Final Reflective Response (#6)
Your final reflective response (#6) should be 1,000-1,200 words (about 3 pages).
Imagine that the World Council of Churches (WCC) is holding an international conference to address the theme: “the decline of Christianity.” The purpose of the conference is to address clergy members’ and lay persons’ concerns about decreasing funds for churches around the world as well as a perceived decline of “traditional” Christian values, church attendance, and membership. According to the WCC, Western Christianity is in a “crisis,” which both Protestant and Catholic leaders must address.
In preparation for this conference, the WCC has released the following statement:
This year, members of the WCC will gather in Zurich, Switzerland to address alarming, contemporary trends. Over the past two decades, church membership and attendance in America and Europe have dropped significantly, with Mainline Protestant denominations and the Catholic church suffering the most dramatic decline. The WCC is understandably concerned with such trends as they call into question the sustainability of our institutions. We are also concerned about the implications for the integrity of true Christian practice and belief. We believe that current trends in global Christianity threaten Christian tradition and heritage. We believe, furthermore, that as faithful members of the body of Christ, we ought to determine how best to deal with what we understand to be the abandonment of true Christian doctrine and practice in our American and European churches.
Having completed a college course in Christianity, you have been called on as a specialist to contribute your thoughts regarding the WCC’s concern. Your final paper should be framed as a formal address to the WCC in response to their statement and you should draw on the expertise that you have acquired in this course.
You can take any position you wish. You can disagree or agree with their statement. You can push against their statement, make suggestions, or add historical context to their knowledge. But you must use what you have learned in this class to defend any position that you take. You should draw on historical and current examples of Christian practices, beliefs, and cultural adaptations that you have learned about in this course.
Your final reflective response (#6) should be 1,000-1,200 words (about 3 pages).
Imagine that the World Council of Churches (WCC) is holding an international conference to address the theme: “the decline of Christianity.” The purpose of the conference is to address clergy members’ and lay persons’ concerns about decreasing funds for churches around the world as well as a perceived decline of “traditional” Christian values, church attendance, and membership. According to the WCC, Western Christianity is in a “crisis,” which both Protestant and Catholic leaders must address.
In preparation for this conference, the WCC has released the following statement:
This year, members of the WCC will gather in Zurich, Switzerland to address alarming, contemporary trends. Over the past two decades, church membership and attendance in America and Europe have dropped significantly, with Mainline Protestant denominations and the Catholic church suffering the most dramatic decline. The WCC is understandably concerned with such trends as they call into question the sustainability of our institutions. We are also concerned about the implications for the integrity of true Christian practice and belief. We believe that current trends in global Christianity threaten Christian tradition and heritage. We believe, furthermore, that as faithful members of the body of Christ, we ought to determine how best to deal with what we understand to be the abandonment of true Christian doctrine and practice in our American and European churches.
Having completed a college course in Christianity, you have been called on as a specialist to contribute your thoughts regarding the WCC’s concern. Your final paper should be framed as a formal address to the WCC in response to their statement and you should draw on the expertise that you have acquired in this course.
You can take any position you wish. You can disagree or agree with their statement. You can push against their statement, make suggestions, or add historical context to their knowledge. But you must use what you have learned in this class to defend any position that you take. You should draw on historical and current examples of Christian practices, beliefs, and cultural adaptations that you have learned about in this course.
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