chrispritchett.net

For Parents

This is a great article that came to us from the Princeton Seminary Preschool Director. For those of you with young ones, I encourage you to take a few minutes, read it, and discuss it with your spouse or other significant care-giver. What do you agree with? Where do you differ in your parenting philosophy? Is there anything you can take away from this article and apply? I'll leave some time to see who responds, then perhaps I'll add my own two cents.  

 A Child's Right to Play

Photo Update

Here is a link to some photos capturing highlights from the month of September. Enjoy!

Photo Album

A Brief Update: Family & Community Life

This blog is begging for a lighter post. So here's another quick update from Princeton. Our community experience here has been as good as expected. We live a couple of miles away from the main campus, in a seminary-owned community called Charlotte Rachel Wilson (CRW) apartments. The place is set up with four streets making a square (perhaps one square mile) and two-story, rectangular apartment buildings spread throughout, inside the square. Each building has roughly eight units, four on top and four on bottom. The rest of the area is grass and trees with a huge playground in the middle. We live right next to the playground. So it kind of feels like we live in a park with tons of other young, seminary families. This was intentionally set up to create a sense of community, and it works. Our girls are at the playground several times a day with tons of other little kids, moms and dads. We have BBQ's every week with the others in our building and the one facing ours. We see our neighbors and "do life" (I hate that phrase) with them, seeing them everyday. Yet, even though community is done well here, for us, it is tough to be away from our community who we have history and years of life experience with. It's not like you can just pack up and move and go, "Okay, here's our new community." Well, yes, but we love and miss our friends and family and church from home (our distant yet closest community) very very much. But we are finding incredible hospitality here and hopefully we will learn to give hospitality to others when we go from this place. This is the first time we've experienced this kind of living and we do love it and hope to bring some concepts home with us. Although, I'm not sure how probable it is in a suburban context...but we'll see. We live on the second floor and our place is pretty ugly and small and shanty, but oh well. We're getting used to it.

There is also a fantastic seminary preschool  in our community that our girls are going to two half-days per week and they are doing well there. Devon and I enjoy walking them to school together those mornings, and Hannah loves seeing the squirrels on the way. We usually count about 9 or 10 squirrels each morning. Yesterday five deer ran in front of me and that was pretty cool. 

Behind the preschool is a long canal that goes for miles and miles with huge trees and a tow path. We go for nice long runs on the canal often, and every Tuesday morning, while the girls are in school, Devon and I have our date morning, just the two of us, and we run and then go out to breakfast together. Much needed time!! Oh yeah...and Devon and I are on a flag football team that plays every Saturday morning, rain or shine, here in our community. It's legit with referees and all! Devon caught a sweet pass last Saturday and I caught a nice interception. Other than those two plays, we were pretty worthless on the field. But lots of fun and good excercise!

Last Sunday we took advantage of free train week for students and rode the train into New York City and went to the Children's Museum. Hannah loved the museum and the train, but Mom and Dad were absolutely wiped most of the time. I'm noticing that the three categories I've created for this brief update are difficult to separate and actually go together in a lot of ways. For example, I am finding community in my classes, so do I put that in the Education or Family & Community category? And Devon is in a fantastic Bible Study with other women on Wednesday nights, so does that go in the Family & Community Life category or the Worship Life category? What I'm trying to say is, some things go together more than they seem. Life is more holistic and connected and you can't have worship without community and Calvin would argue that education is worship and they just really all go together. So even though I've put them in categories, our lives are not that fragmented. Okay, that's enough for now. 

A Reflection

 Found in the Dark: My Spirituality and Call to Ministry 

Often it is the case when a Christian retells her story of conversion, she describes it either as a long process over time, or as a one-time event/experience. I think the same is also true for those who have accepted a call into parish ministry. When one realizes and embraces his sense of call, the story is often understood and told as either a long process over time that eventually grew into an acceptance, or as a sudden intuitive jolt of understanding that appeared as a result of a spectacular event: an epiphany. For me, my conversion experience, my sense of call to ordained ministry, and my spirituality contain elements of both process and epiphany. I see my story, my journey with Christ, my spirituality and my sense of call to ministry as primarily event-driven over the process of my entire life. There have been significant events that have each marked the beginning of a new chapter in my story, serving as milestones that have led me to where I am today. For example, I had a conversion experience when I was fifteen years old. I had grown up in the Roman Catholic Church. I was baptized as an infant, received my First Communion, served as an Altar Boy, went through most of Confirmation Class, and I even went to a Catholic High School. But there was this one night when I was fifteen years old when I had reached a depth of emotional despair that for me, as a lonely adolescent, led me to cry out to God in a way I had not experienced. Through my prayer that night, I said that I wanted to live my life for God. I had no idea what that meant, so I called my best friend who happened to be an evangelical Presbyterian (those words were not a part of my vocabulary at the time) and I told him of my experience. He celebrated with me as he understood this to mean that I had become a Christian. He took me to his Presbyterian youth group and I became part of a new fellowship that reframed my Christian identity and led me on a new path of Christian experience. Now, I understand that one February night to be the night in which I met Christ in an evangelical way. However, everything in my life since my baptism in the Roman Catholic Church contributed to my process of conversion (a process of which I am still in), which happened to have a particular milestone marker that night. In other words, I had a significant epiphany, Damascus-like experience that one February night, but it was not the first time God showed up in my life. It was a process that led up to that night, and it has been a process with other significant events and epiphanies since that night.

Even though I have considered myself a Presbyterian for the last fourteen years, I think my Catholic upbringing for the first fifteen years of my life has had an everlasting impact on my life, and informs how I live out my faith today. For example, when I made the decision to live my life for God, it was born not out of a joyful, mountain-top experience, but out of the depths of sorrow. It was a feeling that can be linked to the cross—the lonely, godless feeling of the cross. This is a theological concept of God that was emphasized in my Catholic upbringing. We followed, worshipped with, and mourned the Stations of the Cross each year. We wore crucifixes, not empty crosses around our necks. My unarticulated, yet deeply felt, theology of the cross, informed the moment I became a resurrection-focused protestant. Now isn’t that ironic? I mention this as I am learning to appreciate it only now as I read Jurgen Moltmann. He writes, “This idea about the God who suffers with us then inevitably leads to the bold concept that God’s self-deliverance goes together with the deliverance of Israel…The Spirit is the efficacious presence of God himself…The Spirit is God’s empathy, his feeling identification with what he loves…The Spirit indwells. The Spirit suffers with the suffering. The Spirit is grieved and quenched. The Spirit rejoices when we rejoice. When it descends and takes up its habitation and indwelling in wandering and suffering created beings, the Spirit thrusts forward with intense longing for union with God, and sighs to be at rest in the new, perfected creation” (The Spirit of Life, 49, 51).

I am reminded now of our discussion in class, for the need for preachers, in preaching as in life, to go to the depths and heights of human experience for the hearers to be able to hear and feel and experience the Word of God, which is Christ, proclaimed in the preaching event—to embody both the already and not yet present Kingdom of God with us. And this, of course is where the Spirit of God goes. In the pit of loneliness and the ecstasy of joy, the Spirit is there. Perhaps the ability for the preacher to “go there” to those places is the result of what Forbes refers to as the anointing of the preacher. Forbes argues that the anointing becomes “the empowerment necessary for more effective preaching” (The Holy Spirit & Preaching, 27). He uses the anointing of Jesus in Luke 4 as a model of this kind of spiritual formation for the preacher. I agree. This is a great model, and certainly Jesus experienced the reality of the Spirit of the Lord upon him, which gave him power. Yet, Forbes does not mention what happens to Jesus just before this anointed preaching in Nazareth in Luke’s narrative, which I see partially as Jesus’ necessary spiritual training for ministry that led to his anointment. It was, of course, his temptation in the wilderness. Generally, when we think of the suffering of Christ, we talk about the cross—the death of Christ. But even at the start of his ministry lies an incredible kind of physical suffering, being famished for forty days.

Why do I mention this? Because I think of it—I feel a connection to it—when I think of perhaps the most significant milestone event in the development of my spirituality and sense of call to ministry. The day I was offered my first call to ministry, a non-ordained call to serve as a youth pastor, was the day I was diagnosed with Stage III Testicular Cancer. My wife and I were newly married; I had recently begun my seminary studies at Fuller. I underwent four rounds of inpatient, intense chemotherapy, which brought me to a depth of vulnerability and physical suffering I had not yet experienced. I feared for my life and my family. I wrestled with God. I would not wish such an experience on another person, but in the hindsight of now being in remission, I see that it was a crucial time in solidifying my sense of call to parish ministry. My time in the hospital allowed me to think long and hard about giving myself completely to serving in the church, from the perspective of one who was receiving a great deal of care in order to remain alive. I thought about my sense of call using advice from Fredrich Beuchner, who said that one has arrived with assurance when he has found the place where his deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet (Wishful Thinking:  A Theological ABC, 1973, Harper  & Row, p.  95). I played with the idea of serving in parish ministry, having found deep gladness in my work and studies. Cancer then helped me to understand the world’s deep hunger from the inside. I was arriving at the intersection of these two realms, coming to understand that my place within the world is to minister to others from a position of weakness and imperfection. I was growing to understand that I was being called to a dependence on God, a release of my perception of being in control of my life. It was during my time as a patient when my passion moved from, “Yeah, this would be a fun career” to “I have to do this no matter what the cost.” My sense of call became my deepest passion. Now the question remains for me: Can I live out of this passion? Can I embody it for the world?

A Brief Update: Education

I'm getting tired of opening up the blog here and looking at Elmo, and if you're a regular reader of this blog, perhaps you are tired of Elmo too. So here's the first part of a three-part brief update on our lives here at Princeton. The first part will be 'Education', the second part, 'Community & Family Life', and the third, 'Spiritual Formation.' 

Classes began this week and no doubt, for me, the academics will be rigorous. As a reminder, I am working on a ThM degree (Master of Theology with a concentration in Homiletics). The ThM degree is just beyond the Master of Divinity (MDiv) and just prior to the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), so it has its way of taking pieces from both programs. I take upper-division MDiv level courses and the professors adjust the course requirements for ThM students. For example, in one class where MDiv students have 5 relatively short papers and a sermon, as a ThM, I will have the same 5 papers, a sermon, plus a critically-reflected book review and a twenty-page research paper. Additionally, I am able to take PhD seminars, although I opted out of doing that this semester, thankfully! And yes, I do have a class with George Hunsinger on the top floor of the building portrayed in this picture, which, coming from Southern California, is pretty cool!

The ThM is often (but not always) taken by students who wish to enter into a PhD program (generally here at Princeton), and so I am asked the question frequently, "Are you applying for the PhD?" My answer is usually, "Perhaps, but maybe not. We'll see." It is a question that surfaces in my mind everyday, and maybe a blog reflection on that question is in order for a later date. Nevertheless, I am finding that the ThM degree is well-respected here on campus both by students and faculty. Since the MDiv is the basic degree for ordained ministry, the ThM is understood as going (at least a little bit) above and beyond the basic requirements to pursue some serious academic work. All that to say, I will get a run for my money this year and I will be challenged beyond what I had imagined, and that's good, I think. 

Why Homiletics (preaching)? 

"But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him?" -Romans 10.14. 

It has been said that through preaching, there is the potential, more than any other form of ministry, to transform the greatest number of lives in the shortest amount of time. I invite an opposition to that claim. Of course, the problem has been that preaching has not lived up to its potential. I will have to much to say about preaching this year, and so for now, I will leave it there. On a personal level, I love the proclamation of God's Word. I love to hear it proclaimed, and I love to proclaim it. And whether I like it or not, and whether I am "good" at it or not, and whether I try to run from it, I am called to it. So I figured it would be wise to be schooled in the field. I do not desire to be an impressive preacher, but an effective preacher. I must be faithful to my call, and people need to hear the gospel portrayed, communicated, and lived well. I pray that this year will be one in which I submit to the pruning knife of God, so that I may preach well and live what I preach.

Here are my classes: 

Recent Reformed Theology – Moltmann and Torrance: The course examines the works of two major twentieth century Reformed theologians—Jürgen Moltmann and Thomas F. Torrance. Among the topics to be considered are issues in Christology, church, and social ethics. Covergences and divergences between the two thinkers will be explored. Qualifies as a doctrine/theologian course. Mr. Hunsinger

Preaching, Passion, and the Spirit: A pneumatologically focused exploration of the theology, theory, and practice of preaching. Attention will be given to the preacher’s call and spirituality, theology of the Spirit and of the Word, and empathic and pathetic embodiment of the Word. The relationship of these to sermon language, content, structure, and performance will be discussed. Includes the preparation and delivery of sermons. Mr. Powery

Empirical Research in Practical Theology:  Explores the role of empirical research in the ongoing practical theological reflection of congregational leaders. Portrays qualitative research as a disciplined way of attending to individuals and groups in their particularity, of better understanding the culture of a congregation and its context, and of evaluating congregational programs. Mr. Osmer.

Preaching and Media Arts: Practical theological critique of media arts theory and practices in the proclamation of the gospel. Attention will be given to synesthesia, virtuality, actuality, and presence. Includes the design and performance of sermonic discourse that makes use of contemporary communications technologies. Mr. Bartow and Mr. P. Johnson

Happy Tappin' on Labor Day

Today we celebrated Labor Day by going to Sesame Place, a Sesame Street theme park only 20 minutes from Princeton. It was perfect! Hannah (and Abby up-and-coming) is a huge Sesame Street fan. We have three Sesame Street CD's (not to mention several videos and other Elmo stuff) that we listened to over and over and over on the drive across the U.S. So for Hannah, it was a dream come true! There were tons of rides perfect for toddlers and a live Elmo's World show. She charged the rides (loved the Sesame Street teacups), and met some of her heroes who, up until today, were only as real as the television could make them. Thanks to my mom for finding the place on the internet for us! The link below is complete with our vacation pictures, with Sesame Place pictures from today at the end.

Pritchett Family Pictures

Gustav

Dear God,

Please, not another hurricane in Gulf Coast. We plea to You, O God, to calm this storm. Your children in that region have suffered greatly from Katrina, and now, after finally beginning to see the light at the end of a dark tunnel, after finally seeing positive results of rebuilding efforts, they are faced with another threat of similar magnitude. They are once again being faced with the anguish of having to leave their homes and communities, not knowing if they will be able to come back. They are terrified, disempowered, helpless, and perhaps, feeling hopeless. Gustav is not a friend. Why do they personify these killing forces with human names? Is it insulting to You, who creates human beings in Your image and likeness? Why is this happening again? They cannot endure another storm like this. Please, God, with the power and might of Your almighty hand, cancel this storm. And in the meantime, will you be with the families who have evacuated? Protect the children. Give them food and shelter. Comfort them. Give them hope. We plea to You, O God, to protect Your children in the Gulf Coast. Calm this storm.

Through Christ Our Lord, 

Amen

Crazy Driver

Hey Mr. Police Officer! Mom and Dad got a little tired, so I decided to relieve them. But don't worry, they're fine. Asleep in the back. I know I look a little young, but I'll be sixteen before they know it. Besides, I'm a better driver anyway. Much more attentive. Hey, could you get outta the way now? I gotta make this left turn and catch up to that ice cream truck. I know I'm not supposed to have dairy until I'm one, but hey...I'm driving, and they're fast asleep. HEY ICE CREAM MAN!!

In Princeton

We finally made it to Princeton! We arrived tonight into our hotel (Hilton Homewood Suites) where we'll be staying until Tuesday, which is when we move in to our apartment. After the car was fixed on the east side of Colorado, we drove fourteen hours in one day, through Nebraska, Iowa, and Illinois. We stayed with my aunt and uncle in Naperville, Illinois (just outside of Chicago) for two nights. We took a day off from extensive driving and went to the children's museum, visited my uncle, Rob, who suffers from M.S., and rested. The next morning we went into Chicago and visited my cousin, Kristen, and toured the city. We stopped for lunch, and then continued heading east, driving through Indiana and most of Ohio. We stayed last night at some hotel in Ohio near Lake Eerie that had an indoor waterpark. Hannah and Abby charged the water slides (Abby on Mom's lap, of course). Today we finished driving through Ohio, Pennsylvania, and into Princeton, New Jersey. The drive became pretty again in Pennsylvania. I can't believe how many trees and how much open land that state has! What a ride it has been! The states we drove through are: Califormia, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. There are a few more pics of Chicago, Abby behind the wheel, and Hannah coming off the water slide (the water park didn't work too well for photography because it was too muggy inside and the lens was fogged up). You can click the link in the previous post to view all the pictures from the trip (I'm sure many more will come in the weeks ahead). I am so proud of the girls for handling the drive so well. They were champions!

Stuck in Colorado/Nebraska

We had a great start this morning out of Denver. My cousin made a fantastic quiche for breakfast, we said our goodbyes, and headed east, hoping to make it to Omaha. The drive started out well, the girls were having fun in the car, and we were making great time. Just before our first stop (2.5 hours from Denver), just at the border of Colorado and Nebraska, we pulled off the road to fill up and our front axle shaft broke. We've been stuck at a grimy roadside motel in Awfulville all day while the local mechanic works on the car. We should be out by morning, just one day behind schedule. We actually planned for an extra two days in case something like this happened. We are grateful that it happened at the gas station and not at the side of the road 200 miles from a gas station. And we are grateful that this motel was right across the street (the only motel for hundreds of miles!). We also grateful that the motel has a little pool so the girls could swim today. We are grateful that we are safe and that we found an honest mechanic who could fix it...and we are so grateful that we are safe. A couple lessons for us: flexibility brings great reward, and even in the midst of a roadside challenge, there is a lot to be grateful for. It's helpful for our girls when we can have a glass-half-full attitude! Here's a link to some pics I was able to upload.

Road Trip Pictures