Emerging Spirit @ The United Church of Canada Emerging Spirit @ The United Church of Canada

A few more weeks and the season of weddings will be over. Having been out of a congregation now for three years the process of sanitizing memories is well under way. Although I still remember those days when I was in a church with a long center aisle, a big, flat parking lot and an impressive "front" of the sanctuary - prime ingredients for wedding photo ops. We could easily do three weddings a Saturday. And they helped pay for family vacations and at least one child's dental work!

A conversation with friend and colleague Lesley brought back some other memories. Questions about whether there needed to be any of "those" (aka Bible) readings, prayer or explicit mention of God. (e.g. "My Dad is against religion") The turning point for me was when I had to interrupt the chatter of wedding party members to say there was to be no talking while Scripture was being read or prayers said. I grew weary of declaring that the sanctuary was not a rental set for home videos. Then, of course, weddings moved outside where all the "unreasonable" demands of churches could be circumvented and more wonder-full feelings nurtured.

Not their fault really. Little exposure and no training. If anything, baby boomer parents said grace at family meals, when they could be arranged.

When I first started getting paid to go to church, the issues were all around the existence of God, the relation of science and theology and sources of authority for Christian ethics (situational ethics). A keen observer might have guessed that ecclesiology - matters of the purpose and form of the church - would emerge to dominate but I was not in that press box.

Ecclesiology - who is the church, what is it for and what form(s) will it assume - may well dominate for the next 5-7 years.

The issues are profound and critical. When they are probed the tremors reverberate through every level of our church.

Questions exist about the denominational structure. Is it a relic of the modern, industrial age or can it transform to be a potent tool?

The Emerging2Where event, with Diana Butler Bass, nudged my thinking. The content that Bass and the workshop leaders provided was helpful and often provocative.

The bump came from the event itself.

I have grown accustomed to people leaving large gatherings of church feeling somewhat bland. "Parts were OK but others were to be endured."

When I was younger, the general meetings of conference used to provide both nurture and challenge. My perspective was inevitably forced to grow and I learned something. I experienced those gatherings as high holy days.