GERALD COWAN’S PERSONAL PERIODICALS
Number 631 • April 18, 2021
RECIPE FOR A BUILDING A BETTER CHURCH
“Join the church of your choice.” The determinative word there is not join or choice. It is your. Not something someone else chooses for you or imposes upon you (such as communism, which is not really ‘government of the people, by the people, and for the people” as in democracy). As Adolf Hitler mandated a Volkswagen (literally “people’s car”) so certain countries have mandated a “state religion” (such as Islamic, Christian, Catholic, Buddhist, etc) or a “national church” (such as Church of England, Church of Sweden, etc). There’s a world-wide phenomenon in nominal Christianity: the creation and proliferation of churches to meet the requirements and desires of the people who will be members in the so-called “purpose-driven” churches where members determine what the church will be and do – these could be called “churches of the people, for the people, and by the people.” What are the premises, purposes, and promises of such a “people’s church?” Continue reading