[Dialogue] New Century, Same Crisis--The Social Gospel 100 Years Later

[Michael & Molly Shaw]

Randy,
 
Sharon Fisher is a member of the Board of the Rauschenbusch Center for Sprit
and Action in Seattle.  "The mission of the Rauschenbusch Center is to equip
local congregations and their leaders for social ministry in the 21st
century with an emphasis on spiritual reflection and social action."
 
They are currently offering churches a curriculum on the new sanctuary
movement, as a way of looking at a creative, supportive role for churches in
immigration rights. Paul Raushenbush will be in Seattle, on November 30th
and December 1st to speak at a benefit dinner for the Rauschenbusch Center
Friday and then continue the conversation on Saturday.  It should be an
interesting event.
 
Peace, 
Michael Shaw
 
(interesting that great-grandson shows up without the "C's" in his name)

  _____  

From: dialogue-bounces at wedgeblade.net
[mailto:dialogue-bounces at wedgeblade.net] On Behalf Of R Williams
Sent: Friday, November 02, 2007 5:44 AM
To: Order Ecumenical Community; Colleague Dialogue
Subject: [Dialogue] New Century,Same Crisis--The Social Gospel 100 Years
Later


Colleagues,
 
In the introduction to the G-O-D Lecture in RS-1 we marked the year 1907 as
the beginning of the 20th century, and we grounded this with events such as
Einstein's theory of relativity, the Bolshevik Revolution, World War I, etc.
One of the events we did not mention was the publication in that year of the
book by Walter Rauschenbusch, Christianity and the Social Crisis, which
introduced what has come to be known as the "social gospel."
 
I have attached an article from Commonweal magazine in which Carey Nelson
Blake states that "Rauschenbusch tore down the wall that separated faith
from the public world and called on the church to address the suffering and
degradation that accompanied the rapid industrialization of the United
States."
 
Regarding the importance of this for our roots, H. Richard Niebuhr was
clearly influenced by Rauschenbusch when he stated that the church as social
pioneer turns its back on the manifestations of "sin" or "evil", abolishes
it within itself, and leads in the social act of repentance.  For
Rauschenbusch, according to Blake, "Sin was embedded in institutional
arrangements, not just in individual motivations and actions...  A faithful
life demanded of sinners both personal and social repentance."
 
Another note of interest, Paul Raushenbush, a great-grandson of Walter, has
edited a new edition titled Christianity and the Social Crisis in the 21st
Century.
 
I hope you have time to read the attached article.  I would be interested in
your reflections.
 
Randy Williams

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