Bill Teague’s lpc e-pistle

A LESSON LEARNED

One of the many wonders of Reformed polity is our insistence for more than 450 years that God’s will for and call to the church is best heard through the voice of the many rather than the voice of the few or the one. We have shied away from bishops and small ruling councils in favor of broadly representative assemblies. Believing in the radical nature of sin, we have not been willing to entrust power to a single person or a self-selected group. Believing in the radical nature of grace, we have trusted the Holy Spirit to call and direct through the voice of the whole church. We Presbyterians have been unrelenting in our call for broad participation and informed decision making. Continue Reading »

In this week's sermon at LPC, I mentioned a study by the Barna Group that suggests young people ages 16-29 have a disturbingly negative view of the church.  The study was also mentioned in a USA Today report.  In worship we watched the first 55 seconds of this clip from Comedy Central and the Colbert Report.  You'll notice that the audience cheered when Colbert said, "There's one thing we know about Christians.  They don't forgive.  It's not in their nature."

We can parse and spin these findings in any number of directions.  We may want to minimize or amend the conclusion that young people in alarming numbers are not just turned off by the church but turned against it, but we ignore the reports and the reality they represent at great peril to ourselves and the church. Continue Reading »