May 18
church squared activist, church, denominations, ekklesia, local, orthodox, pietist, streams, tribes, universal
“Each of the three definitions of the Ekklesia shows us a special aspect of its basis: the transcendent (electio), the historical-objective (corpus Christi), and the spiritual-objective (sanctorum communio). Each of them taken by itself would necessarily lead to a one-sided conception: either to an abstract spiritual intellectualism (the number of the predestined, numerous praedestinatorum), or to a sacramental hierarchism (the Body of Christ, corpus Christi), or to an emotional and pietistic individualism (the communion of the faithful, communio fidelium). Only in their unity do they reproduce the reality of the Ekklesia.”
The Ekklesia (church) exists beyond space and time in the sense that it eclipses any one believer or parish in any one geographical and historical setting. The Church also exists in space and time, with actual believers and parishes in specific geographic and historical settings. In every case, the small-c church (right here, right now) lacks something of the full beauty and oomph of what it means to be the big-c Church (beyond space and time).
This is a very helpful three-part description by Brunner of three different streams which lead to today’s churches: Activist (contemporary justice), Orthodox (historic truth), Pietist (individual faithfulness). The Evangelical Free church is historically a Pietist denomination devoted to the idea of a church made up of any believer and believers only (the communion of the faithful). Like the other two streams, we are prone to praise ourselves by our own emphasis (highly focused on individual and future salvation) and judge other churches on the same basis.
My point here is that the best churches will look more like the Church. Sure we all come from one of these streams, but perhaps a little bit of transcendence is in order. At least that’s what I’m working for in my parish.
May 15
ordination church, EFCA, Evangelical Free Church of America, ordination, thesis, transfer
Today I decided to begin seriously pursuing the transfer of my current ordination into the Evangelical Free Church of America, which is the denomination of the church I serve.
The ordination transfer process includes four major parts:
- Attend an informational course about the history and organization of the EFCA (completed early in 2010).
- Receive a letter of recommendation from the church I serve.
- Write a 35-40 page ordination thesis.
- Defend ordination thesis before ordination council.
As I finish each section of the ordination thesis, I will post it here as an article. Stay tuned as I work my way through this project!
May 12
archived
Life has been rather nuts lately. Thank you to each one of you who has been visiting, and reminding me to write. I will run through what I’ve been up to lately.
- Increasing activity and responsibilities with Army National Guard chaplaincy. There tend to be seasons in life, and this has been a season of more intense training. I am personally eager for the upcoming return of our aviation Soldiers from their deployment to Afghanistan which was kicked off by the tragic crash which was widely publicized because it included Navy SEALs.
- A personal visit with my wife to NYC sans kids. We had three full days with my brother and his wife. Lots of good memories. We returned home to all three kids sick, so there has been little sleep the past few days.
- Plenty of reading: Bavinck, Oden, study for upcoming teaching series (Revelation, Pentateuch, creeds). Which I hope will burst forth into writing for your benefit in the coming days.
- Our church is in the process of purchasing a facility. Our current auditorium comfortably fits 8o people with limited auxiliary space. The new auditorium comfortably fits 250 people with auxiliary space adequate for twice that number. Needless to say, this beautiful historic building and the purchase process has occupied a significant portion of my time and attention. Too much for my taste but that is life.
Fresh content should be available this coming week. Thank you for your loyal visits and feedback.
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