Nadia Bolz-Weber interview, blog & sermon links

I found the interview of Nadia Bolz-Weber on Krista Tippett's show On Being here: podcast, video or transcript. THANK you so much, Beth, for mentioning this in your comments! I listened to the podcast on my drive to Rochester yesterday, AND I listened to it again with my husband last night.It was that good.

Intro from the transcript:

Ms. Tippett: The church Nadia Bolz-Weber founded is called the House for All Sinners and Saints. At six feet tall with spiky hair and a body covered in tattoos, she is an original voice in a loosely defined movement called the emerging church.   ...  She spent years as an addict and a stand-up comic before being surprised by what felt like a call to be a minister to people on the underside of life.   ...   These days, convicted felons and elected officials join teenagers with pink hair at this church and others like it redefining what church is and with a deep reverence for tradition.

I would recommend listening to the podcast, rather than reading the transcript, if you have the time. There is so much life and character in Nadia's voice that you miss a lot only reading her words.

A few gems from the interview:

Ms. Nadia Bolz-Weber: I really feel strongly that you have to be deeply rooted in tradition in order to innovate with integrity. So, for example, we celebrate the Easter vigil, where you start with a new fire and you light it and you have this paschal candle and you parade in chanting, and we have these baptisms and we have the Eucharist and it's like amazing.

And...

Ms. Nadia Bolz-Weber: I feel like the Christian life is a life of continual death and resurrection. Also, I think some sectors of Christianity think, well, you're saved and then you're good, right? And then you just lead a really nice life and you're a good person and you're redeemed and you sort of climbed this spiritual ladder so that you're close to God. And that's just not been my experience.

My experience is of that disruption, over and over again, of going along and tripping upon something that I think I know or that I think I'm certain about, and realizing I'm wrong. Or maybe fighting to think I'm right about something over and over and over again until I experience what I call the sort of divine heart transplant.

Also, Tesha mentioned that Nadia's blog seems like it has not been updated recently. I found more recent blog posts and links to sermons (both audio & transcript) here: Patheos.

The Gospel of Q

The journal notes for session 4 make brief mention of an additional gospel called Q, which is considered by many scholars to have been a source for pieces of the synoptic gospels Matthew & Luke. If you're interested in reading more about Q, this article is one of the best I've found. It's lengthy and dense, but readable:

What is the Q Gospel?

Preparing for Discussion - Gospels: Unexpected Good News

On Wednesday this week, we'll be discussing session four of Animate: Bible, entitled:  "Gospels: Unexpected Good News." The DVD presentation for session four is by Nadia Bolz-Weber.

I suggest going through the journal questions backward this week, in an effort to get to the scripture-based discussion questions before running out of time.

* Take a look at the opening lines of the gospels of Matthew and John. Think about how these introductions differ and how they fit together. How do they complement each other?

* The gospels give us both stories and descriptions of what Jesus SAID and what he DID. Do you tend to put more weight on one than the other? These scriptures may help guide your thinking:

• Matthew 5
• Mark 1:40-42
• Luke 9:12-17
• John 8:1-11

* Nadia Bolz-Weber talks about how Jesus kept company with the wrong crowds of people (John 4:4-26 & Luke 19:1-10). Have you ever experience of finding the Good News in unexpected places or people?

* How about John the Baptist? What do you think about the description of John the Baptist from the DVD, and what do you think it says about Jesus that this is really the beginning of the gospel story?  He was, most likely, not what people expected for a preamble to the appearance of the Messiah. 

* If you have a couple of Bibles around your house, see if you can find one that has some footnotes about Mark 16 and bring that Bible with you to Morning Blend on Wednesday. What thoughts do these notes bring up for you? Is it unsettling that there are some different possibilities for the ending of Mark?

* And following from that question, how do you make sense of the differences between the 4 gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John? Which stories about Jesus are really essential to your faith, and does it change how you feel about a story if it is included in more than one gospel?

* From the facilitator guide: "Nadia talks about the word "gospel" as a proclamation that demands a response. Does our faith feel like a response to the good news? In what ways does it succeed and in what ways does it fail?"

* What was your response to Nadia's story of the conversation with her friend, who said that she didn't really need anything outside herself to have a sense of hope and life? How do we see that same conversation playing out in the world around us? Does it seem to you that more and more people think they don't really need God or even religion or spirituality to have hope and life? Do you think that people can really and truly feel that way? Or are they covering up their true fears and longings?

* In what ways do you see the gospel still unfolding around you?

Peace!

Who is Nadia Bolz-Weber?

Session Four of the Animate: Bible series, Gospels: Unexpected Good News, is presented by Nadia Bolz-Weber.

Nadia is the founding pastor of House for All Sinners and Saints, an innovative, urban Lutheran church in Denver. That church has received wide acclaim for its programs like curbside communion and distributing turkey dinners to people who have to work on Thanksgiving.

Her first book chronicled 24 hours of watching Christian television, and her second book, Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner and Saint, tells of her transition from alcoholic stand-up comic to world-renowned Christian leader.

Five fast facts

1. Lives with her two children and husband (also a Lutheran pastor) in Denver
2. Can usually be found in the gym
3. Has spoken to 35,000 people in the Superdome
4. Collects belt buckles and loves tattoos
5. Has a BA in religious studies from University of Colorado at Boulder and holds an MDiv from the Iliff School of Theology

(Bio from: http://wearesparkhouse.org/adults/animate/bible/voices/nadia/)

Learn more at Nadia Bolz-Weber's website: http://www.nadiabolzweber.com/