Some internet issues so slow in getting this up.
Saturday followed the same pattern as the other days. Finished my workshop on Prophetism and am greatly encouraged by those interactions. (this conference is not free from the “in my church we do this” phenomena that I experience at youth ministry conferences. Oh vey, I wish that some people would sit back and let others speak.)
One of the issues that seems to haunt the conference is that to include the full breadth and diversity of Christianity proves very difficult for a number of reasons. One of them (but not the only one) is the sheer size of inclusion. Including the diversity of Christianity is impossible and to represent it often descends to tokenism. The token is fine if there is a way of engaging the content at a deeper level but there is always one more view to include. I’m reminded of the Americans who hold a “World Series” without anyone but Americans represented. What would it take to make it truly a World Series? It would be complicated and I’m sure difficult financially. The WCC is working towards the “world” part by including RC, Orthodox, and charismatics this time. Inclusiveness is very hard because the scale is so large.
Sunday (day four) was a day that involved going to worship. I went to a Roman Catholic congregation. A few notes:
- Music was amazing. There was a sense of joy that meant that even though I did not understand the language I understood the intent.
- We went to see an outpost, a future congregation, of the main congregation. This was the fourth future congregation this congregation had planted since 1972. Of course, this is wonderful. I wonder what role the funding and support of the larger RC structures has played in this multiplication. Is the proliferation of the charismatic/independent churches partly a result of the basic logic of capitalism which is to say that entrepreneurship? This would contrast with this RC congregation planting in a systematic and well-funded way.
Missional-aries 