Church of the Spirit

The Hot Topics of the Day

There are a few things that never change in the church ... like our base values. But there's also this:

Where ever two or three are gathered together
there will be a difference of opinion.

People interpret the Bible differently. We may all read the same words, but you will hear them differently from others because of your experiences. Each of us brings a lot with us when we come to a church. And that makes for difficulties.

One thing that helps is if each of us can learn to bring some humility to our discussions. Humility doesn't mean thinking less of yourself, it requires thinking more about God. Humility means being able to honestly say: "Seek the truth, come whence it may, cost what it will." (from William Sparrow in the mid 1800's). If we could all bring a little more of this and a little less of ourselves to the discussions our path ahead would be brighter with the light of Christ.

In that spirit, we offer some thoughts on many of the hot topics of the day.

Legal Issues facing the Church

Unfortunately, there will be more to post here in the coming months. We'll start with the legal papers as distruibuted by the Diocese of Virginia, on their web site. There's a lot here, including statutes, findings, briefs ...not for the faint at heart.

The opening commentary states that thje Diocese is the defendant in these cases, though that's hard to understand when you see in the cases themselves the Diocese listed as complainant. That's why, I guess, we have legal cases ... to sort this stuff through.

Discussion Starters (for Small Groups or anyone ...)

We're going to start placing discussion starters here to help you all make sense of some of the big issues that are facing the church this year.

(1) What does this church say about being welcoming and inclusive? Check out the first in Pastor Roger's starters. Then feel free to write back in and let us know what you think.

(2) Here's how other parts of the Anglican Church see the American House of Bishops. Here's an address from the Primate of the Holy Lands to the House, Bishop Anis. After his remarks the American House was veru disheartened, and later another Primate apologized for Bishop Anis. Did what he say need apology? You decide ...

(3) Discussion starter two is a part of a book by Archbishop WIlliam Temple from back in the late 1930's. His vision was that the church, specifically its leaders (bishops) should be very clear about the ultimate ideals fo our faith. At the same time there should be charity chown to those who do not live up to those ideals. He talks about marriage, but his idea work well for our current controversies. Check it out here ...

(3) Discussion starter three deals with racism. Just for a change of pace ... Go here for more info. There's also some great suggestions from a book called Gracism available here, from our November message series.

Sexuality and the Anglican Church

God's Rules About Sex will Liberate You
(From a July 2003 sermon at Church of the Spirit)

Church Brochure: About the National Church's Debate

Weighing Alternatives in a Divided Church
Why heresy and schism are not the only alternatives open to the Episcopal Church. A lengthy review of the Episcopal Church's decisions since 1976 by the Rev. Mr. Roger Schellenberg.

Sex and the single life, a theological paper by Dean Phil Turner, of Yale Divinity, General Theological Seminary and the Anglican Institute. This is a well thought out and pastoral approach to how we both keep the high standards of the Bible as a church and yet reach out to those who have a hard time keeping them personally ...

More recently the Primates, or leaders of the Anglican Church (the third largest world wide group of Christians, behind the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches) met, Their Communique gave the American Church requests, and a response was asked for by Sept 30 2007. Here's the actual document with their requests (because sometimes what the Americans say they have been asked to do is not presented accurately).

The Anglican primates represent the leaders of each of the 38 branches of the Anglican church around the world. Ten of these leaders and the head of them all, the Archbishop of Canterbury, are meeting in New Orleans in September 2007 with the American House of Bishops. The Americans were given a Sept 30 deadline to comply with a number of requests, which up until now, they have refused to address. To get a feel for what's up, check out this address by the Primate of the Middle East to the House ... The issues are many, for instance, will the American Church continue to bless same sex unions in churches, and will the American Bishops no longer consent to ordaining a bishop who is living in a sexual relationship outside of marriage? The House of Bishops has said they can not give those assurances to the rest of the Anglican Communion. For Pastor Roger's most recent look at the issues try this discussion starter ...

For more background info from one of the insiders, see the recent interview with Bishop NT Wright printed here. Here's what the American House of Bishops answered in September 2007. You decide whether or not they have been clear. Then try this report from the New York Times ...

There was also a great article in the magazine First Things, about the nature of the Anglican Church, written by the Archbishop of Uganda. It's a great piece of clear thinking ...

Much of this came to a head earlier in the year when the Primates met in Tanzania. Two important decisions were made there ... One to proceed with an Anglican Covenant to allow member churches around the world to either buy in to the Anglican Communion and be held accountable to one another, or to walk apart. The other important set of decisions came in response to actions taken by the American church. For more on this please read the Primates Communique.

Who are we as Christians today?

Here's a thoughtful statement of exactly who we are as a church in today's culture, written by a good friend of Church of the Spirit, John Yates, Sr. Pastor of The Falls Church.

From our message series called DTR: Determining the Relationship by Pastor Roger

Determining your relationship with Jesus
Determining your relationship with the church
Determining your relationship with the world