Note on my Fuller papers below:
In a couple of them I talked about barriers that VC is facing as it moves into God’s future for it. I listed 2 barriers in the papers: 1) fragmented society/people and 2) lack of common space. I had a third that I didn’t include for lack of time and it was not fully formed in my head.
The third barrier I would list is the need to develop, “flesh out”, live into a contextual theology for Cincinnati/Norwood/West Norwood/Vineyard Central. This contextual (or critically contextual, following Hiebert) theology would include a contextual ecclesiology, not to mention lots of other “ologies” (eschatology, pneumatology, sotierology, etc…. The reality is that we have been living out some of this theology already and a lot of good thinking has been done around a lot of these “ologies”.
There is a need, I think, to move toward a holistic and missional theology in our context. A few things I think are part of this process:
1) This is an ongoing, never “complete” process. The goal is not to come to finite conclusions. Rather it is an ongoing dialogue with the Spirit and the community that listens and reflects on what God is forming.
2) This is an inherently communal process. Open-source, dialogue, mutual respect all dominate this reality.
3) This is an inherently theocratic process. This does not contrict with the first two! In as much as we seek communal consensus and dialogue we do so in relation to God’s Reality/Presence/Kingdom. We don’t form something that revolves around us (anthropocentric), we respond and say “yes” to what God is forming in us.
4) This is a forward movement process. We are responding to God’s Spirit, but not in a retroactive sense. I’m not entirely sure about this, but I see this theologizing as essential for moving the community forward into what God is leading us into. This is different than letting pragamatism lead us.
Those are some initial thoughts on the matter. I’m not sure what all this leads too or even how to “do” community/contextual theology. But I think it is important to explore. If we are to be locally effective and theologically honest I think this is probably essential.
What do you think? What else is needed to develop a contextual theology for Norwood/Cincinnati? What other barriers to living into God’s future do we face?
