Preserve, Proclaim, Project
In its full flower, orthodox Christian faith manifests itself in rich culture, authentic science, and human flourishing.
This website exists to contribute to this penultimate project.
Pastoral Blog
Why another pastoral blog? Because although theology is ultimately universal, ministry is contextual, and in the great conversations that characterize our times, it will be the aggregate work of Christ’s Church that settles Her theology. Composed mostly of responses to parishioners’ questions with some “I need to say this” material.
Poetry
My way of seeking spiritual integration by slowing down to the analog speed for which we were designed. It is also the appropriate context to exercise one’s subjectivity, so it affords me an opportunity for a balanced spiritual regimen.
Music
My first love and devoted avocation. For worship, fun, and sundry other uses. Since I am an electric guitar builder with classical musical training, the music available here fits the bills of both “high” and “popular” culture.
Why “Conservationist?”
Because conservationists are dedicated to preserving things that are precious and whose value is misjudged by others. Conservation never happens in the abstract, but always in specific instances, times, and places. While expressing itself in the liberal categories of universally applicable doctrines, the Christian faith began with the very specific experience of God becoming a human being in a particular Person, at a particular time, in a particular place, as the culmination of an unfolding of a very particular sequence of God-initiated events and revelations in the life of a people descended from a very particular man named Abraham. Any religion claiming to be Christian must have at its heart the conservation of this precious legacy and the seeking out of its ramifications in the present.
Why “Proclaim?”
Because it is the responsibility of Christians in this generation. Christianity began with the proclamation of the evangelion (good news) that Jesus of Nazareth, crucified, dead, and buried, rose from the dead and can never die again, the first human being to do so. Evangelion was a well-recognized genre within the first century Roman Empire; it was a proclamation to a populous of the military victory by their new king as well as a declaration of their new king’s expectations and demands for them. Christianity is thus a thoroughly martial affair from its inception and draws its continuing life from the proclamation of King Jesus’ victory over sin, death, and the Devil, even though, in the words of the hymn Lead On, O King Eternal, it is “not with swords’ loud clashing or roll of stirring drums, but deeds of love and mercy the heavenly kingdom comes.”
Why “Preserve?”
Because this is the foundational task of Christians from generation to generation. The narcissism endemic to modern life tends to make modern Christians think first of what we can do to add to the Christian legacy or adapt our ministry to the vagaries of our times. Classical Christian wisdom teaches us that we are not ready to speak until we have been properly and thoroughly formed and reformed by the Gospel and the Scriptures that carry it to us. We cannot and will not do this unless the precious treasure of the Gospel is preserved inviolate.
As Paul wrote to Timothy, “O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you.” (1 Timothy 6:20a)
Why “Project?”
Because it is a fun play on words. As a verb, to “project” means send force out beyond one’s original sphere of influence, and it is the sacred privilege of Christians to evangelize–to project the good news about Jesus–into an unbelieving world. (We are not unique in so projecting, so we ought not be pilloried for it; Marxists, Stoics, and activists of all sorts engage in the same thing.) As a noun, a “project” it something ongoing and incomplete; it is begun, but not yet reached its fruition. So the task of “projecting” the gospel into the world, working out its ramifications in theology, art, and culture, is a “project” that will remain incomplete until Jesus returns “to judge the living and the dead.”
Why poetry and music alongside theology?
Because it is my conviction that abundant, deep, sustainable human life has its roots in sound, orthodox Christian faith, but its trunk, branches, and flower are culture. I believe that religion and art in their non-pathological (non-propagandistic) forms are both acknowledgements of human limitations and attempts to reach toward that which transcends us. The claim of Christian orthodoxy is not that it grasps the fullness of God or can give an exhaustive account of reality, but rather that God has revealed the truths that can properly serve as a firm foundation for the human project to stand upon as it reaches toward that which it can never fully grasp. In the midst of our present confusions, not only is Christian orthodoxy ever more precious and in need of careful preservation, but it is in need of cultural production of more than the popular variety as well; it needs the production of art that with humility grapples with and reaches toward the unknown AND when it speaks again those infinitely precious, God-revealed truths, does so with aesthetic excellence in the transformative modality of invitation rather than conscription.
This website exists to assist traditional Christians of all confessions proclaim, defend, celebrate, and live out “the faith delivered once for all to the saints,” and to help non-Christians of good will understand how their Christian friends and neighbors could possibly believe the things we do.
All artwork on this site is either in the public domain or sourced by permission or purchase from living artists. Most creative commons work is sourced from WikiMedia, PXHere, and Pexels, though some comes from the digitizations of classical collections in the public domain. If you identify any work that is in violation of this policy, please contact me and it will be removed.