Mr. Wendell Berry of Kentucky

Blog Watch: Wendell Berry and Church

There’s been a bit of discussion around the absence of an ecclesiology in Berry’s writing.  It seems that the Church is often depicted as something negative. Pastors, especially those “professionals” who move from church to church, get the same treatment.  What are we to make of this?

First, I don’t think Berry’s biggest issue is with Christianity or the Church in general terms, but with a gnostic theology that has crept into the church – a theology that has disembodied and displaced its adherents.  The problem, first and foremost, is any church which has an ‘otherworldly’ focus and causes men and women to abscond from their responsibilities to this good earth.

via dougsikkema.wordpress.com

from "Three Reasons Christians Should Read and Enjoy Wendell Berry"

When you pick up a book by Wendell Berry, don’t be surprised if the Kentucky soil of his home state falls out from in between the pages.  He is a man who writes with a deep sense of reverence for all of God’s blessings, especially those which we seem to take for granted.

My first Berry book was not one of his collections of essays or novels, but a book of his poems.  I received it in the mail the day before I left to go vacation to the Rockies and I sat on the deck of my cabin reading his poems as I looked out across the majesty of God’s creation. Berry gave a voice to the mountains, the snowfall, and the fresh air.  Truly, Wendell Berry is an advocate for that which grows, creaks, breathes, and dies.

via thestrife.com

WB discussed in "Wendell Berry Schools Mark Driscoll"

Wendell Berry, a lifelong Baptist, has nonetheless seen the destruction that Protestantism’s dualistic separation of soul and body has done to the earth, to agriculture, to humanity. In fact, the quote is from The Unsettling of America in a chapter called “The Body and the Earth” which convincingly demonstrates the damage caused by a mentality that thinks the soul and body can be isolated from each other, the body (and then the earth) devalued while the soul remains valued.

via www.ignitumtoday.com

Rod Dreher reading about "Wendell Berry & the church"

Hart says Berry’s harsh criticism of contemporary Christianity may have a lot to do with the fact that he’s a Southern Baptist, and mistakes a particularly Evangelical view of the connection between the soul and the body, matter and spirit, for the whole of Christian teaching. Hart — who is a historian and a Reformed Christian — calls Berry’s critique of American Evangelicalism astute, because it focuses on how the Evangelical style is so amenable to a culture of rootlessness and a disembodied spirituality.

via www.theamericanconservative.com

Of interest: "Sisters answer the call of the Earth"

Catholic sisters have long been associated with activism - from fighting poverty to promoting education and social justice. Today, sisters across the country are uniting around a new cause: healing the earth. Angela Evancie has the story of two women who have brought a version of "green" Catholicism to Vermont. Angela is contributing environmental reporting this year as part of a Compton Mentor Fellowship.

via www.northcountrypublicradio.org

Blog Watch: "Wendell Berry on the pastoral craft"

Reading Wendell Berry after spending time with the management-speak of the Call to Action report is like taking off your jacket and tie after a long day at the office.

Berry is a poet and farmer. In many ways, the topics he writes about speak to me more of the craft of pastoring than anything in the best-selling books about growing churches

via johnmeunier.wordpress.com

Of Interest: Two talks on Christianity and Agriculture

The Englewood Review of Books has made available the audio of two talks that were given at "A Rooted People: The Church, Place and Agriculture in an Urban World" held back in Indianapolis back in October.

To hear Ragan Sutterfield on "Humility" and Fred Bahnson on "Lords, Priests, and Lovers ( or Three Ways to Become a Master Gardener)" go HERE.

Blog Watch: "Wendell Berry and pastoral theology - Part 1"

Doing some reading recently through some of Wendell Berry's novels I was struck by his account of a number of incidents of death and dying and attempts at pastoral visitation. I thought that these rich accounts of the interaction between the minister and the families might prove a rich source for reflection by those involved in such visitation. Certainly there is a substantial cultural difference between early 20th century Kentucky the situation a century later in Australia. Nevertheless, I reckon there is still something to be learnt particularly for engagement in pastoral care with people who are members of the Christian community. Stories such as this are a great source of material for reflection as they are interesting to read and rich in substance and nuance in a way that formal case studies can never be.

via doug-subversivevoices.blogspot.com

Of interest: "Sacred Soil as Sacred Space"

While there is a pervasive belief in the West that sacred places are ‘made,” indigenous peoples see that the land is inherently sacred. Michael Rotondi, an architect from California, works from the vision that architecture should manifest the sacredness of the land that is already present. He will discuss the initial results of his contemplative architecture project with land at the Abbey of Gethsemani. Sponsored by the Merton Center for Contemplative Living and co-hosted by the Urban Design Studio. Free. Bring your own lunch or order a box lunch from Miss C’s, located in the Henry Clay: 502.992.3166. The Henry Clay, 604 S. 3rd St., Louisville, KY

via www.festivaloffaiths.org

Of Interest: "Farming as a Spiritual Discipline"

Flourish Book Review: Farming as a Spiritual Discipline by Ragan Sutterfield — Flourish.

Sutterfield describes what should be our correct relationship with nature: that of creatures of a loving God who, by extension and Imago Dei, should love creation. Practically speaking, Sutterfield says that farming is a route to reconnecting with the ways of loving creation that we have forgotten.

When it comes to growing food and farming, Sutterfield says that we can react to the changeability of nature in two ways: artificial control, or cultivation. Either we “attempt to overcome the variables” of the environment with cruel and harmful means, or we use a way of farming that forces us to order our lives around the unpredictability of the changing seasons and weather. Farmers who don’t cater to the pressure of consumerism and expansion live out the disciplines of humility and frugality, virtues that Sutterfield believes are “paths to find our way back to a true understanding of what is valuable.” READ MORE ...