I read this interesting take on Postmodernism and the church.
http://www.umportal.org/article.asp?id=4662
I love this quote in one of the first paragraphs, " We're and organic community in which relationship is the tie that binds, not doctrine. The more you build relationship across difference, the more difference becomes OK."
Your thoughts?
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3 comments:
Great article, Kyle, and thanks. Not only do I appreciate that which you found especially appealing in this article, but I also liked the idea of "not closing the deal" and meeting people where they are at.
Also, in reference to the fact that Rev. John Wesley was not a systematic theologian as is normally typified by many, I also wonder if the church hasn't applied for too long its own systematic approach in terms of how we "do church." I believe, and this is my personal opinion, that while systematic theologies do offer good insights in helping us to understand some things about God, on the whole they can be rather confining, especially because of the fact that they purport that there really isn't that much left to "figure out" about God, often times, at least.
What if the way many of us have been gathering as Christians for worship has fallen victim to the same basic, accepted systemic mentality? Or, what if we as individuals, or diverse groups, simply need different forms of gathering and worshiping and ministering than what others are currently finding valuable within the more established forms?
I also really enjoyed that article, and like Chris, the aversion to evangelism as "closing the deal" really jumped out at me as something I can readily agree to since "evangelizing" in my heart consists more of expressing Jesus through my own actions (not getting them to accept and buy into checklist of "facts") and actually having them tell ME their story so I can learn from them as well.
I also have to say my exposure to Methodists this last year through this Emergent group has been a big, fat, massive BLESSING!!
Thanks for posting this article, Kyle. I had the privilege of attending the conference "The Emerging Church for the Existing Church" at St. Luke's, the United Methodist Church described in this article. They are doing some really good work there, aware of the people around them.
As a pastor, I can identify with the change in beliefs about membership. Most of the people in my congregation are still of the "join up" mindset, and I fear they place too much pressure on new people in the church to commit as "members." Likewise, our bishop analyzes our "membership" statistics. Hmmmm.
All this makes me wonder what Jesus might have to say. I imagine he'd say something like, "Get out there and reach people and don't worry so much about your rules."
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