Off Road Disciplines

yes guys, I finally got to reading it.....

Although I hate to say it, but I'm not done yet. I really planned on reading more over the summer, but I didn't get as much read as I would like.

So far, I'm about 30% of the way through it, and I am enjoying the read.

The big thing that I am taking from this right now is the POV information. I agree that it really does matter where we are coming from when we start talking about Christianity (and anything else). Everyone does come with an agenda, don't they?

A more reflective review will be coming later. Just wanted to let you know I'm in it right now.

Comic

This is something close to my own experience, and to Suzanne's over the past few years...

Both of us have had the opportunity to meet people from a variety of backgrounds. Quite a few of the people we are meeting live in the area of the city where we are. The point is, we are all people underneath aren't we?

Splitting the Hairs.....

The Anglicans did it.

They split theological hairs.

It's not too surprising to me. The limited amount of time I have spent in the Anglican churches and tradition I have seen deep thinking from most Anglicans who get invovled in Synod and in leadership. The scholarship is quite detailed, and they do know thier scripture and interpretations of the Bible very well.

Basically, they divided the issue into two motions:

1. Does the blessings of same-sex unions violate the CORE beliefs of the Anglican church?

and

2. Will we allow individual dioceses to bless same-sex unions?

They are NOT the same question to the Anglicans who were at the meeting. In thier minds, they are completely different.

The Anglican church is a rather unique denomination in that it doesn't have a central figure (like the pope) or a central document (like a creed or theological statement like Luther's) to point to as a reference for theological thinking. Instead, it points to the prayer book and other historical documents to guide the interpretation of scripture.

I won't try to explain the sources here - Wikipeadia's entry on the Anglican Doctrine does this in much more detail.

What does it boil down to? In the church's overall mandate to reach others for Christ - the blessings of the unions doesn't really matter......

BUT

The majority of the people at the Synod don't believe that the blessing of the unions should occur.

This is going to be called many things - it has already. Confusing (CBC) is one term we are going to hear a lot of. Bigotry is another we will hear as well.

Both stem from not seeing a difference between the two motions.

Like I said - splitting hairs.

ADDED JUNE 25

After reading Chester's comment, and checking out the Anglican Church's site, (Thanks, Chester), I found the results of the voting.

Synod 2007 Winnipeg

The Anglicans have arrived....

Seriously, we are hosting Linda (Suzanne's mom) as she attends Synod - from a distance. She's not a delegate, but here as a member of Essentials. She's working in the hospitality suite and in the prayer room.

It's nice to have her here. We're hearing a lot about how synod starts, and she came back this evening with a few encouraging stories to share.

a summary - maybe?

I was thinking of tracking down the various posts on the discussion about "The People Formally Known AS....." and linking them all together.

Then I found this.

Thanks for doing this, Brother Maynard...

hollywood bashing

Now for the great confession....

I watch CBC. I listen to CBC.

Those who know me, this is not new. Often I disagree with their viewpoints, but I like thier desire to have direct answers to their questions. Rex Murphy is a commentator I don't always agree with, but I enjoy hearing how he puts language to good use - without resorting to playground - or question period - language.

Here's his rant on Hollywood and the way it treats Christianity - and I must say......

Thank you, Rex.