|
?Weavings’ remembers terrorists attacks, celebrates 20 years
Sept. 15, 2006
A UMNS Feature
By Jeanette Pinkston*
Weavings magazine is marking its 20th anniversary this month as it explores issues
related to another milestone: the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks
of Sept. 11, 2001.
An imprint of the United Board of Discipleship’s Upper Room Ministries
division, the magazine’s anniversary edition grapples with “Security.” Weavings addresses the many security issues that people face today and, acknowledging
life’s ambiguities and tensions, points readers toward hope in God.
“This anniversary edition of Weavings calls into tension what it means
to live in a post-9/11 reality, while trusting in the security of a God who
is faithful and just,” said the Rev. Karen Greenwaldt, top executive
for the Board of Discipleship.
The bimonthly journal began in September 1986 with a small number of charter
subscribers. Today, it is read by nearly 30,000 people from many denominations,
with United Methodists representing a significant portion of the readership.
Pastors, laity and small group leaders find value in using Weavings as part
of local prayer groups and Bible study.
From the magazine’s first issue, which explored “A Serious Call
into a Devout and Holy Life,” to the 20th anniversary edition remembering
the terrorist attacks on the United States, “the journal has invited
its readers to come apart from the urgent bustle of life and rest for a while
in the playful occupation of spiritual reading,” said John Mogabgab,
the resource’s only editor.
Tom Carpenter, layperson and former executive with the United Methodist Publishing
House, leads an ecumenical prayer group in his home, where members study Weavings and Spiritual
Classics by Richard J. Foster and Emilie Griffin in tandem.
“I started using Weavings about 12 years ago; it has made us grow,” he
said. “We’re really devoted to Weavings. If it changes or is discontinued,
I don’t know what we would do.”
The Rev. Mike Ripski, pastor of Belle Meade United
Methodist Church in Nashville, Tenn., notes the journal “has fed my soul as a person and a pastor. My
congregation has benefited through me. They have heard sermons inspired by
articles in Weavings,” he said. “Weavings is substantive without
being academic; the articles are thoughtful without being so didactic that
they lack inspiration.”
In shaping the magazine’s original vision, Mogabgab said he worked with
the image of creating a space in which people could listen to God by listening
to one another. “That image shaped my approach to the kind of content
we wanted to include and also influenced the approach to artwork and design,” he
said. The journal is hospitable and invites readers into a setting where ancient
Christian wisdom could be brought to bear on contemporary questions, he said.
In addition, there was a “companion image of exploring how God’s
life and human lives are being woven together in love. And this weaving takes
place precisely in the world.
“The way we were imaging the Christian spiritual life was and still
is this weaving together of God and human beings here, now — not in some
sphere of experience or spiritual domain separate from real life,” he
said.
Over the years, Weavings has included articles by Henri Nouwen, a Roman Catholic
priest, spiritual writer, and speaker who was formerly on the faculties of
Notre Dame, Yale, and Harvard; Archbishop Desmond Tutu, an Anglican bishop,
Nobel laureate, and peace activist in South Africa; and Hans J. Hillerbrand,
a distinguished professor of history and religious studies and expert in the
theology of Martin Luther.
Reflecting on the magazine’s impact over
the years, Mogabgab remembers attending a large clergy gathering, where a
clergy couple
told him how reading
Weavings had given them a whole new vision of ministry and led them to change
the direction of their ministry.
Then there was the letter from a prisoner in a state institution. In it, he
related how reading Weavings had kept his friend from committing suicide. Readers
have stated that the journal encourages, informs, challenges, affirms and accepts
them. They added that it also reveals and illuminates aspects of their life
with God that need further exploration.
What the future holds
Over the next 20 years, Weavings will continue living into its name by presenting
an ever-richer tapestry of authors from a variety of Christian traditions and
racial-ethnic backgrounds, Mogabgab said
The magazine also plans to provide readers with more guidance in spiritual
practices, which will support people in their desire to live more fully what
they are reading about in the pages of the journal.
“We want to help readers weave together in their own lives the vision
of the Christian life that Weavings presents and the actual daily struggles
with which they live,” said Mogabgab.
Reflecting on the last 20 years, Mogabgab concluded, “I want to express
my profound gratitude to the Board of Discipleship and Upper Room Ministries
for the generous, sustained support they have given this ministry. I would
also like to thank all our readers; they’re really the ones who draw
forth the themes and shape the way we approach each issue.”
More information about Weavings is available at www.weavings.org or by calling
(800) 925-6847.
*Pinkston is director of media relations at the United Methodist Board of
Discipleship.
News media contact: Linda Green, (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
|
