Of Church Bookshops and Literature Tables

A friend of mine alerted me to the fact that Christian Book Distributors felt compelled to put a "theological warning" on Rob Bell's forthcoming book Love Wins. I must confess that I'm not that familiar with the Rev'd Mr. Bell, preferring to get my theology, as I often like to say, from old dead white guys, but Love Wins has generated considerable theological controversy as Bell seems to be friendly toward Universalism -- hence the warning. As my friend pointed out, CBD has not felt compelled to issue such theological warnings while selling other books -- by Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyer, and Jim Wallis for example -- that are cause for at least as much concern. It would appear that CBD is engaging in a bit of selective orthodoxy.

That's not terribly surprising. Years ago during seminary I briefly worked for a Christian bookstore and it was a depressing experience. I actually felt dirty selling some of the questionable stuff that was carried (in the half of the store that actually carried books and wasn't devoted to Jesus junk) and, if I had to do it over again, would learn bartending as doing so wouldn't feel as compromising (it could also serve as a great counseling practicum, but that's another story). The fact of the matter is that most of "Christian retail" is more retail than Christian with a few happy exceptions (Cumberland Valley Bible Book Service is one, as is Lifeway for the most part, owing to its affiliation with the Southern Baptist Convention) but many of them sell all sorts of things in pursuit of profits.

I've long been a fan of bookshops run by churches. The Cathedral Church of St. Luke and St. Paul, where I'm privileged to assist, formerly had an excellent one and it is missed. The First Presbyterian Church in Columbia, South Carolina, has a great one as does the Independent Presbyterian Church of Savannah, Georgia, and St. Helena's Episcopal Church in Beaufort, South Carolina; if you live near those areas or find yourself visiting them I would warmly commend them to you (they are strong churches as well). The First Presbyterian Churches of Augusta and Macon, Georgia, used to have great ones; I've not been to to former one in years and understand that the latter has closed. Because they're underwritten by the churches and don't have the overhead of larger, mall-based ventures, such bookshops can exercise more quality control than those run purely as a business. That having been said, it's usually only larger churches that have the resources to operate such ventures.

Because Christian literature is so important, every church should consider providing quality literature (the emphasis is on quality -- the ubiquitous Chick Tracts have probably done more harm than good through the years!) either for sale or for free. While not every church can afford to run a full-blown bookshop, every church can have a table with some literature on it for the edification of its members and visitors. When I have been in charge of parishes, that's one of the first things that I've done and it reaped great results.

The following are a few ideas for this:

Chapel Library: The literature of Mt. Zion Bible Church, a smallish (80 members, about twice what they were roughly ten years ago) essentially (nut not officially) Reformed Baptist church in Pensacola, Florida. They have reprinted quite a few sermons and tracts by greats such as J.C. Ryle, Charles Spurgeon, and Robert Murray M'Cheyne. Their literature is free in reasonable quantities, for larger quantities it is provided at cost although, obviously, donations are accepted. I've been receiving their stuff for years and have benefited greatly by it.

The Banner of Truth Trust: This publishing house has done yoeman's work in reprinting classic and new literature from a Reformed and Evangelical perspective since 1957. While their books priced at various levels, they have some short booklets that are immensely practical and inexpensive enough to give away.

P&R Publishing: Formerly also known a Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing (I'm not entirely sure of why they shortened it), their books are priced at various levels, but they publish very helpful pamphlets by the Rev'd Dr. Jay E. Adams that, at $25 for a pack of 100, are within the price range of almost all congregations to give away.

Publish Your Own: With modern technology and the ease of desktop publishing, publishing short pamphlets on timely subjects is well within reach of many clergy and churches.

I hope that more churches will begin or expand their literature ministries.

Thoughts on the Blessings of a Christian Community

[N.B., I missed posting the propers for Trinity VI due to a very busy day, part of which contributed to the subject about which I write below. I regret any inconvenience. --DC+]

"And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles." --Acts 2:42-43 (ESV)

It surprises some who know me to learn that I have never been an Episcopalian. I was born into a long line of members of the Presbyterian Church in the United States (the old "Southern Presbyterian Church" -- its initial name had been the Presbyterian Church in the Confederate States of America and members of my family were members of it throughout its existence), amalgamated against my will into the Presbyterian Church (USA) just before my 13th Birthday, where I remained until shortly before going to seminary when I went under care and was eventually licensed by the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. After being drawn into the Anglican way of Reformed Catholicism I joined and was eventually ordained by the Reformed Episcopal Church, where I remain canonically resident today. When the Anglican Church in North America was formed in 2009, the REC was a key part; I was privileged to be at the Inaugural Assembly (my thoughts about which can be read here).

I provide this ecclesiastical mini-biography with apologies for its length to provide context for my observations regarding Christian community because it has been my blessing for the past two years to serve as assisting clergy at the Cathedral Church of St. Luke and St. Paul in Charleston, South Carolina on a part-time, non-stipendary and somewhat limited (I don't celebrate Holy Communion) basis while remaining chaplain for an area hospice. After determining that it was time to resign from the Reformed Episcopal parish where I was blessed to serve as Assisting Presbyter for nearly four years I suddenly found myself a parishless hospice chaplain. While I visited several local parishes I found myself most often attending the Cathedral for several reasons: the fairly high liturgy and the evangelical ethos resonated with me; I found the preaching of the Very Rev'd William McKeachie, the then-Dean edifying; the choral music was great; and the people were friendly. Shortly after Easter 2008 Dean McKeachie suggested the possibility of my periodically assisting and I was happy when I began doing so. Assisting became more regular -- eventually a regular affair when I wasn't doing supply work elsewhere.

Dean McKeachie retired in 2009 and the Rev'd Peet Dickenson, a priest whom I'd known only vaguely during the time he was on the staff of St. Michael's Church in Charleston, was called as Dean. As is done in such cases, I offered to resign and was happy when the proffered resignation was not accepted. He's officially been there for just over a year and I have begun to do some work with the youth, do some pastoral care, and have continued worship leadership and occasional preaching all while continuing to work as a hospice chaplain.

As I write this it's very early in the morning on 12 July 2010. On 13 July I'll celebrate my 40th birthday. This evening a number of friends from the Cathedral surprised me with a party that was arranged, in complete contravention of my directive, by Dean Dickenson's lovely wife Jenny. It was a truly humbling experience to have so many people care enough to want to honor your birthday, to be toasted, given gag gifts (hopefully the Fixodent won't be needed for some time) and some not-so-gag gifts (a very talented artist who serves on the vestry will paint a piece for me, I was given some really nice cigars, and some other great gifts). I was toasted and, in turn, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to toast LTC John Scott Nelson, who was a year ahead of me at Georgia Military College and has just redeployed from Iraq commanding 1-4 Cavalry; he returned with all of the troopers that he took with him -- no small accomplishment!

Due to obligations elsewhere (helping to charter a new chapter of the Order of St. Vincent one week, doing supply work on two others), I've been away from the Cathedral for three Sundays in a row (I will, however, be preaching at all three services on 18 July) and I have dearly missed it. A community is being built around common faith, warm fellowship, and prayer and I am blessed to be a part of it. My hope for my fellow Christians is that they too will find a church where the same is happening!

The Mosque on Main Street

Moncks Corner, South Carolina (population according to the 2000 census: 5,952) , the county seat of Berkeley County, is a fairly typical small Southern town, with a county courthouse, various governmental offices, shops and restaurants; its proximity to Lake Moultrie offers fishing, boating and similar recreation and it's only about 40 minutes from downtown Charleston and all that it offers. There is a nearby Trappist monastery (which wasn't established until 1949 and played no role in the naming of the town), various historical sites, and -- this being the South -- a variety of churches of various types (mostly Protestant, but there is an active Roman Catholic parish as well). There is also a Mosque on Main Street.

Although the South is frequently portrayed as monochromatically Protestant, that has never been completely the case. Large pockets of Roman Catholicism have existed and Roman Catholics have played significant roles in the history of Charleston and other areas; the Roman Catholic Church has experienced tremendous growth throughout the state recently. The American branch of Reform Judaism was founded in Charleston in 1824 and a significant community of Jews, with a large cemetery, existed in Williamsburg County, which borders Berkeley County. Religious diversity is nothing new on the landscape, but Moncks Corner is far less cosmopolitan that Charleston and the establishment of a Mosque on Main Street there is an interesting commentary on the changing religious scene.

Islam has arrived in the West -- a friend of mine visited England a couple of years ago and noted the striking absence of native English children and the seeming ubiquitousness of burka-clad women being trailed by strings of children -- and shows little signs of abatement. The Church ignores this at its own peril and, sadly much of the Church does just that, either through ignorance, political correctness, or fuzzy theology. The Church needs to be missional in its approach not only to Islam, but toward other religions and a culture that is increasingly secularized.

How can we do this? Several ideas:

Catechesis: Christians must be taught the basics of the faith and be able to articulate what they believe and why they believe it. This instruction needs to be intentional and systematic and also needs to be a lifelong process. Christians who are well instructed in the faith will not be easily swayed by other faiths and will be able to articulate their faith in the context of a culture that is increasingly hostile or at least indifferent to the Christian faith.

Evangelism: The Church needs to be bold and innovative in its outreach to those outside her walls and proclaim the Good News of Christ. We need to take seriously the Great Commission not only in far-off lands but also right down the street. The influx of non-Christian immigrants from around the world presents both challenges but also great opportunity as one can now do world missions without ever leaving home! An excellent example of this is the work of Urban Nations, a ministry of Messiah's Covenant Community Church in Brooklyn, New York; it was founded some years ago in response to the tremendous variety of nations located within the area. Through a variety of ministries including English as a Second Language classes (something in high demand among those wishing to acclimate themselves into American society) using the Bible as a text, they have been able to reach more than 60 nations with the Gospel without ever leaving Kings County!

Works of Mercy: This could easily be a subset of evangelism as it is a means of reaching out to those outside the Church; one must be careful, though, to avoid the frequent error of theological liberals in being so focused upon works of mercy that the Gospel is never preached. When those of other faiths are cared for by the Church, they will be more open to hearing what the Church proclaims.

Worldview Education: This is really a subset of Catechesis. When Christians are discipled in the faith then the ramifications of that faith need to be fleshed out in every facet of life. Christians need to be taught how the claims of Christ effect business, economics, ethics, politics, the arts, and every other area of life. As the late Rev'd Dr. Cornelius Van Til aptly observed:

The Bible is thought of as authoritative on everything of which it speaks. Moreover, it speaks of everything. We do not mean that it speaks of football games, of atoms, etc., directly, but we do mean that it speaks of everything either directly or by implication. It tells us not only of the Christ and his work, but it also tells us who God is and where the universe about us has come from. It tells us about theism as well as about Christianity. It gives us a philosophy of history as well as history. Moreover, the information on these subjects is woven into an inextricable whole. It is only if you reject the Bible as the word of God that you can separate the so-called religious and moral instructions of the Bible from what it says, e.g., about the physical universe.

Christians who know why they believe what they believe, are active in outreach to those outside their walls, and who are actively applying their faith to all of life will be well equipped to meet the challenges of Islam, secularism, and whatever else may come in the future. Hopefully the Church will actively seek to meet these challenges for God's glory!