Vol. 163/No. 1 March 2011 ‘A busy And fActious spirit’ Cross-grained Puritan William Vassall An EA s t E r rE f l E c t i o n b y JAc k Mbr a o g w a n z i n e o f t h e C o n g r e g a t i o n a l W a y plus our congregAtionAl ‘brAnd’—Jeff Meyers on the faithful church th E Hero’s Journey A t ch u r c h cA m p and more… Published by the <strong>National</strong> Association of Congregational Christian Churches
2 From My Heart To Yours Too quick to speak for God Years ago, the New York Times ran a tribute by Arthur Schlesinger Jr., about one of America’s most famous theologians, Reinhold Niebuhr. “His warnings against utopianism, messianism, and perfectionism strike a chord today,” Schlesinger said. “We are beginning to remember what we should never have forgotten: We cannot play the role of God to history, and we must strive as best we can to attain decency, clarity, and proximate justice in an ambiguous world.” Niebuhr had his faults—don’t we all?—but as Schlesinger states: “There are so many more solidities among the ephemeralities.” I find myself going back to Niebuhr’s writings regularly. His Gifford Lectures of the 1940s, in the midst of a world war, were entitled The Nature and Destiny of Man. In those lectures are powerful messages about doing the work of Christian love, doing the work of justice, doing the work of caring for the least and the lost in the midst of national and international strife. Letters Th a n k s f o r ro u n e r T r i b u T e received a copy of your September I issue featuring my father, Arthur Rouner. The cover story and interview concerning his publication in 1960 of The Congregational Way of Life were of particular interest to me as a longtime convert to Roman Catholicism. Many of the topics discussed therein point to our divergent views on the nature of Christianity and Christ’s call Thanks for doing the story, and getting it right. to service in the world. Nonetheless, I found the sum of both pieces to be a wonderful tribute to Dad’s legacy as an elder churchman. Thanks for doing the story, and for getting it right. I am concerned that Christians seem too eager to put God in the middle of political ambitions and policies, too sure of what God would say, too quick to speak for God. We seem to be less actively pursuing what Jesus would do in the simplest or most complex situations we face. We seem to have opted for extreme oratory and behaviors instead of living so that others may see Christ in and through us. Reinhold Niebuhr’s writings and lectures still have power. He had such a passion for both the history and fallibility of human life, but also a strong conviction that even in the midst of difficult realities, we can live humbly, decently, and justly. May we so live. John n. rouner St. Louis Park, Minnesota Po l a r i z a T i o n v i T i aT e s h i g h e r d i a l o g u e find the polarization apparent in Lobb’s I article [Th e Con g r e g a T i o n a l i s T, June 2010, pp. 4-5] as to the future of the NACCC and Bryan’s response [Th e Co n g r e g a T i o n a l i s T, September 2010, pp. 10-11] to be fascinating. Lobb’s article asks the right questions, while obscuring the solutions by suggesting the dissolution of the NACCC; Bryan calls us back to the Bible and tradition, while obfuscating Kevin Miyazaki rE v. Dr. th o m A s m. ri c h A r D Executive Secretary the issues using the tired differentiations of “conservative” and “liberal” theology. The older members of our churches don’t really care whether it is “conservative” or “liberal,” as long as it is about Jesus Christ. The younger members look at this constant weirdness about “inerrancy” and “historicity” as woefully backwards. Those 50 and younger look at it all, conservative and liberal, and say, “What a waste of time and energy. Why in the world would I want to be a part of that?” [The question for us is:] What are we as Congregational churches, as the inheritors of a higher dialogue, going to do about it? rev. seth d. Jones Rockland, Maine
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