Is First Christian a progressive congregation? The answer is complex.
Are We A Progressive Church?
Podcast Clip: The Church as Truth Teller
The church needs to be a truthteller, which means the church is willing to speak the truth even if it means attacking sacred cows that people like.
Repost: “Progressive Christians” and Yours Truly
I wrote this post in the summer of 2011. The trend has continued in the succeeding years. I will write something more current on the issue, but this old posts still stands. I've been noticing lately within Mainline Protestant circles, the rising use of the word "progressive" as a way to describe Christians who might... Continue Reading →
Jesus Is Not a Fashion Accessory
There are folks who tend to focus on the "numbers" taking place in Mainline Protestantism with concern. One example is an article written in 1987 by William Willomon and Robert Wilson. They looked at the numbers and didn't like what they see: The Methodist and the Evangelical United Brethren Churches each began to experience a... Continue Reading →
Progressive Christianity’s Pyrrhic Victory
The latest meme going around at the moment is a Pew Research survey on religion. What has caught people's attention is how the share of religious conservatives falls with each new generation while religious progressives seem to be rising with each new generation. Of course, progressive Christians have latched on to this story. There is... Continue Reading →
Repost: We Can’t Be Friends
First off, welcome to all the new visitors who saw my post on Freshly Pressed. Below is a post from last year. It was about 20 years ago, that I attended a large Baptist church in Washington, DC. The church was an odd mix, or at least it would be odd today. Evangelicals and liberals... Continue Reading →
Silence of the Drones
Michael Kruse has a good post that deals with my long quest to find out what is truly prophetic and what is just a poser. Here's a taste: The Christian Left (or progressives) hold themselves up as the antidote to this unholy alliance between the church and state. They are prophetic. Unlike conservatives who were... Continue Reading →
You Gotta Serve Somebody
It's been interesting watching my Facebook feed today in light of the Supreme Court decision on the Affordable Care Act. What has made it interesting is seeing a number of mainline pastors kind of be so nakedly partisan. I guess it shouldn't shock me. Mainline Protestantism has long ago jumped into bed with liberal interests... Continue Reading →
What Does It Mean to Be Prophetic, Revisited
Alan Bevere again picks up the the theme of being prophetic in a post today: I have spent some time this week in the Old Testament prophetic books. I do not find it surprising that most prophets are not accepted in their own time. Their cutting words of truth at best fall on stopped ears.... Continue Reading →
Constitutional Amendments and the Church
This fall, Minnesotans will go to the polls to vote on two constitutional amendments. The first one would ban same-sex marriage and the second one would require photo ids before a person could vote.Now I have my own opinions on the amendments and I'm not shy about sharing them (I'm strongly against the first and... Continue Reading →
The Clockwork Pastor 