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Religion, Politics and Theology by the Rev. Pat Hendrickson On Sunday, January 9th, we will begin a 6 week series looking at the role of the Church in politics. Hartshorn will begin the series with a lecture detailing the history of Evangelical Christians in the United States and the way Evangelicals view the bible and their theology of the "end times." Much of the lack of understanding between mainline Christians and Evangelicals and Pentecostals is grounded in the fact that we have vastly different histories, church polities and that we do, in fact, read scripture differently. This has led some commentators to posit the existence of "red" and "blue" churches as well as "red and blue" states. Are there, in fact, "two Americas" and "two Christianities?" The following weeks we will discuss "How to Talk Politics in Church" using a study guide put out by Sojourners Magazine. Founded in 1971, Sojourners is a progressive evangelical Christian ministry whose mission is to proclaim and practice the biblical call to integrate spiritual renewal and social justice. While the ultimate hope of God is that we humans overcome our sad divisions of denominationalism; the aim of this class is to provide a perspective on these divisions and a common language to enable us within the Anglican tradition to talk with each other. Well grounded in our own traditions and ethos, we are better able to reach out in understanding and compassion but also in power to articulate an alternative vision, a competing voice on the stage of public discourse. Those attending the class will need to sign up on the patio as each class entails preparing copies, weekly, of a series of readings for the next class session. The class will meet during the educational hour from 10-11 a.m. on Jan. 9, 16, 23, 30 and Feb. 6 and 13.
Copyright © 2004 St. Augustine by-the-Sea
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