My next addition was probably the best pulpiteer from the Baptist tradition. Indeed, he was quite a character in real life. He was truly a brilliant man who lamented what he feared was the future of the church. His name is Carlyle Marney.
Early in his ministry the poor deeply effected him. He felt that Baptists and large portions of Christendom had become so consumed with dogma and tradition that they forgot the most basic elements of Jesus' ministry. He found that separatism, regionalism, conservatisim and various class structures were the hallmarks of the American religious scene.
I particularly like Marney because of his ability to travel in a variety of groups. He was a perpetual sojourner, one "who knew not, but believed, who had not, but hoped for, who saw not, but obeyed." One of the things about Marney was his blunt directness. He once chided his congregation in Charlotte that all the Baptist churches in the county didn't have enough ethical gas to get out of the county. He wasn't like a lot of ministers today who are always worried about offending people lest they get fired. Marney didn't give a damn.
Near the end of his life, he felt another "travelling calling." He started Interpreters House which was a place for ministers to come for spiritual growth and retreat. It is still active today. It was so innovative that Public Broadcasting did a live segment of one of his group encounters. He confided on live TV that he was afraid of one minister in the group as if he turned his back on him he might suck his ass. Such was the honesty of Marney. He just didn't care.
Commenting in the Charlotte Observer he said "Southern churches of all denominations are mainly Jesus cults dressed in the Little Lord Fauntleroy clothing of our confederate narcissism."
He was once asked by a church to recommend a pastoral candidate for them to which Marney responded "I don't know of any living Confedrate Civil War generals."
The Observer acknowledged that "Marney gave us no peace--but then again, we didn't deserve any."
I'm not sure anyone is reading these, but I will continue.
My next addition is another southerner. Like some of our previous saints, he also hails from the south. His name is Will Campbell. Like Marney he was quite a character. During the 1950's and 60's he was quite involved with the civil rights movement. He moved around in liberal circles and received hate mail and the threat of violence. He was a prolific writer in the cause of civil rights and was frequent lecturer at many universities on the subject of race relations. But I think what made Campbell stand out was his unique awareness of the dicotomy of religious and racial life in the south.
While deploring racism, he also embraced the klansman as a victim in his own right. He learned that the poor white racist was often cast aside as much as blacks. His message was simple: "Be ye reconciled to one another even as Christ was reconciling the world to himself." (Corinthians). He became a trusted friend to klansman, alcoholics, country music singers and the down and outs of Nashville. When he would offr you communion, it would be the "real stuff." He also had a flair for music and like to carry his guitar around and sing ballads of the human condition.
Just to give you a flavor of his character he said that he really couldn't tell much difference between the robes that the Klan wore and those in the commencement line at Duke and Vanderbilt Universities. He felt those two schools probably held the south back more than the Klan ever did. He chided affluent churches for their sacrament of "coffee hour."
Occcasionally young people would come out to his farm and want to learn how to take on his ethical stances, to which he would chase them away saying, "Goddammit, the world needs you to be like Jesus and not Will Campbell." He had no pretences.
OK, I usually try to dedicate one of these people to certain personalities on the site and I want to dedicate this one to, yes Stang. I know he will appreciate this last quote.
From his essay "I Love My Country--Christ Have Mercy"
"I believe God made the St. Lawrence River and the English Channel,butI don't believe God made America....man did that." Singing "God Bless America" in a service is blasphemy It is asking God to put his stamp of approval on some pretty ungodly things. Things like taking the country from a powerful and friendly people....the rape of Mexico....the crushing of the Cuban rebellion in 1898 Things like nuclear weapons that only we have used. Things like the CIA. Things like genocide--for where have all the redmen gone."
I once heard him as well. He spoke at a "liberal" divinity school that was in the process of being taken over by fundamentalists. Professors were losing their jobs and there was a great deal of anger about this. He used the passage "If you have done it unto the least of these, my brethren, you have done it unto me." That phrase "the least of these" we often think about in terms of the hungry, poor, and naked, but he asked them to think about the least of these in a personal way in terms of who we really detested. In this case, perhaps fundamentalist, conservatives, and the like. The command, he said, remains the same. Again the theme of reconciliation with our enemies.
Originally posted by kirksey957 I once heard him as well. He spoke at a "liberal" divinity school that was in the process of being taken over by fundamentalists. Professors were losing their jobs and there was a great deal of anger about this. He used the passage "If you have done it unto the least of these, my brethren, you have done it unto me." That phrase "the least of th ...[text shortened]... . The command, he said, remains the same. Again the theme of reconciliation with our enemies.
He spoke in our Episcopal church in Nashville. He read some from his latest book (something with "Lion" in the title; I have it upstairs somewhere). He also said that the one place he could always count on to be able to have blacks and whites congrgate together in the "bad days" was Episcopalian churches, because most of the southern bishops supported civil rights, and the bishops had authority over the priests and congregations; in that context, he spoke about the advantages and disadvantages of both the congregational and the episcopal structures. He wrote a biography of an Episcopal bishop named Gray, who I think was a Mississippian like Campbell.
Mostly, he took on his fellow Baptists, especially in reference to their (at the time) recent official condemnation of women teaching men in Sunday Schools. He also told some wonderfully funny stories that I forget...
Originally posted by vistesd He spoke in our Episcopal church in Nashville. He read some from his latest book (something with "Lion" in the title; I have it upstairs somewhere). He also said that the one place he could always count on to be able to have blacks and whites congrgate together in the "bad days" was Episcopalian churches, because most of the southern bishops supported ...[text shortened]... en teaching men in Sunday Schools. He also told some wonderfully funny stories that I forget...
He does like his whiskey so I imagine he was right at home in the Episcopal church. That may be the one uniting trait between highborw Episcopalians and down and out country music singers. 🙂
Originally posted by kirksey957 He does like his whiskey so I imagine he was right at home in the Episcopal church. That may be the one uniting trait between highborw Episcopalians and down and out country music singers. 🙂
Originally posted by kirksey957 We live in an age where there is a lost art of preaching. It is indeed rare to find someone who really knows how to form coherent and creative messages of the Gospel. One of the most gifted pulpiteers was Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878-1969). He was anathema to fundamentalists. They could not stand his theology of the "goodness within". Yet, he was ...[text shortened]... got my avatar. Oh well, Fosdick was on the cover in 1930. His sermons are absolutely timeless.
Just began reading this thread, but I must say I enjoyed the quote from Harry Emerson Fosdick: "I would rather live in a world where my life is surrounded by mystery than live in a world so small that my mind could comprehend it." It sounds like something I would say. I love it. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. Now I go on to read the rest of the thread.
This next addition really doesn't fit into the mold of the previous people, but I thought his story had some value in that it underscores the fact that we are more than what we do. I will dedicate this entry to Nemesio.
Christopher Parkening took up playing classical guitar at the age of 11. He was somewhat of a prodigy and received the "blessing" of Adres Segovia. He studied with him and became the "heir apparent" of classical guitar following his death. Parkening had several goals in his life. He wanted to be a millionaire by the time he was 30 and to buy a Montana farm where he could fish for trout. He achieved both of these goals. He then realized that the only things he knew how to do in life were to fish and play the guitar. Something was missing in his life.
Early in his career he had maintained a busy schedule of playing concerts and traveling the world. However, he was left fairly empty. He began to question his goals in life and went through a period of spiritual renewal where he focused on what God might have for him. He ultimately wanted to dedicate his life to Christ's glroy. He returned to his record producers who told him his window of opportunity had passed. He persisted and evetually returned to recording music, but for him, it was for God's glory. Ironically, this is how Bach signed much of his music.
I include Parkening not because there was a wave of influence that followed this decision, but because it underscores the reality that most of us will have a "mid-life crisis" and that the changes at mid-life are often spiritual in nature. He is very much like many of the previous nominees in that he succeeded in redefining his "truth." Indeed, we are more than what we do.
There is one thing I wanted to add in relationship to music in the realm of faith. I think it is a pretty common practice that many Christian musicians today feel the obligation to give testimonies, preach or explain before they sing a song. I believe that if the music is representing the divine, it should be powerful enough in its own right without the need to be lectured to. Though Parkening is probably the most evangelical of the group I have highlighted, he doesn't feel this type of obligation. I have heard him several times and it appears the music is sufficient.
My next addition may be the most personal for me as I was one of the last people to talk to him alive and I was present the night he died. His name is Frank Stagg. In Baptist circles he was known for his extensive writings about the New Testament and ethics. He took on causes such as ecumenism, women in ministry, and the anti-war movement. I remember once when I was in college he was speaking and a student confronted him about his pro-woman in ministry stance and quoted some of St. Paul's writings. He responded. "yea, so what? That's what Paul said. What did Jesus do?" To fundamentalists he was also a pain. They often asked him what can we do to make the Bible more relevent? He said "You can't make the Bible relevent. It is relevent." He was an inspiration to many Baptist women who wanted to pursue pastorates but received little encouragement in those days. It should be noted that they receive even less today in Baptist circles.
I visited with him several weeks before he died and I anticipated a crusty crumudgeion, but he was as likable and generous as could be. I reminded him of the story from college which he very much appreciated. In his little apartment I noticed that there were few momentos of his vast life experience. He had donated his vast library to schools around the country, most notably Samford University. He only asked that those books be used. He had spent the last year of his life divesting himself of his possessions. He simply got satisfaction from going our early in the morning and eating a little cajun rice and fishing. Keeping true to his theological beliefs he gave everything away as his "kingdom was not of this world." This also included his physical body which he donated to the medical school so students could learn the workings of the human body.
It is a shame that it didn't show the workings of his spiritual legacy.
My next entry was probably the most fun of all of our nominees so far. Even at 61 he was still very connected to youth and youth workers. His name is Mike Yaconelli. He was co-founder of Youth Services which offered programs and training for youth tell help them in their development as young Christians. He was really a breath of fresh air in this movement. He had a calling to "tell the messy truth of what it meant to be a follower of Christ." Most of what he experienced in this area was "sacchriney sweet."
But what he will probably be best remembered for was a magazine he helped to found that initially was called the Wittenburg Door, now just called The Door. Let me see if I can describe it. If you could have a magazine that was like the Daily Show w/ Jon Stewart that poked fun of evangelicalism and yet maintained a reverence for the faith, that was The Wittenburg Door. It is absolutely hilarious. He truly had a calling about "calling out" those in the evangelical world who were full of it. The magazine also has very thought provoking articles and interviews as well.
Yaconelli died about 2 years ago in a truck accident in California. Three days before his death he was speaking in Charlotte and said, "If I were to die today, I would say, "God, what a ride! What a ride."
Ivory Tower Blessed Are They Forum
13 Oct '05 01:03
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