Quotables
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"The church always walks the tightrope between acculturation and irrelevance. Both are dangers that must..." by Pete Hammond
"...the world uses an insidious strategy to thwart God's design: It infiltrates the church with..." by Paul Minus
"I believe that critical loyalty is worthwhile, that resistance is meaningful, renewal possible and that..." by Hans Kung
"Wouldn't it be more honest, as well as better theology, to name our churches something..." by Pete Hammond
"The church is the direct preparation for the kingdom, having within herself the strength of..." by Yves Congar
"Those who labor for reform and renewal of the church must cultivate the virtue of..." by Yves Congar
"The Christian church, in its climb to power, often claimed to be the lover of..." by Peter Brown
"The church has begun to recognize other types of spiritual contributions. 'Every baptized person has..." by Dean Lih
"Now help us understand that, as we leave this sacred house of God, we shall..." by Anonymous
"Much of today's development of pastors will produce full heads and empty hearts. I see..." by Fred Smith
"The early church went against the grain regularly. They quietly picked up and adopted 'exposed..." by Pete Hammond
"This kind of Christianity is an other worldly kingdom, a private inwardly limited spirit, a..." by Orlando Costas
"We function as if Christians were bionic creatures, wired to operate independently of each other..." by Pete Hammond
"I believe in the priesthood of the believer and not the exaltation of the pastor..." by Jimmy Carter
"Initiatives will continue to monitor the labor movement as it organizes the unorganized and the..."
"The church needs to use the long established business method of 'SWOT' to find its..." by Jim Russell
"The church is the only institution founded for non-members." by Archbishop William Temple
"We are being called to be midwives for a new church..." by Loren Mead
"Clericalism - like sin - is carrying a good thing too far.... It is my..." by Loren Mead
"What is said (today) at church undergirds the new paradigm. What is done tends to..." by Loren Mead
"All the uncertainties and changes of an emerging age of ministry come to a head..." by Loren Mead
"The early Christians understood that what was most important was not to claim physical power..."
"(In a debate with one of George Bernard Shaw=s disciples) Jackson: 'Truth is one's own..." by G.K. Chesterton
"After two thousand years of compromise and concordats, with every sort of social system, the..." by G.K. Chesterton
"'Take away theology and give us some nice religion' has been a popular slogan for..." by Dorothy Sayers
"We do not find the Holy Spirit only where the Church is; rather we find..." by Helen Shoemaker
"Dr. Sam.... has always been quick to say he was not perfect, and that all..." by Helen Shoemaker
"Because the kingdom of God has been dropped as the primary and comprehensive aim of..." by Paul Minus
"Those who follow Jesus Christ continue his work of spreading the kingdom ways of justice,..." by Paul Minus
"Over-functioning clergy are caught in a dysfunctional pattern that has a terrible parallel outcome -..." by Pete Hammond
"One way of grasping our church problem is to remember that 'mission' belongs to God..." by Pete Hammond
"In my father's view - and I think he was right in this - the..." by John Ashcroft
"...in a situation where millions of people are threatened in their very existence, we have..." by Mary Glazener
"Regarding mistakes in mission: Laws were made to anglicize the Irish, instead of efforts to..." by Warren Nelson
"[Speaking of the institutional church] A rigid but ludicrous censorship was in force. Religion was..." by Warren Nelson
"[Regarding renewal in the Australian church] But there was a debit side: the emphasis was..." by Warren Nelson
"[Speaking more on church renewal in Australia] Church leaders looked more to an involvement with..." by Warren Nelson
"A[On the decline of the church in Ireland] Sadly, many members of these denominations had..." by Warren Nelson
"Consecration is more than chorus singing, more than prayer meetings, more than conventions. Consecration is..." by Warren Nelson
"[In a personal letter Bonhoeffer declared} I threw myself into work in a very unchristian..." by Eberhard Bethge, Bonheoffer
"...the church has an unconditional obligation to the victims of any social order, regardless of..." by Eberhard Bethge, Bonheoffer
"During this past year I've come to know and understand more and more the profound..." by Eberhard Bethge, Bonheoffer
"The institutional church operates on a belief or conviction model that tends towards conserving a..." by Jon Smoot
"Protestants claim to have restored the only proper two Biblical sacraments of Baptism and Communion..." by Pete Hammond
"The reason why the churches are discredited today is not that they are too bigoted..." by Dorothy L. Sayers
"In America, the church is owned by the clergy. That is what clericalism means.... Clericalism,..." by Loren Mead
"It seems to me that clergy assume that the laity know almost nothing about spiritual..." by Pete Hammond
"Responding to the question, 'What does it take to make a good theologian?' Martin Luther..." by Martin Luther
"Theology and Bible knowledge that doesn't suffer is doubtful in its benefit. Martin Luther responded..." by Robert Banks
"On balance: No one should be. God is and the church can be over the..." by Robert Banks
"Orthodoxy needs orthopraxy and both need ortho-pathy." by Robert Banks
"His family had been leaders in community and church for three generations. He was currently..." by Pete Hammond
"Worship does not satisfy our hunger for God; it whets our appetite." by Eugene H. Peterson
"The church must be reminded that it is not the master of the state, but..." by Martin Luther King
"Before [I met a certain priest], I was an emotional Catholic. I would pray when..." by Ricardo Montalban
"Sickness is a signal or invitation to focus our attention inwardly to restore our body..." by Pete Hammond
"All groups have reward systems - both official ones and informal ones. These are built..." by Pete Hammond
"Holiness is beneficial to others rather than judgmental of them." by Pete Hammond
"Ministry is not the 'haves' delivering their gems to the 'have nots!' It is mutually..." by Antoinette Betschart
"The Christian faith began in Palestine as a life centered in Christ, moved to Greece..." by Dick Halverson
"Government should, and does have the right, to define crime. The church should be busy..."
"The celebration of the Sabbath is an announcement to the world that we will be..." by John Leax
"The existence of evil and suffering in the world is a proof, not that God..." by D.R. Davies
"Pilgrims often become fugitives when their eternal kingdom goes against the temporal system." by P. Hammond
"Martin Luther revised his Bible translation 90 times in his lifetime. It has been revised..." by Rev. Craig Barnes
"True ministry happens when deep gladness meets human need." by Craig Barnes
"William James, author in psychology and religion said: "To most people religion was either an..." by William James
"Heaven knows there was little, if any, effort to teach us how to preach. You..." by Andrew Greeley
"Even as Jehovah chose to shock Israel into reality through the Egyptian and Babylonian captivities,..." by Pete Hammond
"Without the high hope of adventure, Religion degenerates into a mere appendage of a comfortable..." by Alfred North Whitehead
"In religion and politics, we seem to have less love for those who believe half..." by Charles Colson
"It is a great mistake to think that God is chiefly interested in religion." by William Temple
"Medieval Christians were required to tithe - donate a full ten percent of their incomes..." by Tim Unsworth
"If Christian methods and structures are too alien, people remain unreached, but if they are..." by Os Guinness
"The minister cannot lead as the commander-in-chief nor as the clerk of the works nor..." by Wm. F. May
"The church has become an isolated reservation for people who have specialized religious needs." by Hendrick Kraemer
"There is an arrogance among Christians that equates God's activity with service to the institutional..." by Anne Rowthorn
"In the future there will be a growing number of seniors ministering to communities....In l987..." by Wm. Rademacher
"In the Scriptures the word 'minister' is a verb (a thing done); now it is..." by Nelvin Vos
"The l990's could be a period of remarkable renewal in the church in America if....churches..." by George Gallup Jr.
"The church is too much like a football game where 22 professionals are on the..." by E. Trueblood
"If the church is primarily an institution, then rules predominate, exclusivity happens, loyalty becomes too..." by Pete Hammond
"The church is essentially an unequal society. That is, it is a society formed by..." by Pope Pius X
"What should our attitude be toward this world? Aware of its bondage to evil, oppression,..." by Pete Hammond
"We have been the church gathered.
We now become the church scattered.
Remember: Wherever you..."
"The most neglected dimension of church life is the laity who live, work and sometimes..." by Pete Hammond
"Why do we say a church is ‘vacant’ when there is no senior pastor but..." by Pete Hammond
"[Missionary] Roland Allen observed that the ordained often gather ‘all authority into their own hands’..."
"There is a distinction between church work and the work of the church. Church work..." by Dick Halverson
"The church building is the headquarters of the army of the committed - a base..." by Elton Trueblood
"While most of our churches would like to catch new fish, the only fish we..." by George Hunter
"The church has in common with the chimney sweep that it cannot do its job..." by Roy Pearson
"The official church wastes time and energy, and moreover, commits sacrilege, in demanding that secular..." by Dorothy Sayers
"The church has generally had a tension between institutional and prophetic elements, with laity largely..." by Father Gerald Foley
"The wretched theologians! They have forgotten two things - the laymen and the Holy Spirit." by Father Gerald Foley
"Churches are moving away from training people for ordained clergy positions and toward equipping the..." by Sidney DeWaal
"Most Protestant denominations have been as priest-ridden as the Roman Catholics. It is the minister,..." by David Watson
"Since the Gregorian Reform the church has built a Berlin Wall between the sacred and..." by Wm. Rademacher
"Congar goes on to describe the choices for sainthood in the medieval church as “models..." by Yves Congar
"The church, like the gathering and dispersion of the blood in the body, is a..." by Paul Stevens
"In a fine historical, exegetical and theological study of the practice of ordination, Vancouver scholar..." by Paul Stevens
"The Christian army is a very strange one. It’s the only one where you get..." by Harvey Cox
"Church-goer is a vulgar, ignorant word and should never be used. You cannot go to..." by Elton Trueblood
"The how-tos of doing Ministry In Daily Life are too readily ignored by clergy. There..." by Bill Diehl
"Our church roles are loaded with dead timber. Church membership is frequently a handicap, because..." by Abraham Vereide
"Perhaps the most significant change in the so-called process of secularization has brought to the..." by B. Wilson
"Reaping what is sown, the church in the United States became a church of ministries,..." by Virginia Sullivan Finn
"Let us dream of a church....[of] constant renewal for all.... denying the separation between secular..." by Josephine Borgeson and Lynn Wilson, Editors
"We have developed what Herman Stuempfle calls “a split level church. On the lower level,..." by Nelvin Vos
"Pastors, in concert with the laity, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit function as..." by Peck and Hoffman
"The laity are not a bridge between church and the world; laity are the church." by Leonard Doohan
"After two thousand years, where are the lay saints canonized for their integration of Christianity..." by Anne Rowthorn
"The first and most serious injury to the body was the cutting off - the..." by Anne Rowthorn
"We often hear the clergy lament that `the laity don’t support the church.’ But the..." by Anne Rowthorn
"The local bar often communicates a more accepting atmosphere than the church. In the midst..." by Bruce Larson
"The Communist period has also taught the Church that while faith demands expression in the..." by Zbigniew Nosowski, religion editor of a Polish magazine
"One pastor asked the other, ‘How many members does your church have?’ The reply came..." by Unknown
"In the middle ages, some lay folk insisted on being dressed in religious habits in..." by Bishop Raymond Lucker
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