SIX NEW THINGS – WEEK OF JANUARY 04, 2023
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Let’s embrace this season of endings and beginnings by setting an intention to end the unhealthy, oppressive cultural norms of supremacy and consumerism by beginning new patterns and systems that are life-giving and affirming for all – including you, dear leader!
ONE
Ready to recuperate from a busy Advent, Christmas, and New Year’s?
Start the year off with beauty and rest by taking advantage of The Ministry Lab’s lovely Psalm 148 Reflection, available through Epiphany/until February 21. Learn more and register for the link here.
AND join The Ministry Lab to become a Time Boss: Rev. Nicole Havelka – clergy coach and yoga and mindfulness facilitator will share specific meditation tools and create space for naming our supremacy-culture-interrupting intentions to balance work, family, and self-care. Join us, January 10 at 2:00 PM CT. Learn more and register here.
Both are free for members [i.e., MN UCC, UMC, and PC(USA) congregations]; congregations from any denomination can become a subscription member here.
TWO
To facilitate greater balance, make Epiphany simpler by taking advantage of Illustrated Ministry’s free lesson from their Mini Revolutions curriculum and free coloring pages, both for Epiphany.
THREE
Not sure you deserve a break? Read Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto (Little, Brown Spark). Let yourself ‘imagine and dream [your] way to a future where rest is exalted’ – and discover how rest interrupts both supremacy and consumerist norms.
Find additional discourse on Sabbath & Rest in our lib guide.
FOUR
If media use is throwing your youth out of balance (and where is this not the case?) get scientific support for your concern in Springtide Research’s, Comparisons: How Social Media impacts Gen Z Mental Health.
See our Church Culture and Cellphones Great Idea for ways your congregation can become a healthier space for every generation.
FIVE
Let film be a positive medium for you and your crowd, check out:
Rev. Brooke Scott‘s, ‘Wakanda Forever’ offers a beautiful and unsatisfying story (Presbyterian Outlook); discover how, “The new ‘Black Panther’ movie tells the stories of grief and White supremacy without offering easy answers.” The article includes discussion questions appropriate for youth and adults.
And tuck Mitchell Atencio‘s, “Why ‘The Muppet Christmas Carol’ Is a Radical Christian Classic” (Sojourners) in your pocket for next year. It includes Biblical and periodical references for study and reflection.
Find more ways to incorporate Pop Culture into youth and intergenerational gatherings in our lib guide.
SIX
Few of us want to accept how close to home Christian Nationalism is. Overcome ignorance and consider counter-narratives and actions with, Preparing for War: The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism – and What Comes Next (Broadleaf).
The next step might be to view the PC(USA) Mission Agency’s film series, Trouble the Water: Conversations to Disrupt Racism and Dominance, which features four episodes that ‘challenge viewers to think, listen, and work together to disrupt the systems that perpetuate racism’.
