Young Anabaptist Radicals

Author Archive: DavidD

We Shopped till he Dropped

(x-posted at IndieFaith)
Did we know it would only be a matter of time? Were we aware that possible escalation had no real check? Did the legion of reality TV shows, sporting events, and corporate ladders instill in us an instinct for conquering? There can be only one! This weekend CNN announced the ‘hero of the year’. There could be no community of heroes, no spirit and discipline of heroism. There could be only the 1 million dollar hero. But yesterday the weight of this culture crushed Jdimytai Damour. The 5am sales blitz at Wal-Mart corralled desperate shoppers for over 24hrs building to over 2000 until the first crack in the dam opened at which time they flooded through the gates and poured over and killed the temp employee Damour who was brought in for the holiday season.

Lord have mercy. Lord have justice.
Yesterday was also Buy Nothing Day.
I am standing on the sidelines looking for a response.

November 29, 2008 Consumerism Read more >

A Confession; Or Mixed Martial Artists and Hebrew Scholars

(x-posted at IndieFaith)
On occasion we run across blog entries that give us a glimpse of the all-too ordinary lives of the bloggers. The bloggers begin with some shame in their confession wondering if the few readers they have could possibly respect them after such a confession. Perhaps it is professor of sociology admitting they watch (and are addicted to) American’s Next Top Model or an admitted film snob confessing his guilty pleasures. Well anyway, with some hesitation here is my confession.
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August 11, 2008 Uncategorized Read more >

Being Consumed – A Review

(x-posted at IndieFaith)
Here is a review I wrote of what I think is a very significant book for the church. If you decide to read the whole thing keep in mind your own theology and practice of communion.

William T. Cavanaugh’s Being Consumed: Economics and Christian Desire is an excellent example of why the church needs theologians, good theologians. While Christian authors are turning increasingly to social and economic issues few are able to blend accessible language with substantial theological content. Many of the current authors addressing these issues articulate the demands of the Gospel in functional terms. Writers (and readers) look for practical ways to ‘apply’ the Gospel to our context. Most of us though with even a passing interest know what we should be doing to help our situation. We should buy fair trade products, support local economies and agriculture, plant a garden, compost, bike, buy twirlly bulbs, etc. And so much of the work of these authors is lost because their argument led entirely to doing and once we get there we realized we already knew that and so begin to feel frustrated or guilty.
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August 1, 2008 Consumerism, Economics, Theology Read more >

Theology and Gendered Ministry

For any of you who may be interested I posted a recent series dealing with theology, gender differences and ministry. My intention was to explore what it could mean to talk meaningfully about ministry to men in particular but the posts deal more broadly with the issues of gender and theology. Here are the links.
Preface to Theology and Gendered Ministry
Framing Gender Differences
Understanding the Gendered Jesus – Part 1; Graham Ward’s Cities of God
Understanding the Gendered Jesus – Part 2; Graham Ward’s Christ and Culture
Theology and Gendered Ministry: A Critique of (Some) Contemporary Men’s Ministries
Pastoral Care to Men

April 22, 2008 Gender, Read more >

The Impossible Anabaptist

(x-posted at IndieFaith)
Greetings,

It is a blustery snow day out here in Waterloo County. I, however, snook into the church office before it got too bad . . . we’ll see if I get home. This is my first post here at YAR. And as I understand the tradition I should give a little sketch of myself.
I grew up in the Sommerfeld Mennonite church in southern Manitoba. I essentially stopped attending the church in junior high and after a brief hiatus from church-in-general I was baptized in the Evangelical Mennonite Mission Church just after I graduated from high school. At this time I pulled up stakes a did volunteering and eventually settled into a small non-denominational bible college (where I completed a BA and MDiv). In these years I was married to a former Catholic in the Anglican church while later attending a small house-church and inner-city baptist church. It was only after my academic career was put on hold (or extinguished) that I began thinking again about pastoral ministry. I realized that I could not pastor from nowhere. This eventually led me back to Mennonite church where I am now pastoring within Mennonite Church Canada. All this to say that my sense of Mennonite identity and theology are far from fixed. In my first year of ministry reflecting on what it may mean for me to be (or not to be) Mennonite led me to write the following article, The Impossible Anabaptist.
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February 1, 2008 Anabaptism, Biographical, Faith, Group Identity, Theology Read more >