Hopeful Thinking

Tonight I'm giving a sermon in my Fundamentals of Religious Proclamation (Preaching) class. I'm really challenging myself this time.  I'm attempting to deliver an inductive sermon.   Inductive sermons, as opposed to de ductive, means a sermon that doesn't let the listener in on the point of the sermon until near the end.  The goal it to capture the listener's attention and curiosity.  (A deductive sermon, the more traditional approach, starts out with the main idea and then systematically makes the case for that main idea during the sermon.  Inductive sermons are difficult to do and I don't know if I've done it correctly here.  Additionally, I am challenging myself to give a sermon without notes .  I have mostly memorized the following.  I say mostly because it's not my intention to give the following word for word.  I'm working from an bare outline that I can speak from.  The following was written as part of my preparation for tonight...

When does one have the right to say the words: I am a theologian ?  I will confess I even spelled the word wrong when I typed it for this writing. (Who would have thought there was an 'i' in it?)  But am I a theologian anyway?  The definitions say that one must be learned, expert even, before they are considered a theologian.  But is one born a theologian?  I don't ever remember a time when I wasn't aware of the ideas about life after death and its implications for life before it.  My earliest memories are of death.  Not the experiencing of it - no family member died until I was much older - but the awareness of it.  I was around three when I have my earliest memories of them, but the memories include an awareness that they had been happening for some time.  Panic attacks about death several times over the course of years (for what reasons, I cannot even speculate) imprinted upon me a deep early questioning about faith and the afterlife....

At the risk of stating the obvious, I have often noticed that it's uncomfortable to be wrong.  We don't like it one bit.  We rail against it.  Our egos do backflips to conjure some remedy that we may be mistaken about having been wrong.  We get defensive and argumentative.  We use our creativity and ingenuity to sculpt debate platforms and develop keywords, and we bring emotional weapons to the front lines in order to rally support for our wrongness.  Our present fight in congress is about that very thing: we must not be wrong . But is being wrong so bad?  Isn't being wrong indicative of having been removed from the shadows of error?  Isn't discovering one is wrong cause for celebration?  Isn't resistance to discovering one's error living in the past?  I say live in the present! If I discover I have been wrong it it because I am now, hopefully, right!   Allow your ego to step aside and celebrate the fact that you are no lo...

Wil Darcangelo                                                                                                                             Monday, October 7, 2013 Dr. Robert Pazmino Educational Ministry Across the Life Span The Turn-Off of Christianity: Mapping New Territory for the Exploration of Faith in Our Time A contextual look at the spirituality of Generation “Why” Introduction In our contemporary society filled with an increasing abundance of technology and ...

This is an assignment for my fundraising and grantwriting class with ANTS President, Dr. Nick Carter.  We were required to write a stewardship sermon for our (or a) church. We are not delivering these sermons, merely submitting them.  -Wil Stewardship Sermon for Rollstone Congregational Church, Fitchburg, MA My middle name is Daniel. I was named for my father, Daniel.  This is a photo of him. (Show photo) When I was born he was a mail carrier and he didn't much like going to church.  This is a photo of my parents on their wedding day. (Show photo) My grandparents on theirs. (Show photo). They , in contrast to my father, were involved in nearly every committee and club in this building. My parents, my grandparents, my aunt and uncle.  They were all married in this church. They spent their spiritual lives building up this sacred space.  They participated in things like the Candlelight Club, on committees, attended fundraisers, donated to scoutin...

Wil Darcangelo Weekly Reflection Paper - Friday, September 27, 2013 Culture and Religious Variations on Childhood The definitions of childhood are as varied as the number of children on the planet. It is possible to define it for one’s own purposes, but defining it on behalf of the culture at large is a task of arrogance. The field is too wide and the cultural differences too many for any one metric to emerge. Each would be more unfair to the majority than the other. Each would impose upon the other a cultural paradigm unfit for universal application, and thus, be doing some cultures a disservice in favor of those whose cultures happen to align with a prescribed educational format. But when it comes to the care and raising of a human child, there may be room for a common mission to be articulated. A constitution of child-rearing that all humans could adopt in their own way and style. A document of faith that acknowledges our special relationship and responsibili...

So, now I come to the point in my new life that I have to figure out a way to synthesize it with my old one.  How do I combine my careers with my theological path?  In one major sense, they are not disparate ideas at all; my dual-careers (my community and my music) have always been informed by my evolving theology.  It is why I partnered my two careers together in the first place.  My faith system encourages me to do well by doing good , the central tenet of cause marketing and social enterprise (thank you, David Roth and Corinne Farinelli for teaching this to me).  It is perfectly natural to me to believe that greater profit comes from high-integrity business plans.  Plans which create opportunities to collaborate with the community.  When everyone is a shareholder, everyone participates.  When everyone participates, a network is automatically generated within the group.  When a network exists, all things are possible. But in the specifics...

I have spent the past two days at orientation.  It was a real eye-opener.  The first day of classes is tomorrow. "Education Across the Lifespan" will be my first class at ANTS. I am actually doing this. It was only six months ago to the day that I realized I must do this and now I'm looking at a stack of books and a student id with my giddy face laser marked into the glossy white surface.  I am already $5,000 deeper in scholastic debt (I got a few thousand in scholarships from the school) and it's only the beginning. I just dove into this experience headfirst.  I never even knew how long the program was, how much it would cost, how many credits I needed, and most of all, what kind of seminary I wanted to attend.  I knew a couple people at Rollstone who had attended ANTS so I just decided to go there.  Other schools never occurred to me. I went into this experience not worrying a whit about any of the details.  I knew that they would be worked out ...

It's a very interesting distinction between 'why am I' and 'why I am.'  One is a question to the self by the self, and the other is a response to the self being questioned by someone else.  Strangely, it is in responding to the question that I not only ask it of myself, but learn the answer almost in tandem with my questioner.  It is in answering that I often best hear myself.  It is the act of articulating those loose, generalized thought packages into digestible answers that I often catch myself saying things I didn't realize I was thinking, but that my behavior had suggested all along.  I answer because I, too, want to know the answer. And in this instance I will ask it of myself, because I really want to know.  Why am I doing this? I tell people what I believe to be the truth:  First, I want this education.  I have been fascinated by this subject matter all my life and I want to keep learning.  I want to participate in di...

When I meditate and ask myself if I think God is a central entity with a single intelligence, I can only answer no.  I feel as though God must be more profound than a single entity with one intellect.   However vast a mind the mind of God might be, we are so entwined, even when we try to believe otherwise, we could hardly think of  ourselves as separate from The Great Central It. And if so entangled and inseparable then we are all of a piece. And therefore stands it to reason we are all of us, together, God?

Wil Darcangelo is a professional vocalist and music mentor from Fitchburg, Massachusetts. Drawn to theological writings and study his entire life, he is embarking on the journey to become an ordained Congregationalist minister through his home church, Rollstone Congregational in Fitchburg.  Wil is also a substitute teacher at his alma mater, Fitchburg High School, where he directs an extensive after school music empowerment program called the Tribe Music Mentorship Project.  The Tribe is a project of his social enterprise company, The Good-Wil Initiative, which has produced cultural events, fundraisers, and social projects in the area since 2008.  After attending the American Academy of Dramatic Art in New York City in the early 90s, Wil spent ten years traveling the world as a professional actor, producer, choreographer, and director.  Wil is also a finish carpenter, stained glass artist, professional stitcher/upholsterer, life coach, art framer, and c...

So, the process has begun.  On March 16, 2013 I came to the startling realization that I wanted to go into the seminary and become a minister.  On Sept 16, 2013, six months to the day later, I will enter my first class.  "Educational Ministry Across the Lifespan."  I have no earthly idea what it's even about. My second class will be that same evening at 6pm, "Preaching."  I cannot wait for this one! On Thursdays I'll have my third and final class "Show Me the Money."  I think  it's about fundraising!  Hopefully it's not being taught by a televangelist!  Actually, the class is taught by the school's president, Nick Carter.  I assume it has to do with fundraising and finances for spiritual institutions.  I hope it's not boring, but I really don't care.  There isn't a single class that ANTS offers that I'm not interested in.  They were asking me what classes I'd like to take and I literally told them, "Start wi...

Ever since I decided to finally "answer the call" and begin the process to become an ordained minister, I have struggled with the idea of what type of minister I will be.  I know who I am and what I believe, but I am not yet confident of how those beliefs and ideas will be perceived.  If you know me then you already know that I won't be your run-of-the-mill man of the cloth.  I have very different ideas and my effectiveness in sharing those ideas remains to be seen.  So, here I will share my process and my trials at communicating what I hope will be an overall message of encouragement and empowerment for people who are struggling with our new age and the changes in our global culture that have recently occurred. I have applied at Andover Newton Theological School in Newton Center, Massachusetts.  It is the only school to which I have applied and the only one I am interested in attending.  The previous post (Analysis of CS Lewis' "Essay on Forgiveness") is...

Wil Darcangelo Supplemental Writing Sample for Andover Newton Theological School Application Requirement for non-Baccalaureate Candidates for M. Div Program Submitted July 2013 for Fall 2013 entrance Analysis Commentary of CS Lewis' Essay on Forgiveness published in 1960 by Macmillan Publishing Company, Inc. I would like to begin by disclaiming the fact that I have not yet read Mr. Lewis' other theological writings though I know now they are numerous.   As I am at the virtual beginning of my adult academic life, I look forward to exploring a number of such works in the future.   However, once I had decided upon Forgiveness as my subject for this analysis, I decided I would use my ignorance of his other work as an asset; or at least something I was willing to work with.   I only know of his storytelling (i.e. the highly allegorical Chronicles of Narnia , etc.) and knew nothing of his prolific career as a theologian and philosopher until a fortuna...