Progressive Christianity

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Progressive Christianity is the name given to a movement within contemporary Protestant Christianity characterized by willingness to question tradition, acceptance of human diversity (including the affirmation of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people), and strong emphasis on social justice. Progressive Christians have a deep belief in the centrality of the instruction to "love one another" within the teaching of Jesus Christ. This leads to a focus on compassion, promoting justice and mercy, and working towards solving the societal problems of poverty, discrimination, and the environment.

This movement is by no means the only significant movement of progressive thought among Christians (see the 'See also' links below), but it is currently a focus of such issues in many parts of the world.

In recent years the term Progressive Christianity has incorrectly been used interchangeably with the term Liberal Christianity. Progressive Christians are theologically distinct from liberal Christian thought, in that Progressive Christianity draws on theological insights of multiple theological streams including: 19th century evangelicalism, 19th and early 20th century Christian liberalism, 20th century neo-orthodoxy, and late 20th and 21st century liberation theology. ^[1]

The characteristics of Progressive Christianity, and its distinction from Liberal Christianity, have been articulated in an article ^[2] by Hal Taussig. These can be summarized as:

A spiritual vitality and expressiveness, including participatory, arts-infused, and lively worship as well as a variety of spiritual rituals and practices such as meditation
Intellectual integrity including a willingness to question
An affirmation of human diversity, including, most topically, the affirmation of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people
An affirmation of the Christian faith with a simultaneous sincere respect for other faiths
Strong ecological and social justice commitments

1 Origins
2 The contemporary movement
3 References
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Origins

A priority of justice and care for the down-trodden are a recurrent theme in the Hebrew prophetic tradition inherited by Christianity. This has been reflected in many later Christian traditions of service and ministry, and more recently in the United States of America through Christian involvement in political trends such as the Progressive Movement and the Social Gospel.

Throughout the 20th century, a strand of progressive or liberal Christian thought outlined the values of a 'good society'. It stresses fairness, justice, responsibility, and compassion, and condemns the forms of governance that wage unjust war, rely on corruption for continued power, deprive the poor of facilities, or exclude particular racial or sexual groups from fair participation in national liberties. It was influential in the US mainline churches, and reflected global trends in student activism. It contributed to the ecumenical movement, as represented internationally by the World Student Christian Federation and the World Council of Churches internationally, and at the national level through groups such as the National Council of Churches in the USA and Australian Student Christian Movement.

[edit] The contemporary movement

The ascendancy of Evangelicalism in the US, particularly in its more socially reactionary forms, challenged many people in mainline churches. Recently, a focus for those who wish to challenge this ascendancy has been provided by Jim Wallis of Sojourners, who described himself as a progressive evangelical Christian. This has enabled many Christians who are uncomfortable with conservative evangelicalism to identify themselves explicitly as "Progressive Christians." At the onset of this new movement to organize Progressive Christians, the single largest force holding together was a webring, The Progressive Christian Bloggers Network, and supporters frequently find and contact each other through dozens of online chat-rooms.

Notable initiatives within the movement for progressive Christianity include the Center for Progressive Christianity (TCPC) in Cambridge, MA, the campaigning organization CrossLeft, the technology working group Social Redemption.

CrossLeft joined with Every Voice Network and Claiming the Blessing in October 2005 to stage a major conference, Path to Action, at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC. Among the speakers were E. J. Dionne, Richard Parker, Jim Wallis, Senator Danforth, and David Hollinger.

Examples of statements of contemporary Progressive Christian beliefs include:

the Eight Points produced by TCPC: a statement of agreement about Christianity as a basis for tolerance and human rights;
the Phoenix Affirmations produced by Crosswalk (Phoenix, AZ) - include twelve points defining Christian love of God, Christian love of neighbor, and Christian love of self.
the article, "Grassroots Progressive Christianity: A Quiet Revolution" by Hal Taussig published in 'The Fourth R,' May-June 2006.
Rev. Timothy F. Simpson Sex and the Liberal Christian: What the left-wing followers of Jesus think about the birds and the bees American Sexuality Magazine.