[Oe List ...] Salmon: On the Nature of the Church

Wed Mar 12 16:48:34 EDT 2008

Hey Bill,
Your descriptions and reflections are very very close to mine, and I thank you for rehearsing this commitment once more.  As was often said in 5th City, "Keep on Truckin'".
Charles Hahn 

----- Original Message ----
From: Bill Salmon <wsalmon at cox.net>
To: Ecumenical Order <oe at wedgeblade.net>
Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2008 2:48:53 PM
Subject: [Oe List ...] Salmon: On the Nature of the Church

Colleagues on the Journey --
    Somehow those of us in the old Order, and those in the old Cadres, had high expectations for the renewal of the church. In the last analysis, the global development of the ICA was the end run as a demonstration of how the parish ministry could be organized. Am I wrong about that?
    I was the Prior of the Rapid City Local Church Experiment and it was a bust. Like most, I've preserved the material because I thought it was the hope of the church at the time, and in some ways still do. However, it was clear in my part of the experiment that the local church did not want to be renewed. Many learned to read the work of the Holy Spirit during that failure. 
    Have I lost hope? No, not at all, because the church is alive and well when we have the eyes to see it. I love the church, although she is a whore. (Remember that phrase?) Well, the church is my spiritual mother and when she whores around she can hurt more than she helps --but she's still my mother. 
    In regards to the church that is alive and well, it is helpful to recall two things. The first is the legacy of R. Niebuhr. The second is the nature of the Local Church Triangles. 
    Niebuhr reminds us that the church is what the church does. When it leads in the pioneering act of repentance it leads on behalf of all. The same can be said when it fails that it fails on behalf of all. So, if I was walking down the street and saw the church fulfilling its purpose, what would I be seeing? I would be seeing awakened people living the humane and gracious life while working for justice and mercy. Doesn't that about cover the Bug Model?
    Next, it is helpful to recall the Local Church triangle consisted of the Order, the Cadre and the Congregation/Parish. This has little, or nothing, to do with institutionalism; which may be added to the sins in Niebuhr's list. 
   Is the Institutional Church dead? The answer is both Yes and No. It is dead when it no longer leads society in an pioneering act of repentance, and it is alive when and where it does. It is dead when it fails to see the transgressions of the Divine Commandment, and it is alive when and where it does. 
    I shall remain under assignment (as retired) of the Institutional Church as long as I live. I was so assigned to be the Order during the eleven years the Order lived to fulfill God's purposes of demonstrating the Ordering Dynamic in the Local Church triangles. When the Order was called out of existence, I was released from that vow to be both the Order in Exile and to remain a member of the Institutional Church. 
    Why? In order to have an impact on the world it is necessary to have a global vision, and an organization to get the job done, and my denomination still has that vision and organization. Is it doing very well? Yes and No. Yes when it seeks to live the humane and gracious life, and No when it fails to work on behalf of justice and mercy. Do I still love this old whore? Yes, until I die, and then I'll love her in death. Do I still think of myself as the Order? Yes, until and I die, and then I thing myself the Order in death. 
     Does Gene Marshall's Realistic Living Group offer hope. You bet, as long as sit seeks to demonstrate the humane and gracious life. Do I see thousands of little churches doing the will of God? Yes I do as long as they demonstrate the humane and gracious life. Is Wes Jackson's "Land Institute" here is Salina an aspect of the church? You bet, because it seeks to preserve the environment and to speak out when we transgress and mistreat the environment. Then I see the Land Institute as living and demanding the rest of us live the humane and gracious life working for justice and mercy. 
    Does Springboard and the Jesus Seminars offer hope? Yes and No. Yes, they can provide the philosophical undergirding that is crucial to the task, but I'm waiting to see what may be the development of a global organization.
    Unfortunately, this is what the old Order let slip away. The remnant of the ICA may have pieces of that in place, but (from my observations) they need the philosophical underpinnings; damned good social work which may or may not be a response to a transgression of the Divine Commandment.  
    My prayer continues to be, show me the imperative for Springboard. Where is the "something" that called me to live the life of the intentional poor? Where is that call that first brought me to 5th City to spend my first night in a god damn dungeon that was a former coal bin. But I knew when I awakened the next morning, I was living the awakened life as part of a global structure that was demonstrating the humane and gracious life working for justice and mercy. 
    Just where is the Spirit Movement stirring the waters of global living? My fear is that I may be one of those called to stir the waters, and I feel these old bones can only function to call another generation into the global task. Frightening. 
    One last thought. Today's Christian Church is being returned to the laity. We clergy have screwed it up long enough. Evidence of this may be the moral failure of the RC priesthood, and the sexual immorality found in all Protestant Denominations. Is this a sign of decay or the cusp of renewal? While the theology is far from my secular appreciation of the Christian Good News, there is profound work afoot in the (old) Promise Keepers and various spinoffs for women, and the ongoing vitality of the Walk to Emmaus (Cursio, prison Kairos, Chysalis, prison Brothers-in-Blue), and the prison ministry of Inner Faith Ministries; lives are being changed for the good.
    Well, I emptied that bowel; or maybe its spelled bowl. I'll have to run it thought my spell checker; her name is Beverly. 
    Inner Peace, ya' all. 
    Pastor Bill

-----Inline Attachment Follows-----

_______________________________________________
OE mailing list
OE at wedgeblade.net
http://wedgeblade.net/mailman/listinfo/oe_wedgeblade.net
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://wedgeblade.net/pipermail/oe_wedgeblade.net/attachments/20080312/eb98e225/attachment-0001.html 