Welcome to IM’s popular new feature, “The Liturgical Gangstas,” a panel discussion among different liturgical traditions represented in the Internet Monk audience.

Who are the Gangstas?

Father Ernesto Obregon is an Eastern Orthodox priest.
Rev. Peter Vance Matthews is an Anglican priest and founding pastor of an AMIA congregation.
Dr. Wyman Richardson is a pastor of a First Baptist Church (SBC) and director of Walking Together Ministries, a resource on church discipline.
Alan Creech is a Roman Catholic with background in the Emerging church and spiritual direction. (Alan’s not a priest. If he is, his wife and kids need to know.)
Rev. Matthew Johnson is a United Methodist pastor.
Rev. William Cwirla is a Lutheran pastor (LCMS) and one of the hosts of The God Whisperers, which is a podcast nearly as good as Internet Monk Radio.

Here’s this week’s question: In an interview with Boston.com, the late Avery Cardinal Dulles answered a question with a crucial observation:

Q. What is the appropriate role of dissent in the church?

A. Dissent should be rare, respectful and reluctant. One’s first reaction as a Catholic is to agree with the official teaching of the church.

Thousands of IM readers ponder this question: If we cannot join our Catholic brothers and sisters in simply trusting the teaching authority of the Roman Catholic church, then what is the answer to the “authority” question for non-Catholic Christians? [Continue reading]

Alan Creech is a good friend of this web site and is the Roman Catholic Liturgical Gangsta. He’s started a small home business project making hand-crafted, Franciscan, single decade rosaries. You can see them all- five varieties- right here. Alan will work out the details of ordering and payment with you via email at his site.

Even those who aren’t Catholic can use prayer beads as a focal point in prayer. I have a set of Anglican prayer beads that I’ve enjoyed the past year. Resources for various forms of prayer bead assisted prayer are easy to find. These would make a great gift (though a lot of orders might make Christmas delivery unlikely.) I’d like to see the IM audience support Alan in this little venture. Pass the word and spread a little liturgical cheer.

Check out all the various single decade Franciscan style rosaries/prayer beads at Alan’s web site.

(You could even give one to a fundamentalist kid.)

Welcome to “The Liturgical Gangstas,” a panel discussion among different traditions represented in the Internet Monk audience.

Who are the Gangstas?

Father Ernesto Obregon is an Eastern Orthodox priest.
Rev. Peter Vance Matthews is an Anglican priest and founding pastor of an AMIA congregation.
Dr. Wyman Richardson is a pastor of a First Baptist Church (SBC) and director of Walking Together Ministries, a resource on church discipline.
Alan Creech is a Roman Catholic with background in the Emerging church and spiritual direction. (Alan’s not a priest. If he is, his wife and kids need to know.)
Rev. Matthew Johnson is a United Methodist pastor.
Rev. William Cwirla is a Lutheran pastor (LCMS) and one of the hosts of The God Whisperers, which is a podcast nearly as good as Internet Monk Radio.

Here’s this week’s question: Three words are coming up frequently in discussions about the church:

Sacramental: Think Orthodox, Catholic, Anglican. God gives sacraments. The church distributes them as the center of Christian experience and the church’s mission.
Attractional: Think the Evangelical MegaChurch. Kickin’ band. Lots of technology to fill the pews with an “audience” to hear the Gospel.
Missional: Equipping believers to go away from the “Building,” into the culture to participate in the mission of God as they find it in their culture: mercy ministries, justice and peacemaking, working with the poor, just being present in the world as servants and witnesses.

These are three good words. All of you would use them in some way. (Well….Baptists can’t spell sacramental, but still…)

What is the way to go to be the church Jesus is building: Sacramental, Attractional or Missional? And in what mixture? For what reasons? [Continue reading]

UPDATE: We have a Lutheran. Rev. William Cwirla, whom many of you know from The God Whisperers, etc. His post has been added to this one.

Welcome to “The Liturgical Gangstas,” a panel discussion among different traditions represented in the Internet Monk audience.

Every episode of the Liturgical Gangstas will feature a question, and each member of the panel will make a response from within their own tradition. Then you and the Gangstas can interact in the comments.

Who are the Gangstas?

Father Ernesto Obregon is an Eastern Orthodox priest.
Rev. Peter Vance Matthews is an Anglican priest and founding pastor of an AMIA congregation.
Dr. Wyman Richardson is a pastor of a First Baptist Church (SBC) and director of Walking Together Ministries, a resource on church discipline.
Alan Creech is a Roman Catholic with background in the Emerging church and spiritual direction.
Rev. Matthew Johnson is a United Methodist pastor.
Rev. William Cwirla is a Lutheran pastor (LCMS) and one of the hosts of The God Whisperers, which is a podcast nearly as good as Internet Monk Radio.

Welcome to the Liturgical Gangstas, and here’s the first question: “A person comes to you and says “I want to grow significantly as a Christian in the next year. Using the resources we all share and the specific resources of your tradition, what kind of guidance would you give this person? Be as specific as possible.” [Continue reading]