04 August 2013

Introduction: Hello!

Hello everyone! I thought I'd start this out with a little introduction to let you know who I am and what this blog is all about.

So, first me.  I am a baptized and self identified Mennonite belonging to MCUSA.  I was drawn into the church in high school by its emphasis on care, love, peace, and social justice.  I am kept there by my strong appreciation for the long tradition of peace in the church and by the connection I feel to Anabaptists who came before me.  I was not born into the Mennonite church.  Growing up, the only thing I would consider Anabaptist about the churches I attended was the practice of adult baptism.  These churches were solidly evangelical (and sadly, in my opinion, many Mennonite congregations have drifted into the trap of evangelicalism).  I feel an aversion towards evangelical churches generally because of the evangelical emphasis on exclusionary doctrines which make it difficult to bear a grace-oriented or humanistic point of view.  While Mennonites are far from perfect, it is where I have chosen to stay because I believe that the people of that tradition are capable of acknowledging their differences and focusing on shared values of peace and justice.

A little bit about my personal understanding of Christian faith:

I think of people as central to Christianity, as all of creation reflects the divine.  Jesus' life and ministry was focused on meeting the everyday needs of the people and standing with these people in opposition to unjust systems.  His teachings and example had very real and tangible effects; he did a lot of healing and comforting and listening and undersranding, and those who wish to follow him should do the same.

And so what am I doing here?  Well, this is my personal blog.  Essentially, I'm looking to talk about theology, books, movies, culture, current events, music, etc…  I don't really have a whole lot of theological training (my degrees are in music) but if thinking about God is theology, then that makes everyone a theologian. Thanks for joining me.

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