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On a more serious note…
Apparently there are new denominations being formed and more controversy over the new formations…causing even more new denominations…?
Everyone knows the Episcopal church has been in turmoil over their 2003 appointment of an openly gay bishop. Some say this is acceptable, others say it is not. So, there is a formal divide in the Episcopal church – says an AP article. But, in response to this there is apparently yet another denomination being formed by conservatives. This denomination has apparently been formed for the sole purpose combating the more liberal wing in the Episcopal church.
So, let’s just get this straight and look at this from an outsider perspective: there is yet more division over beliefs and then there’s an uprising by a third part that is standing against one of the sides of the division…?
I’m all for standing for truth. But, no wonder why so many college-age people don’t want to be a part of the church…who would want to be a part of that!? Let’s think about this on a more personal level…
In our churches we have all kinds of divisions and disunity. Sure, there’s some over music and things like that. But it’s way deeper and I think hits home much more for us in student ministry. For instance, many age-stage ministry leaders are not unified in things like philosophy of ministry. And even more noticeable by those in our ministries, many Jr. High and High school ministries have different mission statements. Think about what this says to our kids. Two ministries, in the same church and supposedly on the same team, can’t agree on approach to ministry and are heading in two different directions – seeking to accomplish two different missions? Each ministry will approach things differently, but a different mission?
This tells me nothing more than you have two ministries that aren’t a part of a team. No unity.
We can look at the divisions in the church at large and think what we want, but who says these seemingly smaller differences in our student ministries do any less damage? We can look at other divisions and fighting over issues, but if we’re not unified in our home church (or with the person in the office across the hall), seeking to show our unity with others to college-age people there will always be detachment issues. If we can’t look within, deeply within our own hearts and seek to bring unity with those working around us we’re causing just as much – and possibly even more – damage to the Kingdom at large as these divisions hitting the Associated Press headlines.
I have a lot more to say on this to bring more clarity to my thoughts, but for now maybe we can simply be “diligent to preserve the unity of the body” (Ephesians 4:3) in our own contexts. This means to work through differences for the purpose of keeping unity. It means NEVER talking negatively about ANYONE in the church with someone else. It means showing our kids how we’re similar, heading in the same direction, and working together with everyone else in the church to accomplish one mission. It’s about showing them the beauty of the body of Christ, not the ugliness of people’s sin.
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