Comments on: What is ChurchETHOS? http://churchethos.com/engaging-culture/what-is-churchethos/ Making Disciples :: Planting Churches Sun, 02 Oct 2011 20:15:53 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: rob culhane http://churchethos.com/engaging-culture/what-is-churchethos/comment-page-1/#comment-239 rob culhane Thu, 10 Dec 2009 21:23:41 +0000 http://churchethos.wordpress.com/?p=16#comment-239 There is certainly quite a lot of dissatisfaction with the culture in our churches. The reasons are fairly easy to identify and many have done this already. Few though are able to propose alternatives, apart from leaving the Church. I think one reason is few have a welll developed understanding of ecclesiology esp its historical development. Most Evangelicals have little historical understanding of the Church and seek to reconstruct an idealised one to replace what they have, or a simple reapplication of 'the early church' principles to subvert the institutional Church. I don't blame them. However, I prefer to look at what has worked and why, and the theological and historical background to these churches and seek to listen to what they have to offer us today. I notice that these churches are liturgical in their focus, integrate word and sacrament, have a rich history which gives them stablilty and do not have the same degree of dualism of the secular/sacred divide which plagues the Protestant Church. But they are not perfect either, but they are helpful. My blog gives you an idea of how this worked out in the context of living in the suburbs with wife and kids. Yours in Christ, Rob There is certainly quite a lot of dissatisfaction with the culture in our churches. The reasons are fairly easy to identify and many have done this already. Few though are able to propose alternatives, apart from leaving the Church. I think one reason is few have a welll developed understanding of ecclesiology esp its historical development. Most Evangelicals have little historical understanding of the Church and seek to reconstruct an idealised one to replace what they have, or a simple reapplication of 'the early church' principles to subvert the institutional Church. I don't blame them.

However, I prefer to look at what has worked and why, and the theological and historical background to these churches and seek to listen to what they have to offer us today. I notice that these churches are liturgical in their focus, integrate word and sacrament, have a rich history which gives them stablilty and do not have the same degree of dualism of the secular/sacred divide which plagues the Protestant Church. But they are not perfect either, but they are helpful. My blog gives you an idea of how this worked out in the context of living in the suburbs with wife and kids.
Yours in Christ,
Rob

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