The well written March 6 article by Rick Bannan about local United Methodist pastors was good from the church officials’ standpoint but one voice was notably silent. Those in the pews can and often do have differing positions on church operations. There has been, for example, a documented difference between the clergy and the congregations in the Northwest with respect to ordination of LGBT folks.
One comment from a Pastor caught my eye — “The Church is not God.”
I’ve been told that pastors are in the salvation business. The implication in the quote is that salvation is not through the church but through God.
The church is mostly defined by pastors.
Here is a voice to the clergy from the pew (and street): put your robes, pensions and salaries aside — stop trying to control the church. Rather, talk to me about where I can have hope in something beyond myself. Share the vision that a way exists for me to matter.
Do not tell me what God is not, but that God is, and has set my desirable purpose.
Shouldn’t salvation be more than just business?
“The Church is not God,” but is God in the Church?
