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Post-congregational narrative is a term used by some who describe themselves as followers of Christ (Christians) to refer to the experience of intentionally pursuing their faith outside the traditional congregational setting. The word "narrative" in this sense refers to their stories or journeys, both individually and collectively. Likewise, "congregational narrative" had become a term that many of these people had used to describe traditional church life in their assertions that it wasn't necessarily the only way to follow Christ.
Adherents believe they are no less intentional about following Christ and connecting to other Christians, and in many cases, have created other ways of connecting, sometimes functioning over long distances through the internet. Some of the good works of the traditional congregation are replicated in these more loose associations. Meetings, when they occur are more often impromptu. They also claim that personal relationships are the starting point of their connection to the church, rather than personal relationships being a product of a connection with a traditional congregation.
Historically, the church has been doubtful of the possibility of being a follower of Christ and not connecting to a community of believers. This begins with the biblical injunction "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing" (Hebrews 10:25). The Nicene Creed, makes the statement "I believe in one, holy catholic, apostolic church." Cyprian of Carthage's well known phrase Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus and the thought "he cannot have God for his father who has not the church for his mother" both combine to make the same point. More recently Lesslie Newbigin said "The New Testament knows nothing of a relationship with Christ which is purely mental and spiritual, unembodied in any of the structures of human relationship."[1]
There is some overlap between people identifying with the post-congregational narrative and other movements, especially the emerging church and what gets loosely referred to as "post-modern" Christianity. Some shared areas of concern between these two groups are spiritual transformation, community, social justice and the environment. Many of these Christians have grown up in theologically conservativeevangelical churches that were also politically conservative and have concluded that the former kind of conservatism does not necessarily require the latter.
Some authors who have struck a nerve in this community are Dallas Willard, author of The Divine Conspiracy and Renovation of the Heart; George Barna, author of Revolution; Wayne Jacobsen, co-author of So You Don't Want to Go to Church Anymore and Jim Wallis, author of God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It.
Selected articlesedit
"Ten Myths About Church Leavers" by Alan Jamieson. Reality Magazine, Issue 32, Apr-May 1999. pp. 21–24
Selected publicationsedit
Jamieson, Alan. A Churchless Faith. London: SPCK, 2002.
Jamieson, Alan et al. Church Leavers: Faith Journeys Five Years On. London: SPCK, 2006.
Colsen, Jake. So You Don't Want to Go to Church Anymore. Moorpark, CA: Lifestream Press, 2006.
Referencesedit
^Lesslie Newbigin The Finality of Christ (London: SCM, 1969) 106
January 01, 1970
post, congregational, narrative, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, j. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Post congregational narrative news newspapers books scholar JSTOR April 2015 Learn how and when to remove this message The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia s general notability guideline Please help to demonstrate the notability of the topic by citing reliable secondary sources that are independent of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond a mere trivial mention If notability cannot be shown the article is likely to be merged redirected or deleted Find sources Post congregational narrative news newspapers books scholar JSTOR January 2023 Learn how and when to remove this message Post congregational narrative is a term used by some who describe themselves as followers of Christ Christians to refer to the experience of intentionally pursuing their faith outside the traditional congregational setting The word narrative in this sense refers to their stories or journeys both individually and collectively Likewise congregational narrative had become a term that many of these people had used to describe traditional church life in their assertions that it wasn t necessarily the only way to follow Christ Contents 1 Description 2 Selected articles 3 Selected publications 4 ReferencesDescription editAdherents believe they are no less intentional about following Christ and connecting to other Christians and in many cases have created other ways of connecting sometimes functioning over long distances through the internet Some of the good works of the traditional congregation are replicated in these more loose associations Meetings when they occur are more often impromptu They also claim that personal relationships are the starting point of their connection to the church rather than personal relationships being a product of a connection with a traditional congregation Historically the church has been doubtful of the possibility of being a follower of Christ and not connecting to a community of believers This begins with the biblical injunction Let us not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing Hebrews 10 25 The Nicene Creed makes the statement I believe in one holy catholic apostolic church Cyprian of Carthage s well known phrase Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus and the thought he cannot have God for his father who has not the church for his mother both combine to make the same point More recently Lesslie Newbigin said The New Testament knows nothing of a relationship with Christ which is purely mental and spiritual unembodied in any of the structures of human relationship 1 There is some overlap between people identifying with the post congregational narrative and other movements especially the emerging church and what gets loosely referred to as post modern Christianity Some shared areas of concern between these two groups are spiritual transformation community social justice and the environment Many of these Christians have grown up in theologically conservative evangelical churches that were also politically conservative and have concluded that the former kind of conservatism does not necessarily require the latter Some authors who have struck a nerve in this community are Dallas Willard author of The Divine Conspiracy and Renovation of the Heart George Barna author of Revolution Wayne Jacobsen co author of So You Don t Want to Go to Church Anymore and Jim Wallis author of God s Politics Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn t Get It Selected articles edit Ten Myths About Church Leavers by Alan Jamieson Reality Magazine Issue 32 Apr May 1999 pp 21 24Selected publications editJamieson Alan A Churchless Faith London SPCK 2002 Jamieson Alan et al Church Leavers Faith Journeys Five Years On London SPCK 2006 Colsen Jake So You Don t Want to Go to Church Anymore Moorpark CA Lifestream Press 2006 References edit Lesslie Newbigin The Finality of Christ London SCM 1969 106 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Post congregational narrative amp oldid 1173509257, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
