Resurgence of the Social Gospel

President Obama“Obama is not a brown-skinned anti-war socialist who gives away free health care. You’re thinking of Jesus,” jokes the popular comedian John Fugelsang. While offered as a comedic reflection the reality of the jest is no laughing matter, at least not in American politics these days and certainly not in the pews of American Christian churches.

Battle lines have been drawn between Progressive Christians and those of the more conservative Religious Right and the raging battle is to be found on the field of American politics. While this is not a new battleground for Christians it is at least one of the most contentious fights of the 21st century.

At stake is not only political ambition, with elections looming this fall, but perhaps more importantly for people of the Christian faith, the understanding of what it means to be an American and a Christian in light of the Social Gospel.

The Social Gospel was an intellectual movement out of the early 1900’s within primarily the Protestant Christian church. It attempted to address community needs and social problems from a Christian sense of compassion, outreach, and civil contribution as much as it sought to define Christian ethics and responsibilities in terms of community activism launched from within the church. The movement has seen a resurgence in the last ten years.

In the debate on health care reform and various other social programs presented by the Obama administration, battle lines have been drawn and the call to arms sounded. In the cross hairs, to borrow a popular phrase, is the basic understanding of what it means to be a Christian and an American and to love your neighbor as yourself, caring for the poor, the oppressed, and those who are sick, indeed the “least of these.”

Matthew 25:31-46 (NIV) The Sheep and the Goats

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

“He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Shepherd’s Heart Books and Gifts Reopens

We’ve reopened our Ebay store, Shepherd’s Heart Books and Gifts. For years now Shepherd’s Heart Books and Gifts has been a supplier of books new, used, and antique, as well as all things catholica. It’s also offered a venue for us to sell books we publish ourselves through St. Willibrord Press. As time goes by we’ll add more selections but we’ve reopened with a great selection from Bp. Karl Pruter as well as a couple from our small press. Enjoy, bid high and visit often! You never know what you may find!

http://stores.ebay.com/Shepherds-Heart-Books-and-Gifts?refid=store

Second Ministry in Second Life

Shepherd's Heart Abbey, St Maur (242, 100, 253)We’ve embarked upon a new ministry in a largely undiscovered mission field, in a land on the fringes of society, and unexplored by many other Christian ministries. You can’t get here by plane, train, automobile, nor boat. This is a land so exotic and primitive that you can lose yourself and in the losing of yourself, quite possibly discover a whole new you.

We’re building churches, creating community, offering counsel, creating safe spaces, preaching the word, building schools, offering prayer, and reaching out in fellowship. Our ministry is reaching new heights and probing new depths of human spirituality and is being sought after more and more.

Where in the world is this new mission field you ask? Well, not in this world, but in a virtual world called Second Life (SL).

From Wikipedia:

Second Life (SL) is a virtual world developed by Linden Lab that launched on June 23, 2003 and is accessible via the Internet. A free client program called the Second Life Viewer[1] enables its users, called Residents, to interact with each other through avatars. Residents can explore, meet other residents, socialize, participate in individual and group activities, and create and trade virtual property and services with one another, or travel throughout the world (which residents refer to as “the grid”). Second Life is for people aged 18 and over, while Teen Second Life is for people aged 13 to 17.

Built into the software is a three-dimensional modeling tool based around simple geometric shapes that allows a resident to build virtual objects. This can be used in combination with the Linden Scripting Language which can be used to add functionality to objects. More complex three-dimensional sculpted prims (colloquially known as sculpties), textures for clothing or other objects, and animations and gestures can be created using external software. The Second Life Terms of Service ensure that users retain copyright for any content they create, and the server and client provide simple digital rights management functions.

I became a member of Second Life some years ago when it first began. I had heard a report on National Public Radio (NPR) about this new virtual world created by Linden Labs and was intrigued. I joined but in the early days it was rough going. The technology and programming just didn’t work well together or at least my old computer didn’t work well with the new platform and its resource demands. Just this last fall I head a new report about Second Life again on NPR and decided to revisit the place. I found a whole new world.

Always thinking about the Gospel Message and how to spread the Good News I immediately started thinking about a Second Life missions field and began doing research and learning everything I could. I visited many church structures in SL and even sat in on a couple of prayer services and daily offices. I was hooked and started making plans for Shepherd’s Heart “Second Ministry.”

Abbot DeSantis aka Abbot BrianIn SL you create a virtual avatar that represents you and your personality. Needless to say I created that of a monk: Abbot DeSantis. I look like a monk, gesture like a monk, do the work of a monk, and in SL live like a monk. In this new world you can be anything you want to be and look like anything you want to look like. In my heart of hearts I am a Celtic catholic monk in the Order of the Shepherd’s Heart and so that’s who I chose to be in SL.

We’re still in the preliminary stages but we have some virtual land and have built a “mother house,” a beautiful chapel, and some Celtic monk’s cells. We also have a “Garden of the Stations” where we have stations of the cross set up for people to pray at. We have offered compline a few times and are working on a steady schedule of service times, including but not limited to Sunday worship service.

This is a whole new world for us and we’re just beginning to explore it and find our way around it. Won’t you visit the “Second Ministry” of Shepherd’s Heart and join us in the quest? When you arrive simply do a search for “Shepherd’s Heart Abbey” and teleport in. If you will befriend me I can help you if I’m in world. My avatar name, as already mentioned, is Abbot DeSantis. We also currently have three different groups in SL, the Ecumenical Free Catholic Communion, the Order of the Shepherd’s Heart, and one just dedicated to Christian ministry in Second Life called Second Ministry. I invite you to join the groups as you like.

See you in Second Life!

Abbot-Bishop Brian E. Brown, OSH in Real Life
“Abbot DeSantis” in Second Life