A Third Way?

A major goal of the Affiliation Team is to continue to search for a Third Way.  Much in our everyday life is presented to us as an either / or choice.  Left of center or Right?  Red or Blue?  Science or Religion?  Us or Them?  Yet the world is much more nuanced than the pundits would have us believe and many of us recognize that we often search for the both / and choice.  In terms of the affiliation process, the choice is no different.  We are looking beyond the choice of ‘us’ or ‘them’ and searching for what is possible when we combine our talents and treasures. A Third Way does not imply a strict compromising in the differences between our two congregations in order to make something happen.  A Third Way lies in our common ground and in the possibilities that God sets before us.

Here are some thoughts from the Affiliation Team as to what “A Third Way” can mean:

• Honoring the past while moving forward in a modern way
• Taking God’s Mission out of the church, out of the box
• Not taking anything for granted
• Choosing a way outside of dichotomy which is not compromise
• Church turns itself inside out
• Oil and eggs; but mayonnaise is totally different
• A live, vital “church-go-to” instead of “go-to-church”
• Going deeper
• Looking with new eyes at the stories of Jesus and how he portrayed a “Third Way”

What does “A Third Way” mean to you?