Progressive Christianity is an open, intelligent and collaborative approach to the Christian tradition and the life and teachings of Jesus that create pathways into an authentic and relevant religious experience.
Core values are not doctrine, dogma or creed. They are a guide to practice. As such they are kept under review so they remain relevant to the times.
By calling ourselves Progressive Christians, we mean that we are Christians who:
- Believe that following the and teachings of Jesus can lead to experiencing sacredness, wholeness, and unity of all life, even as we recognise that the Spirit moves in beneficial ways in many faiths and traditions.
- Seek community that is inclusive of all people, honouring differences in theological perspective, age, race, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, class or ability.
- Strive for peace and justice among all people, knowing that behaving with compassion and selfless love towards one another is the fullest expression of what we believe.
- Embrace the insights of contemporary science and strive to protect the earth and ensure its integrity and sustainability.
- Commit to a path of life-long learning, believing there is more value in questioning than in absolutes.
We promote an understanding of Christian practice and teaching that leads to a greater concern for the way people treat each other than for the way people express their beliefs, the acceptance of all people, and a respect for other religious traditions.
We affirm the variety and depth of human experience and the richness of each persons’ search for meaning, and we encourage the use of sound scholarship, critical inquiry, and all intellectual powers to understand the presence of God in human life.
For more information go to: progressivechristinaity.org
oOo
A great set of values, instead of creeds, etc that I find it difficult to accept.
Yes, indeed, Paul and thanks, Sue! It fits in well with the shift to a ‘praxis’ theology (i.e. a practical pastoral theology arising out of life’s everyday experiences, as measured against Jesus’ example by his actions and words as recorded in the Gospels). My own take on this is informed by the work of Karl Rahner & Hans Kung.
Thanks.
Michael
“…the presence of God…”?
Overly wordy until this point.
Lost me then.
I’m with Lloyd Geering who suggests we can have (progressive?) Christianity “without God”.
Sound abstract statements, which probably resonate with most followers of this forum. An interesting exercise is then to personalise them based on our life experience and, of course, none of the outputs will be the same. A group of us ‘progressives’ in Sydney (at Eastwood Uniting) shared our brief personal statements some years ago. It was a warming and enjoyable experience. A noticeable trends was the shift from credo (I believe – creed) to quaero (I seek – quest).
Oops!
Forgot to comment on “…the Spirit moves…”
Lost me there too!
Thanks John, I see that as the big difference also and a great step forward.
Know where Lloyd is coming from but can’t see the point of Timmo’s pretty reductive endorsement. We all have gods, many of them false, i.e. power, sex, control over others, escape, conspicuous wealth in excess of our needs, etc. Lloyd’s point is surely about critiquing much of the conventional imagery that many Christians are comfortable with, e.g. the sweet, suffering Jesus that some Catholics misuse to promote docility, the vengeful God that the Zionists & some Christian evangelicals employ to enforce fear & compliance. If Jesus was Everyman (or Everyperson) that invests in our memory of him a semblance of understanding (but only a semblance) that we need if we then talk of the Spirit. In my view the question is not about whether God exists or not. God simply is. the problem occurs with what we do with God. The ‘Great Mystery’ is a better term (though not a God of Miracles). Inadequate as it may sound, I like CS Lewis’ ‘God of Surprises’: not One who interferes but an Energy or Life Force that we sometimes call ‘spirituality’. But even there lies a trap-door of escape into the absurd, like Lewis Carroll’s rabbit-hole in ‘Alice’, which leads us into existential crisis: not a bad thing, as John Court explains. A God who encourages us to search. Yes; searchers! John says it for me.
A couple of snippets from EASTWOOD UNITINGs past – We were having a church camp at Robinson – but what would we do there ? – I suggested we write the Robinson Creed – of what we DO believe – and got no takers – We can now say – we are seekers not believers – it is questions not answers.
Do we have a place for prophets of the past ? – John Dixon, of Denistone East, Eastwood, was a layman, a solicitor – he had a policeman son – who attended an accident in which one victim was not breathing – he applied mouth to mouth CPR – caught AIDS – and died of it. That changed our thinking.
I had left Eastwood for the green fields of Pitt St and South Sydney – but I caught up with John at Ashfield – Exodus Foundation – He told me of SEA of FAITH – but I was too ignorant – I think I have since learned.. Don Cuppitt might not have spoken of core values – but he anticipated much of what we are now preaching.
I offer a few further comments on Eastwood Uniting, since two respondents here have picked up on my mention of its ‘progressive’ group from a decade back.
Along with Jon Dixon, I joined Eastwood from the Denistone East Congregation in its merger with Eastwood in 2010, when it was already a merger (via Uniting) of the former Methodist and Presbyterian churches in Eastwood. Our progressive group went under the title of “The Seekers”. Most of its participants have since died, a sadly familiar pointer to its age makeup. Yes, try looking for the heads that are not white or bald at any ‘progressive’ meeting.
And we have further pause to reflect at Eastwood, since our younger local population is now predominantly Asian. Sure, enthusiastic Christians do come from this demographic, but I haven’t noticed much interest in the topics with which The Seekers of yesteryear engaged.
May I again suggest that those of us involved in ‘the quest’ might consider developing and sharing personalised versions of the Core Values as an interesting next step.
John Court
Thanks John. It was a great topic for 2 sessions at Merthyr. We also sent our thoughts off to progressivechtistianity.com
Nothing but ‘God’ will satisfy me… the awe-ful, immense source of everything there is… the centre of life, the unnameable I AM, but I don’t see that in the ‘values’. And
There’s a question nagging at me. There, at the absolute centre of ourselves where we find the ‘God’ of compassion and truth, we can also find evil… boundless evil. Humanity is a living container of both wonder and wickedness.