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The Anglican Church in Tasmania Search |
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a healthy church...transformingLIFE |
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Editor's angle |
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The danger of distraction It would be easy to agree with a writer to the British Independent newspaper, when he said recently, 'millions of people are living in a spiritual desert. They would look in vain to the Anglican Church for help.' The writer finds the Anglican Church overly preoccupied with matters of gay clergy. The problem is perhaps not so much with the focus on sexuality, but that the issue is such a distraction from the church's mission. Yet the church (and not just the Anglican church) is not alone it its intense focus on sex. Ask any media guru and you will be told that 'sex sells', be it cars, shampoo or 'sexed-up' reports from war-torn lands. Media are thriving on it. Many people do live in a spiritual desert, but we don't need to look too far to find wonderful positive stories of small local churches that are lively, with a strong sense of community. Tasmanian churches may lack finances but there is no lack of commitment to ministry in local communities. Read the stories in this paper for proof of that! Imagine what would happen if the church were to simply pack up and leave, saying 'it is all too difficult to tell the good news.' Those who are quick to dismiss the church as faulty and irrelevant, particularly when it acknowledges its own time of soul-searching, would be shocked at the extent of the 'desert' left behind. |
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