IN REPLY TO ALLISON RUOFF
We share, I believe the passion to make Christ known. You want Christians to get out of church buildings and onto the streets and into the community. You will be heartened to know that that is the core vision which has inspired me since 1994 when I began ministering outside the traditional denominational structures. It is the core vision of the Open Episcopal Church which since 2001 has sought to make Christian ministry available to everyone outside the confines of church buildings. We have been involved in front line evangelism and have thus been able to build up a community of 16,000 members and many tens of thousands more who have attended our services.
Post the Host continues this drive to liberate Christ from the clutch of the professional priesthood and the rigidity of church structures.
You were worried that the Host should only be food for the faithful few. Can I ask you to to examine the ministry of Jesus who continually thought outside the box, who reinterpreted the traditions of old so they were unrecognisable from the ways the people of his day were practicising them, who lavished upon the people the treasures and grace of God.
Christ did not come to start a cosy club with treats for the few. He came to redeem the world and to that end , to give his life for the world.
Its a strange irony for you to believe that he would make himself fully available during his lifetime and be willing to die for us all but then want us to keep him under lock and key and away from the majority of the world.
You said that the word is the primary resource in evangelism. We agree perhaps, for Jesus is the Word, the Logos of God. That is why he goes before us to lead us to the lost and the lonely. He wants to stand at the door of the hearts of all the estranged and knock for entry.
Post the Host enables this to happen in a sacramental way. Support this bold and inspired work of God rather than try to make the walls higher still around the exclusive Christian community.
Post the Host continues this drive to liberate Christ from the clutch of the professional priesthood and the rigidity of church structures.
You were worried that the Host should only be food for the faithful few. Can I ask you to to examine the ministry of Jesus who continually thought outside the box, who reinterpreted the traditions of old so they were unrecognisable from the ways the people of his day were practicising them, who lavished upon the people the treasures and grace of God.
Christ did not come to start a cosy club with treats for the few. He came to redeem the world and to that end , to give his life for the world.
Its a strange irony for you to believe that he would make himself fully available during his lifetime and be willing to die for us all but then want us to keep him under lock and key and away from the majority of the world.
You said that the word is the primary resource in evangelism. We agree perhaps, for Jesus is the Word, the Logos of God. That is why he goes before us to lead us to the lost and the lonely. He wants to stand at the door of the hearts of all the estranged and knock for entry.
Post the Host enables this to happen in a sacramental way. Support this bold and inspired work of God rather than try to make the walls higher still around the exclusive Christian community.
posted by Bishop Jonathan Blake | 11:49 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home