One In Jesus

This brings us to teaching. Moderate churches generally have a very weak educational program, because the doctrines that divide the church are off limits. Either one side dominates the classes and the other side doesn’t listen, or else the tough topics are just never talked about in a serious way. Or else there’s one class that teaches one doctrine and another class that teaches another–but no one is ever required to question his pre-existing beliefs.

After all, serious consideration of the doctrines that divide the members would seem, well, divisive. It just seems so prudent to avoid such issues and talk about what the church agrees on. But avoiding the conflict is the surest road to division. Continue reading →

In Part 1, we considered the difficulties of managing a moderate church, that is, a church that is divided between progressives and conservatives. While it’s not inevitable that such churches divide, they often do. The reason is almost always a failure of the leadership to confront the problem. Rather, most churches decide to delay the day of reckoning, piling political compromise on top of political compromise, until one day the church collapses. Continue reading →

Some churches are thoroughly progressive, with progressive elders, staff, and members–at least, most of them. Some churches are thoroughly conservative, with conservative elders, staff, and members–at least, most of them. But most are not. Most are something else. Let’s call them “moderate.” Continue reading →