| | By Paul McCartney from "McCartney" (1970), his first solo album after the Beatles
Oct. 16-19, 2006
Update forthcoming!
Jin & Soon Pac with Steve & Sharol and Chuck & Laura
 Dinner with Atef, Manal and Nayer from Egypt
Campbell Scholars present to the Columbia Seminary community
"You think you're better than me, Bishop?"
Seminary football every Thursday at 4:00
Oct. 15, 2006
North Point Community Church is located on a huge campus in Alpharetta, a tony suburb in north Atlanta. Andy Stanley, son of the renowned Atlanta Baptist preacher Charles Stanley, is the founder and visionary that sustains a truly cutting edge church. It is a media-saturated, concert-oriented church, where the line between physical reality and virtual reality is intentionally blurred. The venues for children's ministry and youth ministry are jaw-dropping - you really have to be there to grasp it. Much of this would be cutting-edge gimmickry were it not for the outstanding leadership and preaching of Andy Stanley. He is the down-to-earth, guy-next-door pastor/theologian who helps to make sense of the over-stimulated, over-scheduled, hyperactive, exhausted, alienated existence of the middle class, white suburbanite - and no one is better at it. Among evangelical megachurches, few are as theologically substantive, entertaining and well-executed as North Point. But I can't help thinking that the megachurch model is an interim waystation between the staid mainline church of the past and the small, intimate congregations of the future. As outstanding as North Point is, and even with its small group ministry, it does not address adequately the fundamental crisis of American culture: alienation. There is community at a rock concert, to be sure - everyone swaying as one, but it is momentary. People in the near future will not settle for such temporary community, but an intimate and lasting one, the kind that only a smaller fellowship can facilitate. Also, how long will North Point be a mono-cultural, predominantly white church in a multicultural society? Will it address meaningfully the heresy of American racism in the church?
"Visioneering" pastor Andy Stanley of North Point Community Church
 Everything executed to perfection at North Point
 Virtual reality: couldn't tell whether this baptism was live or Memorex
Triple screen: the middle one shows life-size image of Andy Stanley
The "Kid Zone" felt like Downtown Disney
Top-notch audio/visual productions
 Every venue felt like a live rock concert, even for the kids
Massive surface parking for this megachurch (shuttle service available)
Oct. 10, 2006
I've had a growing concern for the unity of the global church. How can one work for racial and cultural reconciliation among Christians without addressing the scandal of division among some 38,000 denominations around the world? Fortunately for me, Dr. Martha Moore-Keish is not only a professor at Columbia Seminary but a PCUSA representative in the Reformed/Catholic Dialogue in the US. She was hosting their seventh meeting on Baptism, and although these are typically closed sessions, I finagled an invitation to sit as an observor. Richard Mouw, president of Fuller Seminary, serves as co-chair along with a Catholic bishop. The discussion ranged from big-picture ecumenism to the minutiae of baptismal theology in current and ancient, Catholic and Reformed, thought. About half were Catholic and the other half made up of reps from the PCUSA, RCA, CRC and the UCC. In general, both sides recognize the validity of the other's baptism. For the Reformed, that means that Catholics are welcome to the Lord's table now, since it is Christ himself that does the inviting. For Catholics, the Lord's supper is the culmination of true and visible unity, and therefore cannot be shared until such eucharistic fellowship has been realized. It's a painful dialogue that crystallizes our inability as Christians to honor Jesus' prayer that we be one, just as the Father and Son are one, that the world may believe. Still, the warmth, trust and friendship among all the participants were obvious, and I believe that such dialogues are important steps toward the dream of visible unity.
Reformed/Catholic Dialogue on Baptism at CTS on Oct. 10, 2006
Oct. 8, 2006
Norberto, Emily and I worshiped at historic Ebenezer Baptist Church this morning. What an experience! I've visited many historic churches around the country and the world, and they usually have the smell of museums, but not this one. We sat in a beautiful new 2,000 seat sanctuary constructed in 1999 in the African village motif. The new senior pastor Raphael Warnock was not there, but the Associate Pastor Frank Brown preached a powerful sermon on daring to be blessed, opening with a rousing solo hymn from the pulpit. The gospel choir was amazing throughout, helping to lift all the people's hearts to the Lord. The church was founded 120 years ago, and it's claim to fame is that this was the church that the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was baptized in and pastored. But it remains a vibrant, thriving congregation making a huge impact on the city of Atlanta and the world. Praise God for Ebenezer!
Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, downtown Atlanta
Emily, Norberto and I worship at home of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Members since 1972 and 1944 in front of new Ebenezer sanctuary
Columbia Theological Seminary, Atlanta Campbell Scholars Seminar 2006, Sept. 25-Nov. 15
After a whirlwind tour around the world, this may not look like the most exciting segment of my sabbatical, but this is by far the most important. To discuss a key issue (see description below) facing the church worldwide with top notch theologians from Kenya, Egypt, Argentina, Jamaica and the US for eight weeks is a gift to me that I do not take lightly. Among us is three seminary presidents, one of whom is also an Anglican bishop, a woman professor from Kenya and an American pastor who served as chair of the PCUSA General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission (she was the church equivalent of chief justice). Needless to say, it is very humbling to be surrounded by such accomplished pastors and scholars who also love the church deeply and serve the church faithfully. Columbia Seminary evangelism professor Steve Hayner is doing a marvelous job facilitating our discussions - we've had a great start so far this week. I'm also desperately hoping that I can complete a rough draft of a book I've been dreaming about for many years, about the future of the global church from a congregational perspective. Pray for me! Oh yeah, and thanks to future seminarian Risley who helped me drive 1,200 miles from Minneapolis to Atlanta. Coming from apartheid South Africa, it wasn't easy for him to sleep in Arkansas, but who knew we'd have the wonderful experience of worshiping at the innovative, multiracial Mosaic Church in the morning? God is good, right Ris?
From the prospectus:
“The Mission of the Church in an Age of Uprooted
People”
“… A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went
down into Egypt
and lived there as an alien …” [Deuteronomy 26:5]
Columbia Seminary's Campbell Library where we meet daily
 Scholars from Argentina, Egypt, Jamaica, Kenya, Korea and the US
 Campbell Scholars 2006: Howard, Jin, Jane, Atef, Steve, Emily, Norberto
A Doctors Without Borders global refugee exhibit at Piedmont Park, Atlanta
 A typical refugee tent made of plastic tarp
 With Emily from Kenya and Norberto from Argentina
 Friday chapel at Columbia Seminary
Communio sanctorum
 With CTS President Laura Mendenhall and husband Chuck
 With PCUSA Moderator Joan Gray and husband Bill
 With friend Scott Weimer, senior pastor at North Avenue Pres. Church
 With theological mentor Walter Brueggemann
 Campbell Scholars hanging out at Erskine Clarke's home
 Risley and I worship at Mosaic Church in Little Rock, AR on our way to Atlanta
A multicultural black/white/hispanic church with dynamic, diverse band
 Senior Pastor Mark DeYmaz leads this young non-denominational church
Risley and me in front of my campus residence
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