Fr. Sexton cited an idea from Diana Butler Bass that worshipers are less interested in a church with answers than in one that accepts them as they ask questions.
“I think there is much truth to her statements, and my biggest fear for our church is and has been that we will allow it to remain in its complacency and continue to be distracted (sex) and insulated (who’s in, who’s out),” he wrote. “I believe we do need to become passionate, imaginative, open, justice seeking, inclusive, and loving communities of faith that actually live as if we believed our baptismal promises were important. ”¦ We need to once again be motivated by the fire of the Holy Spirit.”
Ms. Watson expressed delight that the diocese placed such an emphasis on the question of evangelism.
“I know that the only reason that my family and I enjoy the abundance of life we do today is because of the transformative power of Christ’s love as we have experienced it through the Episcopal Church,” she wrote.
Good on the diocese for putting evangelism at the forefront here. I trust that the episcopal non-starters will be clearly recognized right from the beginning, though. I thought this comment was… remarkable.
[blockquote] Fr. Sexton cited an idea from Diana Butler Bass that worshipers are less interested in a church with answers than in one that accepts them as they ask questions. [/blockquote]
Yes. Because that’s been proven to be true again and again (as shown by the awe-inspiring growth of liberal churches in North America and Europe).
How long does one have to try screwing a nail into a wall before they realize it’s a hammer they’re wanting.
It does not really seem as though it’s evangelism the church is wanting, so much as it is recruitment into their club. Evangelism cannot possibly arise from a church in which Universalism is normative, since if all are going to heaven there’s no reason to present Christ as God’s unique solution to the greatest single problem of human existence.
I thought part of the baptismal covenant was to continue in the apostles’ teaching. Churches who grow do just that.
While I think it’s important to give people space to ask questions, and a ‘safe place’ where questions are valued, at some point, people want a response that either affirms or challenges their questions. Simply saying, ‘Well, taht’s a point of view,’ doesn’t seem to do it.
The whole emphasis on ‘questioning’ is a nice tactic for boomers, I suppose, but millennials are going for a different cup of tea altogether.
3., Churches that follow apostolic teaching, in my estimation, seem to actually wind up shrinking, usually through martyrdom or through such an embracing of the Gospel that most people tend to run the other way. Evangelism can’t be about butts in pews, or we’re back where the otherwise usually good Dr. Butler-Bass puts us.
Contrary to Bart Hall, I don’t believe yearning for heaven is central to authentic Christianity. We repent because we have offended God’s love, we practice justice because that is central to the character of God, we rejoice when sinners are saved because it is God’s will that all of creation be redeemed.