Jared Witt - October 30, 2018
Apologies that you haven't heard from me in a while. Busy times here at Castle Church HQ. Had a terrific Brewery Blessing with around 200 of our closest friends + the Bishop of the Florida Bahamas Synod of the ELCA, got our first beer kegged and have 6 more in the fermenter forest in preparation for New Release November and Grand Opening, December 1.
In lieu of a written blog, one of our church leaders, Dan Sterling, and I had the privilege of doing the very popular podcast, A Corporate Time with Tom and Dan, based here in Orlando. Thanks for your patience. Hope you enjoy. Cheers and Peace, Jared Jared Witt - October 8, 2018 (Reblog) ![]() For followers of Jesus Christ, serving those who are poor or on the margins is not something we might choose to do because we have a particular passion for it as individuals. It’s not something for us to do on the side when we feel like “giving back.” It’s not something Paul lists alongside personal charisms like the gift of prophecy or of speaking in tongues, which some might possess but not others. If we don't live to serve the outcast, it becomes very cloudy what exactly we mean when we call ourselves Christian. In fact, we can light candles, and start a prayer group at work, and sing songs at church, and read our Bibles at coffee shops, and join a small group, and wear crosses over our hearts, and teach kids about Daniel in the lion’s den, and hang a cross stitch of the “Serenity Prayer” over our beds, and make spiritual pilgrimages to Jerusalem, and attend denominational gatherings, and any number of other things that are conventionally recognized as “Christian” and, as far as we know, still have not done a single thing that Jesus ever did or cared about. Jared Witt - October 1, 2018 ![]() But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” “Who told you that you were naked?” - Gen. 2:9-11 At what age did you first learn to cover up? When did you learn to stiffen your back, tighten your shoulders, put on a “face”? Do you catch yourself doing this more in some places than in others? Why is that? What cues are you picking up to figure out which one is which? Jared Witt - September 24, 2018 ![]() I assume you don’t want to read a blog long enough to cover the entire history of how it got to be this way. Support your local library for that. But basically a bunch of stuff happened. Something called a North American was invented at one point, and North Americans are “rights” people. We base everything from our private morality to our public policies and every major value in between on this nebulous thing called “rights.” Not everyone in every time and place has thought like this. There are a million other values on which humans can and have based their moral systems. Familial loyalty, tribal or national loyalty, sense of divine holiness or justice, and pleasing the rain god have been among the most popular throughout history. And each of those old favorites pops its head up here and there whenever it’s helpful to a given speaker’s argument. But when it comes down to brass tacks, we’re rights people. Jared Witt - September 17, 2018 ![]() It’s been a very, very long time coming. But it’s nearly upon us. Right as our first batches are coming out of fermentation, Castle Church will be kicking off the life of our brewing community and celebrating the new home of our church in the only way we know how, with a Reformation Day Brewery Blessing. When - October 28, 4pm to 7:30 pm Where - Castle Church Brewing Community (6820 Hoffner Ave., Orlando, FL 32822) What – A classic monastic brewery blessing with some Castle Church improvisations, complete with guided beer tasting, blessing liturgy, beer and hymns, and a catered dinner. What you need to know – This a special celebration with all those who have supported and prayed for our development prior to our opening to the general public. Reservations are required. Follow this link. The brewery blessing tradition dates to the early middle ages at least as far back as Saint Arnold of Soissons (patron saint of hop-pickers and brewers) in the 11th century. He is often depicted with a mashing rake, a tool used in the old brewing process. But his synonymity with brewing is not because he opened up a monastery with a brewery, which was very common, but is an homage to his wise action of saving many from his church as an epidemic swept through the region by telling them to drink beer instead of water. Jared Witt - September 10, 2018 ![]() Christians have a problem with sin. Or rather, we have a sin problem. Specifically, we have a problem with the word sin and defining just what it is supposed to mean. More progressive-minded Christians tend to see all the problematic ways that the word has been used to browbeat and alienate and for that reason might prefer to throw it out all together. More conservative-minded Christians see this as dangerous refusal to call the evils of the world what they are. In response, they are inclined to double down on their use of the term, throwing it at just about everything and, in the process, making it seem as though all the problems of the world ultimately boil down to a labeling issue. Jared Witt - August 27, 2018 ![]() Haut Publicité Inc., a sleek new outfit specializing in brand marketing and high end corporate promotion, had moved into the area and wanted to demonstrate what they could do for local executives. So they decided to throw a community festival at the downtown boardwalk. About a month out, their social media staff start plugging targeted invites to all the high end neighborhoods, and sales reached out to local client-based firms and real estate moguls. A couple weeks went by and they started to grow concerned over the lackluster response on the event page. Lots of “no” responses, several “maybes,” but very few solid “yes”-es. The promotions team started reaching out directly to business contacts and influencers in the community with the script, “Hello, my name is ____, just wanted to make sure you knew about…” The responses they got weren’t negative, but they weren’t that helpful either. Karen Henry - August 20, 2018 It is impossible to have a vital community of the Spirit without authenticity. And part of authenticity is risking talking about those experiences which we might prefer not to talk about. I'm indebted to Castle Church's own Karen Henry for having the groundedness and the strength of character to share this reflection on searching for light in a dark time. Thank you, Karen. - Jared 10.28.2011.
04.25.2013. The painted shell that sits on my desk. Simpson Hall. 01.15.16. Hawaiian Pizza. 32829. I am a person who viciously assigns meaning to dates, items and places. In some instances, this is a wonderful trait. Birthdays and anniversaries are important to me and cause me to reminisce. When I wear a piece of jewelry from a friend, it reminds me of them. Restaurants and the food that I’m eating conjure memories of a place travelled and special people in my life. Jared Witt - August 13, 2018 ![]() Think of all the places where you spend your life. I mean real, physical locations, not digital ones. Now let me ask you two questions:
Jared Witt - August 6, 2018 ![]() Growing up monolingual, I tended to assume that every English word had some sister word in every other language which basically meant the same thing. So translation, I figured, was a simple matter of figuring out the one to one correspondence from one language to the next. This may be more or less true for words that are simple, literal, and conceptually concrete. “Tree” basically exists in every known language with a possible but unlikely exception if there is a tongue which developed somewhere that trees don’t grow. Beyond that, we might argue about the definition of a tree versus, say, a shrub. But everyone basically knows what you’re talking about conceptually. |
Mashing in.On how Castle Church is stirring up a movement from a brewery in Florida. Archives
February 2019
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