The Liturgy of Politics: Crafting our experiments
Release Date: 09/08/2024
Walking with the Kings: David
The Practice Church Podcast
In this recurring series, we are walking in the story of scripture, noticing the intricate way God’s story is woven together and shines a light on our own stories. Last year we began our journey walking in (Genesis 1-11), (Genesis 12-50), , , and the . If you missed the previous series, you can check out the links above. In this series, we will explore the period of the kings from Saul through the fall of the Northern Kingdom and Judah. We will notice how the stories of these kings echo all the way back to the garden. How do the Israelites and their kings respond to that choice to...
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Walking with the Kings: Saul
The Practice Church Podcast
In this recurring series, we are walking in the story of scripture, noticing the intricate way God’s story is woven together and shines a light on our own stories. Last year we began our journey walking in (Genesis 1-11), (Genesis 12-50), , , and the . If you missed the previous series, you can check out the links above. In this series, we will explore the period of the kings from Saul through the fall of the Northern Kingdom and Judah. We will notice how the stories of these kings echo all the way back to the garden. How do the Israelites and their kings respond to that choice to...
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A Counter-Formational Political Practice: The Examen
The Practice Church Podcast
This guided practice is a part of our series . As we seek to untangle ourselves from the partisan liturgies of our culture, we are engaging counter-formational practices. In this practice of the Examen, we consider our political activity (the media we consume and our response, our conversations, the ways we serve our communities, and voting) and ask when our activity was centered on the partisan liturgies of our culture and when they were centered on the radical alternative of God's kingdom.
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The Liturgy of Politics: The Partisan Liturgy of Tribalism
The Practice Church Podcast
Aristotle said the purpose of politics is to create a people who are better than they would be without it. Politics has a way of shaping how we see ourselves, how we see others, and how we should live in the world. Have you noticed how this is parallel to the task of the gospel? This journey of faith creates us to be someone better than we would be without Jesus. Jesus shapes how we see ourselves, how we see others, and how we should live in the world. Is it any wonder our political activity has gotten so bound up in our understanding of the gospel? In fact, our partisanship and faith have...
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A Counter-Formational Political Practice: Breath Prayer
The Practice Church Podcast
This guided practice is a part of our series . As we seek to untangle ourselves from the partisan liturgies of our culture, we are engaging counter-formational practices. In this practice, we respond to the partisan liturgy of fear with the practice of breath prayer. With Jesus, we pray the words, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done.” This prayer reminds us, in the words of Pastor Mike Lueken, even if the worst we can imagine happens in this election season, “Jesus is still king. The kingdom is still real, and all shall be well.” And it reminds us that we are invited to join the...
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A Counter-Formational Political Practice: Welcoming Prayer
The Practice Church Podcast
This guided practice is a part of our series . As we seek to untangle ourselves from the partisan liturgies of our culture, we are engaging counter-formational practices. In response to our partisan culture which uses fear as a political tool, we offer a practice that can help us welcome the love and presence of Jesus into our fear so that we might be the kind of people whose political activity is marked by love.
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The Liturgy of Politics: The Partisan Liturgy of Fear
The Practice Church Podcast
Aristotle said the purpose of politics is to create a people who are better than they would be without it. Politics has a way of shaping how we see ourselves, how we see others, and how we should live in the world. Have you noticed how this is parallel to the task of the gospel? This journey of faith creates us to be someone better than we would be without Jesus. Jesus shapes how we see ourselves, how we see others, and how we should live in the world. Is it any wonder our political activity has gotten so bound up in our understanding of the gospel? In fact, our partisanship and faith have...
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The Liturgy of Politics: Crafting our experiments
The Practice Church Podcast
Aristotle said the purpose of politics is to create a people who are better than they would be without it. Politics has a way of shaping how we see ourselves, how we see others, and how we should live in the world. Have you noticed how this is parallel to the task of the gospel? This journey of faith creates us to be someone better than we would be without Jesus. Jesus shapes how we see ourselves, how we see others, and how we should live in the world. Is it any wonder our political activity has gotten so bound up in our understanding of the gospel? In fact, our partisanship and faith have...
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The Communion of Saints: Thomas Kelly
The Practice Church Podcast
From the very beginning of The Practice, we have always appreciated the important lessons we can learn from various Christian traditions throughout the history of the Church. This summer, we will spend time learning about our sisters and brothers, some you may know and others you may not. We hope to not only learn about them, but also to listen to what they might have to teach us in this day and age. This week, Ted Harro invited us to listen to an imagined letter to our community from the Quaker mystic Thomas Kelly. For additional resources, please visit our . If The Practice...
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The Communion of Saints: Ella Baker
The Practice Church Podcast
From the very beginning of The Practice, we have always appreciated the important lessons we can learn from various Christian traditions throughout the history of the Church. This summer, we will spend time learning about our sisters and brothers, some you may know and others you may not. We hope to not only learn about them, but also to listen to what they might have to teach us in this day and age. This week, Juliet Liu invited us consider the example of Ella Baker. In her life and work, Ella might show us how our contemplation to move us to action. She would teach us to take...
info_outlineAristotle said the purpose of politics is to create a people who are better than they would be without it. Politics has a way of shaping how we see ourselves, how we see others, and how we should live in the world. Have you noticed how this is parallel to the task of the gospel? This journey of faith creates us to be someone better than we would be without Jesus. Jesus shapes how we see ourselves, how we see others, and how we should live in the world. Is it any wonder our political activity has gotten so bound up in our understanding of the gospel?
In fact, our partisanship and faith have become so wrapped up together, that it is like one big ball of tangled string. They influence one another in various ways (some helpful and some not), and often times it is hard to tell where one begins and the other ends. This month, we will be crafting experiments together. These experiments will center on how we engage politics and how we are being formed by politics. Together we will notice what strings in this tangled mess the Holy Spirit is drawing to our attention, and we will intentionally practice ways of untangling that thread. How can we seek to be formed in the way of God's kingdom and bring that to bear on politics rather than allowing politics to shape how we view the kingdom?
We began this week with crafting our experiments. Setting the stage for the journey, we considered the formational nature of politics, and how this nature runs parallel to the gospel. Recognizing how easy this makes it for partisan politics to become entangled with the gospel, we set out to craft experiments that will help ground us in the kingdom of God and allow the Spirit to shape how we see ourselves, how we see others, and how we believe we should live.
You can find the handout for crafting an experiments here.
For additional resources, please visit our website.
Resources for Navigating This Political Season
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