Christian
Scharen
Assistant Professor of Worship and
Theology
2481 Como Avenue
St. Paul, MN 55108
cscharen001@luthersem.edu
(651)
641-
Office: NW
Fax: 641-3354
ext:
Office Hours: by
appointment.
Courses
Resources
Faith as a way of life blog - A blog envisioning Christianity lived.
Learning Pastoral Imagination Project
The Learning Pastoral Imagination Project is a five-year research project that will undertake a series of focal studies at sites both with student ministry candidates as they move from training programs into ministry and with excellent pastors at various intervals of years in practice. Our interviews will focus on key learning moments in congregational leadership as well as observations of ministry practice. We will show with more care and subtlety the long formation process, occurring across multiple contexts and apprenticeships, through which the reflective capacity, perception, and practical skills that lead to "pastoral imagination" develop and advance. By developing and deploying careful research protocol drawing on a phenomenological model of skill development, we can portray the full scope of the formation of pastors in congregational leadership–especially how they learn to incorporate theological knowledge in and through the preparation for the practice of ministry. Such findings will be essential for the ongoing learning and professional development of pastors. These findings will also inform and possibly redirect initiatives in theological education and the church more broadly as leaders of a whole ecology of organizations seek to inspire, train, and encourage a new generation of pastoral leaders shaping communities of disciples for the sake of the world.
Speaking & Travel
2009
January 29-31: Speaker for "Shift 2009: ELCA Youth Ministry Network Extravaganza," New Orleans, Louisiana (Sponsor: ELCA Youth Ministry Network)
February 8, 15, 22, The Bell Lectures on Worship, Culture and Change at Westwood Lutheran Church, St. Louis Park, MN
March 16-17, Keynote on Learning Pastoral Imagination for Transition into Ministry gathering, Indianapolis, IN
June 5-7, Keynote on Worship Today: Streams of Innovation for Montana Synod Assembly, Great Falls, MT
June 15-19, Holden Village Teaching Staff, “Torture and Eucharist: Political Worship in Chile and the USA”, Chelan, WA
August 15, Book of Faith Jubilee, Workshop on “Neon Bible: Preaching and Worship at the intersection of Scripture and Pop Culture,” St. Paul, MN
October 13, Day-long seminar on “Pop Culture, God, and the Work for Justice” at Midland College, Nebraska
October 26-27, Keynote presenter on “Pastoral leadership for Faith as a Way of Life” Eastern Washington Idaho Synod, Coeur d’Alene, ID
Selected Publications
BOOKS
Faith As a Way of Life: A Vision for Pastoral Leadership
Christian ministry is deeply concerned with proclaiming the transforming power of God's gift of faith in the daily lives of disciples. How is it, then, that Christian faith so often fails to be an orienting force that impacts every aspect of our lives?
June, 2008 - Eerdmans Publishing
Review of this book
One Step Closer: Why U2 Matters to Those Seeking God
U2 is widely hailed as the greatest rock and roll band in the world, and lead singer Bono is often seen in the media touting humanitarian goals. Now Christian Scharen provides a thoughtful look at the driving force behind the band. Bono and other band members are marked by the Christian faith of their Irish backgrounds. Scharen reflects on how U2 "fits within the longer Christian tradition of voices that point us to the cross, to Jesus, and to the power of God's ways in the world" as he explores the music's honest spiritual questioning. Music lovers, pastors, and anyone on the path to God will value this book.
April, 2006 - Brazos Press
Review in the Christian Century
Public Worship and Public Work: Character and Commitment in Local Congregational Life (Virgil Michel Series)
In a time of increasing cultural pluralism and vast religious restructuring in the United States, Christian social ethics must take account of how values and commitments shape Christian communities. In Public Worship and Public Work Christian Scharen examines theological claims about the relationship of worship and ethics by means of ethnographic study of the life, worship, and work of three vibrant congregations.Public Worship and Public Work moves beyond two caricatures of the relationship between worship and social ethics. Rather than resolute portrayals of the Church as a reflection of its culture and context and causal accounts of the Church’s liturgy forming a Christian witness over and against culture, this book lifts up congregational identity as an area of dynamic interaction between worship, social ethics, and culture.
June, 2004 - Pueblo Books
Review in Catholic Books Review
Married in the Sight of God: Theology, Ethics, and Church Debates Over Homosexuality
Married in the Sight of God is a case study into the contemporary sexual ethics debates in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Christian B. Scharen analyzes the origin, rhetorical use, and institutionalization of the Lutheran "orders of creation" theology used to exclude gays and lesbians. In addition, this study shows that the Lutheran tradition holds neglected possibilities for an affirming theological and ethical position that blesses the lives and leadership of people -- homosexual or heterosexual -- who make life-long promises of love and fidelity one to another.
August, 2000 - University Press of America
ARTICLES
Worship & Ministry
“Worship in a Secular Age: ‘Worship Wars’ and the Conditions of Possibility for Worship Today,” final draft under review for publication (2010).
“Imagination, Pop Culture and Ministry with Youth and Young Adults” final draft published in Dialog (Winter): 339-347 (2008).
“Learning Ministry over Time: Embodying Practical Wisdom,” final draft published pp. 265-288 in Craig Dykstra and Dorothy Bass, eds., For Life Abundant: Practical Theology, Theological Education, and Christian Ministry. Eerdmans (2008).
“‘Judicious Narratives’: Ethnography as Ecclesiology,” final draft published in Scottish Journal of Theology 58 (2): 125-142 (2005).
“Baptismal Practices and the Formation of Christians: A Critical Liturgical Ethics,” final draft published in Worship 76 (January): 43-66 (2002).
“Lois, Liturgy, and Ethics,” final draft published in The Annual of the Society of Christian Ethics, 20: 275-305 (2000).
“Ideology, Ritual, and Christian Subjectivity,” final draft published in Worship 70 (September): 406-22 (1996).
Theology & Sexuality
Assessing The ELCA Draft Social Statement on Human Sexuality" “Assessing The ELCA Draft Social Statement on Human Sexuality,” final draft published in The Network Newsletter 17(August 2008): 2-6.
“Context versus Principles: Still A Misplaced Debate,” final draft published in Journal of Lutheran Ethics (July 2008) www.elca.org/jle.
“‘Married in the Sight of God’: Martin Luther, Theology and Same-Sex Unions,” final draft published pp. 19-34 in Traci C. West, ed. Our Family Values: Same-Sex Marriage and Religion. Praeger (2007).
“Experiencing the Body: Sexuality and Conflict in American Denominations,” final draft published in The Union Seminary Quarterly Review 57(Spring-Summer): 47-65 (2003).
“In Christ We Are a New Creation: Gay Christians and the Meaning of Sexuality and Marriage,” final draft published in The Lutheran (March): 22-23 (2003).
“The Difficulty of Thinking Well Together: Notes on Writing About Homosexuality in the ELCA,” final draft published in The Network Newsletter (Fall 2003 ): 5-8.
“Subject to Discipline: Authority, Sexuality, and the Production of Candidates for the Ordained Ministry,” final draft published in the Journal of the American Academy of Religion 68 (Summer): 89-120 (1998).
Education/Curriculum Vitae:
Ph.D. Emory University
Atlanta, GA2001
Biographical Notes
Photo
(suitable for publication)Profile
M.Div Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary
Berkeley, CA1996 Ordained MAR Graduate Theological Union
Berkeley, CA1995 B.A. Pacific Lutheran University
Tacoma, WA1989
Last updated: July 21, 2008.
