St. George’s church in Lowville is progressive. They don’t believe anything in particular, other than the sanctity of diversity: you can make the Bible say anything you want, so long as you don’t think it is actually true:
Unity in diversity
To write “What we believe” does not mean that every member of the parish must have the same beliefs. That would be inconsistent with our position that Christians must interpret Scripture for themselves.St. Paul was clear about this. A Christian community, which he called the Body of Christ, is the sum of its members’ gifts and abilities. We may each interpret our faith in our own way.
Even better, you don’t have to be a Christian, since Jesus is merely a doorway to something more important: the sacred in our lives, an elevated state that can also be reached through other religions:
Our theology is broadly compatible with that of the organization Progressive Christianity. We accept the life and teachings of Jesus Christ as a doorway to greater awareness of the sacred in our lives. However, we accept that other faith traditions can offer insights into sacred wisdom.
I’ve saved the best until last: we aren’t sinners! There is no judgment. We don’t need saving. We don’t need a Saviour.
We don’t need a church. Oops.
Coming to church on Sundays should be a joy, not a duty. The modern Anglican perspective is that we are worthy to be in God’s presence, not ‘miserable sinners’. That is why we make our Sunday worship joyful, not gloomy.
Like the followers of St. Francis of Assisi, we stress the goodness and joy of the natural world. We celebrate our physicality as part of our sacredness, which mirrors the coming into the world of Jesus Christ as Son of God.
Like us, Franciscans follow whats (sic) called an alternative orthodoxy, and reject the doctrine of Original Sin. That is the belief that we were all born sinful, awaiting and expecting punishment from a vengeful and judgemental God. The idea comes from a particular reading of the book of Genesis Chapter 3, which describes the disobedience of the mythical first people. Instead we believe that God’s Spirit of goodness and love is present within us from the moment of our creation.
“Mythical First Peoples” In the Mythical Book of Stories, I guess.
Stick your head out the window and you’ll hear me groaning all the way from Burlington.
It is simply not true that Franciscans reject the doctrine of original sin. He formed his little brothers (fratres minores or Friars Minor) as an order of penance. Without sin, there is no need for penance.
Dear Lord, they are going to be shocked at the judgment seat.
This kind of ‘church’ is a dark lighthouse, the antithesis of what it pretends to be.
If memory serves me, this was formerly a fairly orthodox Anglican parish when we lived in Guelph. We had friends who attended there.
My heart goes out to the children pictured on the homepage of their website. They are too young to know that they are being blatantly deceived by adults who should know better than to force this neo-Gnostic drivel on them.
‘Progressive Christianity’ is not Christianity at all. It is a different religion that simply doesn’t have the courage to say so. Thankfully, God is not mocked. ‘Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.’ Galatians 6:7
I believe this is Bishop Charlie Masters old parish. As for their “beliefs”, if you read further along they say they don’t like the God of the Old Testament and instead prefer to focus on Jesus Christ, which is Marcionism. No doubt they think they’re smart, clever and cutting edge, when in reality they’re just recycling 1800 year old heresies.
And this from a church whose vicar is a Wycliffe College grad! Having read and listened to some of their sermons, we have a vicar escaping from a narrow, dogmatic childhood faith. Very similar to Marcus Borg, John Spong etc. Finding your way back to a robust orthodox faith is much harder than escaping the strictures of old. The real tragedy here, having experienced such sermons myself, is that such work really must be done in private and not from the pulpit.