Leaving Home for St Matthew-in-the-city



(St Matthew-in-the-city)

David Keighley, an Anglican priest with progressive beliefs, wrote a “personal statement” titled Leaving Home.  In it, he states:  I’m off!  I must leave the political and ethical compromises that have corrupted the faith of my Jesus.

According to Keighley, these “compromises” include the following:  “stifling theology…  patriarchal structures… enduring prejudices…  the God of miracle and magic…  the neurotic religious desire to know that I am right…  the claim that every other pathway to God is second-rate…”  In order to escape these compromises, he feels he must “leave the Church, my home” and “move to a place where I can once again sing the Lord’s song.” 

More pungently, he concludes:  I must move to a place where they are not playing at moving the deck

chairs on the decks of an ecclesiastical Titanic.

This new place that Keighley seeks might just be St. Matthew’s of Auckland, New Zealand.  The St. Matthew’s website lets Keighley and all others know just what to expect at St. Matthew’s.  First off, you won’t find “a prayer group…  a Bible study group…  a women’s fellowship…  a men’s one either…  a Sunday school…  a Youth group.”  Oh, these things might “occasionally happen, but in a very unconventional way.”  There is also no pressure on individuals to get involved in the usual church ways (such as fundraising).  Worship services are compared to bonfires that travelers can “stop for a while” at - or not.

What you can expect at St. Matthew’s are “a commitment to social justice and radical theology…  excellent preaching…  people from many races and classes, backgrounds and viewpoints.”  You can also expect to feel both “comforted and challenged.”  You can chose to be a part of all this in person and/or via computer.

Although St. Matthew’s is an Anglican church, it focuses upon having its own “personality” within that denomination.  This “personality” embraces “Progressive Christianity” – which in turn favors spirituality and ethical living over “right belief or proper worship.”

Resources

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/billboard-depicts-virgin-mary-holding-pregnancy-test-150612060.html

http://www.stmatthews.org.nz/nav.php?sid=437

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Matthew's,_Auckland

Copyright December 17, 2011 by Linda Van Slyke  All Rights Reserved