Since I launched this blog back in January, one thing I’ve discovered is that if I blog on a weekly basis, it becomes a challenge to write about all the interesting topics, posts, e-mails, resources that enter my newsreader or inbox. I’ve often found myself “saving” interesting posts and resources for a future writing, but soon those “saved” items of interest get pushed farther and farther back.
To prevent further backlog, The Shepherd’s Study will now offer “Around the Study” – Links to posts, blogs and resources of interest collected over the past month or so. I’ll still write my regular posts on the blog, but this way I can get more useful items of interest for you to peruse on your own. Here’s this month’s “Around the Study”…
- Protestant Church Technology Report (28 April 2008) – I realize this one is a little old, but Barna does provide some interesting thoughts about the extent and use of technology in Protestant churches – from congregation communication to use in worship.
- Here’s a Church Relevance summary of the report.
- For Discussion: How are you and/or your congregation utilizing technology in the parish?
- Things Never Taken for Granted Again (1 April 2008/22 May 2008) – A friend of mine sent me a link to this post from a worship leader whose wife was awaiting a double lung transplant and their micro-preemie daughter was barely surviving. Though not of all it may apply to your ministry situation, it’s a good reminder of the “little things” that come with serving the Lord publicly – things we often take for granted.
- The More Things Change, The More Things Stay the Same (2 June 2008) – Gene Veith provides an interesting comment on a Washington Post article detailing the efforts being made to canonize Pope John Paul II. As Veith writes, “…[T]he process shows that the old Catholicism challenged by the Reformation still remains.”
- Holographic Telepresence Video (24 June 2008) – I heard about this via online news sources, but Church Relevance takes a look at this developing technology from a church usage point of view. For a regional congregation with members scattered over hundreds of miles like my own, if such technology ever gets affordable, I think there could be great possibilities for what could be done with it.
- U.S. Religious Landscape Survey: Report 2 – Religious Beliefs & Practices (24 June 2008) – Back in March, discussed the first report of the Pew Forum’s U.S. Religious Landscape Survey. Well, a new report from their nationwide survey work came out at the end of June. It did cause a stir in the Lutheran blogosphere (Cranach & Cyberbrethren), especially because Lutherans were among the 57% of Evangelical Christians who acknowledged that there is “No one path to salvation”.
In spite of the stir, there have been two recent GetReligion posts (Questions About Oprah America & yesterday’s One More Look at Pew Forum Survey) that bring to light some problems with the actual survey questions asked by the Pew Forum. Apparently the word “religion” was never defined. Many thought it meant “denomination” like Lutheran/Baptist/Roman Catholic, while many others understood it as the dictionary defines it with a more universal concept in mind. In fact, when Pew Forum research fellow, Greg Smith was asked about how the Pew Forum defined the word “religion”, he responded, “We didn’t have a set of interview guidelines or talking points that we used when asking that question The interviewers didn’t say, ‘Well, that means someone who is a member of a different denomination than yours’ or ‘that means someone in a completely different religion than your religion.’ So people may have answered that in different ways. There may have been Baptists that interpreted that question as simply referring to members of other churches. Others may have answered with a more universal concept of ‘religion’ in mind. That’s possible. In fact, it’s highly likely.” (GetReligion 2 July 2008) As we well know, statistics can be skewed in wide variety of ways. It sounds like the Pew Forum will now be surveying with a more specific set of questions
- Issues, Etc. Returns (30 June 2008) – Back in March, the Lutheran radio show “Issues, Etc.” was mysteriously cancelled, but on Monday, the radio program re-launched online. I look forward to listening via podcast.
- Two New Additions To The Shepherd’s Study
- Cranach: The Blog of Veith – Gene Veith blogs on Christianity, Culture and Vocation from a confessional Lutheran perspective. I also recommend checking out the following books by Veith: The Spirituality of the Cross: The Way of the First Evangelicals, God At Work: Your Christian Vocation in All of Life, and Postmodern Times: A Christian Guide to Contemporary Thought and Culture. Welcome to The Shepherd’s Study!
- Seelsorger.org – Pr. Rick Tuttle has created this file sharing site for those serving in ministry in the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference (CELC). Another source of useful resources!
Good move adding Veith to your blogroll. He’s top-notch. Admittedly, I’m a little biased. I had him as a college professor at Concordia in Mequon, so I’ve been learning from him since the 90’s. I’ve read all three of his books that you mention, and I too recommend them highly.
This Sunday is our Wrap Up Worship service for the week long Vacation Day Camp. We are planning a lot of special worship elelments including Lay readings, special music, videos, etc. There’s a lot that can go wrong. I really needed the perspective voiced in “Things Never Taken for Granted.” Thanks for sharing!
Besides “Issues Etc.” other radio ministries on the web include the WELS’s own programs, “Message from the Master/Music for the Master.” They may be found at http://www.milwels.org/WELSFedRadio.htm or http://www.messagefromthemaster.com. These programs include devotions, sermons and high quality music.