Paul Wilczynski's Observations

Questions about the church's role

Prophet Motive's Tom Schade, Associate Minister of the First Unitarian Church of Worcester, Massachusetts, discusses the role of the Free Church in the politcal life of the nation. He begins ...

The traditional position of the Free Church is that it inspires private and personal action, but does nothing that would create a de-facto political creed. The preacher may preach with passion on the issues of the day, but the church is cautious about taking positions itself, out of respect for the rights of those who would disagree. On the other hand, there is an alternative stance, which you could call the Crisis Stance. At certain times in history, the free church acts to defend and promote its basic principles in the society at large, generally during times of intense political and social crisis: the civil rights movement, the anti Vietnam war period. There is both a gain and a loss for the church, as an institution, in doing so. The church serves as a center of popular mobilization, but it also defines itself in such a way that it repels as many as it attracts.

posted by Paul Wilczynski @ 7:17 AM