Features
Still on pilgrimage: Churches uniting in Christ
The months preceding the 18th plenary of the Consultation on Church Union, held in St. Louis in January, were marked by no little anxiety and anticipation. Though by 1996 eight of the nine communions had voted by significant majorities to enter into "covenant communion," the Episcopal Church, which had in earlier years provided extraordinary leadership and influence in COCU, had not signed on.
When congregations are stuck
We often hear that two-thirds to three-fourths of American congregations are in decline or at a plateau with regard to membership. They are stuck where they are, immobilized by a flat growth line and in many cases by dwindling resources of time and money. Some of these churches are also stuck in old patterns of functioning and seldom think of changing unless some major event forces them to take a new look at their circumstances. Others are stuck in despair. Members are tired and discouraged. Perhaps their congregations are mere shadows of what they used to be.
Being postliberal: A response to James Gustafson
The editors have asked me--as, I assume, some sort of certified postliberal--to respond to James Gustafson's questions. For several reasons, I was probably a fool to agree.
Voices
Miroslav Volf
Remember that you will die
A metal door opened, and we were invited in. Draped sloppily in white linen was a body on a table, frozen and immovable. I immediately recognized the feet, and then, after taking a step, I saw the beloved face. I bent over and gave the cold forehead one final kiss. A wind of deep sadness shook my whole body and my eyes welled up with tears. I had just arrived in Osijek, Croatia, where my father had died three days earlier. I wanted to see him and touch him one last time. Him? "He is not here," I said to my sister after I had composed myself. "This is only his body."