from John Donne’s “A Litany”:
THE HOLY GHOST.
O Holy Ghost, whose temple I
Am, but of mud walls , and condensèd dust,
And being sacrilegiously
Half wasted with youth’s fires of pride and lust,
Must with new storms be weather-beat,
Double in my heart Thy flame,
Which let devout sad tears intend, and let—
Though this glass lanthorn, flesh, do suffer maim—
Fire, sacrifice, priest, altar be the same.
Diatribe 2
still not complete, just some thoughts:
So given all the problems mentioned below, what is the way forward? The collapse of authority and the anarchic situation the church finds herself in is lamentable, and would almost drive me to Rome or Byzantium. Then you have Mary, purgatory, praying to saints, etc. I cannot leap that hurdle, at least not yet. But I do think issues of apostolic succession and authority along with a recovery of historical, creedal Christianity should be central to the project of American churches. This is a utopian ideal, but is one worth stating. Here is what I believe is required:
1) humility. Of course this cannot be imposed and may be the hardest thing to obtain. Can you imagine denominational leaders, local pastors and laity all laying down their agendas? Can you imagine them honestly questioning the origin of their denomination and the authority of their ministry? If there is to be hope for inter-church cooperation (which I will propose later) then massive humility will be required. I believe pastors, priests, elders, deacons, and bishops must examine their foundations, the history of the church at large, and the universal church in their own communities. Honestly grappling with any issue from theology to one’s own character demands humility, and the ability to be corrected. It is fundamental to a charitable approach to reforming the church once again.
2) Becoming territorial. I think churches need to become parishes again – to take responsibility for the physical area that they are located in. Long term I believe they should get together at the city level and form a strategy for ministering to their city. Needs should be divided and assigned to the various local bodies. All churches could pool their resources to minister to the poor, widows, orphans, etc. This would maximize the power of the church as a rival to the state, something that does not happen now in part due to our fragmentation. If churches would minister to the streets and subdivisions in their territorial area it might foster a move towards a unified city-wide church that meets in different locations, rather than every city needing its own Methodist, Presbyterian, Anglican, and other churches.
3) eat together. Walking into a church other than the one you attend is often like visiting another country. You don’t know anyone and these people sing differently, dress differently, think differently, etc. I often feel so strange in another church, when in fact we are brothers and sisters. But in fact you can find two churches on the same block who know virtually nothing about each other. Going to any church should be a great experience; it should be a chance to see how other parts of the one family are doing. So how do we begin to bridge these divides?
I suggest meals together. In my mind this is the best way to bring cohesion and develop true compassion for one another inside any single local body. If people don’t eat together, I find that they are like ships passing in the night. So if there could be barbecues, picnics, or whatever type of meal with members of other local bodies *on a regular basis* I believe barriers would start to fall. We would see the things in each other that we don’t like, but we would also see the common strands of our faith on display.
4) pray together. Some of the best experiences I have had as a Christian were when I was going to a charismatic church here in Idaho and we would go to huge gatherings for prayer of all local Christians who wanted to come. The location would rotate from event to event to the building of a different church. To see pastors from wildly different backgrounds together praying was very moving. To sing together was also moving. Then we would break up into circles with whomever we were sitting by and pray as a group. This was a terrific blessing.
Well we went to see Eisley last Saturday night. It was a great show. We showed up at the club way too early in an attempt to eat dinner there. It turned out that the DuPree family that makes up most of Eisley was there already, setting up on stage. So they were walking all around us which was surreal. Of course they aren’t massive yet so I guess they don’t have the rock-star trappings that go with being famous.
The opening act was a band called The Colour and they were tremendous. The lead singer sounded like a mix of early Bono and Robert Smith. He looked like Jim Morrison and acted like him on stage too. I felt that he had watched Oliver Stone’s movie a few too many times, but he pulled it off. They were really solid and I bet they will be huge in the near future. I couldn’t understand 90 percent of the words to their songs but it got me (and the crowd) going nonetheless.
I went over to buy some Eisley t-shirts and found that they were being sold by Boyd and Kim DuPree, the parents of the band members. Kim is the worship leader at the Vineyard in Tyler, Texas. I talked to Boyd, their Dad. He was asking me what kind of music I like and I asked him how they got signed to the Coldplay tour without even having a record yet (it’s a long story). I mentioned the Vineyard to him and he lit up – I am assuming there aren’t a lot of Christians in their crowd. Anyway, he and his wife were very nice and I found out a little bit about what life is like on the road, etc.
Eisley has a new album out and their set was a mix of those songs and some older stuff from their EP’s. The record just came out last week and though I had pre-ordered it we just got it today. But we knew a good many of the songs they played. It was a great set; it didn’t blow me away as much as they did on the Coldplay tour, simply because it was in a smaller venue and without as much wall of sound power as an arena provides. But it was beautiful. People keep asking who they sound like and the closest I can come is the band Lush, if you have ever heard them.
The record is awesome though. I can’t recommend it enough. And they are touring and hitting the media, so I expect you will hear more from them It was a nice concert from a talented band. Being able to see them all just walking around rather than surrounded by security or emerging from a massive bus with tinted windows was nice. Catch them while you can at this stage because I think they will only be getting bigger.
I applied for a job in Virginia today. I don’t think I have a chance of getting it, but it sure would be nice. I already have a church in mind…
The post-emergent church
By Christopher Donne
Across the country the evangelical landscape is changing once again. The young generation, especially those under twenty, are moving past the “emergent” church and forming a movement that some have dubbed the post-emergent church. Their generation is calling for a return to the faith of the fathers – a move away from the radical deconstruction of the emergent leaders.
Daniel Blake, 19 year old rector of St. Gillian’s in the Field parish is typical of the post-emergent trend: “Emergence is a generation X phenomenon,” he says. “It’s Nirvana – we are the Strokes.”
When asked to define the differences between the movements, Blake remarked: “We want to wear suits, to look nice, to return to institutional settings where we are not always expected to be everyone’s best friend. We want to just say ‘hi’ in passing, and then worship God together. It is about a building, a setting, an ambiance.”
St. Gillian’s is typical of what the post-emergent movement looks like. Most of the college-going parishioners loathe the house-church, postmodern world that many of their evangelical peers inhabit. As the twenty minute, three-point sermon (“dare to tithe”) from Father Bettenson wraps up, the congregation sings “Rock of Ages” to piano accompaniment and then slowly file out, shaking Bettenson’s hand as they go.
Bettenson says he first noticed the shift two years ago: “Students came up to me saying, ‘Father, we are tired of pomo theology’ and I agreed with them. Post-emergence is a return to foundationalism, to traditionalism, to doing things the way they were done for the past hundred years. After all, if it worked for all those years, why change it now? Kids realize that there was wisdom in their parents’ church, and they want to go back” he says.
Thus far there are no defining books or journals to outline the post-emergent movement, but Blake believes this will change: “I am working on a short book that calls for a move back towards the mega-church, and the mainline denominations. I intend to shop it around for publication next year.” He added that he was in contact with others who were similarly inclined and expects to see the Christian media catch on to the movement soon. “It is the next big thing” he said.
Some more thoughts from Tolkien on Rome etc:
I myself am convinced by the Petrine claims, nor looking around the world does there seem much doubt which (if Christianity is true) is the True Church, the temple of the Spirit* dying but living, corrupt but holy, self-reforming and rearising. But for me that Church of which the Pope is the acknowledged head on earth has as chief claim that it is the one that has (and still does) ever defended the Blessed Sacrament, and given it most honour, and put it (as Christ plainly intended) in the prime place. ‘Feed my sheep’ was His last charge to St Peter; and since His words are always first to be understood literally, I suppose them to refer primarily to the Bread of Life. It was against this that the W. European revolt (or Reformation) was really launched – ‘the blasphemous fable of the Mass’ – and faith/works a mere red herring.
* Not that one should forget the wise words of Charles Williams, that it is our duty to tend the accredited and established altar, though the Holy Spirit may send the fire down somewhere else. God cannot be limited (even by his own Foundations) – of which St Paul is the first & prime example – and may use any channel for His grace. Even to love Our Lord, and certainly to call him Lord, and God, is a grace, and may bring more grace. Nonetheless, speaking institutionally and not of individual souls the channel must eventually run back into the ordained course, or run into the sands and perish. Besides the Sun there may be moonlight (even bright enough to read by); but if the Sun were removed there would be no Moon to see. What would Christianity now be if the Roman Church had in fact been destroyed?
“Letters” 339
