Lynne Taylor

It was great to explore how we might adopt embodied, multisensory spiritual practices that help build towards faith and faithfulness… Drawing on Jesus’ “I am …” statements in John.

(Favourite feedback comment: “Thank you. That was delicious.”)

Here’s my abstract.
It is well recognised that engaging in spiritual practices can work to form people spiritually. Spiritual practices help to facilitate an awareness of God, providing a means by which to come to know God, oneself and the world. Recent scholarship also points to the specific importance of embodied spiritual practices: practices that are attentive to, or engage, the whole person.
This paper takes a multisensory approach to spiritual formation, seeking to develop embodied communal spiritual practices that draw on Jesus’ “I am” statements in John. Brief exegesis on selected statements is followed by a suggestion (and experience) of an embodied (and sensory) liturgical or spiritual practice that aims to spiritually grow the participant by embedding significance and meaning.
This endeavour has two key points of significance for missional theology. First, the increasing interest and involvement in spiritual practices by those outside the church presents Christians with both challenge and opportunity. Many people are interested in their spiritual growth. The church ought not to abdicate this opportunity to non-Christ-centred expressions of spirituality. Secondly, and relatedly, Christian spiritual practices have been shown not just to develop existing Christian faith, but also to help form faith where there was previously none. Therefore, spiritual practices that are connective for those who would not call themselves Christian can help to build an openness to God and God’s activity in their lives.

It was great to present yesterday at Otago Theology’s Trajectories conference.
My paper explored the following (at pace, and with an engaged group of participants):

See-Judge-Act scripture reading: what does a model born in Europe and fruitful in Latin America and Africa have to offer Aotearoa?

The See-Judge-Act process of reading Scripture together in a small group originated in the European Catholic worker-priest movement in the 1930s and 1940s. This model of scripture engagement later thrived in the Latin American context, amongst people dissatisfied with Western biblical scholarship and its lack of emphasis on the poor and oppressed. It has also been fruitfully employed in African nations. The author adapted See-Judge-Act for use in a university student congregation in Dunedin.

As a bible study model, See-Judge-Act offers a way of both inviting reflection on one’s context and experiences in the light of scripture, and of encouraging action towards transformation. This means of exploring the scriptures brings the lived experiences of the participants into conversation with the context that the group finds itself in, as well as with the actual text of the bible passage.

This paper explores the origins and potential of this bible study model, outlining its significance in various contexts. It then invites participants to briefly experience See-Judge-Act: following a process of sharing stories of the week past, reading a selected passage, reflecting on standardised questions about the text, and moving to consider the implications of the text for life. Once experienced, we discuss the strengths and weaknesses of See-Judge-Act before concluding by exploring its potential value for churches in Aotearoa New Zealand.