Thoughts on Bandy visit

[Rob Bos]

Ted Endacott's thoughts in Bandy are worth pondering. Rob (Bos)   Dear Rob, thanks for your email on Friday. I enjoyed your Easter article on Bandy. John passed it on to me last month, along with contributions from others on the "Insight" group. If you want to toss my Bandy article into that group, you are welcome. I liked the way you went straight to the big picture stuff with Bandy. Bandy irritates me because he dances from one issue to another without engaging anything in depth. He drops a nifty one-liner and moves on. I hope to write another Bandy article. Maybe it will have to wait until after the tour. I would like to explore the following issues: [1] Christ and Culture - H R Niebuhr names most of the options. I think a blend is needed. The "prophet" needs to speak out and to denounce evil, taking the "Christ against culture" line. The evangelist should know how to swim about inside the culture, finding acceptable common ground and affirming what is healthy - this is "Christ with culture". The church as 'salt and light' also has the role of "transforming culture", influencing and changing it for the better. Bandy makes only passing references to this important area. I suspect that he has not thought it through properly. [2] What is a "balanced" theological package for the current decade? Bandy drops one-liners, but does not spell out his theological agenda. I think that different blends are needed to match specific contexts, but the core ingredients are constant. My guess is that none of the following are negotiable - they are essentials: - fire-in-the-belly, evangelical fervour, gratitude for the salvation provided via the cross (delete this and you have a listless Christianity) - reasoned, intellectual, honest, plain-speaking theology, willing to engage the hard questions - the Prophetic tradition, justice, ethics, denouncing evil, engaged in transformation - the Holiness tradition, Fruits of the spirit, morality, personal change, being Christlike, - existential celebration of life, joy, laughter, creativity - awe, fear, sense of the Other, spirituality, awareness of the bigness of God, transcendence - connection with Creation and culture, engaging, transforming, (not locked away in fairyland) [3] And now for ecclesiology. Bandy throws out clues, but does not nail his colours to the mast. My ideal church would feature: - soft edges, offering attractive ways to participate in the life of a faith community (activities, hobbies, clubs, self-help groups) - a gravitational pull, encouraging people to explore spirituality, experience the enigma of Jesus (the pull would hopefully take people into baptism, confirmation, full membership, discipleship, leadership roles(?), staff roles(?) - strong, free-standing house-groups out in the community, offering dialogue, prayer, Bible study, worship, pastoral care (leaders of these groups would be highly trained and accountable to the central leadership) Driving this style of ministry would be "gifts" theology and "priesthood of all believers" theology. - a central community which manages the money, shapes the vision, provides the resources, has paid staff, has links to State/National groupings, provides rites of passage, sacraments, clarifies membership, leadership roles etc I think a blend of "primitive early church" spontaneity, and "sophisticated national/international community" structure is needed. The church in Acts shows a bit of both, with some central control and some local autonomy. [4] Bandy is correct in naming the problems of the church as systemic. What he fails to do is describe the dominant systems, and name the "ologies" that serve as foundations. Bandy almost uses the terms "Christendom" and "institutional church" interchangeably. They are different. Christendom features Tradition, has OT Theocratic thinking, the cult of the Temple, the power of the State Church, clergy as powerful public servants, local churches as arms of State control, one church in every village mentality, clericalism, lay obedience and passivity, control by use of the sacraments( salvation via the Church only). There is a sense of unreality and triumphalism, as if Bishops/Cardinals/Popes ruled the world, terminology is often "Royal" with My Lord Bishop living in a Palace. The Institutional Church is based on Reason, is not formally linked to the State but may be totally "tamed" by secular culture (Cross wrapped in the flag), likes to see itself as part of the very fabric of society, features a vast conservative bureaucracy, recruits conservative clones for employees, operates denominational franchises in every town and suburb, stifles dissent/innovation/creativity. There is great admiration for the Global Corporation style, with big HQ buildings, Presidential leaders, and trappings of sophisticated modernity. That is probably enough for the moment. I will try to tidy these rough ideas and get them on the web. I hope that the post-Bandy gathering on 19-20th July will get into some of these issues. Feedback welcome, Cheers, Ted Endacott