Saturday, February 19, 2005

ECUSA Church's mission

I really do like the church of the really blonde people (eventhough the church of the gay lawyer has better social outings).
So much I let them take money automatically out of my banking account.
So last week's topic in the adult seminar was on the two dueling missions of the Christian church, a) the spiritual bring people out of the world and the slightly materialistic b) go into the world and make it a better place. With that there was also addressing the problems with the Episcopal church and the church's mission.
I loved the ending questions of:
1. Why are we so uncomfortable with sharing our faith?
2. Is mission inevitably spirtual if not material colonialism?
3. Should mission extend to peoples of other faiths or simply people with no identifiable faith?
That last question I liked. The answer provided was from the 1998 Lambeth Conference where it was decided that "Frank & honest exploration of both eht common ground and the differences between faiths... a desire to both listen to people of all faiths and to express our own deepests Christian beliefs, leaving the final outcome of our life and witness in the hands of G-d". I took it to mean, be authentically Christian, listen to your Islamic and Jewish friends, and when it comes to judgement leave it to the Father.
Another topic the speaker touched on that I liked was heaven and hell. Heaven is where the Father resides if you wanna chill and continue to worship and praise him then heaven is the place for you. If you have very little interest in G-d then you go where he is not, he does not destroy your soul, you remain, but away from the love that is the almighty, regretting that you did not develop a love of him. To be away from the love that he is, is hell.

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