Brian responded to the questions posed very gently, calmly and positively. These were his views but he wasn’t about to force theses on others or expect others to agree. He started his Christian journey as an ‘evangelical’ but became unsatisfied with ‘standard answers’ to difficult questions. Jesus taught ‘love one another’; if we don’t (love one another) we faces consequences here and now (not in some after-life). Should we accept this present materialistic world? Yes, but challenging and changing societal issues such as social justice, climate change and accepting others not like ourselves, is not taking an easy way out. The word ‘God’ has so much baggage.
Climate change is a very significant challenge and is something that all faiths should tackle together; people en-masse can force change. Christians choose ‘God’ through baptism; for Jews, ‘God’ chose them! We all should respect other religions ie don’t tear them down to build up ours.
The Emergent Church is developing with parallel movement in Catholicism and Islam. Brian has chosen to remain within establish church structures and work at reform from within, rather than start a new one. He made the bold claim that the church’s biggest asset is its ‘ability to change and move’. We must have been in a different world where church inertia and resistance to change appears paramount!!