Re April Issue
Thank you so much for the April 2016 issue. It was truly excellent, and I read it from cover to cover (which, to be honest, I don’t always do!); I even went out on a limb and renewed a long-dormant personal subscription!
I especially appreciated your contributions highlighting people at the margins, in our church and our society: the column by Vivian Ketchum, the faith feature, “Beyond the Rules” by Laurence DeWolfe, the Moderator’s column, and a complementary piece by David Webber, addressing our denominational attachment to our buildings and other historical structures, and, most of all, the straight-talking “Pop Christianity” column by Andrew Faiz, “What We’re Really Talking About.”
My feeling is that the church needs urgently to hear the voices of people at the margins: indigenous people, immigrants and refugees, and, I note Andrew Faiz’s “aside” here, particularly at this moment in our denominational life, our gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender brothers and sisters.
As the article by Connie Wardle (‘We’re Not There Yet’) relays in a quote attributed to elder Aubrey Hawton, “I’m tired of it being ‘us and them.’”
Amen, Aubrey! Let’s by all means include the voices of all parts of the Body of Christ in our discernment … Let’s be sensitive to “where people are” in their journey. But above all, let us please heed the gospel imperative to listen, without judging, and embrace all who are on the margins, as Jesus did. For, if you haven’t noticed, the church is there, too … We’re not in Christendom anymore!
.
