By Viola Larson, Naming His Grace blog
There were these among the church in her early days:
These are the men who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever (Jude 12-13).
The church has always been so troubled:
Kindred Spirits, a 1001 New Worshiping Community, although involved in spirituality, is not a Christian ministry. The organization, Kindred Spirits Retreats, offers get-togethers for small groups for dinner encounters and retreats for gay men including those who are bisexual and transgender. Their spirituality is best expressed on a different site, Men of Spirit. As part of their retreats description they state, “Kindred Spirit Retreats are not affiliated with any religious organization or structured pattern of belief. Kindred Spirit Retreats is a personal growth community that creates a space for gay men to build friendships, receive encouraging support, and self-discovery.”
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Sooooooooo, this is where the blackmail money goes, helping people who are on the slip and slide to hell get there faster. Good one louisville, just keep on knockin ’em out of the park.
If the reference to “blackmail” money, is implied to the money extorted from departing congregations, it is hard to draw a 1-1 relationship between 1001 and the blood money of the PCUSA. A more typical use of these types of money is that say the Presbytery is able to extort 100K from departing church X. About 60% or .60 on the dollar typically goes to servicing debt. Pay for staff, pay legal bills, buildings, replenish per capita accounts local to that Presbyerty. 30% is typically recycled as walking around money for the EP and Presbyerty council to reward their various friends and pet projects. Actually only 10% is usually used to these new church or whatever developments. So even when they do get the preverbal blood from a stone, they really are not all that good in wise application of that.
The really sad thing is that in many of these conflicted congregations, those who remain, what the PCUSA or Presbytery calls the “true church” are really left many times to fend for themselves. The lawyers all get paid, the PCUSA coffers get serviced, and in many cases these few members left behind are out of the building or the street themselves in a rather quick fashion. Or merge or just fade away. Sad indeed.
So this is a UCC program,I guess or as they are known as “unitarains considering Christ”, either way not good, if it’s meant to be a spirit journey so be it, but to lump Christ in this with this clearly false doctrine, such Ruth and Naomi hooking up, thats a bridge too far.
The author of this blog certainly has a fetish for 1001 New Worshiping Communities. She can’t stop writing about them.
Any disagreement with the substance of Viola Larson’s reporting, or just an attack on her for exposing some troubling developments?
Hardly an attack, John.
The author clearly has an axe to grind with 1001.
We have a group in our presbytery called “Kindred Spirits” who are fighting the presbytery in PJC. Are they a part of this Kindred Spirit movement? Some are now saying it is a national movement of ‘alternative’ lifestyle. Why don’t they come out and say it? Our presbytery has enough trouble as it is.