apple 7 - maggi, kester, ian and i debate the future of the institutional church

apple 7 should be fun/interesting tomorrow night. it's partly in response to my review of Other i think. i fear i may end up sounding like a stuck record. here's the blurb...

In the light of the scandals surrounding the Catholic church, and the decline in church attendance over the past decades, has the classic model of the institution had its day?

Is institutional Christianity an outmoded organisational technology – slow, heavy-weight and rigid – and are there new, more light-weight and adaptable ‘skins’ that provide a more flexible and adaptable service… or is the move towards a more fluid, ‘TAZ’ Christianity no more than a flash(mob) in the pan, lacking substance or ground for genuine action?

Comments

[Steve Clarke]

This sounds interesting. If it's recorded can you post a link to where we could get hold of it. Thanks

[Kate C]

Poor institutional church - gets treated a bit like we treat our old people, shoved off to a care home for someone else to look after. I may not like the model, but I'm still fond of the heritage and tradition, even if they do repeat all the same old stories and forget my name.

[becky]

Jonny - I wouldn't call you a broken record. Rather, you're playing some oldies but goodies - sort of like Baker/Birch's Old Hymns in Dub. :)

I had a fantastic conversation with one of the leaders of Jesus People USA - we both reflected on how a lot of this talk about "new ways of being church" etc. are continuations of discussions begun in the '60s (sans the drugs). The Harvard Psychedelic Project does an excellent job of summing up the shifting that occurred during this time that I see repeated today - and in both instances, these radical conversations were able to take place because they were funded by institutions (universities, publishing houses, churches).

[Don Smith]

We need to be careful as we (the Church) moves forward to not neglect, disregard, or misunderstand our heritage and tradition...it is who we are and is central to who we are becoming. This does not mean we let the past or tradition restrict us in the present but that we understand it for what it is; our past. I find it interesting that there is movement to disconect from recent past but connect with ancient past. It is all our past and should be understood as a source for understanding who we are and where we need to go.

[tim]

i'll second what steve said. if it's recorded please let us know where to find it (if possible)

[Simon Hall]

There's an absolutely fantastic meditation on Anne Rice's repudiation of Christianity here: http://www.emergentvillage.com/weblog/mackey-rice-reversion-reductio

I wish I could be there; I'm sure you'll have it all sorted out by the end.

S

[KB]

Apple 7 audio now available here:
http://vaux.net/apple/?p=192