“What seems clear is that we have both a profound consciousness of the utter futility of life without God, and at the same time an altogether new hunger and thirst for spiritual reality. What is equally clear is that the old order of the established and organized church, relying on its structures and traditions instead of the renewing of the Spirit of God, will not do. The formularies and creeds of the church, devoid of spiritual life, will never satisfy those who in their own different ways are searching for the living God.

If, however, the church is able to rediscover its identity, as originally given by God in the Scriptures and made alive and relevant by the Spirit of God for every generation, we could be in the most exciting and exhilarating time in the history of the church that has ever been.

Humanly speaking, everything depends on our ability to catch a new vision of the church as it ought to be, on our willingness to change where necessary, and above all on our determination to keep our lives continually open to spiritual renewal.”

- David Watson in I Believe in the Church

(image ht: jonathanbrink)