Cruxifusion

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paradox3

paradox3

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What do you know about the Cruxifusion movement in the United Church?

It has come up for discussion in another thread and I have realized that I know very little about it. I would like to learn more.

To date, my impression is that Cruxifusion is a group of United Church ministers which focuses on maintaining Jesus Christ as the head of the church. I think they have formed an actual group as well as a facebook page.

It seems they are often assumed to be a right-wing group but this is not necessarily the case. Apparently there is a wide range of theological opinion among Cruxifusion members.

Very interested to hear from anyone who can provide us with more information.
 
The facebook group is a closed one but the membership list is viewable. There are some familiar names there as well.
 
I think it is relevant to point out, in this thread about Cruxifusion, that one of its initial sponsors was the anti-gay UCCan group Community of Concern. Their website is now offline, but this was one of the last blog entries:

vlnbzan.png


Before I discovered this entry and brought it up, I don't think many people knew about their sponsorship. There is no reason to suggest there is an anti-gay agenda to Cruxifusion. I do think their accepting sponsorship from the CoC was wrong, and that money would have been better directed to pro-gay organizations to counter the bad done by the CoC.

I think the idea that Cruxifusion is "right-wing" is that they are very Christ-centric and they focus on belief. In this era of religion in Canada when fewer people are believing. It appears to be a move to inspire leaders to change the perception that the United Church is wishy-washy on belief. That is going to place Cruxifusion at odds with those within the United Church who dispute articles of faith and who take a more metaphorical approach to church.
 
chansen said:
I think the idea that Cruxifusion is "right-wing" is that they are very Christ-centric and they focus on belief. In this era of religion in Canada when fewer people are believing. It appears to be a move to inspire leaders to change the perception that the United Church is wishy-washy on belief. That is going to place Cruxifusion at odds with those within the United Church who dispute articles of faith and who take a more metaphorical approach to church.
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You don't think it is possible to be both Christ-centred and metaphorical in one's approach to faith?
 
paradox3 said:
You don't think it is possible to be both Christ-centred and metaphorical in one's approach to faith?
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Depends on your definition of "Christ-centred", doesn't it? Someone who follows Jesus as their principle prophet or moral teacher but takes the supernatural elements of the story (miracles, virgin birth, and resurrection) metaphorically might consider themselves "Christ-centred" but may not be accepted as such by those who take things more literally.
 
Mendalla said:
Depends on your definition of "Christ-centred", doesn't it? Someone who follows Jesus as their principle prophet or moral teacher but takes the supernatural elements of the story (miracles, virgin birth, and resurrection) metaphorically might consider themselves "Christ-centred" but may not be accepted as such by those who take things more literally.
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Very true.

And I suspect that such a Christ-centred metaphorical approach would be welcomed by the Cruxifusion folks in our denomination. But I would love to hear from one of their members directly about this.
 
I don't remember knowing about this until it came up in the other thread. I'd like to learn more about it. I see that @GordW is a contributor on the list.
 
paradox3 said:
Very true.

And I suspect that such a Christ-centred metaphorical approach would be welcomed by the Cruxifusion folks in our denomination. But I would love to hear from one of their members directly about this.
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I'm not sure you're correct, but now you've got me curious as well.
 
A topic I know nothing about so my initial questions -
Is Cruxifusion directly associated with UCCan or is it generally available to all denominations? What about followers of other religions - can they be members?
 
I know several ministers in my area who are actively involved with Cruxifusion - none of them are anti-gay; all of them are very Christ-centred in their leadership. Yes - it is affiliated with the UCCan.
http://cruxifusion.ca/ If you look at their website - in the 2016 conference section, you can watch many videos of presenters - which perhaps gives you a sense of their membership. There's also an interesting video there of the Right Reverend Jordan Cantwell - our current moderator - a strong proponent of discipleship and diversity.
 
No. They simply accepted money from CoC, and CoC expressed approval of Cruxifusion on their website. There were some members common to both groups.

Their mistake, I think, was accepting the money. I do care where money comes from. Cruxifusion does not.
 
I have belonged to Cruxifusion since shortly after its inception. Prior to that I was sympathetic to the United Church Renewal Fellowship but never actually became a member.

I was friendly with several other Cruxers prior to the groups formation. The Reverend Greg Brawn and I were ordained together in 1998 and both of us were settled to NL Conference's West District. It was there that I met the Reverend Blair Paterson. I went to school and graduated with the Reverend Erin Sterling.

Other relationships were begun during the days of United Online which was one of the first online forums for the UCCan.

And once the annual conferences began I had opportunity to meet others.

The attraction of Cruxifusion, for me, is that it isn't hung up on the polity and process machinations that consume so much energy from ministry.

It is a group of colleagues who come with different experiences and perspectives and are united in the belief that Jesus is of critical significance not only for ourselves but also for our Church.

We are concerned with prayer, study of scripture and evangelism. If we have any dispensationalists or "turn or burn types" they are very, low key about it.

There are a few Calvinists. One who would happily be referred to as a Puritan (original definition not the disparagement), several Lutheran types, some process theologians, a former Mormon, some Liberation theology types and more Arminians than I am allowed to shake sticks at.

We are young, middle-aged, and nearing retirement.

We are ordained, diaconal, and lay ministers. There are some laity.

We are loud, save for our Puritan, who is appropriately reserved and witty. We laugh with one another, tease one another and disagree good naturedly with one another. We share our war stories and display our battle scars. We lean on shoulders or provide them as necessary.

We did not form to be anti-any one or thing. We formed to be pro-Jesus. We know the traditions of the church and we explore them to recover what has been forgotten. We are by no means unique in the denomination when it comes to that.

We always invite the current Moderator and General Secretary and they always pop-in for some of the Conference.

The Right Reverend Jordan Cantwell and I sat at the same table all through the plenary bits of GC-42.

So we aren't isolationists by any stretch.

Some of us have been executive officers of various Church courts so we have provided leadership to the denomination which is generally welcome.

I think we have a Presbyterian who recently left the UCCan and continued to keep in touch. Apart from that we are UCCan only.

That might change in the near future. We have invited leadership from UCC USA up to the annual conferences as full communion talks were under way. There was more than a few expressions of interest from our Southern neighbours who are, in their context, viewed only alongside the lowest edge of a very long nose.

More as that develops.

Apart from that it is a group in which I can really let my hair down. Which is refreshing.
 
There are actually on Fb both a group (page?) called, "Cruxifusion," and another called, "Cruxifusion Canada." What is their relationship, if any, to each other, and to the Cruxifusion organization?
 
revjohn said:
I have belonged to Cruxifusion since shortly after its inception. Prior to that I was sympathetic to the United Church Renewal Fellowship but never actually became a member.

I was friendly with several other Cruxers prior to the groups formation. The Reverend Greg Brawn and I were ordained together in 1998 and both of us were settled to NL Conference's West District. It was there that I met the Reverend Blair Paterson. I went to school and graduated with the Reverend Erin Sterling.

Other relationships were begun during the days of United Online which was one of the first online forums for the UCCan.

And once the annual conferences began I had opportunity to meet others.

The attraction of Cruxifusion, for me, is that it isn't hung up on the polity and process machinations that consume so much energy from ministry.

It is a group of colleagues who come with different experiences and perspectives and are united in the belief that Jesus is of critical significance not only for ourselves but also for our Church.

We are concerned with prayer, study of scripture and evangelism. If we have any dispensationalists or "turn or burn types" they are very, low key about it.

There are a few Calvinists. One who would happily be referred to as a Puritan (original definition not the disparagement), several Lutheran types, some process theologians, a former Mormon, some Liberation theology types and more Arminians than I am allowed to shake sticks at.

We are young, middle-aged, and nearing retirement.

We are ordained, diaconal, and lay ministers. There are some laity.

We are loud, save for our Puritan, who is appropriately reserved and witty. We laugh with one another, tease one another and disagree good naturedly with one another. We share our war stories and display our battle scars. We lean on shoulders or provide them as necessary.

We did not form to be anti-any one or thing. We formed to be pro-Jesus. We know the traditions of the church and we explore them to recover what has been forgotten. We are by no means unique in the denomination when it comes to that.

We always invite the current Moderator and General Secretary and they always pop-in for some of the Conference.

The Right Reverend Jordan Cantwell and I sat at the same table all through the plenary bits of GC-42.

So we aren't isolationists by any stretch.

Some of us have been executive officers of various Church courts so we have provided leadership to the denomination which is generally welcome.

I think we have a Presbyterian who recently left the UCCan and continued to keep in touch. Apart from that we are UCCan only.

That might change in the near future. We have invited leadership from UCC USA up to the annual conferences as full communion talks were under way. There was more than a few expressions of interest from our Southern neighbours who are, in their context, viewed only alongside the lowest edge of a very long nose.

More as that develops.

Apart from that it is a group in which I can really let my hair down. Which is refreshing.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your very informative post, RevJohn.

How long has the group been around? Is it a large group?
 
Pr. Jae said:
There are actually on Fb both a group (page?) called, "Cruxifusion," and another called, "Cruxifusion Canada." What is their relationship, if any, to each other, and to the Cruxifusion organization?
Click to expand...

Both are Cruxifusion.

Cruxifusion is primarily our discussion area and for the most part it is where the clergy gather.

Cruxifusion Canada is where the laity hang out it isn't as busy.

If it reassures anyone as to our theological positioning Stephen Booth was also banned from the Cruxifusion Canada site so we are not that far right.
 
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