I agree that objectively it would appear that 'the Church' in its classic Anglican "smells and bells" form appears to be loosing ground to a newer more vibrant and community-centric church but, this is really only going full circle to the house groups of Phillipi and others in new testament times.
Personally, i think it is both a natural and good progression that the Church, the way we worship, how and who we fellowship with are changing to keep pace with society. Jesus said that his Kingdom was not "of this world", He did not say it was not "in this world". His disciples were drawn from a range of careers and backgrounds that could relate to and be related to by ordinary people. How much more then should we, as Jarvis Cocker said, "want to live like common people".
Having read the article in question i personally did not see anything new other than using Williams ministry as the 'framing story' around which to highlight what many are concerned about and have already written at length about. It largely reminded me of the sorts of articles often written on the business social media forum LinkedIn. Re-hash the extant wisdom of the day, "businesses need to tighten their belts", "supply chains need to be leaner", "companies need to recruit from a wider demo-graph", case in point "the anglican Church is in trouble"; then at the bottom the sales pitch "speak to us we can help your company with these things", and in the case of the subject article Diana has written 8 books and "most recently…" one on this very subject. It is essentially free advertising, my company does the same thing…
Which ones Brother, she makes many?
ReplyDeleteI agree that objectively it would appear that 'the Church' in its classic Anglican "smells and bells" form appears to be loosing ground to a newer more vibrant and community-centric church but, this is really only going full circle to the house groups of Phillipi and others in new testament times.
Personally, i think it is both a natural and good progression that the Church, the way we worship, how and who we fellowship with are changing to keep pace with society. Jesus said that his Kingdom was not "of this world", He did not say it was not "in this world". His disciples were drawn from a range of careers and backgrounds that could relate to and be related to by ordinary people. How much more then should we, as Jarvis Cocker said, "want to live like common people".
Having read the article in question i personally did not see anything new other than using Williams ministry as the 'framing story' around which to highlight what many are concerned about and have already written at length about. It largely reminded me of the sorts of articles often written on the business social media forum LinkedIn. Re-hash the extant wisdom of the day, "businesses need to tighten their belts", "supply chains need to be leaner", "companies need to recruit from a wider demo-graph", case in point "the anglican Church is in trouble"; then at the bottom the sales pitch "speak to us we can help your company with these things", and in the case of the subject article Diana has written 8 books and "most recently…" one on this very subject. It is essentially free advertising, my company does the same thing…
Many blessings
mike in Bahrain