Author: Justin DaMetz

Father of Julian and Evelyn, Husband of Tabitha, Christian theologian, writer, 5th grade teacher, book addict, displaced Middle-Earth resident

Tulsa storm update

It’s been a long week here in Oklahoma. Saturday night, we had a big storm move through Green Country, officially classified a derecho afterwards. A 20 mile storm front, containing sustained 80-90 mph winds, wreaked havoc on Tulsa. The storm damage was widespread, and here we are almost a week later still without power as crews from all the country work on downed lines and trees all over the city.

I’ve come to the end of prewritten posts to keep things going here, so things may slow down here this weekend. We’re estimated to have power back tomorrow so fingers are crossed we’ll be back home and back to normal soon.

Excerpt #27: competition

The question that we finally come to is a practical one, though it is not one that is entirely answerable by empirical methods: Can a university, or a nation, afford this exclusive rule of competition, this purely economic economy? The great fault of this approach to things is that it is so drastically reductive; it does not permit us to live and work as human beings, as the best of our inheritance defines us. Rats and roaches live by competition under the law of supply and demand; it is the privilege of human beings to live under the laws of justice and mercy. It is impossible not to notice how little the proponents of the ideal of competition have to say about honesty, which is the fundamental economic virtue, and how very little they have to say about community, compassion, and mutual help.

Wendell Berry, “Economy and Pleasure” from What Are People For?

Life and Career Update

Since it was made publicly official during worship yesterday, I wanted to go ahead and make it public here as well: I am starting a new job in July! I was hired this week as the Coordinator of Youth and Family Ministries for Fellowship Congregational Church, here in Tulsa.

I am very excited about this opportunity to return to working in churches and putting theological education to good use. Being able to mix in the skills I’ve learned during my time as a teacher only makes it that much better.

Fellowship Congregational Church, UCC

Fellowship is a member of the United Church of Christ, a Congregational denomination with an emphasis on being justice oriented and open and affirming, as well as Biblically serious and proud of its long history and tradition stretching back to the great Congregational churches of colonial America. This church specifically occupies as special role in Tulsa as a preeminent Christian congregation that welcomes all, and provides a home for those who aren’t welcome elsewhere.

I hope to be able to share the work I am going to be doing here in the future!