Liberal Christian denominations

Welcome to Wondercafe2!

A community where we discuss, share, and have some fun together. Join today and become a part of it!

Register Log in
Mendalla said:
Alas, I've been hearing about "new breath" and such going back to my UCCan days, which are now almost 30 years in the past.

The UCCan needs some kind of renewal/revival, but I'm not sure it is imminent unless you have seen something that I have not. I do not think, BTW, that Gretta is it. It needs to be respectful of the church's faith, but reinvigorate and breath new life into the old husk of that faith. Something like process theology that creates a real sense of God being present and active and energizing, rather than a hoary old paternalistic judge and parent.
Click to expand...
Now don't go sounding like one of those "alas" half full folks Kay. ;-) I don't believe Gretta is it either. And it is respectful of our church's faith, in fact it is a celebration of our church's faith.
 
Dave Henderson said:
Now don't go sounding like one of those "alas" half full folks Kay. ;-) I don't believe Gretta is it either. And it is respectful of our church's faith, in fact it is a celebration of our church's faith.
Click to expand...

You quoted me and last I checked, I'm not Kay. :D
 
I got tired of hearing about the fresh new breath that was about to blow through the UC. It is incredibly stale after all these years.
 
I grew up Southern Baptist and I saw no love or faith there. I want a good liberal church where people love Jesus. That's unfortunately hard to find in rural Tennessee.
 
Is same old, samaulde approaching a status quo and then converting to a wish to move on ... the death of institution or just One Flying the Co-Opt (anis, roadrunner, or mockingbird/coo-coo)?

One must read into the pseudo nymphs as small a growing words of variously conceived understanding ... multiple perspectives?

Avarice tends to make us want to process one-way ...
 
Is to learn anything new, or Nous anti-conservative, beyond status quo and thus emotionally obnoxious due to the perpetual moving form ... creeper-out-r! Perhaps just frightening for those satisfied to know what they (thei) know and have BS that there is no more to the eternal ... a stretch and thus a pain to their constitution as ankh?

The gamma goes on and on ... a broad spread ... shimmering black ends as chimmerii? The Celts have a word for it similar to a shellacking ... NOSH Casting or droppings as a sign some anima was here afore ...

Who wishes to know new crap? It could assist if approaching a bad natured bare thing ... rye in the forest as a naked monster as empiric?

Nothing worse that a critter that didn't get no respect and fine tucker! --- Rod Neigh Dangerfield ... a pastoral district ... without Taurus, only some humour as satyr ... devilish stuff to stick to the sol! NOSH-ite? The smell emanating is enough ... it can grow on yah ...
 
https://blog.heartsupport.com/why-i...-to-suck-at-being-one-5d7cb730e3a2#.x0dmuy6ag
This resonates with me and I would like to find this...not even a church necessarily, just some RL friends in physical space that can relate to this. We don't have to sit around talking about the bible. It's very hard to find something like this here. It's the opposite of what's going on where Jon is. For example, here, I could have a discussion about nuggets of wisdom found in just about any other faith tradition, and "that's cool" - but talk about Christianity and most people recoil. They associate it with the very few right wing evangelicals around - and cringe at the mention of Christianity.

I was at work a few months ago and someone was actually talking about "Gretta" (sorry to bring her up), but not by name. This person read something in the paper and referred to her as an "Anglican Priest" who is atheist. We were just about to have a staff meeting. I corrected her - tried - mentioned she was from UCCan and this person was confused and slightly dismissive - implying, "same/ same. How would I know? Who cares?" She sort of chuckled. Really doesn't know or doesn't care (outside of UCCan - the church in general, and west of Ontario Gretta is really not a going concern. Probably most atheists here have never heard of her - how would they if they're not really interested in church?) Then someone joked "What do they do on Sunday morning? Serve brunch?" (I like the person who said that and I thought it was funny - and not a bad idea come to think of it) but I live in a very atheist/ agnostic place. Probably the fewest Christians, if I had to guess, per capita, in Western Canada. There are plenty of "SBNR's" and people who believe in a mishmash of religious philosophies, but not "Christian" SBNR's.
 
Last edited:
Kimmio said:
https://blog.heartsupport.com/why-i...-to-suck-at-being-one-5d7cb730e3a2#.x0dmuy6ag
This resonates with me and I would like to find this...not even a church necessarily, just some RL friends in physical space that can relate to this. We don't have to sit around talking about the bible. It's very hard to find something like this here. It's the opposite of what's going on where Jon is. For example, here, I could have a discussion about nuggets of wisdom found in just about any other faith tradition, and "that's cool" - but talk about Christianity and most people recoil. They associate it with the very few right wing evangelicals around - and cringe at the mention of Christianity.

I was at work a few months ago and someone was actually talking about "Gretta" (sorry to bring her up), but not by name. This person read something in the paper and referred to her as an "Anglican Priest" who is atheist. We were just about to have a staff meeting. I corrected her - tried - mentioned she was from UCCan and this person was confused and slightly dismissive - implying, "same/ same. How would I know? Who cares?" She sort of chuckled. Really doesn't know or doesn't care (outside of UCCan - the church in general, and west of Ontario Gretta is really not a going concern. Probably most atheists here have never heard of her - how would they if they're not really interested in church?) Then someone joked "What do they do on Sunday morning? Serve brunch?" (I like the person who said that and I thought it was funny - and not a bad idea come to think of it) but I live in a very atheist/ agnostic place. Probably the fewest Christians, if I had to guess, per capita, in Western Canada. There are plenty of "SBNR's" and people who believe in a mishmash of religious philosophies, but not "Christian" SBNR's.
Click to expand...

In many places the form a broad-base of sacred societies ... people who don't know where they're at yet! One shouls be half ways mobilized to avoid the severely fixated ... bullocks, or bum steers?

I'll take a steak on that one! Thus he was bit ... and poetically cowed ... by overwhelming flood of word ... das god ...
 
I am myself a Barthian (he wouldn't like this adjective) and a member of the Evangelical Church of Lutheran Confession in Brazil (known in Portuguese as IECLB). The IECLB was formed in 1948 by the union of the German Synods in Brazil, which were formed in the 19th century by the German immigrants who came to Southern Brazil.

Barth's theology played a great role in uniting the Synods and eliminating the Germanism from the Church. Since then, the IECLB found a way to be a progressive and embracing Church and keep itself faithful to the Gospel. So we are progressive but not theologically liberal (we proclaim the Divinity of Christ and the Resurrection).

We can be considered Mainline (in Brazil, we call the Mainline denominations "Historical Protestants" in contrast to Evangelicals and Pentecostals) and just like the Mainline denominations in North America, we are facing a membership lost since the 1970s, although not so quick as there.

What I see, though, is that congregations are much more important than the denomination. My congregation makes the intersection of proclaiming the Gospel and social work its existing reason and it works well - our pews are full of people every Sunday, and our diaconate service is also full of people working on it and donations. Proclaiming the Gospel without going for the needy is empty, and doing social work without proclaiming the Gospel, as someone said, might be better done at Rotary or Teto.

This, in my opinion, is discipleship - as Bonhoeffer put it. It's difficult if not impossible to be a disciple of Christ alone, it's only possible within the Church. I consider that Liberal Christianity faces difficult times for losing this north.
 
I read a lot of German theologians over the past few years ... just part of my unorthodoxy ... yet I am surprised at the negative responses from those apparently fixed in orthodoxy ... and can't get beyond that!

Then I find a lot of tidbits of great wisdom widely scattered ... broad based? Big mother syndrome ...
 
Tillich, Barth, the Niebuhr brothers, Moltmann and even Bultmann can be great sources of faithful witness to the Church and faith formation for individuals. They are orthodox yet they leave room for questioning, for doubt, for wondering...
Torrance can be a good link between the German and the Anglo-Saxon Protestant Theology.
 
GiancarloZ said:
Tillich, Barth, the Niebuhr brothers, Moltmann and even Bultmann can be great sources of faithful witness to the Church and faith formation for individuals. They are orthodox yet they leave room for questioning, for doubt, for wondering...
Torrance can be a good link between the German and the Anglo-Saxon Protestant Theology.
Click to expand...

Enjoyed studying from Torrance's text The Christian Doctrine of God, One Being Three Persons. That was back in UC.
 
Torrance was a great theologian, he's among my favorites. BTW, Scotland is a brewer of good theologians.
Fortunately, his theology is been recovered now in Scotland. I hope to see this movement in the Americas, too.
The same for the German theologians. Their crisis theology can offer answers and also the right questions for our time.
 
GiancarloZ said:
Torrance was a great theologian, he's among my favorites. BTW, Scotland is a brewer of good theologians.
Fortunately, his theology is been recovered now in Scotland. I hope to see this movement in the Americas, too.
The same for the German theologians. Their crisis theology can offer answers and also the right questions for our time.
Click to expand...

The German theologian I read most is Luther. I read Concordia every day. :)
 
Well, I'm a Lutheran :)
In my opinion, Luther offers great base doctrinal guidance, but he alone is not enough anymore, not for our days.
He lacked deep Ethics discussions and he wasn't, evidently, prepared for our times.
I don't believe History repeats itself, but we see movements that are very similar to those of the early and mid 20th century. In this sense, Barth, Tillich, Bultmann, Bonhoeffer, the Niebuhr brothers & caterva can help us.
 
GiancarloZ said:
Well, I'm a Lutheran :)
In my opinion, Luther offers great base doctrinal guidance, but he alone is not enough anymore, not for our days.
He lacked deep Ethics discussions and he wasn't, evidently, prepared for our times.
I don't believe History repeats itself, but we see movements that are very similar to those of the early and mid 20th century. In this sense, Barth, Tillich, Bultmann, Bonhoeffer, the Niebuhr brothers & caterva can help us.
Click to expand...

Hmm... I don't know. Right now I'm just getting into Luther's writings.

Well, Melanchthon's too. :D
 
Melanchthon and the ones in his line after him shaped what most of Lutheranism looks like today, as he was much more Reformed leaning than Luther. I just don't appreciate his low view of the Sacraments, which wasn't the case of Calvin but Zwingli.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top