Today was a good day: it was sunny (yay .. for the 3rd straight day!!!) and cold, and I got a lot of schoolwork done. An interesting assignment I completed entailed filling out a Ministry Profile.
In it I had to answer "Yes" or "No" to the designations below. "Yes" characterizes my religious upbringing, and "No" does not. Here are the categories, and what I picked:
Protestant: Yes
Catholic: No
Orthodox: No
Jewish: No
Non-church: No
Fundamentalistic: No
Charismatic/Pentecostal: No
Pietistic: Yes
Liberal: No
Conservative: Yes
Evangelical: Yes
Anti-Church: No
Legalistic: Yes
A few thoughts about my designations:
* I was surprised at how many categories I said "Yes" to. Essentially I'm a Protestant Pietistic Conservative Legalistic Evangelical.
* The only category I don't like that I had to say "Yes" to was "Legalistic." I don't like that designation, yet I think that it at least partially describes my perception of what the Christian faith was all about as I was growing up. I trust that God is working in my life, sanctifying my legalistic tendencies.
In it I had to answer "Yes" or "No" to the designations below. "Yes" characterizes my religious upbringing, and "No" does not. Here are the categories, and what I picked:
Protestant: Yes
Catholic: No
Orthodox: No
Jewish: No
Non-church: No
Fundamentalistic: No
Charismatic/Pentecostal: No
Pietistic: Yes
Liberal: No
Conservative: Yes
Evangelical: Yes
Anti-Church: No
Legalistic: Yes
A few thoughts about my designations:
* I was surprised at how many categories I said "Yes" to. Essentially I'm a Protestant Pietistic Conservative Legalistic Evangelical.
* The only category I don't like that I had to say "Yes" to was "Legalistic." I don't like that designation, yet I think that it at least partially describes my perception of what the Christian faith was all about as I was growing up. I trust that God is working in my life, sanctifying my legalistic tendencies.
* I was saddened that I could not say "Yes" to "Catholic" and "Orthodox". Somehow, I feel distant from our spiritual forefathers. The Reformation troubles me, because it led to denominationalism. I don't want to be part of a church that detaches and ignores its own history. Detachment is anathema to the incarnation.
* I want to be "Orthodox" because that's the only church that has maintained apostolic links to the early church. Furthermore, I want to be "Catholic" in the sense that the faith I adhere to is the one agreed to by "all Christians at all times and in all places." Finally, I want to be "Evangelical", proclaiming the good news of God in Jesus Christ. I want to be a Catholic Orthodox Evangelical.
I conclude with a prayer for the unity of the church (from the Book of Common Prayer, page 40):
O Lord Jesus Christ, who didst say unto thine Apostles, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you": Regard not our sins, but the faith of thy Church, and grant unto it that peace and unity which is agreeable to thy will; who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.
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