Movement 101

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LEs G H Aftet"iJ-beth What Happened? What Next? with Bishop Richard Holloway February 6 t999, University of Derby An opportunity to hear from a variety ofkey people who were at the Lambeth Conference, including bishops, and to work tosether to help thean?llTi.fffil;l#"jJffi:Hrience of lesbian and gav people. Retreat Holiday on Iona t0-17 July Facilitator: Kathy Galloway Share a week on this glorious pilgrimage island off Scotland's coast with LGCM members. E23o + limited no. ofconcessionary places f,90 available to srudents (costs all inclusive on site) E50 deposit secures place. 23rd Annual Conference Friday 9 April 6.00 Reception/ workshops/ Entertainment Saturday 10 April 2.00 Keynote Address: Kathy Galloway St Albans Centre, Baldwin, London Sunday 11 April Worship - time/ venue to be announced Pride Service Sunday 4 July 3.00 Hinde Street Methodist Church, London Booking forms md further info about all events, plus membership and mail order details from: LGCM, Oxford House, Derbyshire St, London, E2 6HG tel and fax 0171 739 1249 Email lgcm@aol.com www http://members.aol.comilgcm HELPLINE 0171739 8134 Wed and Sun 7-110pm Registered Charity No.1048842 LGCM is a non profit company Limited by guilmtee registered in Englild and Wales No' 3092197 IilO the and ofs sn For over three magazines - issues of theoloEy, politics' and popular culture in a lively accessible manner. Topical and eclectic, movement is on the cuttin g edgq with incisive commentary with the nartt generation of Christian thinkers. <strong>Movement</strong> is now available by subscription for f15 for two years. It is free to affiliated groups. Send a cheque (payable to SCM) to: <strong>Movement</strong> subscriptions, c/o SCM, t4/t6 Weoley Park Road, Selly Oak, Birmingham 829 6LL
Martin Carr wonders if the church wit[ ever be abte to embrace radicat thinking nwar san backwards? E**$*-' of Bishop John Shelby Spong, the radical American Episcopal bishop yet - this year's Anglican conference at Lambeth clearly revealed that the bishops as a whole are not behind such a radical message. lf we want to rephrase the above into 'The Church must change or die'then the message of Lambeth counters with stress on continuity, the traditions of the past handed down through the ages, the texts and interpretations of biblical scripture as revealed to the Church for ,s there hope for an institution frozen in time in a fast movinq society? all ages. Two visions, and of touch with mainstream society, a bastion we may be tempted to say two of ultra-conservative thought, institutionalised insanity? Or perhaps the refuge of Christianities. Can the Church survive the conflicting sentimentality, comforting with carols at pressure of its continued embattlement? Christmas, feeding us a diet of coffee Do we want it to? Might we be better off liberating the Christian gospel from the repres- mornings and f6tes? ls the Church but a living fossil? sive clutches of an outdated institution, or might we rather follow a vision of the Church to take it into the 21st century with new meaning and purpose? Let's start with the Church. Okay, groMh in Africa and other parts of the third world look promising - but if we are honest, the situation in many parts of Western Europe is pretty bleak. Even with the Church of England's new counting methods, it is likely to reveal only somewhere in the region of 1.5 million people att6nding church each Sunday, and smaller numbers for other denominations. Fewer than 6 million are regularly practising in a country of almost 60 million. Perhaps more worrying for the churches is that the youth of today are born into a culture where they are unlikely to be taught much past the basics of the Christian faith, and the public image of the Church has never been worse. I have painted a bleak picture but such extreme warnings aid us in constructing a vision for the future. And what is the worst that can happen? A Church increasingly out I eue$ E's HEnE wE IEED ro start with spirituality. This rather ephemeral term is blurted out endlessly in our postmodern world, but what does it mean? Are we being spiritual if we read a horoscope? Are crystals spiritual? Might spirituality be reserved for 'real' Christians? 'Getting real' with spirituality starts with a serious consideration of what it might be. I don't personally find much spiritual in palmistry or tarot (though I know some would disagree) but I believe the spiritual is rather the realm of human experience which goes beyond the realm of everyday existence into that part of our experience where our usual frames of reference break down. lf we experience a personal reality in that experience, we may wish to give it the label 'God'. Most people believe in God, in some way, but pinning him/her/il down has proved elusive. lndeed in our multi-faith and post-modern culture, there are more 'Gods'than ever before. Which one is true? ls one true? Are they all true?! movement 1 And now I hope the argument can come full circle and bring us back to the Church, and why we might just have some use for it after all. Perhaps the Church is right after all (yes, I admit it) to wish to maintain the heritage which it has carried through 2000 years ofthe growth of our faith. lt would be religious suicide to eject the wisdom ofthese centuries and plunge into a purely experiential, personal and uncharted spiritual voyage. Just as foolish, however, would be to stagnate as life flows past at an increasing pace. The Church can be the crucible in which the past and present are refined to fashion a faith for the future. The radical Christian agenda must be an agenda for the Church, for Christianity without the Church is nonsense. This community and communion between individuals is the core of the gospel that bears us in mutuality and love, and is the framework in which our spiritual life can develop and be understood. Yet from that spiritual life the Church must be challenged to change and find new expression. Living with conflict which is expressive and creative is the only way in which renewal can come. The voices of those already inside, and those on the outside, must be given chance to be heard. Only then can the Church be for all people, for young and old, black and white, rich and poor, man and woman. ls there room in the Church for all these agendas? Jesus says, 'My Father's house has many mansions'. lf God has room, the Church can have that room also. The radical voice of young Christians must be to the Church, not speaking past it. We share the same God, the same faith, we need only fight for that share of our inheritance which is already ours by right. -rtq- Martin Carr is a final year student at Corpus Christi, Oxford and is involved in the Koinonia group there.
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Page 7 and 8: 7 w 'soundings in spirituality RurH
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Page 13 and 14: less pompous than a university Hist
Page 15 and 16: Ricky Ross was the voice of Deacon
Page 17 and 18: and reassessment of faith, sparked
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Page 21 and 22: G ia nt spiders Being sta bbed. Aft
Page 23 and 24: esolve to see his son have surgery
Page 25 and 26: Reading rights Drnrn Blossorvrs: Re
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