Let's Talk About the Bible

 Life has been challenging for congregations just about everywhere during the past two years in virtually every aspect of the Body of Christ. In-person worship has been off and on, and off and...well, you've likely been through it. I'm impressed that lots of congregations have figured out how to continue looking outward, involved in ministries to those who are at the margins of society. Trenton United, the congregation to which we belong, continues its regular meal program and initiated a community warming centre this year. We're so impressed by those involved as an expression of their faith. 

I've been involved in leading several study groups during the pandemic which have been online and in-person, sometimes both. We considered a group last Fall with the working title of How to Read the Bible and Still be a Christian, pilfering the title of John Dominic Crossan's small but thoughtful book. It's taken a few months longer than anticipated but we begin next Tuesday as the first of three weekly sessions. 

As a life-long Christian I can't imagine my faith without the bible and the comfort and challenge it brings. Leading thousands of worship services through the years, from Sunday mornings, to weddings and funerals, to gatherings around campfires with teens, I always included a bible passage, or passages, even if only a few verses. I have also read the bible devotionally and repeated scriptural phrases in the anxious waking moments of the night. Over the decades the bible has been at the core of my convictions about care for the marvellous web of Creation. 

 Yet I am painfully aware that this Good Book, which is actually a collection of books, has also been the Not-so-Good Book, misused and abused to subjugate people rather than lift them up, and "cherry-picked" to support positions which have little to do with a gospel of love and radical inclusion. Not to mention that there are what have been described as the "texts of terror" which offer distressing stories of misogyny, rape, and genocide, supposedly with God's approval. 

During these weeks I will draw upon Crossan's work and that of others who offer perspectives which are wise and provocative on the subject of the bible and its meaning. 

You are welcome to join us either in person at Trenton United (precautions observed) or via Zoom from wherever you may be. There will be a number of the "usual suspects" in terms of participants but I am always pleased when folk join in for the first time.