Editorial: “A Time to Deconstruct… and A Time to Innovate”
I remember a particular theology class, with one of the hardest professors on campus during graduate school. After handing out the syllabus he said something that stayed with me for years afterwards. “If you look at the syllabus and decide that you would like to leave the class, please leave now. Otherwise, I ask that you make a commitment to stay in the class until the very end of the quarter and whatever you do, do not leave halfway through.”
My classmates and I looked around at each other, wondering what we’d signed up for.
“The reason is this,” he continued. “We will have sections of theological deconstruction toward the beginning of the class, followed by sections of theological reconstruction at the end. If you leave halfway through, you may run the risk of leaving with your previous worldview deconstructed, without having replaced it with a new, reconstructed worldview. Thus, possibly causing an existential or theological crisis.”
We were taken aback by his frankness. But looking back, I always appreciated that he framed the class content for us in that way. He made evident the very real effects of theology on our thinking, identity, and well-being.
I sometimes wonder which point in the “quarter” we’re at within the Adventist movement. It feels safe to say we’ve entered a period of deconstruction, with a struggling pastoral contingent, financially challenged school and church systems, and members who wonder if there’s room for the marginalized within the Adventist gospel.
These are definitely complex, frustrating, and very real problems.
But, what’s next? Where does Adventism go at this point in the movement? Since we started around 1863, we’re just denominational teenagers at this point, right? Figuring out the next phase of our identity?
Maybe it’s that turning point in the “quarter” when it’s time to take some creative license and begin to reconstruct the next phase of what Adventism could look like. To stop looking backwards and fretting that we aren’t there anymore, and start asking what helpful, particular, unique Adventist principles have added value to our lives in order to repackage them for the needs of our next generations?
Maybe it’s time to innovate. Think outside the box. Offer some paradoxical and interesting Adventist solutions to today’s problems.
To this end, Adventist Today will resurrect a feature in 2025 called “AdventInnovate,” highlighting the folks in Adventism who are trying to do just that. Each week, we’ll upload a 1-minute video featuring a new initiative. The goal for the AdventInnovate project is to inspire the Adventist imagination to find innovative and practical ways to add value to new generations.
Some ideas you’ll love. Others you’ll hate. But the best part is that it might inspire you to innovate.
Happy New Year!
Rebecca Barceló
AdventInnovate Editor
4 January 2025
ANNOUNCEMENTS & LINKS
Today’s ATSS class (1:30 PM Eastern US) with Marko Lukić
One-click link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84660232090
Passcode: DANIEL (ALL CAPS)
Previous weeks’ ATSS recordings can be accessed here.
Join our Weekly Update mailing list here.
Our donation page can be accessed here.
