Healthy churches - 3 notes

[**Rowland Croucher**]

* Eddie Gibbs' new book Churmorph (pp. 19ff.) lists five megatrends we
could look at to understand contemporary cultural shifts - modernity to
postmodernity, industrial to information age, Christendom to
post-Christendom, production initiatives to consumer awareness
(Hillsong, Planetshakers et al do this successfully, in terms of
'attracting' numbers), religious identity to spiritual awareness...

* Were the hearers in your church yesterday allowed to ask questions?
('Church' is about the last place in our culture where someone is
allowed to get up and spruik and forbid/not allow questions) ...

* Start with this as the key issue in terms of our addiction to
clericalism (where one person per church community does most of the
verbalizing about the Faith) - http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/8109.htm

IOW we can be 'in touch with the culture', (churches whose 'services'
are roughly the same as a generation ago are all declining), be a
charismatic personality in terms of communication (but intelligent YP
are turned off celebrity-focussed worship events eventually), relate
well to young people, etc. etc. but if we get our ministry-priorities
wrong, it's all leading us down the track to oblivion. Thoughtful people
are, underneath it all, essentially looking for a more authentic
spirituality, and a raison d'etre for their lives.

Then go to this section for 50 more articles on what comprises a healthy
church - http://jmm.aaa.net.au/catalog/section/yc1.htm

Shalom/Salaam/Pax! Rowland Croucher

http://jmm.aaa.net.au/

Justice for Dawn Rowan - http://dawnrowansaga.blogspot.com/

[DKleinecke]

On Sep 14, 6:39=A0pm, **Rowland Croucher**
<rccrouc...@contactemailonwebsite.rutgers.edu> wrote:

> * Start with this as the key issue in terms of our addiction to
> clericalism (where one person per church community does most of the
> verbalizing about the Faith)

What is your take on the Quakers? Having they been modelling the
right way to worship for lo these many years and the rest of
Christiandom ignoring them? Should other churches try to emulate them?

[**Rowland Croucher**]

I have no problem with Plymouth Brethren or Quakers et al spreading the
responsibility for 'verbalizing the faith' around without designated
teachers/clergy... Their problem may be a reluctance to acknowledge
pastoral leadership.

What I'm concerned about is the role/authority clericalist leaders take
in terms of monopolizing public ministry. (See
http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/8109.htm )

[news]

B - some of my ancestors were Quakers. I have an affection for the Quaker
way. Everyone being equal under and in God...everyone being available to
speak from that higher place....it's beautiful.

Bren