REVIEW OPEN CHURCH An "open" church, pioneering a new "Christian way" which leaves dogmatic Christianity behind, is advocated by Lloyd Geering in the latest of his succession of booklets. The new way "need not and cannot be" the same way as that preached by the man into whose mouth his followers put the words "I am the way", since "he lived in very different times and circumstances". But the open church can emulate his role as a pathfinder. "This pathfinding role of the church will be advanced not by any claim to authority, as in the past, but simply by the intrinsic value of what it is seeking to do".
This stimulating booklet is published by the St Andrew's Trust in New Zealand, whose home-grown SoF network, started last year, is already more than 300 strong. Although not an official SoF publication, it can be obtained here from our Network Secretary (address page 2) at £3 plus 30p p&p, cheques payable to Sea of Faith. -DB COMMUNICATION, COMMUNION OR CELEBRATION?