If you’ve never been too clear about the difference between premils and Eastern Orthodox (and really, who is?) then you owe it to yourself to get the straight dope here.

The Emerging Church

This is a term that refers to churches attended exclusively by white people in their 20s and 30s who have at least one tattoo or body piercing. Their distinguishing characteristics are a refreshing, “up to date” interpretation of Christianity, and a reluctance to directly answer questions.

Such knowledge is all the more important now that the DaVinci Code is flopping in Cannes.

I got the phone call tonight: my first onsite interview is scheduled.

For mid-June. This past weekend I graduated (more soon, incl. pix). Next weekend is free for me, but it’d be pretty hard to get something lined up that soon. The following weekend is Memorial Day, then Pentecost, and then, finally, we have two available Sundays.

Finding a calling in this denomination– Oh well, people manage to do it, somehow. But if they love me, and I love them, that weekend, and assuming that we can negotiate terms of call in zero time, then it will be all we can do to get moved out of here before the housing office calls the sheriff.

Plus, now I have too much time to fret over my neutral-pulpit sermon.

I am done with seminary! It’s all over but the shoutin’ … or more precisely, the commencement exercises. (Assuming I don’t flunk any of my classes, but I won’t even mention that for fear that … uh … oh, no. Aarrgh!)

I spent the past week reading about a zillion books and then churning out end-of-term papers for all my classes. One was technically a take-home exam, and one was a “group project” (i.e., I had a partner), but the other two were the usual 15-page doozies.
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A week ago I got back word about the Subordination exams I took back in January. (Really! It only takes 7 weeks to process. I’ve sent back rebates on computer peripherals that take almost that long, so what’s the complaint.) And, as the dialog in Star Trek 2 says (without explaining because so much was cut out) “The word is given.” I passed. Yay. Now I can take back all those things I said about these wonderful and judicious examinations.

But even better, I went back to Colo this past weekend and got myself Finally Assessed as ready to seek a call. In my denomination, being a pastor is sort of like belonging to a medieval guild. In fact, it’s exactly like being in a medieval guild. Trade unions have moved on from wearing weird hats and robes, but academia and the church hold onto these things.

Being finally assessed entails defending my Statement of Faith and preaching a sermon. My statement of faith is more or less orthodox reformed tradition lite (TM) so there weren’t any big complaints. But I was told to punch up the section on Baptism a little. No big. I can list the six bullet points of baptism in my sleep and — even better — I actually believe them! I’ll post the final version here Real Soon.

My sermon went well. (I’ll post it here too.) Didn’t break down in the middle and start puking from anxiety or anything like that. There was some controversy about the charge I gave at the very beginning when I read from Scripture. I need to come up with a theologically sensitive charge to the hearers that will alienate neither the wooden literalists of the Westminster Confession (1649) nor the anything-goes hippies of the Confession of 1967 (1967). My best idea so far is something like “Hear the Word of God*” followed by an inaudibly muttered footnote of caveats.

But! The drumroll sounded, I was dismissed into the hall while the panel deliberated briefly, and when I came back they had discerned in community the prompting of the Holy Spirit that I should be moved through this last* step in the ordination process.

*Technically, it’s not the last step. The last step is getting ordained, and that requires locating a church that will call you to the ministry of Word and Sacrament. But you can’t do that until you’ve been Finally Assessed as Ready to Seek a Call. Which I now am.

Well, I found out Monday that I passed my Biblical Language Exegesis exam back in January. Hooray! I don’t know yet what my scores were. I’ll update this once I get the exam back. In the meantime, what matters is that I passed.

Charles Hodge has his own website now.

I’m taking a class called “Theology in Service to the Church.” Its subject matter is the practical theology of Charles Hodge, the most influential American theologian of the 19th century, and Karl Barth, the most influential Reformed theologian of the 20th century.
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