Jesus is the central issue of the age we live in. The community that follows him, the concept of God aroused by his presence in the historical narrative, the shape of the world according to his teaching - this is the epicenter of the postmodern quake.

The Church pivots on Jesus, and the Trinitarian conception of God pivots on Jesus. His presence or absence, divinity and self-declarations, are what the essential hustle and bustle are really about.

I.e. Apostolic succession is a fair question within the ranks of believers, but we don’t simply ask Church questions - we ask Church and Culture questions, because we believe Christianity to be a human story and resolution - not just a Church story.

The Bible says that the Church is Christ’s body, not an institution. Each body part has a different role and that metaphor is a very apt description of what church should be. Church in its truest sense is a family, a support network who look after, practically help, pray, love and support each other.

The church is a community who use their different gifts to serve, love and bless each other and the wider world, and that includes the preachers and leadership. All have a role to play in the serving and building up of the church, however small or insignificant it might seem. The Bible says we all have gifts and are all part of the body.

I have been at churches without that and not grown at all, but at VCS my overall experience has been one of a family who are there for each other, care for each other, pray for each other and practically help and care for each other, generally without having to be asked. No church is perfect, but VCS is as near as I’ve found to what real church is and always was. The body of Christ.

The Pope is very wrong in his assessment of the church in my opinion. He is only fuelling the perception of the majority have of the church as an institution, much like government, steeped in tradition and conservatism and very distant from the rest of the world and normality.

Real church is nothing like that, and its about time people knew and understood that. We need to claim back real church and show the world what it really is, then I think Christianity might become much more appealing.

so, for example, if you attend a Reformed conference, you will hear all the buzz about TULIP, Atonement models, Sola scriptura, etc… but in the local church gathering, the emphasis is more attuned to a ‘mere’ christianity… a ‘Jesus saved me’ narrative approach.

At first I must admit I viewed the local church perspective as rather simplistic, but now I embrace it as the unifying principle… a trans-denominational approach which I’ve come to love.

vapor

I’m not sure whether any gathering of people is immune from ‘right beliefs’ rather than believing right but would be interested in hearing how you are avoiding this trap in your own context?h

If you mean is there still a need for Christians to meet together to worship, pray, have fellowship and serve, bless and support each other practically and prayerfully then I would say a most resounding yes. In fact, I’d go so far as to say its vital to our Christian experience.

The church is the body of Christ, bottom line. It happens whenever Christian communities meet together. All are linked in through their Christian roots to the orginial church. Whatever the Pope says.

In terms of a denominational structure, well that gets more complex. “The church” is not denominations or the establishment. That’s how the world has percieved it and still does. Real church is nothing of the kind in my opinion, and there is a real & desperate need for it.

The local gathering is important because it is a means of worship and community service. It also serves as a central (de-centralized) aspect of missional outreach which is far more effective, as evidenced in the NT with St. Paul’s missions and his relationship with the localized gatherings. in contrast, denominational structures are more about ‘right beliefs’ rather than believing right (as Peter Rollins would say).

vapor