{"id":615,"date":"2010-11-23T06:00:23","date_gmt":"2010-11-23T06:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.scottcochrane.com\/?p=615"},"modified":"2010-11-22T18:31:26","modified_gmt":"2010-11-22T18:31:26","slug":"how_far_are_evangelicals_willing_to_go_to_impact_canada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/2010\/11\/23\/how_far_are_evangelicals_willing_to_go_to_impact_canada\/","title":{"rendered":"How Far are ‘Evangelicals’ Willing to Go to Impact Canada?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lunch with Dr. Reginald Bibby<\/a> should come with a warning label: \u201cCAUTION: The next 60 minutes could mess with your mind!\u201d<\/p>\n

This week I had the privilege to connect with Dr. Bibby, Canada\u2019s foremost authority on religious trends. And indeed I discovered that time spent with this sociologist from the University of Lethbridge<\/a>, author of such titles as Fragmented Gods, Unknown Gods, Restless Gods<\/em> and Restless Churches,<\/em> pushed my thinking in directions that were both intriguing and unsettling.<\/p>\n

\u201cScott, what would it take for Canada\u2019s evangelical churches to help equip churches in the mainline and Catholic traditions?\u201d Dr. Bibby could see, I think, that the question had rattled me a bit. \u201cI\u2019m not talking about ecumenicalism. But there are leaders with evangelical doctrines within the mainline and Catholic traditions. And they need help.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"church\"I nodded in agreement with this obvious truth. Although the outward expressions of our churches can look very different, many liturgical churches are led by passionate Christ-following leaders who long to see their congregations come to a saving faith in Jesus.<\/p>\n

Dr. Bibby continued. \u201cScott, I just spent time with a group of Catholic priests in Toronto. I told them stories about some of the innovations that evangelical churches are pioneering. A lot of these are churches connected with your ministry. As I described what these churches are doing, these priests are saying, \u2018Oh ya\u2026we should try that too!\u2019<\/p>\n

I believe there is openness for many mainline and Catholic leaders to receive help from evangelical church leaders.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll be honest, my thinking is very much still \u2018wet cement\u2019 on this, but I\u2019d love to engage in a conversation. Let\u2019s face, it, we talk about \u2018denomination walls coming down\u2019, but usually we mean that pastors from Baptist churches are now open to hanging around with pastors from Alliance or Mennonite Brethren churches.<\/p>\n

But if we were to take Dr. Bibby\u2019s ideas to heart, we may have to ask even deeper questions, such as:<\/p>\n