What Happens When A Church Loses Its Faith?

.
You see words like "postchristian", and you find people who "are Church", and you meet people who attend religious services on Sundays that are as unlike the religion we are used to as it is possible to be.

I can cope with fundamentalist Protestants; in fact, I sometimes like them: they have gone out looking for God's Will, and even if their discernment is shot to pieces, they have started from the right place and are aiming for the right place.

But what happens when the Church you belong to stops believing that its function is to bring people to a knowledge and love of God, and to his service?

This happens.

I came across this while trying to find out something about ekkklesia, a think tank Damian Thompson regularly (and, I now find, quite rightly) lambasts. I saw that one of its employees was a member of the Moot Community (although they seem to eschew the capital letter themselves as on a point of principle) and went out to find more about it.

"moot is a developing community of spiritual travellers who are seeking to find a means of living a life that is honest to god and honest to now. moot seeks to make connections and find inspirations in the meeting of faith, life and culture.

moot looks to the christian call for justice, equity and balance as a means of living politically and ethically. we recognise the inspiration of saints, mystics, philosophers and artists throughout the centuries.

moot seeks to live a christian spiritual rhythm of life through practicising presence, acceptance, creativity, balance, accountability and hospitality."

The politest thing that I can say is that this is the manifesto of the hermeneutic of rupture. If anybody cares enough to wade through the website to find out what these people do, be warned that you are in for a fairly boring experience: deep down, these people worship themselves.

I found this a couple of days ago and have been bothered ever since. (Mithered, to be absolutely accurate, but there's a few of you wouldn't get it.)

I think, somewhat tentatively, but with increasing assurance, that I'd rather somebody took up Free Presbyterianism than this. And this is far from being the rudest thing I could say.