So, what began as a conversation at a coffee shop, became a weekly conversation between Rodney Martin and me. Rodney is a progressive Mennonoite pastor in Lititz. He has the missional/emergent DNA and is involved in dialogue with the Greek Orthodox church.
Rodney and I invited Brian to join the conversation, which has become a missional order. We are a sort of brotherhood, meeting weekly for intentional prayer, dwelling in the Word, and conversation. We are growing. We have invited Ryan, a cutting edge emergent/postmodern community leader from the Brethren church. And we have invited Shawn, B in C church planter, who is building a community of faith in the city of Lancaster called Inner metro green. We will continue to invite others to become part of this order or way of life. We see ourselves as the next wave of catholic evangelicals, who envision and embody a missional communion as the body of Christ in our local context. We do not need to create a theological statement of commonality in order to practice the gospel together. This Monday afternoon we will celebrate the Eucharist together! We are using a daily lectionary and prayerbook published by the Lutherans. We will read 1 Corinthians 11 as a common source of our practice of the Lord's Supper. We will pray Hippolytus' eucharistic prayer and use other prayers from the pre-schismatic orthodox church as a visible practice of unity. This is amazing. Unprecendented? Maybe. Have Lutherans and anabaptists shared a commitment to WOrd and Sacrament fellowship, and a commitment to becoe the church in mission together, too? I know many ministeriums that server their communities together. But do they celebrate sacramental worship? My hope is that this fellowship evolves, expands, and develops a mission of hospitality whereby leaders from a variety of traditions might come to the one table to share the bread of life.
No comments:
Post a Comment