Healthy Liberal Christianity

Greetings to The Park Church Members, Friends, and Seekers.

I have a deep interest in making and maintaining connections with the Park Church Community. Given how busy and mobile people are these days, I have decided to "stick a toe" into the world of blogging. I hope it will serve to enrich our understanding and our relationships.

This blog will provide a place where ideas can be expressed and where respectful dialogue can occur. You are invited to comment on anything written here and you are invited to post any questions that you would like us to explore.

I only ask you to be respectful of the ideas and people who post them. It is not necessary for us to agree, but I encourage all of us to attempt to bring more light, not more heat to the dialogue.

For myself, I will attempt to post something here at least once a week. I will include some thoughts on the church, the interim process at Park Church, and theological and social issues that I believe are relevant for us to consider. I may suggest books and other resources that I believe might be of value to you. I will attempt to learn to use this tool for our mutual benefit.

Healthy Liberal Christianity
Many people have resonated with the phrase "Healthy Liberal Christianity" as a welcome description of what happens at Park Church, so I have used it as the title of this blog. But "Healthy Liberal Christianity" is more of a direction than a destination. None of us presume that we have arrived at Healthy Liberal Christianity, but we desire to continue to grow in it.

Allow me to comment briefly on each of the words in the title.

Healthy
I have come to believe that a condition of health requires both individuals and communities to be healthy. Healthy individuals create healthy communities that promote the health and well being of even more individuals. By healthy, I mean appropriately nurturing/nourishing and functional. We might ask what we truly need as humans. One way to answer that question is to consider what healthy parents provide for their children: Nourishment, Rest, Protection, Love, and intellectual, physical, emotional, relational, and spiritual Stimulation and Challenge for growth. The ultimate goal of parenting is to foster the development of fully functional adults who are encouraged to grow into their fullness as individuals who are created in the image of God. (Perhaps we will consider what that phrase means at some other time.) A Healthy church creates healthy members and healthy members contribute to improving the health of the church and community.

Liberal
"Liberal" is one of those words that has been highjacked by the political and religious right wing. It has been redefined by them and handed back to us in truly unrecognizable form. "Liberal" has become a four-letter word. They have twisted the meaning so now it comes across as more like "License". You know, "If it feels good, do it!" Or, "I can believe whatever I want to believe!" Or, "Liberals have no standards for their behavior."

As I see it, those statements have nothing to do with liberality. To me, when I think about being a liberal in a religious context, I think of the directions that are found on a container of a healing balm. "Apply Liberally," it says. So, what is it that we Liberals might apply "liberally"? Love, respect for life and living beings, acceptance of diversity, and humility are the qualities that I would want to apply liberally. To the degree that we don't take responsibility for thinking deeply about our own behavior and beliefs, some of the criticism might be warranted. But at Park Church, we are trying very hard to find solid, even Biblical grounding for our liberal positions. It is not easy work, but, that's OK.

Christianity
I fear that Christianity today has become overly associated with mean-spirited, anti-intellectual, and judgmental people. As a consequence, there are those who will not go near any organization that calls itself Christian because they don't want to encounter those qualities. I know, however, that there are many churches, Park Church among them, that do not subscribe to such positions. What unites all Christians is a belief that the life, teachings, and witness of Jesus are central (though not always exclusively) to our spiritual well being. There exist a wide variety of ways that people understand the meaning of Jesus' life, teachings, and witness. Some believe that there is only one "correct" way to believe about Jesus, and there are others who recognize that our perspectives are always limited, though they can still be extremely valuable.

In short, our effort is to be healthy, to apply love liberally, and to make the best use we can of our Christian understanding and tradition.

I invite your participation and feedback.

Wayne
"Our Faith is 2000 years old, our thinking is not." United Church of Christ