The cruise liner Costa Concordia running aground in the past couple of days brings to mind a recurring feature of ships sinking - there is a lot of movement on deck.
Depending on the urgency of the situation the pace of movement varies but there is always movement as passengers and crew seek a place offering the best opportunity for preservation of life.
That scene has its parallel in the Church and never was it more evident in the so-called evangelical church in the latter half of the 20th Century and into the 21st Century. Traditional denominational barriers have collapsed in that period as Christians seek safe haven from the onset of liberalism and consequent departure from recognising Scripture as the inspired Word of God.
While churches which brought on the slide bemoan their falling numbers and rising financial concerns those churches which gained from the transfer growth have been prone to erroneously believing they "have it all together".
Just as a sinking ship has no place affording long term survival so a church compromising at one level or another on the Word of God can offer no long term benefit to Christians.
Deuteronomy 32:36 has application here:
"The Lord will judge his people and have compassion on his servants when he sees their strength is gone and no one is left, slave or free."
As suggested in recent days by John in his blog, much of the evangelical church, including the Episcopalian Diocese of Sydney, espouses faith in and upholding of the Word of God but, in reality, they do not trust the Word implicitly. Their failing is at one or more points but it can all be put down to two key themes - they have diluted the Gospel by turning it into a man-centred message and they have ceased to make the Word of God the rule of all practice.
With respect to many co-called evangelical churches and most of the Episcopalian Diocese of Sydney the thoughts of man override all past interpretation of Genesis 1 to the extent of ruling out having the Word of God the rule of practice. It is no longer what Scripture clearly says but what man says it ought to be saying.
This is a recipe for failure and it is being worked out in practice. The mission of the Episcopalian Diocese of Sydney to get 10% of the population of Sydney into Bible based churches by this year (although former Bishop Piper said it was to be year 2010) shows no valid sign of being fulfilled. Part of the strategy - Connect '09 - could not possibly be seen as giving the impetus for mission success. The smoothing words and celebrated 'pockets' of encouragement are a long way from the fervent activity one would expect to be seeing if the mission was on track.
Further, the Archbishop's production of figures suggesting a 5% increase in Sydney Episcopalian church attendance for year 2010 fails to identify transfer growth from denominations which have have made greater steps of departure from the Word of God than the Sydney Diocese. Transfer growth as part of only a 5% increase in Episcopalian pewsitting is a far cry from 10% of the population of Sydney being in Bible based churches.
Sydney Diocese, if you persist in trusting the word of man over the Word of God and acting in your own strength instead of God's strength you will run head first into the conviction of Deuteronomy 32:36.
Sam Drucker
Showing posts with label Mission. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mission. Show all posts
Monday, January 16, 2012
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Down Among The Dead Men.
Moore Theological College is the driving force behind the Episcopalian Diocese of Sydney for it is from this institution that Clergy are trained who go out to be the "Cure of Souls" and fulfil the Divine Mission in the Diocese. Indeed, it is the desire of many within the Diocese that graduates of Moore Theological College engage in church planting outside the Diocesan boundary.
More than that, some seek to have Moore graduates installed into theological institutions around the globe (doesn't that strike you as odd - a Diocese failing to achieve church growth within itself except, as some have reported here, without transfer growth from declining denominations, having the audacity to inflict its inadequacies on another Diocese which may already be experiencing what Sydney Diocese cannot achieve - church growth!). Consider the recent comments of Robert Doyle in the recent 'Moore Matters" publication where he says "Moore College has considerable experience preparing people for missionary service. ... When you take into account our networking with institutions other than Anglican, the list, is of course longer [he had earlier named some non Episcopalian theological colleges]. In a hostile world, and too often in the context of deeply unfaithful Christian denominations, we need to support each other. Several of these colleges have our graduates on faculty; many others have a history of contact, support and service. The abundant gifts and resources that God has blessed us with at Moore and amongst our constituency, and the law of the nearest neighbour, make it imperative that as far as God continues to give us opportunity, we need to produce more theological educators, and work outside our comfort zones."
Yeah! that'd be right! A Diocese in an African country has been blessed with a large congregation of believers who accept God at his word in Genesis and its reward is to be inflicted with the Moore collage of possible beliefs on origins none of which involves taking God at his word.
I wonder whether it ever enters the head of Moore 'Collage' (for that may be the more apt title) graduates that they might be more a hindrance to church growth than a help? A Diocese so reliant on what comes out of its theological institution for the growth of the Diocese ought easily be able to assess the health of its theological institution by the church growth seen shouldn't it? Of course! Well how does it look? Not good at all when you remove the "smoke and mirrors" of transfer growth from denominations experiencing advanced theological decline.
Perhaps you might hold out hope for the future because of the Diocesan Missionary Statement and the much anticipated (or is it feared?) Connect 09? Well, let me inform you of an incident giving clear insight into the future for the Diocese, its Mission and its worth to the church abroad. Remember, Moore Theological 'Collage' is the engine room for mission flowing from the Diocese.
I heard last Saturday morning on the radio three people speaking of the Newtown Festival proposed for the following day (Sunday 9th Nov). It was said that it was a wonderful festival and the previous year it had attracted 80,000 people. Now that is an impressive figure of attendance and certainly worth a look. So off I went the next day and in my journey there I noticed how remarkably close the festival site was to Moore 'Collage', only a few hundred metres from the institution. Upon entry to the site I was overwhelmed by the number of stalls and the multitude of people just browsing around, most of whom I suspect are "dead in their sins". Surely, you would think, there would be at least one church making the most of the opportunity (you know what Robert Doyle said - "as far as God continues to give us opportunity") especially Moore 'Collage' students, but no, my walk around the site failed to identify any stall there representing Moore 'Collage' or a church. What a lost opportunity! A crowd of over 80,000 people ignored by the alleged missionary college to the world and by local churches. I did see one fellow ambling through the milling crowd wearing a name tag with "St Stephens, Newtown" on it but for all it was worth he might have just stumbled out of nearby St Stephens Church, Newtown, having mistaken the festival crowd for the crowd around the church morning-tea urn.
What I did see, however, was group with a stall who were keenly proselytizing the passing crowd. It was a group calling themselves Sydney Atheists. So consider the scene. Here we are on the eve of Connect 09. Within a few hundred metres of the the engine room for mission within the Diocese is a crowd of over 80,000 people just browsing around and who is there to reach them? The Atheists!
My friends, I cannot help but have seen a vision of the effectiveness of Connect 09. In year 2010, when measuring the effectiveness of Connect 09, remember Newtown Festival 2008 ... Atheists 1 vs Moore 'Collage' 0.
Sam Drucker
More than that, some seek to have Moore graduates installed into theological institutions around the globe (doesn't that strike you as odd - a Diocese failing to achieve church growth within itself except, as some have reported here, without transfer growth from declining denominations, having the audacity to inflict its inadequacies on another Diocese which may already be experiencing what Sydney Diocese cannot achieve - church growth!). Consider the recent comments of Robert Doyle in the recent 'Moore Matters" publication where he says "Moore College has considerable experience preparing people for missionary service. ... When you take into account our networking with institutions other than Anglican, the list, is of course longer [he had earlier named some non Episcopalian theological colleges]. In a hostile world, and too often in the context of deeply unfaithful Christian denominations, we need to support each other. Several of these colleges have our graduates on faculty; many others have a history of contact, support and service. The abundant gifts and resources that God has blessed us with at Moore and amongst our constituency, and the law of the nearest neighbour, make it imperative that as far as God continues to give us opportunity, we need to produce more theological educators, and work outside our comfort zones."
Yeah! that'd be right! A Diocese in an African country has been blessed with a large congregation of believers who accept God at his word in Genesis and its reward is to be inflicted with the Moore collage of possible beliefs on origins none of which involves taking God at his word.
I wonder whether it ever enters the head of Moore 'Collage' (for that may be the more apt title) graduates that they might be more a hindrance to church growth than a help? A Diocese so reliant on what comes out of its theological institution for the growth of the Diocese ought easily be able to assess the health of its theological institution by the church growth seen shouldn't it? Of course! Well how does it look? Not good at all when you remove the "smoke and mirrors" of transfer growth from denominations experiencing advanced theological decline.
Perhaps you might hold out hope for the future because of the Diocesan Missionary Statement and the much anticipated (or is it feared?) Connect 09? Well, let me inform you of an incident giving clear insight into the future for the Diocese, its Mission and its worth to the church abroad. Remember, Moore Theological 'Collage' is the engine room for mission flowing from the Diocese.
I heard last Saturday morning on the radio three people speaking of the Newtown Festival proposed for the following day (Sunday 9th Nov). It was said that it was a wonderful festival and the previous year it had attracted 80,000 people. Now that is an impressive figure of attendance and certainly worth a look. So off I went the next day and in my journey there I noticed how remarkably close the festival site was to Moore 'Collage', only a few hundred metres from the institution. Upon entry to the site I was overwhelmed by the number of stalls and the multitude of people just browsing around, most of whom I suspect are "dead in their sins". Surely, you would think, there would be at least one church making the most of the opportunity (you know what Robert Doyle said - "as far as God continues to give us opportunity") especially Moore 'Collage' students, but no, my walk around the site failed to identify any stall there representing Moore 'Collage' or a church. What a lost opportunity! A crowd of over 80,000 people ignored by the alleged missionary college to the world and by local churches. I did see one fellow ambling through the milling crowd wearing a name tag with "St Stephens, Newtown" on it but for all it was worth he might have just stumbled out of nearby St Stephens Church, Newtown, having mistaken the festival crowd for the crowd around the church morning-tea urn.
What I did see, however, was group with a stall who were keenly proselytizing the passing crowd. It was a group calling themselves Sydney Atheists. So consider the scene. Here we are on the eve of Connect 09. Within a few hundred metres of the the engine room for mission within the Diocese is a crowd of over 80,000 people just browsing around and who is there to reach them? The Atheists!
My friends, I cannot help but have seen a vision of the effectiveness of Connect 09. In year 2010, when measuring the effectiveness of Connect 09, remember Newtown Festival 2008 ... Atheists 1 vs Moore 'Collage' 0.
Sam Drucker
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