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

A brief look at three interesting stories in religion news, including Progressive Christian advertising, a Christian argument for "assisted dying," and the atheist movements' source of morality.

"In Political Ads, Christian Left Mounts Sermonic Campaigns"

The Wall Street Journal isn't known as one of the most progressive publications out there. Of course that doesn't mean their particular slant on the news isn't interesting, or that they have nothing worthwhile to report. Take, for example, their recent article on an ad campaign by evangelicals supporting legislation curbing greenhouse gas emissions.

The campaign, which is comprised of radio ads running on Christian and country music stations across 10 states in the U.S. Ads speak about God's creation crying out for relief, and refer to the Gospel of John, speak against energy interests, and say "Please join the faithful in speaking out against the powerful." Needless to say, not everyone is crazy about these ads.

Read about the reaction to this campaign in the full article.

Is there a Christian argument for "assisted dying"?

"There is no reason from Christianity why the law should prevent assisted dying, at least so far as those wanting to die are self-aware and sane. The presence of such law would allow a dignified end to those wanting to have one, without requiring others to die against their wishes."

The above statement is sure to provoke discussion, at the very least. "Assisted dying" or "assisted suicide" or euthanasia - whatever you call it, it is far from being an uncontroversial topic. John Cartwright, writing for the Guardian Online, makes a case for "assisted dying" from a Christian perspective. Cartwright's argument centres around being allowed to make one's own moral choices, and prevention of the needless extension of suffering.

"A Few Thoughts on Numbers, Decline, and What We Might Do"

From the blog of the moderator of the Presbyterian church (USA), Bruce Reyes-Chow, comes a meditation on declining membership numbers in this major American mainline denomination. According to the moderator, the denomination's membership numbers have declined by another seventy thousand this year, and people have reasons that they send Reyes-Chow's way. "The church is too liberal!", "The church is too conservative!", and more.

Reyes-Chow responds with thoughts on the complexity of the situation, the ambivalence of numbers, and the failure of the church's institutional worldview (bringing with it a failure to adapt). To start the process of breaking this worldview and making the church more flexible, Reyes-Chow proposes some questions, like:

- "What ARE our essentials and non-negotiables as we gather as a denominational gathering of the Body of Christ?"

- "Can we handle an abundance of manifestations of the Presbyterian family where congregations look, feel, and operate in drastically different ways?"

- And "Can we truly embrace the unknown, but yet joyfully strive to seek God's intentions?"

To check out the rest of Reyes-Chow's interesting and provocative blog entry, go here.

"One of the Most Powerfully Influential Religious Leaders in Today's World (and You Probably Don't Know His Name!)"

The above title for this entry on the "Road to Priesthood" blog is followed by the question "When you think of religious leaders who've helped bring social change to the 20th century, what name comes to mind?" The author suggests you probably thought of Gandhi, or Martin Luther King Jr. Close? How about Walter Rauschenbusch?

 "Who the heck is Walter Rauschenbusch," you ask? Well, only the pioneer of the Social Gospel Movement in the early 20th century, and a potential uniting figure for mainline Protestants and evangelicals. Not to mention the fact that Rauschenbusch's book Christianity and the Social Crisis helped inspire Gandhi, King, Reinhold Niebuhr, and Desmond Tutu.

Rauschenbusch's great-grandson, the Rev. Paul Rauschenbusch, spoke on the occasion of the book's 100th anniversary about the book, and his great-grandfather, for the New America Foundation. Check out the full video of the speech in which the younger Rauschenbusch talks about how the book continues to "challenge and inspire today's social justice thinkers" as well as how different Christian denominations can "find common ground in the understanding of our faith, melding the Evangelical church's traditional focus on the gospel with mainline church's focus on social justice."

To read more go here.

"'Father Oprah' Jumps Ship"

You may remember the story of Father Alberto Cutié, the Miami-based Catholic priest who a few months back was caught frolicking on the beach with an attractive woman. Not exactly sanctioned behaviour for a celibate.

What you may not have heard is that Father Cutié has since left the Catholic church, and is now a candidate for ordination in the Episcopal church. There are those who suggest this move to be a "scandalous breach of Christian unity," although on the flip side one may suggest it is, instead "a personal step toward health and wholeness." What do you think? Should Father Cutié's move be seen as a defection?

For more on this situation, and Father Cutié himself, read here.

"Unholy Business"

The history, and mystery, of the place we call the Holy Land fascinates many - whether they be believers in any particular faith or not. And the objects of history produced by that land (by way of archeology) are met with equal fascination.

It is our deep captivation with these objects and the potential connection they give us to our past (spiritual or otherwise), that creates an opportunity for forgers looking to exploit our yearning for that connection.

You may remember the famous forgery of the James Ossuary a few years back that was displayed at the Royal Ontario Museum. In her book Unholy Business: A True Tale of Faith, Greed and Forgery in the Holy Land, Nina Burleigh examines this fraud and others, and the big
business of biblical antiquities that produced them.

To read a full review of this book, take a look here.

Do Not Despise Your Youth

What is the potential for leadership by the younger generations in your congregation? Does your congregation yearn for growth and change, but get held back by a sometimes overzealous desire to honour and preserve its history?

David J. Wood, writing for the Call & Response blog of Duke University's Faith & Leadership website, makes the case for making room for young leaders (including young, and often generationally isolated, pastors) to live up to their productive and creative potential.

What do you think? Do congregations sometimes saddle their young leaders with too much baggage from the past? Read the article here.

The End of Christianity? - Hardly.

The conventional wisdom is that Christianity in the Western world is in decline. The "Christian" percentage of the population is declining, and many churches are facing dwindling attendance. In an April issue of Newsweek, Jon Meacham described this phenomenon as "the end of Christian America."

According to Soong-Chan Rah, however, the reports of the death of the Western church have been greatly exaggerated. Writing for Sojourners' "God's Politics" blog, Rah puts forward the idea that American Christianity, at least, may actually be growing, and doing so in "unexpected and surprising ways."

"In 1970, the city of Boston was home to about 200 churches. Thirty years later, there were 412 churches.  The net gain in the number of churches was in the growth of the number of churches in the ethnic and immigrant communities. While only a handful of churches in 1970 held services in a language other than English, thirty years later, more than half of those churches held services in a language other than English."

To read more of Soong-Chan Rah's reasoning on this hopeful note, check out the article here.