Towards a 21st Century Church: Four Assumptions to Challenge
Now that we are almost a fifth of the way through the twenty first century, it is becoming increasingly obvious that the church can no longer act as though it is still the twentieth century. People give various reasons for why significant change is needed – some of the more common contenders being that we now live in post-Christendom (and the church therefore no longer operates from a platform of privilege, nor can it assume that people have a basic understanding of the Christian faith); or that the postmodern turn in society has rendered everything relative, making the truth claims of the...
Read MoreWhen a Cardinal Sins: Reflections on the conviction of George Pell
For those not in the loop (and they must be a very small number), Cardinal George Pell has been found guilty of child sexual abuse, and is being held in detention while his sentence is awaited. As he is the most senior cleric in the world to be convicted of this crime, it is deeply unsettling. He could have become the Pope – having been a serious contender (though not the front runner) when Pope Benedict resigned in 2013. Until stepping down from his role at the Vatican to face trial in Australia, he was the third most senior figure in the Roman Catholic Church (far and away the...
Read MoreReframing Competition…
In a 2017 address to Baptist Care Australia, Competing with Purpose, Traverse director David Benson encouraged listeners to consider what it might mean to reframe our understanding of competition, so that instead of seeing it as a means to beat and defeat our competitors, it is transformed into a mechanism to ensure that we are both stronger and better as a result of the encounter. His work has set me thinking about the role of competition in the Christian faith, and as part of our journey of discipleship. There are many portraits in scripture which encourage us to be the best that we can...
Read MoreQuotable: Rachel Held Evans, Searching for Sunday – Take 2
Last week we looked at some of the notable quotes with which Rachel Held Evans starts different chapters of her 2015 book Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving and Finding the Church. This week we look at some of her own insights from the book, which as the title suggests, explores her journey of loving, leaving and finding the church. The book is well worth the read – at times it is funny, at other times sad, sometimes poignant, and often profound. It is no coincidence that when Satan tempted Jesus after his baptism, he began his entreaties with, “If you are the Son of...
Read MoreQuotable: Rachel Held Evans – Searching for Sunday
Rachel Held Evans 2015 book Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving and Finding the Church is well worth the read. As the sub title suggests, it is a book about loving, leaving and finding the church – and tells of a journey well worth pondering. Each chapter starts with a quote from a noteworthy figure, or a verse from the Bible. Here are a few of these quotes… I prefer a church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out in the streets, rather than a church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security… More than by fear of...
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