I had an email over the weekend from Mark Edwards, friend and regular commenter on here. He was concerned that his comments on here may have appeared to convey the wrong message in terms of how he feels about different expressions of church.
He sent this to me and told me I could post it.
Thanks Mark!
As I said to Mark, I never mind some disagreement and while we might come at things from different angles I’d rather have the open discussion and the thoughts of those who don’t agree with me than the simple hum of the choir drumming in your ears 24/7. So here you have some thoughts from Mark:
There has been over the past few years a lot of discussion of the so called ‘emerging church’. The very name causes much angst among both its protagonists, and antagonists, with neither agreeing exactly what it means.
For a pragmatist such as myself, the question I am always asking is, what do you do, and what are you producing. For the evangelist in me, I am asking, what fruit in terms of peoples lives are you seeing changed?
I am in regular contact with one such leader, Andrew Hamilton, and regularly receive updates on his work, ‘Upstream Ministries’. There are plenty of people who are critical of what he does, and the decisions he has made. I am not here to defend him, or the ministry he is involved in, but I do want to encourage and state what is good about his ministry.
He cares about people, passionately. This is evident through the various community activities he and his team are involved in. From backyard renovations to building veggie patches, he is actually doing something, instead of just talking about it.
The other thing I love about Hamo is his willingness to dialogue and work with those he does not necessarily line up with theologically. He talks to Lutherans, Anglicans and atheists. Hamo has also not rejected the established church, in fact he still is involved at a more traditional Baptist Church, and finds meaning and purpose there. In contrast to some Emerging Church guys, he does not appear to have a axe to grind, chip on shoulder or barrow to push, unless its his neighbours.
In the midst of discussion about methods of church, lets not forget that those of us who call on the name of Christ, and who are encouraging others to do the same, are on the same side.
I pray for God’s richest blessing and joy on Andrew and all the crew working with him in Brighton.
Mark E – no offence but it seems to me that was an article in defense of Hamo and what a great guy he is (which I agree) and not a didactic in defense of new ways of doing Church – which from where I stand isn’t new at all – it is the established church that needs to create this polemic.
——> One of the atheists that gets chatted to. . .
Grendel – would you talk to me if I told you I was acoffee? (a as in no)
As someone who knows Mark E fairly well I know that his heart is for the Church and God’s kingdom. Yes, his opinions are strong and he’s biased towards a certain area, which can put him at odds with some people.
But he wants to build a church not from transferring Christians, but from people far from God.
So thanks for being honest and open Mark.
“Yes, his opinions are strong and he’s biased towards a certain area, which can put him at odds with some people.”
Are you talking about his views on the Fremantle and West Coast footy teams?
😛
–> One of the “Lutherans” that gets chatted to…
Any Anglicans out there???
Definitely Deano.
Thanks Hamo and Gaz…Mark R…the title may need working…but in its defense, Hamo does represent Ec to a lot of people.