merefaith: two friends on pilgrimage

To those who think I'm Roman Catholic/Eastern Orthodox or think I should be Roman Catholic/Eastern Orthodox (or, for Pete's sake, Lutheran or Reformed or whatever else):

1. I'm "home" already - in the sense that I'm a wandering pilgrim just like every other Christian. I don't need to switch labels to be at home.

2. There's no such thing as a Christian who is not in Christ's Church. I am a Christian, yes? Then I'm in the Church. Period. I'm not in some imperfect fellowship with the Church. It's like saying someone is "partially pregnant."

3. I will be ordained as a Baptist minister next month. And yes, I will "really" be ordained. It won't be some fake, pretend exercise. It won't be "invalid" orders. Jesus will be there. Will you party with us?

4. I confess the catholic and orthodox faith as handed down in the Scriptures and summarized in the creeds, and while I always need accountability and correction I don't need some extra certification (submission to a bishop allegedly in "succession" for example) for what I already confess and practice.

5. All sufferers of convertitis get this one thing and get it straight: I am doing just fine practicing "traditional"/"historic"/"apostolic" Christianity without your choice of hierarchy.

6. God help us all. We're sinners, every one.

Labels: Ecumenism

Posted by Chris Schelin at Friday, June 20, 2008 | Permalink | Comments

I may not be at the point where I can truly say that I love the youth who come each Sunday and Wednesday. But I'm beginning to love them.

That could sound harsher than the meaning I intend to convey. The youth group at Roxboro Baptist is very well-behaved. They engage in discussion fairly easily and are willing to pick up the Bible and read. There is a lot about this transition that has been much easier than one may imagine (and many truly experience). It's not that my stomach crawls when I walk down to the big basement room with the ping-pong table and the stereo, the Bible verses on the wall and the kneeler I rescued from storage. I usually look forward to the opportunity to teach, pray, and listen.

But I don't really know them yet. I don't know what drives each of them. I wonder about their desires, their wants, their wishes and their dreams. What frustrates or scares them? What do they wish they could change about their lives? There is a lot I don't know. But I look forward to knowing it. And I look forward to loving what I know.

Labels: Ministry

Posted by Chris Schelin at Tuesday, June 10, 2008 | Permalink | Comments

Where the ecumenical discussion hits the ground, as far as I'm concerned:

*****

I simply don’t believe that God allowed me to live my life till I am 51 in the Baptist church, and now, thanks to internet apologists for the RC, I need to resign, become jobless and go get something in the Eucharist that, in my experience, isn’t producing anything distinctively more Jesus-like than my own tradition.

If the Christian God is only REALLY available at a few places in town, then I want nothing to do with him. And I’m quite serious. If the invitations of Jesus to come to him don’t apply to me wherever I and my simple faith in Jesus happen to be, then it’s Buddhism for me.

I don’t have these anxieties about what is the true church. Jesus is the mediator and Jesus is enough. No church dispenses him.

From here

Labels: Ecumenism

Posted by Chris Schelin at Sunday, June 08, 2008 | Permalink | Comments