I have been thinking about this a bit, being on staff at Chapel Hill I get to see and experience the great things about CHF and the not so great things. Seeing a church from the inside can sometimes burn you out on church because you see all the ways the Church and people are disfunctional and just very human.
The other part of my thinking has been caused by my struggling with the question of my being called to the ministry and what this really means.
Some things that bother me about CHF are less a problem with CHF and more and issue of my not agreeing / fitting with CHF and more especially Methodism in general.
My perfect church would:
- Truly believe in and practice the priesthood of all believers. To the degree that we would not really differentiate between those on staff and those not on staff at the church. Anyone could baptize, give communion, marry people (we would have to work this out with the laws of the state) etc... and not just one or a very few people would get to teach in our meeting.
- Be a VERY communal place. Community would be central to the life and DNA of the church.
- Be good for the world and our community.
- Be a place that preaches and practices grace.
- Be a place that believes in hope for the world.
I will add more to this later.
