Bože! independent catholic ideas, identity & theology
What Is OC/IC/ISM Church?
“Attack! Attack! . . . . hey, where did everybody go?
Matthew Streib writes a post worth reading here at SOMA – one that made me reflect on some of the methods of “outreach” I’ve witnessed in the OC/IC community over the years. “Be faithful” “Be church” – these are two phrases I’ve used off & on over the years to encourage people to simply be [...]
Ministry Online – Considering Ekklesia 2.0
Folks over at Church Marketing Sucks have produced a must read series of short articles on “community“. The third installment tackles ministry on the internet; here, the author Brad Abare recounts a comment by a conference participant who noted that the distinction between “online” and “offline” interaction is no longer relevant – that they are [...]
What Does It Mean To Be A Christian?
I came across this vid over at Emergent Village and it started me thinking again about what it means to belive, why we believe, and how we express and share that conviction in the little things – daily life. Interestingly enough, this vid is also closely tied in with yesterday’s post on helping the poor [...]
Cross-over: Religious Experience Between Traditions
Within the IC/ISM melieu there is a swathe of the community that gives free expression to an element of religious experience which to me is both fascinating, and . . . . yes, . . . disturbing. Some (both inside and outside the community) might like to think that it is a peculiarity of those [...]
Why?
My friend Micki Shirey a UCC pastor in Oregon has a lovely blog here. She’s been “tagged” with a simple, but rather interesting question – why blog? what are the rules? and of course the obligatory tag three others. I’ll start by saying, Chris, John, and Tim are “IT”! Why do I blog? Hmmmmm . [...]
Conversion: A Bit of Reading
You may remember earlier posts here about conversion. I’ve long found it unsettling how the wider OC/IC community does not often encourage, or talk about converting from X to and OC/IC identity. What is interesting is that in a number of the interviews I’ve conducted for the Indie Voices Archive this topic has been raised [...]
Ekklesia 2.0 – Virtual Outreach?
Last year I wrote two posts Ekklesia 2.0, and Ekklesia 2.0.1 which played with ideas surrounding ministry and outreach on the net. Two weeks ago I was visiting a site that linked to the Second Life Anglican cathedral. Like you I’ve seen quite a few stories on the news and in the papers about virtual [...]
A Priestless Society?
Some years ago, I took a course at VTS on the Theology of Priesthood. The bulk of the course focussed on OT and NT sources before exploring possibilities for the life of the church today. It was a great class. The professor, a Presbyterian elder & theologian, shared his belief that one day there woudl [...]
Shall We Go Or Wait For Them To Arrive . . . .
In another place I just read a contribution that got me thinking about models of church; in it the author makes an interesting observation – that as much as people say that the “church” is not a place (i.e. the building), their actions or reactions on the ground say otherwise. A number of friends are [...]
Is OC/IC NRM? (Oh and does that also include ISM?)
The question, asked in another honourable place is one I’ve pondered for a year or so now. Is the OC/IC movement a “New Religious Movement” (NRM)? I would take it one step farther and ask, that for those of us old school types who understand Old and Indpendent Catholic as having certain distincitive qualities; are [...]
Thinking Out Loud – Initiation
What ever happened to initiation into the cult (mysteries) of our tradition? This was the question that popped into my head whilst doing some reading this afternoon on an entirely un-related topic. I spent some time playing with the idea – and while I have no answers (as yet) – just lots of questions to [...]
What is Church? – Agreement in the Ekklesia
Previously I’ve played with ideas surrounding what constitutes the ekklesia (two or more “members”), and its purpose (prayer, study & service). Now I would like to open the door to an issue that in our OC/IC context is historically contentious, and which is intimately woven into both the constitution of the ekklesia and its purpose, [...]
What is "Church"? – The map was wrong, turn left here. NOW!
When I started playing with the question who is a member, what is church; I thought I could easily pull it all together in three posts – I was wrong! When I sat down the other day to try to compose “part II” I realised very quickly how wrong I was – if I was [...]
What is "church"? – The ekklesia is catholic
Our tradition describes the ekklesia as “catholic” – what exactly do we mean when using this term? Far too many of us accept, uncritically, the popular definition that “catholic” means universal. I suggest we ditch this understanding entirely (as it does little more than to foster bad theology, and even worse ekklesiology within OC/IC communities. [...]
What Constitutes "Church"?
Exploring the question “what is church”, linked as it is with “who is a member” we are faced with the question – what constitutes the ekklesia? An assembly of “citizens” gathered for the purpose of prayer, study, and service – tells us about the purpose of the ekklesia, and a little bit about who may [...]
OC/IC "Who Is A Member"? – What is "Church"?
If you’ve not already seen it go and visit John Plummer’s blog Priestcraft and read his discussion on membership. Originally I thought I could cover this in one post – as I think is becoming the case over at John’s blog, it’s a richer topic and deserves a bit more space to breathe and grow. [...]