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Anamnesis: The IWS Family Newsletter | |
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November 2006 Fall Edition Volume 3, Number 4 | ||
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In This Issue Click to go to the article. · Bob's Journey of Faith
Promises to claim for our brother, Bob:
Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear (Isaiah 65:24).
Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me? (Jeremiah 32:27).
But as for me, I watch in
hope for the LORD,
The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective (James 5:16b).
But as for me, I will always have hope;
I will praise you more and
more (Ps. 71:14).
Quote from "A Call to an Ancient Evangelical Future" "Today, as in the ancient era, the Church is confronted by a host of master narratives that contradict and compete with the gospel. The pressing question is: who gets to narrate the world? The Call to an Ancient Evangelical Future challenges Evangelical Christians to restore the priority of the divinely inspired biblical story of God's acts in history. The narrative of God's Kingdom holds eternal implications for the mission of the Church, its theological reflection, its public ministries of worship and spirituality and its life in the world. By engaging these themes, we believe the Church will be strengthened to address the issues of our day."
REMINDER: We need your thesis abstract DWS graduates: If you have not yet emailed your thesis abstract to me, please do so today. As our Web site goes public these lists will be a valuable research tool. Thanks to all of you who have already sent yours. Check out the thesis lists--this is clearly a deep reservoir of knowledge and practical application.
New resources New resources are often being added to the alumni Web site. We are working on making these tools available to the general public, but they are at your disposal right now. Check out the resources page soon. In the mean time, here is a link to Jim Dodge's (DWS student) excellent 701 project entitled, The Catechumenate: Can Ancient Traditions Guide Us Today.
Alumni stories: Remember how encouraging it was to hear and share our personal stories in class and informal conversations? Let's keep connected by sharing through this newsletter. Email an update on your life and ministry to me.
Contact Information
Director
of Alumni Activities and Editor of Anamnesis
C: 616.304.9363 |
In This Issue . . .First on our minds and in our hearts is Bob Webber and his battle with a very formidable foe: pancreatic cancer. This edition is one more call to prayer on Bob's behalf. Notice the Table of Contents in the sidebar on the left. Now, let's pray:
Most of you are probably aware that Bob is battling pancreatic cancer. A rather large tumor was discovered several months ago and ever since Bob has been waging the battle through prayer and every reasonable medical measure to come again this disease.
The battle is a difficult one to say the least. This kind of cancer is aggressive and stubborn. But Bob is seeking every means of healing both human and divine, and he is giving every ounce of energy the Lord provides in the fight. The Message Board provides the best way to keep up to date on Bob's progress as his wife, Joanne, regularly emails updates to Jim Hart who quickly posts them on the Board. However, this week (October 26) Bob wanted to communicate personally. In case you haven't read the post here is Bob's personal report on his progress: Dear Friends, First, let me say how much I appreciate your cards and emails. I savor every word and read them over and over, remembering the times we have spent together. So, please keep them coming, they mean a great deal to me even though I cannot answer them individually. Second, some may think our weekly reports are a bit too honest or that we're losing hope. The fact is that my kind of cancer, pancreatic, has no cure. The cure that we hope and pray for is divine intervention. Yet, we are also following all the traditional and alternative methods of treating this cancer. Those methods, I've been told repeatedly by all my doctors, can do no more than improve my present quality of life and perhaps extend my life by a number of months. 7-14 is what they say but I am pushing for two years!!
There are a few cases where people live
longer but they usually have had the Whipple surgery and I am not a
candidate for that, at least at this point, because my tumor is at the
head of the pancreas and close to several blood vessels. There are times when I get very depressed thinking about leaving my dear wife, children, grandchildren, IWS, Northern Seminary, uncompleted projects, and all my close friends, students and colleagues. I continue to write, however, when I can and have finished one book and I am working on the next one. When I feel down, I take a walk and talk with God and I also cope by taking the Eucharist daily with Joanne. Third, we've received several requests each week from people who would like to visit with us. I deeply appreciate the love and concern expressed by those who would like to visit. But, because my immune system and energy levels are compromised, I simply cannot receive visitors or take phone calls. Since I cannot see anyone, I'd like to give you a picture of a "day in the life of this cancer patient." I say "this" because everyone's cancer treatment is different. I am in treatment five days a week, including radiation, chemo and alternative medicine. On the three days we go to Grand Rapids, MI for the alternative medicine, we get up at 6:00 AM, arrive there by 9:00 AM and receive the treatments for 2-4 hours then turn around, drive another two hours back to SW Michigan for radiation at the hospital at 3:30 PM. We get home around 5:00 PM each day and then we have a few hours to eat, check the mail, check the emails, take a walk, take the Eucharist and get ready for bed and the next day. On Thursdays, I have chemo at a local clinic, it takes about three hours, and then radiation. Tuesday is the only day I just have radiation and that is when I can write on my current book, usually in the mornings. Also, Joanne tries to get home once every week or ten days to check our townhouse, mail, etc. We use the weekends to recuperate, rest, get my energy levels back up and then start again. Our next door neighbor takes me to radiation if Joanne goes home on Tuesday. Otherwise, she goes on a Saturday. In-between the above schedule, I struggle with nausea, fatigue and also troubleshoot matters to do with IWS, The Ancient-Future Call Conference, Northern Seminary and business matters related to ancientfutureworship. com. Whew! I am sorry for that long response. Usually, Joanne keeps you up-to-date but I wanted to do it this time even though she's the typist. Please continue to pray for us, as you have been, and especially for Joanne who has been right there every step of the way! I could not deal with all the above without her. We pray for you too, especially those who also struggle with illness and cancer. We thank God for all of you and your many prayers! Being in the car three to four hours a day, together, gives us lots of time to pray together. Stay in touch, Bob and Joanne Tennessee Regional Prays for Bob
Eight people met in the Memorial Chapel at Brentwood UMC: Darrell and Janet Harris, Shannon Garrett, Rob Still, Chris and Carol Beatty, their guest, and me. We were together about an hour. It was a sweet, yet fervent and focused time of prayer for Bob’s healing and the healing of other loved ones. The bond in Christ was strong, as was the bond of fellowship with fellow IWS’ers. Our prayer gathering was loose and informal. Darrell Harris began by telling us about his visit with Bob and Joanne Webber and then he recounted the September 11 prayer service in Michigan. We prayed an Invitation to Christ in unison, followed by other prayers I had found in different sources (click on the link). We shared numerous of Scriptures for Healing that I had found on the Internet (click the link). Rob Still played the guitar and led us in several songs: Oh Love That Will Not Let Me Go, Oh God Our Help In Ages Past, My Faith Looks Up To Thee, It Is Well With My Soul, and Be Still and Know. Following those songs we prayed aloud individual prayers. Some people knelt at the altar, some bowed on the floor, and others remained in the pews. Our prayers continue for Bob's complete healing.
Bob has always
approached life with vision and zeal. That's one of the reasons so
many of us have been inspired by his
The Divine Embrace: Recovering the Passionate Spiritual Life is Bob's newest book. It is the latest addition to his Ancient-Future series now available through Baker Books. Bob indicated to me a couple sessions ago that this is the most difficult and personally challenging book he has written. The topic is worship and spiritual formation. Brian McLaren believes this is his "best and most important book to date." For more details follow these links: Baker Books and Amazon Books.
Bob led the charge in
issuing
"The
Chicago Call: An Appeal to Evangelicals" in 1977. The treatise
had a lasting impact on the evangelical church by, among other things,
opening sensibilities to learning from worship in the early church.
Now Bob, along with his Northern Seminary colleague Phil Kenyon
Bob's goal to impact
churches will be advanced with the recent publishing
of 30 Days of Worship
Discovery. The material is designed to take the entire church on
a journey of worship renewal but it may also be effectively used with
smalls groups.
Bill Eichorn (Alpha, DWS 2002) serves as Minister of Music and the Arts at St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church in Poway, CA. He has taken choirs overseas several times. Check out the San Diego Choral Arts Ensemble Web page for a picture, choral recording (mp3) and itinerary. Awhile back I asked Bill about his most recent trip and his ministry since graduating from IWS. He writes:
I was able to put a
55 voice choir together last summer (2005) and take them to England and Ireland
for two weeks. We sang at Blackburn Cathedral (morning Eucharist and
afternoon Evensong), Durham Cathedral (Evensong)
Lyndel Vaught (Zeta, DWS 2005),
associate professor of church music,
Southwestern Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas, has written an
Barry Wilson (Beta, DWS 2003) is teaching a worship studies course at the new North Greenville University graduate school. The course is an in-depth overview of key biblical principles and historical practices of Christian worship from the apostolic era to the beginning of the 21st century. Barry serves as Minister of Music at Kilbourne Park Baptist Church in Columbia, SC. Barry is also the founder and director of The Doxology Institute.
Jonathan Wong (Eta, DWS 2005) is
serving as an adjunct faculty Now, let's hear from more of you! I've heard that several have been asked to teach worship at various places around the world. I just need a little more information to get the details straight. So, don't be shy. Let me know how the Lord is using you these days and I'll post the info in a future edition. Attach an updated picture to your email if you'd like! Susan Huckaby, Central Tennessee Regional Coordinator, initiated a great idea to have fellow Iotas read and discuss a book via the Message Board this fall. She chose Brian McLaren's A Generous Orthodoxy for the first read (September) and put the word out. What a great time they're having! Check out what's happening on the Iota Message Board and be prepared to be mentally stimulated! Susan said, "I missed the camaraderie and 'renewing of my mind' that was so prevalent during my time at IWS. It is actually fun, after all those DWS posts for course work, to openly share without the stress of watchful, professorial eyes." They decided to read and discuss a book every other month and share articles and Web sites during the "off month." November’s book is Reggie Kidd’s With One Voice, chosen and facilitated by Nancy Nethercott. This is so cool! Way to go Iota grads! I'm not sure where this may lead, but I commend this idea to other classes. Just start a post on your class Message Board and let your fellow classmates know about it. (Email lists for each class are available on the site. Click on Directories and then Alumni Directory, then Email Groups at the top of the page). If the Message Board for your class has been removed from the list just use the Alumni Board. Or, we may need to designate a "Book/Topic Message Board" section. Let me know your thoughts. By the way, the Iotas aren't an exclusive group. Others are also reading and posting in the McLaren book discussion. Everyone is welcome to read and join in the discussion. Alumni Focus: 30 Days in India
Linda Borecki
(Zeta, DWS 2005) spent 30 days in India last January teaching worship to
some very eager students. The following is her summary of the
experience. In, January, 2006, I spent thirty days and a lifetime in the state of Tamil Nadu in India. Teaching liturgy under the Theological Educators Program at Concordia Seminary, Nagercoil was nothing short of sheer delight. I taught 3 one-week courses in “The History, Theology and Practice of Lutheran Liturgy.” Week one: 50 seminarians and deaconesses-in-training from the school. Week two: 27 probationers who had recently been sent out into the field under pastoral supervision. Week three: 20 newly ordained men returning from their assigned mission fields. The students had a great appetite for genuine and deep sacramental worship. One student had traveled eighteen hours by bus and slept on the guest house floor during the week. After class the students would often refuse to leave, saying, for example, “We want to learn more. Please, Doctor Linda, would you help us with this song?” It was a liturgist’s dream. It was an exhilarating time of growth and sharing for us all. Here is a sampling of the questions with which we wrestled from the newly ordained pastors:
You might be aware that the organized structure of the India Evangelical Lutheran Church is in disarray, but in my experience at the local parish level the worship life of many churches is healthy and blossoming. They wholeheartedly engaged in worship, as did the students in the Concordia Seminary chapel services. They sang Indian folk songs, Western hymns, and liturgies from The Lutheran Hymnal. I was not primarily viewed as a visiting teacher but as an Ambassador of God from the Mother Church on the other side of the globe. I was often told, “Please tell the people of the Missouri Synod thank you for sharing Jesus with us. Until the missionaries came we only knew the false gods. We pray for our sister Church on the other side of the globe. Tell them to pray for us, too.” God has gifted the Christians in our sister Church with such strong faith and commitment. I was astonished time and again by a depth of confidence in Jesus, startling testimony, and clarity of mission that made my humble contributions to their Kingdom work pale in comparison. They taught me so much about gods, God, life, death, friendship, and living out leitourgia, the work of the people, before God.
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On
Monday, September 11, a Service of Healing and Eucharist was held at Bob's
request at Harbert Community Church, Bob's church in Michigan. You
can see more pictures and a review of that service by
Susan
Huckaby (Iota, DWS 2006), IWS Regional Coordinator in the greater
Nashville area, organized a prayer service for Bob on Thursday, September
14 at her church in Brentwood. Here is her summary of that service:
writings
and mentored by his life and teaching. As long as he has had energy
Bob has continued to create, write and produce books and materials for
worship renewal. Here are his most recent accomplishments.
Ripon
Cathedral (Evensong), York Minster, Coventry Cathedral, then on to Dublin
where we sang at Christ Church Cathedral (concert) and then Pro Cathedral
(Sunday morning service). Finally we went on to Killkenny and places
south. It was a great trip. I have also been teaching a course at Bethel
Seminary here in San Diego. It seems that the Episcopal Diocese has
several students enrolled there and they wanted them to have a little more
of an Anglican slant to their education. So, I was asked to teach a
course. I called it Liturgy and Music in the Anglican Tradition. It was a
lot of work but I am having great fun teaching future priests and deacons.
I am now celebrating my 20th year at St. Bartholomew's. I send
greetings to all my fellow Alphians! Is that a word?
member at two schools: The Bible Institute of Hawaii which
offers non-credit courses for laypeople, and Pacific Rim Bible College
(affiliated with Four Square Gospel denomination). Jonathan writes:
"I am teaching worship
courses at both places. It’s been a rewarding experience working
with students
pursuing ministries in worship."
Don't
forget our next alumni gathering in Orange Park is scheduled for June 16-19, 2007.
Our guest will be Brian McLaren on the
topic of the emerging church. Save the dates on your calendar. More
details later.