Richard Passmore has brought a number of his posts together under “A Manifesto Calling for a New Way of Being and Defining Church.”
“1. The first reformation gave the bible back to the people and we need to give church back to the people (not just christian people).
2. This will take a redefinition of church NOT just a change in style.
3. The churches sub cultural weakness is a leaning towards evolution over revolution, hence style over definition.
4. Theologically there are many examples of revolutionary steps or leaps in thinking, eg Peters vision, Jesus new covenant and so redefinition is plausible.
Technorati Tags: church, Emergent, emerging church
5. Any redefinition that is put forward needs to collapse the old ways of being that distinguish between church/worship/prayer and the whole of life, BUT hold the tension that whole of life may not be church. (which is where intentionality comes in)
6. The redefinition we are offering of Church in the post- Christendom west is a way of being and living that is a series of chaotic but intentional encounters with God, one another, and the world, founded on the holistic teaching of Christ, and encompassing the whole of life.
7. This encompasses the critical outcome of the imagery of church used in the bible, this being that all the bibles images of church include “attitude and course of action”.
8. This whole of life process is not about walls, rules or fences but about wells, mutuality and redemptive processes.
9. The theological processes and reflections offered so far are consistent with the biblical tradition and can be seen to offer an authentic and consistent redefinition of church.
10. DO-BE-DO, offers one practical way of putting this redefinition into action. ”
Like them? Go and comment at his site called Sunday Papers
Maaate! What can I say? This stuff is amazing. I was sitting in church last Sunday wondering why drinking good red and eating great food in with my friends (mostly unchurched) seemed more like the communion Jesus was talking about than the cracker and imitation grape fluid that i was holding in my hands at the time. I’ve spent my week wondering if I dedicated my 40th birthday street party this Saturday night as an expression of this same communion…would that be irreligious? I figured it probably was irreligious but that’s exactly how my Jesus would want it to be. Give the church back to the people? where do I sign up?
RE: Point 10.
One of my favorite t-shirts ever offers the theological wisdom of Ol’ Blue Eyes, even in if the first two quotes are spurious:
“To be is to do.” – Socrates
“To do is to be.” – Aristotle
“Do be do be do.” – Sinatra
I want that tee shirt. Andreww thanks for the response to Larry, you have a good enconomy of words, maybe I’ll get there if I keep blogging enough. I guess the other part I would add is liberating the people resource of the church.
Great great thoughts…but at the top of the list I would put,” un-cork the new wine .” Some where hidden in the vestry of our churches we’ve bottled and corked the breath of God. We nned to find it again and release it, if the church wants to manifest anything. Shalom Ron+
I have added some stuff on DO-BE-DO and tried to incorporate what it might look like for Mike http://www.sundaypapers.org.uk/?p=172
thanks richard
do-be-do sounded like a Tom Jones song to me . . . it will be good to see it written out.