In its infancy

In talking about unity and diversity and inclusion within the church, I was inspired by a thought: any way you slice it, an orange is an orange. Wedges or slices or segments, they are still orange. Blend them with vanilla yogurt in a smoothie, open a carton of OJ, add sugar and water for orangeade--still orange. They smell like orange, they taste like orange, they have orange integrity, if you will. So should the church. As we move from a modern way of doing church into whatever the future holds (my contention is that postmodernism is a phase, but who knows what's next?), I'm curious to see how we'll slice the orange that is our faith, and what the finished product will be. Any way you slice it, an orange is an orange. Thanks to the folks who have read this site and posted comments; you are all a big help! Come back and see how it's going as I transition this blog to a survey of a few online church presences and hopefully come out with a successful look at postmodern ecclesiologies from a practical perspective. Coming soon: Interviews with: * Amy Forbus, Digital Community Builder at the United Methodist Reporter and my blogging consultant * Jay Voorhees, UM pastor and preacher at Church of Fools, an online worship experiment of Ship of Fools and the Methodist Church in Great Britain * Jacqui King, pastor and planter of Nu Faith Community UMC, a new brick and mortar church and online church *Phil Wyman, pastor of The Gathering in Salem, Mass, and a pioneer in ministry to the Wiccan and neo-Pagan communities there (this interview will not take place until after Nov. 12; please check back to see it!) Reviews of some online ministry presences with an eye towards how they help people make and maintain connections to the church and to Christ

Through a glass dimly

Wondering what "church" might look like in 50 years. Will we be inclusive to the degree that the Bible is irrelevant, or only one of many sacred texts? Will we all look the same, or will each church be an independent free-standing body, where ecumenism becomes cooperation across congregations, rather than across denominations? I realize the church doesn't look like an whole orange now; we are split into segments...but what will a post-modern church look like? Will there be segments and slices, or will it be more like extra pulpy orange juice or a creamsicle?