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Showing posts from September 16, 2012

Considerations on Church-Renewing Movements 5

As William Abraham continues to tackle renewal movements in his book " The Logic of Renewal " (see my previous posts to get up to speed if you’re just joining in), he turns to the area of discernment; “5. This leads naturally to a fifth point. Like it or not, there is no firm calculus for making good judgments in this arena. Perhaps this is why some people stay clear of the whole business of renewal. They are acutely aware that, in thinking about renewal, what is ultimately needed is a very rich gift of ecclesial and spiritual discernment. It is easy to go astray; more specifically, it is easy to fall prey to a kind of utopianism. ( . . . ) On the one hand, people who crave for radical and substantial change often feel very incompetent and helpless. In such circumstances, they are liable to follow any leader who is confident enough to lead them to revival. On the other hand, there are leaders who are only too keen to become spiritual dictators. They can easily develop spu