Vestry Study 2024
Each year Good Shepherd’s Vestry engages in a spiritual study. We begin each Vestry meeting with 15-20 minutes of conversation about a spiritual topic in order to further develop as spiritual leaders.
This year’s study: A developmental approach to scripture and theology.
What is the Principle?
We live in an evolutionary universe. 13.8 billion years ago the universe burst into being with a Big Bang. 5 billion years ago the Sun was born. 4.5 billion years ago the Earth was born. 3.7 billion years ago life emerged on planet Earth. 300,000 years ago homo sapiens appeared. Shortly thereafter humans developed self-reflective consciousness, since then consciousness and its attendant values have been evolving within humans individually and in culture collectively. Right now on planet earth there are 3 stages of consciousness online. To some degree they are competing for control and thus we have the culture wars.
What does the Study Entail?
Instead of engaging in the culture war competition we are going to take a developmental or integral perspective using a Venn diagram to argue FOR each of the 3 different perspectives represented by Traditional, Modern, and Progressive consciousness value sets.
How does it Work?
We will alternate back and forth between a passage from scripture and a theological concept from month to month. Using a Venn diagram we will “steel man” (argue for) an interpretation of the passage or concept for each stage of consciousness. We will articulate our argument in one or two sentences on a Venn diagram and look for the point of convergence. This point will show us the higher ground that is the integral perspective which seeks to tease out the shadow or negative side of each stage and include the positive contribution each stage makes.
To what End?
The developmental church is one that does not engage in the acrimonious back and forth of the culture wars in which different groups vie for control. Quite the opposite, we seek to create and cultivate an environment in which all our members can be healthy versions of themselves. Our wager is that healthy people grow. We can’t make evolution happen, but we can garden for emergence, that is, we can create an environment in which “everyone can bring their gift to the party,” and we can all grow together.