The Warren & the World Vol 4, Issue 23

• “Rituals” or “liturgies” often bring to mind stiff, rigid, and religious connotations for some people and remind them of baggage from their past. Beyond the negative associations though, there is a real power to the ideas behind the terms. Over the past few years, I’ve had a growing appreciation for corporate worship. Early in my Christian walk, I didn’t particularly enjoy repetition, meditation, readings, etc. Now though, I see the importance behind them. I need to be reminded of the gospel. A worship service is a chance to rehearse the gospel not only to myself but also to proclaim it to my spiritual family through song, readings, meditation, confession, etc. These rituals not only mold me into the image of Christ but also prepare me to go and live a life of mission.
  With this in mind, I often ask myself how I can harness the power of rituals in the formation of my children? How can rituals help to shape their imaginations? 

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Our own Julie Silander is guiding a book discussion over at The Rabbit Room this summer on the book Slow Church. If you find yourself seeking deeper community in your own body, this book and discussion may be a good place to start.

• American churches have learned much from the business world. Terms like “strategic planning” “goal-orientation” and “market analysis” were once reserved for the corporate boardroom but, in recent years, they’re just as likely to be overheard (and frequently used) in a church leadership meeting. Slow Church invites us to consider the history, evolution, and practical implications of recent trends in church growth. Smith and Pattison ask important questions and offer helpful insights that point toward the cultivation of a healthier local church.       

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Around the Warren

Marginal Faith: You Probably Should Be Doing Less

S.D. Smith writes about the importance of margin.

• Have you ever read a book that was inviting and endearing, but the words ran all the way to the edge of the book? Probably not. Stories without margins are nearly impossible to enjoy reading. It’s the same with life stories. Margin is not the wasted space on the page where more words could have gone if only we would knuckle-down and work harder. Margin is the place where the words we carefully compose and place show their best. When we read, we rarely notice the margins, unless they aren’t there.
  Our stories shine because of the margin that others often don’t even notice. But if we forget about the importance of the margin, if we endlessly erase it to cram more and more content into our stories, we lose readability. We lose credibility.
  It’s the sign of a cheaply-made book, the work of an amateur, easily and advisedly ignored.
  Margin makes your story clear, legible, and beautiful. At least, if your story really is beautiful, the margin will not contradict it. It will enhance and testify to its worth and beauty, to how compelling it is.

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Seven (Non-Parenting) Books That Have Influenced My Parenting

Julie Silander recommends some non-traditional parenting books.

• We each carry into adulthood our own stockpot of thought – a unique concoction simmering with hopes, opinions, and views of the world. From the day we become parents, we nurse our children from the well-seasoned brew. Sip by sip, then gulp by gulp, they take in our ideology. They digest it. For good or for ill, the ways in which we look at the world (or a rejection of them) become an intrinsic part of their being.
  My parenting is influenced more by what I believe to be true about the world – than by what I believe to be true about parenting. 

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In case you didn’t click through on Tim Briggs’ blog post above, I figure I’ll link the activity guide he mentions here. I’m proud of the work we put into this at Church at Charlotte and excited about the activities we have in here: those for setting rhythms, for at home, for around town, and for as you go.

And Something to Watch

I was teased this week for a project I undertook during one college summer: I researched and drew out the British royal family line from 1066 forward. Turns out, had I gone to college 15 or so years later, CGP Grey would have done the work for me.

Thank you for reading. We’re on your side.