Charing's play ground of theology

 2021 年是收獲滿滿的一年。 六月份時， 在目前的 海德園聯合基督教會 (United Church of Hyde Park) 按立為牧師，取得聯合基督教會 (United Church of Christ) 的牧師籍。需要感謝許多的老師、同工、朋友與親人們的支持與鼓勵，才能從一路申請神學院，先讀了神學系(B.Th)，後讀了道學碩士(M.Div)，到芝加哥來又讀了一個神學碩士(S.T.M.)，開始了博士課程，途中還換了一間教會，才在目前的聚會地點安頓下來。 十二月份時，取得了 伊利諾州大學-香檳分校 (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign) 的 科學碩士 (Master of Science)，專注於數位時代的基督宗教宣教策略 (evangelicalism in the digital era)。非常謝謝我在 芝加哥神學院 (Chicago Theological Seminary) 教授們的支持與容忍，讓我稍從博士課程中分神來完成這碩士學位。 秋季時，也擔任了 希伯來聖經詮釋 (Interpreting the Hebrew Bible I) 的助教，在學期中負責主要的每週作業的批改與回應。也從與同學們的互動當中，延伸地閱讀與研空相關的議題，好回應以及提供給有需要的同學們。教學真不容易，需要有很多的時間與耐心，且要不斷學習。接下來，就要全力衝剌，把博士學位拿到。 參與主持的酷兒釋經計畫， 「神|上帝的酷兒」( https://queerofgod.com/ ) 今年發佈了33集的內容，網站上已經累積了112集。除了內容有些調整之外，在網站樣版上也一併做了調整。也進行了小型的組織重整，希望明年可以更穩定地發佈內容，邀請更多不同的朋友來分享。(不是才說要全力衝剌博士學位的嗎！) 和亞當今年開車到東岸拜訪亞當的家人兩次，我也分擔了部份的路程。我們偶爾會對彼此生氣，但是也找得到化解的方式，來支霜淇淋是有效的方式之一。 Covid-19 的疫情雖一度有減緩，但是現在因為Omicron 的高傳染力屬性，又生變數。我和亞當已經完成第三劑的疫苖接種一段時間，也很留意衛生與保護措施，仍能調適得宜。我的廚藝也因疫情有了顯著的提升，肚子有不斷變寬的趨勢。 by the Hyde Park Metra station 查媽前陣子完...

Scripture: Isa 61:10-62:3 Date: Dec 26 2021 ISA 61:10-62:3 (NRSV) 10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my whole being shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. 11 For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations. 1 For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her vindication shines out like the dawn, and her salvation like a burning torch. 2 The nations shall see your vindication, and all the kings your glory; and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will give. 3 You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. 0. opening Today is the first Sunday after C...

  Sermon topic: haunted mind and soul Scripture: Mark 6: 14-29 Date: July 11 2021 Location: United Church of Hyde Park Theme: John the Baptist was killed by Herod for protecting Herod’s social persona among the Galilean leaders. Maybe Herod did not want to do so and still feel something wrong about it. While Jesus became famous and rumors started to spread, Herod addressed, “it is John who I killed that has resurrected.” Why does Herod say so? Does he believe in the resurrection as well? Or, does he believe in revenge from the innocent death? How could he respond to this haunting? --01-background and connection Jesus’ ministry in Galilee started after John the Baptist was arrested (Mark 1:14). Here, Mark chapter 6, reveals the death of John. We have noticed an interesting parallel between John and Jesus while we read from the first chapter. They baptized people by the river. They proclaimed messages different from the mainstream; lots of outcasts and marginalized people g...

Response: A Just World for All. Thank you to all who made it possible today and for all your participation and support. Rev. Anthony Williams is marching toward DC now. Rev. Williams is on a mission for years pushing elected officials to declare violence as a public health crisis. He started to march on foot from Chicago to the destination, White House. If we knew, we are one church and working on a just world for all, and we shall support him, pray for him, and walk with him together. I met Rev. Williams two years ago, on different occasions. Rev. Williams has only one thought: why does the public not pay attention to the internalized violence and destructive ideology? I was moved by his devotion and realized it is the individual’s devotion that made the change, made this a better world, although some might treat him like an idiot. However, I knew a lot of idiots who have done fabulous things no one could imagine before. It has been a long journey since 2008. I was shocked by Rev. Yia...

 * This ordination paper has been read and spread among UCC in public. Thanks for all the comments that made this paper better than my imagination. Ordination Paper (for Chicago Metropolitan Association, of Illinois Conference, of United Church of Christ) Submitted in Dec 2020. Author: Charing Wei-Jen Chen My background and faith journey – an intersectional observation in ethnicity, class, language/culture, religion, and sexuality I was born and raised in a Buddhist family in Tainan, Taiwan. My parents are from two different ethnicities: Ho-Lok ( 河洛 ) and Hak-Ka ( 客家 ). Although these two ethnicities cover most of the population (72% Ho-Lok and 14% Hak-Ka) and share lots of things, they still have too many differences between them; even my father could not understand the language from my mother’s side at all. At their time, the cross-ethnicity marriage was not welcomed. I also noticed cultural conflicts and tension in visiting different families. Before policy of demanding ed...