http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=special.display&item=050124_JWblog
I find this interesting about my former denomination:
February 4 - Chicago
This morning I spoke to 1,000 pastors from the Evangelical Covenant Church, and it turned into one of the real highlights of this tour so far. My good friend, Glenn Palmberg, is the President of the Covenant, which I find to be one of the most interesting denominations in America - genuinely evangelical and with a genuine social conscience, something that should be natural but has been all too rare. Like Glenn himself, the denomination serves as an important bridge between the conservative and liberal sides of the American church. I spoke about how ideology is one of the "principalities and powers" (from Ephesians chapter 6, the text of their conference). Ideology has polarized and paralyzed politics in America which now fail to ever solve our most pressing social crisis. Bitterly dividing us into left and right, ideology actually prevents us from finding solutions. But ideology has not only crippled our political discourse, it has also seduced religion.
By squeezing it into narrow political categories it has created ideological religion and deprived us of prophetic faith. And a more prophetic faith could actually help the nation to find paths to the common good - a conversation and commitment almost entirely missing in Washington.
I was unprepared for the response. I appreciated the enthusiastic standing ovation, but the talk at the book signing table afterward convinced me that something new was happening. I suppose I was hoping that this book and book tour would help to mobilize and energize the "non-Religious Right" in America. But I didn't expect several Covenant pastors to tell me with great feeling things like:
"You talked about your conversion, but I had my conversion this morning. I have been a member of the Religious Right and I see now how my religion has become so ideological. I don't want to do that anymore"
"I have been on the Religious Right in this denomination, but understood this morning how I have narrowed by concerns to only one or two issues. That's not right or biblical and I want to change my whole approach."
Glenn told me that one of the most conservative members of the denomination told him "I almost stood up in the middle of Jim's talk and said to the whole denomination, 'I repent.'" Glenn also reported another pastor's reaction from the left side of the church. He said he had been so frustrated with the church's timidity on social justice that he was close to leaving, but after the morning talk was sure that this was his denomination too. The Covenant, like most denominations, has experienced real tension between its left and right factions (the divisions that ideology makes) but this morning, Glenn told me, the whole denomination came together around a vision of faith and action that united them all. "I can't tell you what you have done for this church this morning," he gratefully told me. Organizing the non-Religious Right was one thing, seeing conversions from the Religious Right is something I frankly did not expect. I guess my faith is still too small and God might be doing something in this country beyond any of our expectations.
Now, there is an Elizabeth Palmberg on the board at Sojo and I can't figure out if she is any relation to Glenn Palmberg. Just the fact that Jim Wallis and Glenn are also both on the board of Call to Renewal with panentheist/emergent Tony Campolo should be enough to cause a massive exodus from the E Covenant. But people have their heads in the sand. Campolo and wife are heterosexual activists for homosexual causes. Brian Mclaren also spoke at the same midwinter conference that Jim Wallis spoke at. If only people would research, I think the E Cov would lose half their membership in a very short time. They're already suffering major church fights because of their whole-hogg adoption of PUrpose Driven, which effects people feel at the grassroots level. The other apostate teachings they are promoting however can be minimized at the local level and the donations will keep pouring in to the head of the beast.
Would that be the 'moderate Islam' that Rick Warren was touting about Syria?
What HISTORY says about real revival is the people don't go around predicting it or setting out to make it happen. They just stay faithful to the message, which Jim Wallis has for decades completely corrupted. If any 'movement' comes out of this, it'll be more like mob mentality than revival.