Kim's message is that the type of unity we seek is what is important. By seeking a unity based upon one way of being Christian we will end up with factions bolstered by an ideology of perfection. On page 6, Kim writes:
People of the same culture flock together for worship and social cohesion and often remain in their comfort zones and build walls that exclude others. The poor and the unfortunate become estranged and hopelessly marginalised because the dominant conception of the community is too narrow to embrace them.
To be fair, mainstream churches have strategies to avoid this. The dilemma for ecumenists is that they tend to be drawn into seeking a reconciliation of structures, rather than a reconciliation of practice. Paradoxically, the larger churches have to accommodate a variety of approaches, and they do this in a variety of ways. It is unarguable the Roman Catholic Church is an extremely diverse church. It is local churches that tend to be monocultural.
One problem for Methodists in Britain can be found in debates around fresh expressions. They are needed because many people find mainstream Methodism too narrow. They cannot find a place to fit in. So, fresh expressions selects certain groups, of usually younger people, and develops new congregations (and later churches) for these groups.
This seems to work reasonably well until the transition from congregation to church takes place. To become a church poses the question, which church? To be Methodist implies being a part of the circuit system and on paper this could be a solution to the tendency for fresh expressions to draw on only one culture. By being part of the circuit with churches from other cultures, the church is made more diverse. The problem is most fresh expressions do not want to be a part of a circuit.
And yet fresh expressions can overcome the trend to single culture churches and become something inclusive. A good example is Somewhere Else in Liverpool City Centre. This is a Methodist Church and part of a circuit. It meets on Tuesday and Thursday mornings in rooms above a feminist bookshop. It is Methodist but draws Christians from other traditions and is based around baking bread. Over the time they have been joined by homeless people and have developed work with victims of sexual abuse. Some years ago when they asked for funding they said they did not want too much because being on a knife edge kept them radical.
Perhaps there is a clue here that the constant battle to keep going is sustained for so long as those involved are committed to keeping going. It is impossible for anything to be perfect under these circumstances and so a real diversity can flourish. I will explore this further over the next few days before returning to Kim's book.
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