If you are looking to kickstart a conversation about progressive Christianity in your congregation or further the depth that is already there, a weekend devoted to progressive Christian conversation may be just the thing.
Suggested Program
Friday Evening: “What is Progressive Christianity and Why Do We Need It?” Two hours
The New Testament displays a variety of points of view (as does the Hebrew Bible). We will note these and trace how some in the early church were able to promote what they called “Apostolic Christianity,” and force out all dissenters. This culminated in the three major creeds of the fourth and fifth centuries. Creed-based Christianity has lived with it ever since. The philosophical and biblical methods employed are not any we would pursue today. We will then trace the developments in scientific and biblical scholarship that have occurred since, and see that progressive Christianity is the logical outcome in our day.
Saturday: Two Sessions—Two hours each
#1—Re-seeing the Bible Examining certain texts in light of archeology (the Exodus/Conquest), geology (the Flood), Evolution (Adam and Eve), theology (the evolution of the Bible) in order to show that a literal reading of many texts distorts the truths they tell, and how to re-read the text in light of modern realities.
#2—Re-seeing the World The implications of the interconnectedness of all humanity, and the implications of the interconnectedness of all things.
The three-tiered universe of the Bible is explained and replaced with the modern scientific understanding of the cosmos. This leads to a revised understanding of where God is found: in everyone and everything. Groups will discuss the implications of this for how we should live.
Sunday: Preaching on “Where Is God Found Today?”
Now that we know these things, how then should we live? Interconnectedness leads to interdependence.
This interconnectedness makes us immediately available to God, and God to us. It also means that we are intimately connected to each other and the world. This requires a mode of life that reflects this by living for the sake of one another and the world.
Contact me at revskindle@faithontheedge.org and we can discuss the details
