New Friend, New Posts

Just returned from a wonderful weekend visiting with an ex-OALCer I met through the internet. We had many stories to share, many victories to celebrate. I'll write more about that later.

There has been a lot of posting on the gender topic. Also, you can click on the title above to review new comments regarding The Village.

Thank you all for your support and for continuing the dialogue. You never know whose heart you touch simply by being yourself.

Kiss, Tap, Shake, Nod

I remember how surprised I was when I discovered other churches where "God's Peace" was said. In Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, Catholic and other liturgical churches, the Passing of the Peace usually takes place after the Lord's Prayer. Congregants are invited to turn to each other, shake hands and say "the Peace of the Lord be with you" or some variant thereof.

In the letters of St. Paul there are several references to greeting one another with "a holy kiss" (Rom 16:16; 1 Cor 16:20; 2 Cor 13:12; 1 Thess 5:26; 1 Pet 5:14). Some view this as a sign of reconciliation, some as a simple blessing, some as a recognition of the Christ within our neighbor.

According to Joseph Jungman, a Jesuit historian of liturgy, this ritual was the Christian appropriation of a secular practice when a kiss was the sign of initiation into a fraternity or society. Thus the Christians took a secular practice and incorporated it into the sacrament of initiation where it took on added meaning. While the practice died out in secular society as culture changed, its meaning in the Christian community continued, although it degenerated to a tap on the cheek and ultimately to a handshake.

I would say that by using it as a signal of membership, the OALC has preserved its secular nature very well.

Knapsu & Laestadian Gender Roles

Perhaps the reason I know more female than male ex-OALC members is because I am female. Or is it because more women leave?

Mikael Niemi describes in his book "Populärmusik från Vittula", the meaning of the Meänkieli word Knapsu. Knapsu means not male, womanish, something that women should be and do, not men. Niemi writes that men's role in Tornedalia (where Laestadianism runs strong) is built upon one thing: To not be Knapsu.

Is Laestadianism anti-Knapsu?

Joke

Someone told me once that a good indicator of whether your church is a cult or not is whether you can poke fun at it. Here's some lightmindedness for you.

One Sunday morning, a mother went in to wake her son and tell him it was time to get ready for church, to which he replied, "I'm not going."

"Why not?" she asked.

"I'll give you two good reasons," he said. "One, they don't like me, and two, I don't like them."

His mother replied, "I'll give you two good reasons why you should go to church. One, you're 54 years old, and two, you're the preacher."

Faithful Remnant

Here are some thoughts about exclusivity from "A Generous Orthodoxy" by Brian McLaren:

One of the most fascinating and vigorous sectors of protesting Protestantism has been 'restorationism' -- a belief held by a succession of groups through church history that, by finally getting the last or lost detail right, they now represent a full-fledged restoration of "New Testament Christianity."

Having been raised in one such group, and having spent a lot of time with many wonderful people in other restorationist groups as well, I can tell you this: if you are part of a restorationist group, the group dynamics of your group will be nearly identical to those of every other restorationist group. Change the details -- mode or meaning of baptism, church structure, administrivia of worship or piety . . . , doctrinal fine print (a unique interpretation of at least one verse from Revelation, for example, that highlights your group as eschatologically significant) -- and you could be in any super-Protestant restorationist setting . . .

Restorationists . . . often refer to themselves . . . as a remnant. This remnant language is common in the Bible. For those who need consolation for small numbers, it's an attractive blanket to wrap up in: we're not small because we're ineffective, or lazy, or ingrown, or otherwise unattractive; we're small because we're a faithful remnant! Everyone else has compromised. They're taking the easy way. We're the few, the committed, the faithful . . .

What is a truly faithful remnant like? Its members do not turn inward in elite self-congratulation, smugly casting a critical eye of disdain on the rest. No, the faithful remnant "after God's heart" turns its heart others-wise, outward, toward the unfaithful, in loyalty and love. True faithfulness bonds the hearts of the faithful to their unfaithful neighbors. . . . The faithfulness of a faithful remnant is not crabbed and constricted; it is loyal, magnanimous, and generous.