Site Visit Reflection: First Congregational Church of Christ

For my site visit, I attended Palm Sunday Service at First Congregational United Church of Christ in Colorado Springs, Colorado. I'm not personally religious, but if I were to become religious, this is the church I would attend. I love this church because it's quite liberal. FCUCC is open and affirming, which means they welcome anyone and everyone into their church, regardless of race, age, sexual orientation, gender orientation, or marital status. A lesbian couple sat in front of me and they looked comfortable; everyone welcomed them. Reverend Broadbent, the main Reverend at FCUCC, works to make the sermons engaging and applicable to today's world. He sometimes discusses politics, but not in a way that forces his beliefs upon the church members. FCUCC focuses on love rather than sin and evil; I've never heard the words "hell" or "Satan" in the church. In an earlier blog post, I discussed Diana Bass' ideas on saving Christianity, and I think loving and welcoming churches like FCUCC could help save Christianity.

Visit http://www.fcucc.org/ for more information.

Longtime Atheist Converts to Christianity After Benefiting from Christian Kindness

Two months ago, Patrick Greene was threatening to sue Henderson County, Texas for placing a Nativity scene in front of the public courthouse. The longtime atheist activist was unable to continue the lawsuit after he developed cataracts in his eyes. He was also forced to quit his job as a taxi driver, and after losing his job Greene found it difficult to support himself and his wife. Jessica Crye, a member of a Christian church, heard of Greene's trouble and encouraged her fellow church members to raise money for Greene. The church raised $400 for Greene. Greene was "flabbergasted that Christians would help atheists," and the kindness of the church caused Greene to reconsider his faith. After experiencing Christian kindness, Greene said the little details of Christianity stopped bothering him and he chose to accept faith, especially because Christianity explained the "vast difference" between humans and animals. 

What intrigues me about this article is how kindness caused Greene to undergo a serious and sudden change of faith. Can kindness cause someone to suddenly accept Christ as savior and the Bible as fact?

Article:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/04/patrick-greene-atheist-christianity-conversion_n_1404196.html

Resurrecting Christianity

In "A Resurrected Christianity," Diana Butler Bass discusses the current crisis facing Christianity. Christians are dwindling and Atheism is on the rise, and Bass explains why. She thinks organized religion has become hypocritical and irrelevant to millions, and feels the Christian mindset must be altered in order to save Christianity. According to Bass, Christianity has centered around the following 3 questions in the past:


1) What do I believe? (What does my church say I should think about God?)
2) How should I behave? (What are the rules my church asks me to follow?
)3) Who am I? (What does it mean to be a faithful church member?)

Christianity has historically centered (to a certain extent) about following a specific doctrine and a specific set of rules. Bass feels if Christianity is to survive, it must become more centered on individual spirituality, and focus on a different set of questions:

1) How do I believe? (How do I understand faith that seems to conflict with science and pluralism?)
2) What should I do? (How do my actions make a difference in the world?)
3) Whose am I? (How do my relationships shape my self-understanding?)


Christianity must engage in the questions of belief, behavior, and belonging in order to bring people back to church. Bass encourages Christianity to move away from its rigid structure and make room for individual thinking, as opposed to the dictated thinking of the past. 


I think the picture I included above sums up the rising atheism throughout the world and also connects with Bass' ideas. Many people today don't feel compelled to participate in a religion which expects them simply to follow rules. I think religion is much more powerful if it encourages people to think about why and how they should act instead of telling them. Bass wants Christianity to stop telling people the answers, and instead guide them in figuring out questions of belief, behavior, and belonging. 


Article:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/diana-butler-bass/a-resurrected-christianit_b_1410143.html

Belief in God Prominent in Poor Countries

Though Belief in God is generally declining throughout the world, poor and developing countries often show a high degree of belief. The University of Chicago recently released a report titled "Beliefs About God Across Time and Countries" which found the Philippines to be the country with the highest belief. 94 percent of Filipinos said they had a strong belief in God and always had. On the other end of the spectrum, 13 percent of East Germany said they believed in God. The University of Chicago found that poor and Catholic nations usually exhibit the highest degree of belief in God. They also found that belief usually increases with age. Unbelief is most prominent in northwest Europe and in former Soviet states (excepting Poland). Belief has generally declined, but Slovenia, Israel, and Russia have seen increases. 

The top 5 countries for people who sad they believed in God without doubts are:

1. The Philippines

2. Chile

3. Israel

4. Poland

5. The United States

I find this study interesting. I wonder if poor nations exhibit a higher degree of belief because they're looking for something to find hope in, and someone to guide them through a difficult time. But the U.S. isn't usually considered a poor country, it must be religious because of other reasons. What factors determine the "religiousness" of a country?

Source:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/19/belief-in-god-highest-developing-countries_n_1435945.html?ref=christianity

San Felipe de Neri

I was in Albuquerque for a few days over Spring Break, and while there I found a beautiful church called San Felipe de Neri.The church was started in 1706 by Fray Manuel Moreno, who came to Albuquerque from Bernalillo in 1704 or 1705. 30 families from Bernalillo moved to Albuquerque with Moreno, and together they began a church. The church was initially named San Francisco Xavier by Don Francisco Cuervo y Valdez, who founded the city of Alburquerque and named it after the Viceroy of New Spain. The Duke of Alburquerque ordered that the titular saint be changed to San Felipe de Neri in honor of King Philip of Spain.The old church collapsed in 1792, and the church that stands today is constructed in the shape of a cross, with adobe walls five feet thick. Today, San Felipe de Neri is staffed with diocesan priests

and deacons of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe.


Visit the San Felipe de Neri website at:http://www.sanfelipedeneri.org/

Nuns Criticized by Vatican for Being Too Feminist

The Vatican orthodoxy watchdog has ordered a crackdown on the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, the largest umbrella group for nuns in the U.S. The group has been accused of undermining the Roman Catholic teachings and promoting "certain radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith." An American archbishop was appointed to oversee the reform of the group.  The  Leadership Conference of Women Religious is also tied with NETWORK, which plays a key role in promoting Obamacare. This tie was questioned by the Catholic Church because Obama's health care overhaul will provide government funding for abortions. Sister Simone Campbell said, "Our position on health care was application of the one faith to a political document that we read differently than the bishops." The Vatican has reported that the group faced a "grave" doctrinal crisis, and that the group has made statements that "disagree with or challenge positions taken by the bishops." Many feel the Vatican's attack on the Leadership conference reflects the Church's misogyny, and consider their actions a insult to the nuns who teach, run hospitals, and play vital roles in the church.

Source:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/18/vatican-orders-crackdown-on-us-nun-association-leadership-conference-of-women-religious_n_1434866.html?ref=christianity

Progressive Muslims and Christians

A new group of Muslims is gaining followers in the U.S.: Muslims for Progressive Values. These Muslims believe that traditional practice of Islam is outdated, and they practice a more progressive form of Islam. They might marry outside the Muslim faith, they might be homosexual without repercussions, they might even drink alcohol. Women lead prayers, gay imams perform marriages, and men and women pray side by side. The Muslims for Progressive Values believe Islam needs to move forward, out of the past and into the future.

Christian churches are also moving forward and becoming more liberal. The Presbyterian Church, United Church of Christ, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Episcopal Church allow gay and women clergy. The United Methodist Church ordains women. 


Both of these movements are gravitating towards a liberal approach to their religion; they're moving away from the traditional practice.


Article:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/29/progressive-muslims-launch-gay-friendly-women-led-mosques_n_1368460.html?page=1