New Vision is a Progressive church. That doesn’t mean that you must be progressive to be a member here. It mainly means that your pastor and several members are, so the sermon, readings, and music express that view.
What is Progressive Christianity?
The heart of progressive Christianity is compassion, hospitality, and a posture of welcoming the outsider, behavior modeled by Jesus.
- It is not based on creeds, dogmas, or even beliefs. Rather, we try to follow in the way of Rabbi/Teacher Jesus.
- We promote an understanding of Christian practice and teaching that leads to a greater concern for the way people treat each other than for the way people express their beliefs.
- We respect other religious traditions.
- We read the bible metaphorically rather than literally.
- We are more interested in questions than in answers.
- We are inclusive of everyone, including those of all races, cultures, and nationalities; those of all sexual orientations and all gender identities and expressions; and those of all classes and abilities.
Some of the ways Progressive Christianity is different from Fundamentalist Christianity:
- We don’t accept the concept of a substitutional sacrifice for the atonement of sins (that humans are innately bad, so God sent Jesus to die in our place).
- We are interested in justice and equality and the common good over personal salvation.
- We see Jesus’ life and teachings as a path rather than a belief system.
- We foster love rather than fear, connection rather than division.
- We don’t use the bible to judge anyone.
For more information, go to the website Progressivechristianity.org
The book Saving Jesus from the Church, by Robin Meyers, which was our first book club book, is a great introduction to Progressive Christianity.
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