Our Covenant Relationships
Today I had the opportunity to share in a clergy retreat with Dr. Michael Kinnamon -- Disciple theologian, ecumenist, and professor at Eden Theological Seminary. Michael came to talk to us about our covenant relationships as the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) -- of which church I'm a pastor. He spoke to us about the centrality of covenant language to our existence as a church, and our abysmal record of living out or even understanding those relationships.
As a church we have seen ourselves as being in covenant relationship but too often we operate as autonomous entities with no real forms of mutual accountability present. Congregations tend to flout their autonomy -- saying that the General Church and Regions can't speak for them or even to them. Ultimately this is a question of wrestling with issues of authority -- how do we keep each other accountable without either hierarchy or coercion. As a pastor there is the question of how I speak and act authoritatively responsibly and humbly, allowing the proper freedom, while still leading. This is my overly simple overview.
Today I had the opportunity to share in a clergy retreat with Dr. Michael Kinnamon -- Disciple theologian, ecumenist, and professor at Eden Theological Seminary. Michael came to talk to us about our covenant relationships as the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) -- of which church I'm a pastor. He spoke to us about the centrality of covenant language to our existence as a church, and our abysmal record of living out or even understanding those relationships.
As a church we have seen ourselves as being in covenant relationship but too often we operate as autonomous entities with no real forms of mutual accountability present. Congregations tend to flout their autonomy -- saying that the General Church and Regions can't speak for them or even to them. Ultimately this is a question of wrestling with issues of authority -- how do we keep each other accountable without either hierarchy or coercion. As a pastor there is the question of how I speak and act authoritatively responsibly and humbly, allowing the proper freedom, while still leading. This is my overly simple overview.
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