With or Without God – Gretta With or Without God – Gretta Vosper.Vosper.

why the way we live is more important than what we believewhy the way we live is more important than what we believe

Chapter 7 Chapter 7

Crucial ChangeCrucial Change

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Fulfilling a ResponsibilityFulfilling a Responsibility

Part 1 - Media Presentation

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Jonathan Haidt

The Moral Roots of Liberals and Conservatives

Being civil and understanding of others whose morals don’t match ours.

TED Talks

With or Without God – Gretta Vosper.With or Without God – Gretta Vosper.why the way we live is more important than what we believewhy the way we live is more important than what we believe

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Part 2

Analysis of Chapter 7

Crucial ChangeCrucial Change- -

Fulfilling a ResponsibilityFulfilling a Responsibility

Crucial ChangeClassically, three characteristics described “the church”:

•Leiturgia – Worship

•Koinonia – Community

•Diaconia – Service

Christians were a community gathered to worship and dispersed to serve others.

Vosper envisages a church centred on “community” with no need for “worship” and “service” becomes by-product.

Crucial ChangeWhat makes Vosper’s community unique?

• Advocacy for social justice

• Focus on sacred-values & humanitarian/spiritual

• Centre for human/institutional transformation

• Place of civil conversation about important issues

Crucial ChangeNegative “church” words:

Hell, sacrifice, confession, sin, commitment, offerings, holy, Jesus

Positive “church” words:

Caring, sharing, friendship, giving, support, teaching children good values.

(source) United Church of Canada “Emerging Spirit” market research.

Crucial Change“Re-packaging the church”

Adapting to post-modernism and moving from “as it was” to “riding the cultural wave”

Learn from others:• User-friendly accomodation & technology.

• Optional ways to enter, belong and participate

• Committees become ministries (and)

• Volunteer opportunities matched with spiritual gifts

Crucial Change

Integrity for Liberals

• Clean up the hymns! – “If it can’t be said in the pulpit, it shouldn’t be sung in the pew”.

• Learn “integrity” from evangelicals! – “Use words we can believe in.”

• Don’t leave the church to moderates. – “To mediate is to compromise.”

Crucial Change

The Liberal Inheritance

• open to critical scholarship

• Don’t separate worship and education

• Create post-Christian communities

• Discussion, not worship groups

Crucial Change

“Church, or whatever it comes to be called, could be a place where we reflect and process our life experiences with others in ways that encourage us to become compassionate, just and loving human beings” (p 311)

BreakDiscussion Questions

1. Discuss Vosper’s comment (p 313) “We who move beyond the traditional boundaries of Christianity are often thought of as not believing in anything.”

2. Name and discuss “beliefs that divide” and “beliefs that unite”.