GreggTownsley.com

What I Believe

As a former pastor and ex-Presbyterian, I attract a fair amount of attention. Some people wonder what’s changed. “Are you still a Christian?” is probably the most common question I get asked. And while I struggle with that term–who doesn’t, given the way some Christians act and have acted for centuries toward folks within and without their particular brand or disorder–I’m usually able to say “sure, if you give me a few moments to explain.”

When I was working as a full-time pastor–I still teach and preach with our Faithspring folks in Nevada and to a congregation or two of folks in Oregon–I’d be asked what kind of Christian I was. God, you’d think the question itself would cause people to think twice and be silent. Most of the time I’d tell them “a relational Christian,” knowing the word hardly said anything to folks who didn’t understand the brand. On other occasions, I’d simply shake my head.

I’ve been asked so many times for a label–you’ve had this experience, haven’t you?–that I’d begun to think that I was an item on a grocery shelf or restaurant menu for folks to pick and choose from. And while the question isn’t a healthy one–for you or for me, the thought of accepting another label in my life giving me a great deal of pause–I’m impressed enough with two terms that I want to talk about them in coming weeks. Ponder this, while you wait for the remainder of what I have to say on the topic.

With respect to my faith, I’m a Progressive Christian. And with respect to my practice–which has been frustrating to people for as long as I can remember–I’m a Deep Ecumenist.

If you have any idea what I’m talking about then you know that we’re brothers, or sisters, as the case may be. And if you don’t, then you’re about to find out that we’re related anyway. Which should make you happy…

Or not.

Which, in the creative covens of Christians who are deeply progressive and ecumenical, is very much the point.