Episode 289: Why Denominations, Part Two--Teaching Traditions

They say that "tradition is the living faith of the dead," while "traditionalism is the dead faith of the living."  That tension is important as we think about the different expressions of Christianity that we experience across different denominations.  Denominations--and the traditions they represent--can be stifling, starchy, and dead when all they do is require successive generations to rigidly copy what an earlier generation told them to do.  But they can be vibrant and helpful whey they create structures for teaching traditions so that new leaders can have the skills to work with congregations, and so that Christian communities can thrive.  That includes passing on the essentials of a given tradition's take on theology, worship, and practice, but it also includes skills and abilities that transcend congregations or denomiations--things like pastoral care, administration, leadership development. As they look at the positives and negatives of having different [and divergent] Christian denominaions, pastors Erica, Sarah, and Steve explore how our denominations can help in teaching traditions for each generation to wrestle with and carry.  Check it out here.