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Friday, July 02, 2010

Friday Five: I want to be part of a church that.....

This has been a good week for British Methodism, The Annual Conference has discussed and debated many things and not shied away from some difficult stuff. New Ministers have been Ordained and received into Full Connexion. Add to that the fact that two amazing ladies; Alison Tomlin and Eunice Attwood have taken up their posts as President and Vice-President for 2010/2011- and that they have both inspired us in their speeches and preaching , and you begin to get the picture.

In the Vice- Presidents Address Eunice gave an inspiring account of the type of church she wants to be a part of,  almost poetic she said:

I want to be part of a church that is prayer-filled -
A church that is resourced and sustained by the Bible,
A church that can offer hope even in a credit crunch,
A church that can live well with difference and diversity.


I want to be part of a church that welcomes the wealthy, those who have power and influence -
A church that knows how to party and celebrate life,
A church that acknowledges death and speaks boldly of resurrection,
A church that doesn’t pretend to have all the answers but encourages all the questions.

I want to be part of a church that throws parties for prostitutes -
A church that welcomes those who seek asylum,
A church that longs and yearns for justice,
A church that listens to those no-one else wants to listen to.

I want to be part of a church that believes in transformation not preservation -
A church where all who are lost can be found,
A church where people can discover friendship,
A church where every person takes responsibility in sharing the good news.

I want to be part of a church whose hope is placed securely and confidently in the transforming love of God -
A church that engages faith in its communities,
A church that makes and nurtures disciples of Jesus.

A church where the story of God’s love is at the centre.
I want to be part of a church that offers outrageous grace, reckless generosity, transforming love and engaging faith.
This is God’s story Transforming Love: Engaging Faith.

My prayer is that by the power of the Spirit of God at work amongst us, it will increasingly be our story.



I want to be part of that church to, and at the danger of trying to add to such a wonderful litany of dreams/ visions and prayers I wonder which five things would you echo from or add to this. What kind of church do you want to be a part of in the 21st Century?

Simply list the five, and as an added bonus is there a hymn of a Bible passage that you would make your inspiration?

As always, let us know in comments if you play. Post a direct link to your blog entry in your comment using the following formulation in the comment box: <a href="the url of your blog post goes here">what you want the link to say goes here</a> For a complete how-to, click here.

21 comments:

  1. Here is my play- I am dreaming, envisioning and praying: here

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  2. Thanks Sally, this was a thought-provoking F5. My dreams arehere.

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  3. This is VERY timely for me as well as pcusa'ers are heading into General Assembly where the main items on the agenda look like they are conversations for the 1950's (imho).

    Thanks for this, I'll post a link soon.

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  5. I'm in the process of searching, so this is actually the focus of my last post (there were more than 5; I guess I dream big).

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  6. absolutely wonderful, Sally--I had to play today...thank you!

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  7. Finally I am back in the loop. We have moved and the internet is set up--what more can you want???

    Sally's questions hit me hard today on the first real day of my retirement.

    I have also changed my blog: www.stoneofwitness.blogspot.com

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  8. I played completely personally and completely as a lay person.

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  9. At last I've returned to my blog...Posted my responses here

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  10. I have to verbalize this as a part of my CPE. Don't have it written yet for that, either.

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  11. Oh. Here's my link... it's a bit imprecise but I hope you can hear my heart...

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  12. I am pitifully late (one day, actually) but here is my play.

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