the beauty of God's creation, by a community that is devoted to attending to God's presence, and by God's kingdom manifested through that community and place.
So, how does that happen? Is there a part we should play? Yes. What is it? I am working that out. I've revised my proposal. I expect I will begin shifting my thoughts to my introduction and first chapter soon.
Tracy's brother Bret, in an effort to keep from steering my final project too heavy handedly into his field refrained from offering some fascinating commentary here on the discussion of thinness and the kingdom of God. Bret did his PHD in an interaction of Theology and Geography and has some very significant things to say about place as a dynamic creation of humans and non-humans. It turns out, the question I posed, Can Calvin Crest be a thin place, is exactly a question of the theology of place.
I wish for my readers' sake that Bret had written his thoughts here. Alas, we spent an hour and a half on an intercontinental phone call hashing out the issue. I have to go read a chapter of his dissertation.... and I have four or five new titles to pick up.
Calvin crest is a place by the testimony of many witnesses where God and his activity are more apparent. Because it is such a place, we take pilgrimages there. We leave our normal settings to spend time in this place. While we are there, we have an opportunity to encounter God, to grow as people, and gain a God-oriented perspective on our life back at home.
Why is Calvin Crest such a place? It is a dynamic between non-human things are and aren't there, and our activities there. It is a place formed by the lack of things that distract us from God, by an abundance of the beauty of God's creation, by a community that is devoted to attending to God's presence, and by God's kingdom manifested through that community and place.
So, how does that happen? Is there a part we should play? Yes. What is it? I am working that out. I've revised my proposal. I expect I will begin shifting my thoughts to my introduction and first chapter soon.
