Brian McLaren speaking at SSW

Last evening I had the opportunity to hear a talk by one of the great forward thinkers of theology in today's world, Brian McLaren.

Since we were at an Episcopalian Seminary the message was mainly to the Episcopalian crowd although most of it could be applied to any mainline church in America, or probably the world.

One observation was that the Episcopal Church comprises, for the most part, the upper income caucasion members. The growth churches are largely evanglical. Studies seem to indicate that college educated young people are not attracted to the church. They are turned off by the theological debates on what is right and what is wrong, therefore, they find other things to occupy their Sundays.

Furthermore, the emphasis of the mainline church on the church being the key to get you to heaven rather than to shine a light into the world and live out the teachings of Jesus. His point was that Jesus did not come into this world to establish a church; he came into this world to bring the message that the Kingdom of Heaven is here. His message was for us to share that message to everyone. The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand and you do not have to go to church to get there.

The Episcopal Church should be welcoming with open arms gays and lesbians into the church as a beginning to reach out to everyone. The church should be equipping each of their members to go out into the world to invite others to be a part of this wonderful community of people who are there to share with each other and to help others. It is about welcoming everyone with open arms and it is about living out the teachings of Jesus.

Finally, McLaren believes the hope of peace in the world lies with the teachings of Jesus on how to live. Not that one must believe that Jesus was the son of God or that Jesus is God, but that he was a great and wonderful teacher whose teachings can heal the world. All relegions recognize Jesus as a great teacher and prophet; can't we just go with that and not feel we have to win souls by declaring that Jesus was the son of God. We are all sons and daughters of God. If we take away the theology of Jesus' message and view it as a way of peace here on earth, therefore, to the Kingdom of God, the chance of bringing healing to the world is much greater.

So is the mainline church dead? No, but it is on life support. One way to change is to plant new churches and give them the freedom to try new and different things. Sort of a lab experiment. Those things that are working you can gradually implement them into the mainline church. You have to continue to plant churches to keep from getting stale and to find new and fresh ideas.