Although contemporary followers of Jesus often say that we long for richer experiences of Christian community, we often struggle with the practices that build up and tear apart our common life. For a number of reasons, we have failed to cultivate the skills and practices that make community life good and sustainable. The June 2016 IWS Seminar by Dr. Christine Pohl, Cultivating Community and Worship: Practices that Define and Sustain Us, explored four practices that are at the heart of community living and Christian worship (gratitude, fidelity, truthfulness and hospitality), considered the characteristics of contemporary culture that undermine them, and explored ways in which we can strengthen these practices for worship and community.
Here are the links to video and audio files from this seminar.
- Pohl Seminar Event Gallery
- Christine Pohl: Practices that Define and Sustain
- Christine Pohl: Gratitude
- Christine Pohl: Gratitude-Antidote to Spiritual Pornography
- Christine Pohl: Hindrances to Gratitude
- Christine Pohl: Entitlement and Grumbling
- Christine Pohl: Envy
- Christine Pohl: Fidelity
- Christine Pohl: Promises—Covenants or Contracts, Pt. 1
- Christine Pohl: Promises—Covenants or Contracts, Pt. 2
- Christine Pohl: Addressing the Difficulties of Promising
- Christine Pohl: Promising in a Culture of Open Options
- Christine Pohl: Promising and Obligation
- Christine Pohl: Broken Promises and Betrayal
- Christine Pohl: When Believers Devour
- Christine Pohl: Strengthening the Practice of Promising
- Christine Pohl: Truthfulness
- Christine Pohl: Self-Deception
- Christine Pohl: Truthful Communities
- Christine Pohl: Hospitality
- Christine Pohl: Who Is the Stranger?
- Christine Pohl: Challenges to Hospitality
- Christine Pohl: Hospitality As a Way of Life
- Christine Pohl: Hospitality and Social Ministry
- Christine Pohl Seminar Reflections
Christine Pohl gave this response following her experience on campus in June 2016:
My recent time with the IWS Worship Seminar was delightful and enriching. The community fostered within the learning environment, worship times, and shared meals was exceptional. Students and faculty were deeply engaged and represented a significant array of interests and backgrounds. IWS’s practice of hospitality was life-giving and contagious—a wonderful and innovative model for theological education.
Additional IWS media is available here.