hannah anderson

Seeking all that's true, good, and beautiful
'25

[hannah anderson @sometimesalight]

Looks like we're going to have some new folks around here. Here's what you can expect:

1) general disapproval of modernity
2) endearing vignettes of bickering w/ my 17yo son about Napoleon
3) love of Appalachia
4) deeply protective of working class
5) probably too ecumenical

[hannah anderson @sometimesalight]

@TomeBrown39 @brandon_d_smith I’m not sure if that’s exactly what you mean but I’m thinking about how much of this is based not on abstraction but our embodied life with each other in community

[hannah anderson @sometimesalight]

@TomeBrown39 @brandon_d_smith Right, right, right. There’s a difference btwn ideas/doctrines & living them out ethically. We have to do both. Too many folks, one, think having the “right” idea or interpretation frees you from the responsibility to engage in ethical way with others.

[hannah anderson @sometimesalight]

@TomeBrown39 @brandon_d_smith Yes precedent within the tradition is an important question of ethics & doing right by neighbor insofar as that’s what is the stated & agreed upon teaching.

[hannah anderson @sometimesalight]

@TomeBrown39 @brandon_d_smith I think we learn from historic process & previous ways of entering into mission of Christ—how we got it wrong, what was good & right, & then return to our own moment as the living Body bound together thru Spirit & humbly do our best & trust God’s mercy b/c it will be imperfect.

[hannah anderson @sometimesalight]

@TomeBrown39 @brandon_d_smith That doesn’t mean relativizing truth so much as confessing limitations as human beings to know & practice it. There’s no moment in church history that we can point to and say, “there! That’s when the church had everything together! That’s where we need to be.”

[hannah anderson @sometimesalight]

@TomeBrown39 @brandon_d_smith Yes as is the case historically… John Bunyan would like a word 😂

[hannah anderson @sometimesalight]

@TomeBrown39 @brandon_d_smith My concern is how often the current debates fail these basic moral tests & are reduced to proof texting. There may be an ethical way to argue for restricting preaching to male-exclusive eldership but the current amendment isn’t it.

[hannah anderson @sometimesalight]

@TomeBrown39 @brandon_d_smith For me, evaluating the health of a congregation/denomination is more about whether privileges & accountability align, whether every member has ability to exercise their Spirit-given gifts in some fashion, & whether loving communion thru mutuality is the governing dynamic.

[hannah anderson @sometimesalight]

@TomeBrown39 @brandon_d_smith My concern is that the logic of the amendment as it is written roots preaching in maleness not pastoral office. Which is a very different argument than Brandon is making I think

[hannah anderson @sometimesalight]

@TomeBrown39 @brandon_d_smith The shared question is “What work can only a pastor do that no one else in the congregation can do?”

If you decide that preaching is a function of office of pastor as Brandon is arguing (& the amendment claims to), then no one but pastors should preach regardless of gender.

[hannah anderson @sometimesalight]

@brandon_d_smith Most speak about preaching as a function of male pastoral ministry but in doing so highlight MALE & thus weaken pastoral office … you’re making a different argument that puts emphasis on PASTORAL which is logically tighter than the actual language of the amendment

[hannah anderson @sometimesalight]

@brandon_d_smith I’m sorry… did this come across wrong? I’m still engaging Twitter like it’s 2014 when we’re all just hashing thru ideas lol—honestly just engaging w/ your argument b/c it’s one of the first I’ve seen that makes appeal to elder-exclusive teaching.

[hannah anderson @sometimesalight]

@brandon_d_smith I think consistency is *essential* b/c of the stakes involved. It’s no small thing to restrict a certain population from particular ministry unless of course that ministry is as serious as you describe. If it is, then being male can’t be the distinguishing factor.

[hannah anderson @sometimesalight]

@brandon_d_smith I’m not objecting to the argument as plausible so much as testing whether it’s the argument functionally in play (pun intended 😏).

[hannah anderson @sometimesalight]

@brandon_d_smith Wouldn’t this logic also necessitate a restriction on preaching to assembly by men who are not elders?

[hannah anderson @sometimesalight]

@suzania Wait until you find out about the subscription services that let you search 1000s newspapers over 100s of years—newspapers used to be so much more local recording minutiae of daily life so I’ve found out so many lovely vignettes about my ancestors that I would never have known