Amelia Wrote "Who else sees signs and wonders?" I take heart that over 100 people attended the Progressive Christianity lunch meeting at Synod. I think it is a clear sign that many, in the UC a t least, are starting to have the courage to move out of the old theological framework and outdated doctrines that so often prevent us from seeing the presence of God in places other than our own neatly wrapped boxes.
Allan > > I actually shake my head when it comes to the pessimism I hear. What I see > is God doing amazing and wonderful things, but they are hard to interpret if > we have a fixed view about what God should be doing. > > Most places I get to go experience: > - aging mambership > - "declining church systems" (see Thomas Bandy "Kicking Habits" for a > definition) > - conflict and confusion about what it means to be Church > > On the other hand, in those same places, you can also see: > - people stepping out for the first time to share their faith > - people who are discovering how exciting it is to grow as a disciple of > Jesus Christ and who are "into" developing "thriving" discipleship (see > Bandy again for definitions of "thriving") > - conflict, tension and seeking for clarity about what it means to be the > Body of Christ > > All is not doom and gloom! In fact, I think God is doing something very > exciting that we need to catch up with... > > My question for you all... > > If we can's see the signs and wonders - are we looking in the right place? > > Yesterday, I heard about Carlinford's practise of having someone share about > what God is doing in their lives every week in worship. In order to > accomodate this, the preacher needs to keep to a tight time frame and > everyone on the Worship Team needs to be pretty discipined. The results - > people are growing in faith as they hear the stories of faith-journeys of > others. > > I am also excited by the real impact those strange "deacons" seem to be > having. The renewal of the diaconate is leading to greater diakonia amongst > many. Our "official" Deacons seem to be refreshing us with a Call to Action. > > Sure, we need to work on the development of evangelism. Many people would > like to proclaim something - but they seem not to be very confident about > the content of the message to be proclaimed. It seems that the message they > heard in the past is not always proving helpful in their present, so many > people are hesitant to proclaim something they are not really sure works. > One of the chief tasks of nurturing evangelists is to help them struggle > with the message a bit more and find the profound Gospel truths that give > life and hope to ALL people - not just the "elect". > > Who else is seeing "signs and wonders"? > - Amelia > ------------------------------------------------------ > - You are subscribed to the mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] > - To unsubscribe, email [EMAIL PROTECTED] and put in the message body 'unsubscribe insights-l' (ell, not one (1)) > See: http://nsw.uca.org.au/insights-l-information.htm > ------------------------------------------------------ > ------------------------------------------------------ - You are subscribed to the mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe, email [EMAIL PROTECTED] and put in the message body 'unsubscribe insights-l' (ell, not one (1)) See: http://nsw.uca.org.au/insights-l-information.htm ------------------------------------------------------
