Categories
Eugene Peterson

Reflections on Eugene Peterson

On hearing of Eugene Peterson beginning hospice care: 

Eugene Peterson inspired me to want to pastor by his emphasis on immersion in Scripture and his encouragement to pastors to subtly resist consumerist pressuring by congregation members.

October 15, 2018

https://twitter.com/AndyRowell/status/1051846489146880000

 

And upon news of his death: 

A thread by Andy Rowell

https://tinysubversions.com/spooler/

 

One of the people who has most inspired me has died. I was astounded by Eugene Peterson's description of what a pastor, shaped by Scripture, should look like.

I read the books he recommended in Take & Read so as to be more like him and imitated his practice of Sabbath.

When I visited Regent College in 1998 as a college senior, Eugene Peterson preached and presided at the table in chapel. I met with him later and asked him about my concerns about attending seminary. "Well, if you are asking whether this an ivory tower, the answer is no!" I went.

I did not want to be a pastor until Eugene Peterson taught me it was about being a person of quality–steeped in Scripture, prayer, and people. Then I wanted to be a pastor.

Eugene Peterson was a pastor of pastors. I have no greater compliment.

Here is the description of Eugene Peterson's final days by his son Eric. (m.facebook.com/story.php?stor…) 

My wife Amy answered Eugene Peterson's mail as Regent College faculty secretary in 2000 after he had left in 1998. His instructions were to decline all invitations and books because he was trying to finish The Message in Montana. "Dear Rev. Lucado, Eugene regrets he cannot attend . . ."

Another update here from Eugene Peterson's son Eric about funeral arrangements: (facebook.com/EricEPeterson/…)

 

See also about Peterson's last presentation, which was about Karl Barth: https://twitter.com/TheBarthCenter/status/1054439375034036224

 

See also the post by David Taylor: 

https://artspastor.blogspot.com/2018/10/in-memory-of-eugene-peterson-1932-2018.html

 

 

 

 

Categories
Twitter

How to get started with Twitter as a Pastor

If you are a pastor or seminary student getting started on Twitter, here is a list of people that I suggest you consider following:

https://twitter.com/AndyRowell/lists/for-seminary-students

Below is my Bethel Seminary Fall 2018 Leadership Communication in Global Perspective assignment.

Trying out Twitter and reflection on utilizing social media

With a president whose leadership communication is Twitter, and with a professor who likes Twitter as well, I want you to try it.

Please create a Twitter account. Please follow 100 people.

Here is a list of 180 people that I suggest you consider following: https://twitter.com/AndyRowell/lists/for-seminary-students

But it is good to choose only those who are interesting to you. I don't agree with all of these people. It is just a good sample of Twitter. 

The idea of giving you some people to start following is that you start to see how the medium works and you are able to say: "Aha! I see how this could be cool and interesting and informative." 

If you follow people who say ignorant things, it is less fun to be on Twitter. If you follow insightful, witty, thoughtful people, it is more useful. It is like reading an interesting magazine. These people are some people that I have found to be not terribly annoying, but rather interesting. However, your opinion about who is annoying is valid and you should unfollow people who are annoying because they tweet too much or about things that are not of interest to you or say things that you think are not true or helpful. In other words, when trying out Twitter, just follow the people you feel like following. You need not only follow pastors and Christian people. You can also follow people who are tweeting about sports, music, hobbies that interest you. 

If you see someone that you like or respect like Beth Moore or Andy Crouch, you can look through who they follow and follow some of them. You can do this however you like.

I would like you to set it up in September but you can wait until the Communication module. I want you to try Twitter for 10 days. Please check it at least once a day for 5 minutes on each of those 10 days. You can use an alias rather than your real name. However it is possible that someone could find who you are through your email address you use so consider that even if you use a pseudonym for your handle: @seminarystudent101 @PastoronTwitter316 @Revtweets10 @churchiscool100 , etc. and a pseudonym for your name: (Seminary Student, Twitter Newbie, Anonymous Pastor, etc.) remember that your likes and retweets might be visible to people so be careful what you do. 

You are welcome to delete your account at the end of the semester.

Please do at least 10 tweets. You may tweet a great quote from something you are reading or a Bible verse or an interesting article that you read. Or you can do what you like. Please also retweet at least 10 tweets and like 10 tweets. I just want you to get a feel for what it is like.

Pastors are generally very careful about what they share since they do not want to offend people. Professors and journalists can speak their mind a bit more freely.  

In the forum reflect briefly on your experience with Twitter. I liked it! . . .  I still don’t get it. . . . It is too chaotic.

Also if you are familiar with them, reflect on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat as communication mediums. Also briefly comment on your observations on what screens are doing to teen (and adult) self-perception, their lack of ability to interact in real life, and inability to concentrate. There is a lot written on this topic but it is ok here to just give your opinion and observations on these matters.