I have to give a presentation on the Church of the North (Europe and North America) at the Global Connections Conference in a couple of weeks. I have some ideas as to what I should say and I’ve got a couple of books to read, but I thought I’d ask the erudite readers of this blog to contribute their thoughts and ideas. What do you see as the defining characteristics of the Northern Church? Please use the comments.
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5 replies on “The Church in the North”
Hmmm = its own kind of syncretism i.e. blindness to the values of the world that pollute it, based on programmes and plans rather than an experience of the presence of God, with weak leadership, and sometimes a sense of mental superiority rather than passion for God and his truth. Dysfunctional and unable to maintain a spiritual compass in a postmodern world that values opinion over truth and feeling over fact. Beginning to live in fear of persecution rather than embracing it as an opportunity to rediscover its true identity.Is that a bit harsh? Maybe, but I’ll let it stand and see what you think.
I wrote a review on The Changing Shape of Church History by Justo Gonzalez which hopefully presents some ideas in a concise manner. [url]http://hongkongudy.com/blog/?p=170[/url]
Unaware of what the church is like elsewhere, apart from vague ideas about people meeting under straw roofs in Africa, mega churches in Korea and underground house churches in other places.
Easy to make lots of broad brush stereotypes but important to recognise that the Church of the North is probably as diverse as the Church of the South and the map may need to be shuffled a bit. Many of us are constantly trying to rediscover or redefine who we are in an ever changing world others of us are entrenched/firmly grounded (term used would depend on whether you like the approach) in older traditions and positions. Many of us think western democracy is the only Christian form of government and several think their party is the only one holding up religious values. Both North and South still have a couple of things in common with the New Testament Churches – somehow we’re all still the bride of Christ and as wonderful as we are we probably all need a few strong letters written to us to keep us on or get us back on track.
I’m getting increasingly uncomfortable with using classifications like the Church of the North. We’re not all the same, but we are all part of the body of Christ.
However, one fact, it does get colder up here between October and April, I’d be happy to move to the Church of the South for this period!