Day 1 - Wade in the Water (Baptism)
published on Monday, June 20, 2011 by arp31@duke.edu
Theme
Baptismal Theology and Life
Faculty Speaker
Rev. Dr. Fred Edie, DYA "Big Cheese" and Associate Professor of the Practice of Christian Education
Lectionary Texts
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, Psalm 119, Romans 6:3-11, John 6:26-36
Quotes from the Last 24 Hours
"What are we doing right now? I've never done this before." - student (and clearly not the only one)
"Whenever you are conversing about God you are engaging in theology [...] theology is for everybody." - Dr. Edie during plenary
"Where can I get a latte first thing in the morning?" - sleepy eyed RA (again, not the only one)
"Remember when Jehovawiffle ice-skated on the pool in Sharknock?" - Dr. Edie during plenary, joking about Old Testament water stories
Reflections on the Lecture
Dr. Edie started with a brief description of theology (see above quote) and discussed using baptism as a lens from which to look at theology. Baptism is an important sacrament and strain of study at DYA since we are looking at vocational discernment, what it means to have a calling from the Lord. We arrived at the idea that to be baptized is to be given a story, God's story; being baptized makes us a part of all the stories involving water throughout the Bible (i.e. the parting of the Red Sea, St. Paul's missionary journeys via ship). We can claim these stories as our own, use them to explain the work God has done in our own lives through Christ and our baptism, as God has claimed us in our baptism. This call and claim on our lives sets us up to study all the other themes we will be examining here, known as the "Seven Cs"... check back tomorrow for a description and reflection on C-reation (our speaker is Dr. Ellen Davis, who was recently voted Teacher of the Year for the entire university).
Other activities
Since we have not yet been here together for 24 hours, we are all feeling our way around, and there have been firsts for everyone (see above quote from student). We had our first mentor group last night, spending the majority of our time getting to know one another, and setting goals for our individual groups. Today we had our first morning prayer. I think everyone felt the Lord's presence and the magnitude of what we're doing here when we walked through magnificent Duke Chapel singing a new song. Later we had an extended period of time to discuss worship and what it means to worship, as we all prepare to lead worship for the community next week. We have a lot to look forward to! Keep us in prayer as we are fatigued from travel and adjusting to new surroundings.
Today Dr. J. Kameron Carter talked to us about how the Reign of God is at the core of all that we have explored during the Duke Youth Academy. Following two weeks of engaging in intentional Christian formation, we began by reflecting on all our previous themes of Baptismal Theology, Creation, Covenant, Incarnation, Passion, Resurrection, The Church as Witness, Reconciliation, and Vocation. Weaving in scenes from the movie "The Matrix," Dr. Carter brought to light how when we live into Christian understanding and practices that are centered on Christ we are re-birthed into the kingdom of God both in the present and in the future. While this is certainly not an easy process, we can be assured that the God who chose to be with us at the beginning still chooses to be with us today. This process begins with our incorporation into Christ through baptism and continues in our ongoing need for Christ expressed through prayer. The Reign of God means that we are not alone; we are invited to participate in a relationship of being with God. Only when we are in right relationship with God are obstacles removed enabling us to be in relationship with each other living in true community that is centered on Christ.