" I dothink that Moltmann’s ecclesiology is naive and some of what I have read about(but not experienced directly) the emergent churches seems ambiguous whetherliberal or conservative. I guess I dofind the churches on the poles…"
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Ted Michael Morgan
- Male
- Baton Rouge, Lousiana
- United States
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Latest Activity
Ted Michael Morgan commented on Steve K.'s blog post 'My Interview with Dr. Tony Jones'"
Thank you, this is helpful."
Ted Michael Morgan commented on Adam Gonnerman's blog post 'Thoughts on Jaycee Dugard'"I withdraw from this discussion. Thanks for responding."
Ted Michael Morgan commented on Adam Gonnerman's blog post 'Thoughts on Jaycee Dugard'"My father was progressive on many matters. He opposed mandatory school prayer during the fifties. He and my mother were pro-choice before anyone I knew used that term. However, he was not always supportive of civil rights. He seems to have known the…"
Ted Michael Morgan commented on Dave MacKeigan's blog post 'No Title'"During the twenties, my maternal grandfather had his money and that of other family members in a Bank in Henry Count, Georgia. The owner of the bank was somehow a relative. That owner simply closed the bank and took everyone's money. He just…"
"Welcome to The Intersection. You are cordially invited to contribute to the conversation at my blogs "GOD IS..." and "What is not the Good News""
Rebecca Woods left a comment for Ted Michael Morgan"Ted,
I was on vacation when you joined The Intersection, but have enjoyed reading your posts and observations here. We are in the early stages of building community...I think it takes a while to get to know others and to join conversations, for…"
Ted Michael Morgan commented on Michael Davison's blog post 'Health Care Reform'"I think a public option makes sense as a means to control prices and costs."
Ted Michael Morgan commented on Michael Davison's blog post 'Health Care Reform'"I do recall the adage that, what government gives, it can take away. Some parts of what seems about to go before the congress contains controls on Medicare that trouble me. It establishes genera rules that might not be good for many elderly people.…"
Ted Michael Morgan left a comment for Rev. George H. Bennett"That thrills me. Ann finally got a husband who deserves her. She was Joan Baez and Martin Luther King rolled into one. She had a terrible crush on my best friend Roy Bonnell when I first knew her.
She introduced me to Charles Ives and other modern…"
Rev. George H. Bennett left a comment for Ted Michael Morgan"Ted
Ann does live in NZ with her husband Jim Dowman. They are committed all over the world to Habitat. John (brother) and I were in NZ in June 2009 for a build with Valdosta and TePuke, NZ Habitat folks. Built two homes. Martha and I have just…"
Ted Michael Morgan left a comment for Rev. George H. Bennett"Ann got me to become part of Westminster House at Georgia where I met some folks who have been my longest lasting friends. I have allways been in Ann's debt."
Ted Michael Morgan left a comment for Will Boyd"I miss the Pacific Northwest. Thanks for the images."
Profile Information
- Website URL
- http://fragmentednotions.blogspot.com/
- Are you a member of a faith community or church? If so, which one?
- No, I am a devout Anchorite. I am old. I have awful habits. I am grumpy.
I grew up in independent Christian congregations, East Point Christian Church and First Chrsitian Church of Forest Park. That second independent Christian congregation began in my parents’ living room when I about six, seven, or eight. When I was fifteen-years-old, Memorial Christian Church, a Disciples congregation began in that some living room.
I am a graduate of the Christian College of Georgia and the University of Georgia with a major in religion. I served four Disciples congregationas while I was a student at Georgia. I was a summer intern at Peachtree Christian Church during the summers 1965 and 1966. where I witnessed a then formre president of the General Convention (1963) abuse another pastor and act the fool.
I briefly attended Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis during 1967-68. C.T.S. blessed me but I was out of my water there. I am NOT gifted intellectually or linguistically. I left mid-second semester. I later applied to attend Pacific School of Religion but was refused.
During 1969-1971, I belonged to a United Presbyterian congregation in Athens, Georgia. There were five ordained Disciples pastors who belonged to that church, along with the dropout seminarian (me). There were also two Holy Name sisters, a Jesuit priest and two Orthodox Jews associated with that cognation. My best friend from university is a famous feminist theologian and authority on Calvinism.
During the eighties, I belonged to a United Church of Christ congregation in New Orleans and for 16 years a Disciples congregation in Baton Rouge.
I no longer take part in church life. I did not take part in Christian conbregational life from 1971 until around 1984. However, I was active in a odd way in Catholic life in Portland, Oregon during the mid seventies.
I consider myself an ardent Calvinist, a liberal Christian (not politically), but a highly critical Calvinist.
My key topics for study at church stay three, 1.) Exploring the symbol “God”, 2.) Exploring biblical, Jewish, and Christian roots for economic justice, and 3.) Exploring the link between spiritual formation and sexuality. These are personal and immediate concerns for me, not abstractions.
I aged quickly, at least much more quickly than I expected. I essentially felt isolated by age beginning in 1994, 16 years ago. I felt this most fully in my sexual life. The changes in my sexual identity that entailed had a major effect on my spiritual development. The church has been essentially of no help with that part of my life.
I work for low wages without unions and for many years under a defective civil service system. The church never deals with my concerns in these matters, except in negative and hurtful ways. I think that our biblical and Christian heritage has much to offer someone like me, but we do not address these matters in sermons, worship, small group, of classes. All the Disciples congregation I have know have been dominated by Republicans (but then I was a Republican from March 1961 until January 2001).
My sense of awe, experience of the holy and entire life emerges from notions about the symbol “God”. We use the word but without much awareness of its evolution and emergence and with little if any depth.
- What are you passionate about?
- My interests still include reading theology, philosophy, literary theory, and cognitive sciences. That is not the same thing as grasping those subjects. I enjoy listening to classical music including opera. Visiting art museums gives me immense pleasure. I used to enjoy travel. At one time, I liked white water canoeing. Hiking gave me great pleasure. I love Cumberland Island, the North Georgia mountains, the Oregon coast, the Tetons, the Indiana Dunes, Portland, Oregon, and Manhattan. http://tedmichaelmorgan.blogspot.com
- Three adjectives that describe you ...
- Grumpy, old, playful.
I love Mozart and Paul Klee.
- Favorite movies
- Movies I recommend include Nuit et brouillard; La Belle et la Bête; Berlin Alexanderplatz; Kagemusha; Bambi Meets Gonzilla; Vertigo; The Memory of Justice; L’Eclisse; True Confessions; 2 ou 3 choses que je sais d'elle; 8½; La Règle du jeu; The Unberable Lightness of Being; Sommarnattens leende; Persona; Le Mépris; Wings of Desire; Paris Texas; The Third Man; Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978); Lost in Translation; The Leopard; Henry and June; Play It as It Lays; The Dead; Wise Blood; Blade Runner; 2001; Enemies: A Love Story; Hanna and Her Sisters; Husbands and Wives; Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (Angst essen Seele auf); Picnic at Hanging Rock; Walkabout; Bad Timing; Imitation of Life; Man of Flowers; Ådalen 31; Je vous salue, Marie; Melinda and Melinda; The Passenger (Professione: reporter); Krzysztof Kieslowski, Trois couleurs: Rouge; The French Connection; Presumed Innocent; Once Upon a Time in America; Como Era Gostoso o Meu Francês.
- Favorite musical artists or genre?
- Così fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti by W. A. Morzart/da Ponte; Symphony no. 39 in E-flat major of W. A. Mozart; Anton Webern, Five Movements for string quartet, opus 5; J. S. Bach, Matthäuspassion or Matthæus Passion; Leonard Cohen/Lorca, Take This Waltz; Henry Purcell, Rejoice in the Lord always; Mahler, Symphony No. 9; Terry Riley, Salome Dances For Peace; Death Cab for Cutie,Champagne from a Paper Cup; Nick Cave, Tower of Song; Hans Eisler, Fourteen Ways of Describing the Rain; Any song Ute Lemper sings or poem she recites.
- Favorite quote or Bible verse
- Two of my favorites quotations from scripture are these: Antonioni said, "Nothing appears as it should in a world where nothing is certain. The only thing certain is the existence of a secret violence that makes everything uncertain...."
And: "We live on mined land. Nature itself is a laid trap. No one makes it through; no one gets out." Annie Dillard, For the Time Being, pg. 187
1 Peter 2.5-10:
But you are "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises" of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
10
Once you were "no people" but now you are God's people; you "had not received mercy" but now you have received mercy.
"Melville is a rational man who wants God to exist. He wants Him to exist for the same reasons we all do: to be our rescuer and appreciator, to act as a confidant in our moments of crisis and to give us reassurance that, over the horizon of our deaths, we will survive." (John Updike)
And that is a problem for me.
"Serendipitous Creativity"
from Gordon Kaufman
"I suggested that what we today should regard as God is the ongoing creativity in the universe - the bringing (or coming) into being of what is genuinely new, something transformative; …
"In some respects and some degrees this creativity is apparently happening continuously, in and through the processes or activities or events around us and within us(…) is a profound mystery to us humans(…) But on the whole, as we look back on the long and often painful developments that slowly brought human life and our complex human worlds into being, we cannot but regard this creativity as serendipitous …
"I want to stress that this serendipitous creativity - God! - to which we should be responsive is not the private possession of any of the many particular religious faiths or systems …
"This profound mystery of creativity is manifest in and through the overall human bio-historical evolution and development everywhere on the planet; and it continues to show itself throughout the entire human project, no matter what may be the particular religious and or cultural
beliefs."
Gordon Kaufman, Mennonite Life, December 2005 vol. 60 no. 4
And that is a problem for me.
"Serendipitous Creativity"
from Gordon Kaufman
"I suggested that what we today should regard as God is the ongoing creativity in the universe - the bringing (or coming) into being of what is genuinely new, something transformative; …
"In some respects and some degrees this creativity is apparently happening continuously, in and through the processes or activities or events around us and within us(…) is a profound mystery to us humans(…) But on the whole, as we look back on the long and often painful developments that slowly brought human life and our complex human worlds into being, we cannot but regard this creativity as serendipitous …
"I want to stress that this serendipitous creativity - God! - to which we should be responsive is not the private possession of any of the many particular religious faiths or systems …
"This profound mystery of creativity is manifest in and through the overall human bio-historical evolution and development everywhere on the planet; and it continues to show itself throughout the entire human project, no matter what may be the particular religious and or cultural
beliefs."
Gordon Kaufman, Mennonite Life, December 2005 vol. 60 no. 4
Comment Wall (6 comments)
- At 9:40am on September 25, 2009,
Douglas C. Sloan said…
- Welcome to The Intersection. You are cordially invited to contribute to the conversation at my blogs "GOD IS..." and "What is not the Good News"
- At 4:06am on September 25, 2009, Rebecca Woods said…
- Ted,
I was on vacation when you joined The Intersection, but have enjoyed reading your posts and observations here. We are in the early stages of building community...I think it takes a while to get to know others and to join conversations, for many people. I'm glad to see that you're connecting and are comfortable sharing your story here.
I noticed, among your musical favorites, Death Cab for Cutie. I've recently discovered them - they're great, aren't they? "I Will Follow You Into the Dark" is a wonderful song. I have part of the lyrics on my Facebook page.
Thanks for being here!
Rebecca Woods
- At 1:39pm on September 18, 2009, Rev. George H. Bennett said…
- Ted
Ann does live in NZ with her husband Jim Dowman. They are committed all over the world to Habitat. John (brother) and I were in NZ in June 2009 for a build with Valdosta and TePuke, NZ Habitat folks. Built two homes. Martha and I have just returned from Canada where we spent the Summer.
George
- At 7:23am on September 17, 2009,
Cathy Moorehead said… - Watkinsville is still a wonderful place to serve the Lord. I am at Watkinsville First - downtown. We serve together with Antioch and Union in various ministries. Our Youth Director and Union's Youth director are engaged! Now that is a shared ministry. Antioch loans us their 10 commandment train for downtown Watkinsville's First Friday Fun & Games. We also have a putt putt golf and karioke. Our CMF still makes the best Chicken Mull the first Saturday in December. And Teresa Branch Guthrie is still awesome as pianist and choir director.
- At 1:04pm on September 16, 2009,
David Grandgeorge said… - I was a farmer right out of college for 9 years but then saw the light and went to seminary in Lexington.
- At 3:28am on September 15, 2009,
Verity A. Jones said… - Thanks for joining The Intersection. We're glad you're here, and we hope that you will help us to grow and develop this community.
If you're interested in knowing more about The Intersection, here are a couple of links to discussion posts:
- What is The Intersection?
- I joined The Intersection. Now what?
We also have a set of Community Guidelines we ask members to abide by.
Please visit The Intersection often, and let us know how we can improve this site.
Again, thanks for being a part of this community!
Verity Jones
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