A post-congregational future?
Tobias Haller offers his usual erudite and cogent analysis of where the Anglican right seems to be heading. About the immediate future of the Anglican Communion he concludes:
Some who have been part of this Anglican Communion until now have already made it clear they see a different future for themselves. As they are not forsaking Christ, but only this fellowship, I can wish them Godspeed. They are not lost; merely detached. Time will tell if these branches will be grafted onto other stocks, gathered into a bundle, or planted separately, where they may thrive — or not. They may eventually be grafted back to the stock that gave them life.
But notice too an earlier point that he makes:
It also strikes me that we are seeing, in the development of the Network, the final collapse of a geographical rootedness to the church. We are entering the world of the virtual church, the Church of the Five Faves, the church not of geographical and terrestrial space, but of affinity: Ecclesiastical MySpace.
Sometimes in the midst of a controversy, a social trend emerges, that, in itself, has nothing to do with the controversy. This is a case in point. While words like globalization and decentralization are tossed around in self-justifying fashion by Peter Akinola, Martyn Minns and their claque, who believed they are authorized to claim the property of other churches, the deeper story is that some scholars believe the West is heading toward a post-denominational and perhaps post-congregational Christian future in which people are able to find the ingredients for a spiritual life on the internet, and then mix them into recipes of their own devising in their own homes, or with small groups of friends.
This is a more threatening development to the way most Western churches conceive of themselves than anything the Akinolists can muster.
Having been a member of a house church for a couple of years while we were working on planting a church in our growing area, I do not see post-congregational as a threat to Christianity. Perhaps something of a threat to the traditional ways we are used to doing church, but not a threat to Christianity itself. Part of my openness to church outside of traditional church setting may have to do with the fact that we did this successfully for about 2 years before beginning services in our plant church. One note of caution, we did have an actual trained Pastor leading us.
I’m in a Baptist church (sorry, I live in Ft. Worth Texas and could not deal with the diocese here) but you wouldn’t know it was SBC if you didn’t ask. It’s not in the name and it’s not in the culture. Most people think it’s a non-denominational church, which is fine with us. I’ve always believed there was too much pride in some denominations and that the emphasis should be on Jesus and not on the denomination. I don’t see a big threat to Christianity in post-denominational church either, a threat to the way many churches see themselves maybe.
As for myself, I’ll seek a relationship with Jesus anywhere I can, traditional church, post-congregational church, myspace, cyberspace, outer space, I don’t care. I like church the way we do it, but I don’t need the church to continue the journey and have a relationship with Christ.
Peace and Grace, Daniel Robison
Posted by DanielR![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.episcopalcafe.com/lead/nav-commenters.gif)
|
August 2, 2007 1:48 PM