The June 2011 article in the UC Observer about recruiting new ministers provides interesting food for thought. Many pulpits are officially “vacant”. Particularly in rural pastoral charges, finding a new minister when a much-loved and long-term minister leaves is a very difficult challenge. Having served several times on Joint Needs Assessment Committees, I find the process less than optimal.
In the most recent issue of the United Church Observer (February 2011) we have a feature article about the so-called “Post-Theistic” churches that have begun to spring up from within the greater United Church polity. These congregations are taking down their crosses, closing their Bibles, and trying to re-imagine themselves as spiritual beings in their own right.
