tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post5975711996600393913..comments2024-03-29T17:55:30.203+13:00Comments on Anglican Down Under: Filling the Empties: 21st C Gospel TransformationPeter Carrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535218286799156659noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-18811225944324614682011-06-21T22:04:01.383+12:002011-06-21T22:04:01.383+12:00As ever, + Kevin prompts and stimulates. At our r...As ever, + Kevin prompts and stimulates. At our recent Clergy Conference + Victoria asked our own diocesan clergy of Chch this question: what do we suppose the Holy Spirit is saying to us at this time and in this place? Not that she was expecting or even wanting an immediate answer; rather, she was asking us to turn and wait upon God in prayer.<br /><br />As a partial step towards simulating our own thinking as to possible answers, we were arranged into groups, with each person allowed just one proposal (initially), which we were then asked to ponder before God. For what it’s worth, this was mine: Who do we think we are - <i>without our buildings</i>? Back to + Kevin via a very different route! With thanks.Bryden Blackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15619512328964399016noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-51306193425516352902011-06-21T19:53:24.115+12:002011-06-21T19:53:24.115+12:00Thanks Jenny and Lucy for comments which lead the ...Thanks Jenny and Lucy for comments which lead the meme on.<br /><br />Agreed, Jenny, serving others is vital. A concrete manifestation of the gospel of God's love.<br /><br />Also agreed (I think this is what you mean, Lucy) we have opportunity to communicate our faith with the service (not necessarily with words from lips, but with (say) body language which communicates our enthusiasm and love for God.Peter Carrellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09535218286799156659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-57588759355750803852011-06-21T19:02:21.252+12:002011-06-21T19:02:21.252+12:00Hi there Jenny - it is FUN to be able to understan...Hi there Jenny - it is FUN to be able to understand all the words, isn't it, and to have them all in English!!<br /><br />Further to your comments, I also wonder how excited / confident / convinced / passionate ... we are about our faith. Good news spread fast.Lucyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18112344910285525993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-79257751463432541522011-06-21T16:23:03.663+12:002011-06-21T16:23:03.663+12:00Thanks for your blog Peter, I'm not adequately...Thanks for your blog Peter, I'm not adequately qualified to comment on most of your posts, but I do have something to say about this one. <br />In a strange kind of way I think the church has fallen into thinking like the culture around the church, that is the 'its all about me' culture. The history of God's people is jam packed with people turning away from God from the Exodus people in the dessert who melted down their gold and made idols to the people called back to God and a just society by the prophets, to the people to whom the messiah came and so on. This is just one more instance of the people turning away from God. <br />In my view it doesn't matter how we turn ourselves inside out, in the end we are speaking to and trying to reach a culture of individuals focused on themselves. However, within this culture there is a cultural Christianity, the people who come to church to be married, to have their children 'christened' perhaps even the odd funeral. They regard the church as a touchstone of their beliefs. (I think that is about a half of the population and falling.) <br /> It seems to me that the best the church can do, is what is being so adequately demonstrated in Linwood, is to serve others in the community selflessly. <br />This is not an adequate answer for the empty buildings of the Constantiniun era, I know, and maybe the cultural Christians want to keep those buildings as a symbol of their beliefs. <br />Regrettably many are now wedding chapels and in this regard we priests of the church sometimes have our patience taxed to the limit. <br />Nevertheless, it is an occasion to humbly serve and that is what we, the church are called to do.Jenny Chalmersnoreply@blogger.com