21st Century Church

This is part two of the foundation course module Church and Ministry.

This is the first time that I have really understood what post modernism actually is. It's the devil at the door, whispered in synods, decried during sermons. It may be that post modernism is actually an opportunity for the church. A horrible dunking in cold water wake up call to a sleeping church which could be described as going through the motions for much of the 20th century.

First Christendom. That era of the church which could be traced back to Constantine when his conversion brought church and state together. This era of church and government working in tandem changes somewhere in the 18th century.

The enlightenment. God is no longer the sole source of truth. Man is able to reason and can prove the laws of nature through science. The ascendancy of man has begun.

Post modernism. The ascent of man has failed. Wars and mans inhumanity to man continue. If man has failed then God has failed. All is meaningless other than the search for personal gratification.

So here we are in a world where absolute truth is something that is distrusted. Relativism is rife. Secularism is a powerful force removing faith from schools, government and public life in general. As a reaction fundamentalism has become a safety net for many christians. Dualism could be seen as a result of this... Hate the world and look forward to heaven.

Fresh expressions seek to bridge the gap between church and "the world". They seek to meet people in a relevant cultural context and introduce them to Jesus. I have been struck however by the danger that we might end up with church light. Where people go away feeling good about their experience but unchanged by the person of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit.

If we can find ways of becoming more like the early church we may find that this disillusionment provides a wonderful opportunity for mission. If people no longer believe in mans love for man what might happen if we lived that out? If broken hearts become selfish to protect themselves what might happen if we gave unconditional love?

What I'm feeling my way towards is this thought.... Does it matter what package we wrap it up in if we are truly living out the apostles teachings on community? If I knew the church would love me would I not be there?

First impressions of the Foundation course

I had a wonderful time at the Citi campus over the weekend.

It was great opportunity to make new friends and carefully think through what God has called me to.

I intend to use this blog as ministry diary. To record what I have done and reflect on whether it succeeded or failed. To see what the experience did to change me. To draw closer to Jesus as I seek to serve Him in today's world.

Today? Well I feel like I've got through what I think may be the first challenge of distance learning.... the massive amount of information to make sense of! Thankfully I feel that I've got a reasonable grasp of what's expected after a few days of feeling around the edges of the 300+ pages of pdf. Now to get started :)

Blessings

Peter