New Interviews Coming

My blog posting has slowed down with the new semester of seminary. I have never been much on keeping blog etiquette anyway in terms of the frequency of postings, responding as often as possible to comments, etc., but this final semester is very busy and my research and writing is taking precedence over other activities.

I will continue to post the occasional thoughts as they come to me from my reflections in seminary and ministry, but over the next few weeks I hope to complete several interviews that will be posted here for reader's enjoyment.

One interview will be with John Bracht who is currently serving in a pastoral role in Canberra, Australia. John wrote an intriguing masters thesis on Mormonism in the 1980s, touching in part on the Mormon concept of God. He has also written for academic publications on the topic of Mormonism, and this interview will provide his unique perspective on Mormonism and the ways in which evangelicals understand and respond to it.

Another interview will be with Chad Martin. Chad is an artist with formal theological training (a great combination) who lives in Pennsylvania. He wrote an intriguing article published in the journal Worship a few years ago on Carnival as a theology of laughter and a ritual for social change. His thoughts on festival and ritual for the church relate to my Burning Man studies, and they have great implications for a fantasy and festivity starved Protestantism in the West.

My third interview will be with Dr. David Wilkinson. Dr. Wilkinson is Principal at St. John's College and part-time teacher in the Department of Theology and Religion in connection with University of Durham in the U.K. He is the author of a number of books and articles dealing with science, religion, and apologetics. What intrigues me about his interests and perspective is his interest in the relationship of theology to popular culture, and his call for fresh forms of apologetics in the postmodern West that take popular culture seriously and which engage the imagination as well as the intellect.

On another front, I had a great time last Sunday evening with a small group affiliated with the K2 Church in Salt Lake City. I was asked to come speak on Burning Man and its relevance to the local church and missions in the West. I made a brief presentation and presented some thoughts for orientation and then spent the next two hours answering questions. It was a lively event filled with people who want something more out of church and Christian the Christian experience in America as they try to live the Kingdom and be missional in our local neighborhood contexts. The group is intellectually digesting our time together and I will meet with them in the future for more discussions.