Blog Reading Recommendations

One of the things I miss about having a public blog is some of the conversations that happen across the blogosphere. And given the current atmosphere at work, I also have to watch what kinds of comments, if any, I leave on other people's blogs. Unfortunately, if I write "X," someone invariably says "The Church Center believes X" or even "The Presiding Bishop believes X."

[sigh]

There have been some interesting conversations going on about church, how we do church, and how we "grow" church (gee, you mean like, oh I don't know, umm... Evangelism?). Go take a look at this post and this one at Father T Listens to the World. Better yet, go read "Of Tortoises and Hares" at Elizabeth Kaeton's Telling Secrets. Elizabeth is one of my favorite bloggers. Make sure to read the comments on all of the above, too. Here's just a taste of what Elizabeth wrote:

It's not that I'm not concerned about the state of the church. I am. But, I think we've been asking all the wrong questions and trying to "fix" the problem without first taking the time to make an accurate assessment and diagnosis.

For example, instead of asking, "How can we ordain LGBT people or bless their relationships?" why not ask, "What might God be doing, at this time and place in our history, in bringing so many LGBT people to the church? What can they teach us about what we might have taken for granted about human sexuality, covenanted relationships, commitment and service?"

If we started with those questions, we might end up in an entirely different place.

Some of us are having similar conversations at my parish (see my post "Musings On Grace Episcopal Church"). Prayer vs. program. Hmmmm....

Peace,
Jeff