Moltmann 4

Moltmann wrote the third, and final, book in his ‘programmatic’ cycle in 1975; it’s called The Church in the Power of the Spirit: A Contribution to Messianic Ecclesiology. In 1990, when it went to paperback, he wrote a new preface, a paragraph of which has serious implications for the debate currently taking place over my last post:

“While I was writing The Church in the Power of the Spirit, my intention was to argue for church reform, and today this concerns me more than ever. By reform I mean teh transformation of the church from a religious institution that looks after people into a congregational or community church in the midst of the people, through the people and with the people. This means moving away from an impenetrable, large-scale organization to an accessible small-scale community. It is a path that can only be followed if we are prepared to break away from passive church membership and to make a new beginning by entering into active participation in the life of the congregation. In our society, affiliations that are imposed are losing their power to shape people’s lives and lend them significance. Forms of community that are accepted personally and entered into voluntarily are becoming more important…Free decision of faith, voluntary sociality, mutual recognition and accpetance of one another and a common effort for justice and peace in this violent society of ours: these are the guidlines for the future of the church”(xiii-xiv, emphasis added).

Moltmann, in his context, is writing specfically about the state churches of northern Europe, but the denominational scene in the US, while not connected with the national government, are almost as monolithic.