Features of the Future Church
Aim.
Set out the features of a church:
- That relates practically to the socio-cultural context of the 2020s.
- Is committed to dealing with the life-issues experienced by Catholics and offers effective solutions.
- Responds to the cries of Catholics for ongoing reform and renewal, offering –
- Practical solutions to the issues that continue to cause pain and grief, spiritual and mental suffering, relationship distortion and disruption, loss of faith and depression, and
- Inspiration and guidance for personal and community intentional, spiritual living.
Method in Spirituality
SACEC Winter Series July 2024
Spirituality sums up our living as integrated biological, sensitive, thinking, deciding and loving people. It is about how we bring together the various aspects of our lives, get our personal ‘ducks in a row,’ align what we do with what we know and believe, how we relate to everyone and everything else – family, friends, neighbours, the universe and God. This is spirituality.
Too many of us feel that Catholicism has lost its creative energy and credibility in the face of a changing world outside and scandals within. We are hanging on to a spirituality and theology that barely make sense while our organisational structures are outdated.
Where is Catholicism Heading?
Kevin Liston
July 2024
The future for Christianity in the Catholic tradition and for Teams will be through an evolution more profound and far-reaching than any in the last 2,000 years. The world, not just the church, is going through a deep and wide change of era. Central features include the revolution in the methods of science (evidence, data and systematic procedures), awareness of history (the changing progressive development of humanity), widespread loss of trust in institutions, authority and assured progress, disillusionment with the basis of authority (including religious), a growing awareness of personal autonomy and agency and a major shift of attention from the community and social to the personal in relation to how we live our lives.