musings on the emerging church

the following is a story from 'a priest after my own heart' by michael fallon (st paul's publications nsw 2001 pp.142-144)

"the church of yesterday can be likened to a river barge. it was a large barge, with straight front and sides and with a flat bottom, well built for navigating a river and able to carry a huge cargo of churches, schools, rectories, assistant curates and chaplains etc. There were tennis courts and halls and camp sites for the youth orgainisations, and mothers' union etc. the priest was trained to pilot the barge along the river. the river had many bends and it was not by any means easygoing. there were alligators and swamps, and every now and then rapids had to be negotiated. but on the whole the river was fairly predictable. the pilot could learn his job and carry it out well if he followed the instruction book. this is a caricature, but i hope it captures some truth."

more to follow.....