Theology by the glass

W

e are just about to wrap up our series of conversations called “Theology by the Glass,” which we hold monthly from May through September when many of our regular activities move into summer break mode.

We have returned to our location from last year – the Confusion Corner Bar and Grill, located at the intersection of Pembina and Corydon Avenue. Confusion Corner manages to set aside good space for us,  and quite happily  serve food or a drink or coffee or any combination of the above.  Being that they’re working with as a licensed restaurant, they’re also quite okay when people under the age of 18 join us.

These evenings are about the most laid back approach to Christian education that you can imagine.  Basically, an article (or podcast)  is distributed a week or two in advance of the gathering, which acts as grist for our conversational mill.  People gather for 8:00pm, and we stay focused for as long as everyone feels like staying focused (usually about an hour), and then chase all sorts of conversational tangents until everyone is ready to leave.

• Our final session for this season is set for Tuesday September 13. The article for this round is “The Death of America’s God” by Stanley Hauerwas, and it is available here. Here’s just a little taste of Hauerwas’s always fiery approach:

“American Protestants do not have to believe in God because they believe in belief. That is why we have never been able to produce an interesting atheist in America. The god most Americans say they believe in is just not interesting enough to deny.”  Stanley Hauerwas