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Question (Maddie): Does anyone have a solid / working definition of what ‘Evangelical’ actually means?

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Question (Maddie): Does anyone have a solid / working definition of what ‘Evangelical’ actually means?

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I think there may be several different versions of ‘Evangelical’ as a tradition or set of practices / beliefs... Or maybe it’s just being used to refer to slightly different things, in different places that I bump into it. It's confusing and bothering me, and doesn't seem to getting clearer the more I look and read. I wondered if anyone could help.

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One statement that has intrigued me is Yong,s discussion of the tension between charisma and institution in the church.

I have seen this tension in my own church Reformed church background.Young people in the church began encouraging practises such as speaking in tongues, prophecy and more expressive forms of prayer. They supported this by referring to the Bible,where it speaks about spiritual gifts and the work of the Holy Spirit.This represents the charismatic side of the Church,where there is openness to change and spiritual experience.

However they was resistance from leaders especially the old ones arguing that such practises are not part of the Reformed tradition and that the church should remain faithful to its established way of worship

This situation just now got to me after reading that the move of the spirit can challenge established structures leading to conflict

Cathy

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Elements of Christian tradition most important to my beliefs and practice

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Elements of Christian tradition most important to my beliefs and practice

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Liturgical calendar

I find the ebb and flow of the different periods across the church calendar both helpful to learning and to worship. Each season comes with a revisiting of things I haven't thought or prayed on for a while, and an opportunity appreciate God more fully. Periods like Christmas and then Easter through Pentecost help me to reflect on the life of Jesus and the presence of the Holy Spirit. So-called ordinary time allows deeper exploration into broader aspects of faith and God's nature.

Church liturgy

The repetitive nature of Sunday worship is important to both my beliefs and practice. At least half of each weekly service is identical, and often rote learned. One may argue such mechanical worship would be devoid of richness, but I believe something much deeper is allowed to flourish. Lines, phrases, or ideas suddenly emerge with a significance that they never had before. Hearing a single line in the Lord's Prayer in just the right way, and at the right time, can easily move one to tears of joy. It becomes easy to see the appeal of forms of worship like chanting!

Collective confession and prayer

In the church I attend we make a collective confession each Sunday. While this is something I also do in my prayers regularly, I still find this act meaningful to my belief and practice. It is something we are called to do in front of each other, so that we are held to account. Even if we do not know explicitly what each person is confessing, God knows our hearts. It is a very real forcing moment where not confessing, or doing so dishonestly, is to harden ones heart to God publicly. In reality it becomes a very real part of resetting the relationship with God each week, in preparation for communion, and being dismissed into the world with a renewed commitment to Christ.

Music

Music, like all art, has an amazing ability to give things clarity and create new perspectives. A choir can create a deep feeling of peace and connection when receiving communion. The depth of an organ can move and rouse an entire congregation. Lyrics can shape and place familiar scripture in a new light that inspires us. In most cases music and art also brings people together in the name of Jesus, often in a cross-denominational way that is almost impossible in most other contexts.

Summary

As I wrote this I think I spot a trend - elements of Christian tradition most important to my beliefs and practice are traditions that are collective, and draw people together.

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Which elements of Christian history/ tradition are least important to you/ do you know least about? What influence do you think this has on how you understand and practise faith? (Maddie again :)

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Which elements of Christian history/ tradition are least important to you/ do you know least about? What influence do you think this has on how you understand and practise faith? (Maddie again :)

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I have never really understood a lot of Anglo-Catholic/ Roman Catholic/  beliefs or practices, although I have tried to learn about them, and spent time in both traditions. I grew up in an Anglo-Catholic church (birth-16 years old), and went to a Roman Catholic Sixth Form (16-18 years old).

At my Roman Catholic Sixth Form I observed a lot of hypocrisy in terms of how people conducted themselves in different contexts (‘jumping the hoop’ for church on Sundays vs. behaving in contradictory ways in ‘real life’… And then confessing, and starting the cycle again). This made me really angry and sad.  I don’t know if it’s something it’s somehow linked to ‘needing’ a particular place and set of practices to ‘do’ faith? Anyway, I think it led me toward being more comfortable with a ‘lower church’ set of practices, and a focus on having ‘living faith’, rather than faith being something we shut in a box for Sundays. I think it also means I avoid this style of practice or worship now.

(This is my own experience / opinion / reflections only, of particular places at particular times, and is not meant as a comment on any other Anglo-Catholic/ Roman Catholic people or settings)

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Which elements of Christian history/ tradition are most important to your beliefs and practice? Can you identify why? (It's Maddie :)

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Which elements of Christian history/ tradition are most important to your beliefs and practice? Can you identify why? (It's Maddie :)

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I’m still working this out! I’ve spent time in a number of different Christian traditions (Anglo-Catholic, Roman Catholic, Quaker, cross-denominational, Anglican-Methodist… Etc.).

1. Scripture. Increasingly, I really value and appreciate having my own personal relationship with scripture. I think about the passages more deeply when I approach passages as an ‘enquirer’, rather than more passively.

2. Music. I love Christian faith music from lots of traditions (choral music, taize, ancient and modern hymns, modern worship songs). Engaging with this music doesn’t have to be within a church setting for me. I get a sense of being ‘outside myself’ with music, which can be really helpful reflecting on the messages of scripture or teaching.

3. Fresh ideas. I think innovation and ‘trying out’ different things is really important - so that people can experience God in ways that feel relevant now, or support fresh insights. Although as the Mike Higton chapter said, changing things often has unforeseen ripples, which can make this tricky.

4. Ancient and ecumenical links. Reading this week’s Yong chapter surprised me. I didn’t know the Nicene Creed was that old, or its history, or that it shared that many links with other denominations. I have a renewed sense of this being an incredibly meaningful aspect of my Christian faith. I suppose there’s something in there for me about links with history and a long line of Christians, along with a feeling of being ‘joined up’ in an ecumenical sense. I think there is often a temptation to focus on differences between traditions, rather than emphasising and celebrating similarities - which in turn, means helpful or important things can get lost - and we can almost define ourselves by exclusion.

5. Sola gratia.  I’ve got myself in a bit of a tangle reading on a slight tangent about the Solas referred to from the Reformation, and which traditions see which as important.  But, if I am understanding correctly, the sola gratia concept feels like a ‘backbone’ to my Christian faith and beliefs. My understanding of it is that everything, even our faith, is God-given - and that God’s grace doesn’t have to be earned.  Although that shouldn’t stop us trying to be good people and do good things, too!

Ephesians states this really well for me - ‘God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.’

This concept has a really big impact on how I think about my faith - it’s something I frame in an inclusive, positive, and life-affirming way. I think I would struggle practising my faith in a context / tradition that didn’t hold this concept as core.

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Which elements of Christian history are least important to me

. i would want to talk about the development of liturgical practises. I think rather than doing things in a certain order or pattern just allow the spirit of God to take charge the way it wants .People end up doing things as a custom thats my thinking.

What influence it has on my faith

When i,m at my church where liturgy is done i see that they is that unification amoungst congregats though i strongly think service can be conducted anyhow i appreciate that with liturgy everyone is included from the young ones to the old

Unlike the opposite though it lifts my spirit just to let the holy spirit flow any how, i also realise that in such a set up it can be flexible and personalised yes but less rooted

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Least important elements of tradition to me

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Least important elements of tradition to me

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The first time I went to a service at the cathedral I found it very rude to be constantly interrupted by the priest's mobile text message alert beeps. Only afterwards when I mentioned this to someone did they explain it was actually a bell of the "bells and smells" tradition!!!

For me, traditions around church decorations, symbolism, clothing, and smells, do not feel important at all. I don't find them upsetting or distracting, even if sometimes they are confusing.

“Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” - Mat. 18:19,20

While I appreciate this passage comes from quite a dangerously interpreted section of scripture, I like the reassurance that we only need to gather in the name of Jesus for God to be there through his Spirit.

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I think these worshiping traditions are perhaps also the ones where I have the least knowledge. I have no idea why bells are used! I've never really had any cause to find out, and just accept the oddities that happen in church. I think also the church are amazingly bad at ever explaining them to people.

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