Re: Living and Worshipping in the Real World

David,

Looks like I may be about to experience the same as you are. After 23 years
in an evangelical church in Abingdon UK with no hint of YEC, I noticed from
the newsletter and sermon sheet that Prof. Andy McIntosh, a prominent YEC
has been invited in February. The newsheet advertised a question and answer
session he was giving on the Saturday, to be followed by the sermon on
Sunday. The note, which was headed "Don't miss this!", said it was to
"challenge" our thinking about creation. Depends whether it means to
challenge you to think it through, or whether it means to say you're wrong
to accept evolution. Several scientists within the church are concerned and
saddened by this development, which I guess is at the behest of the Vicar.
It is an awkward situation for me - for a while at a difficult time in my
life, I also dabbled on the fringes of YEC-ism, and have met Andy
personally, so he probably thinks I'm a YEC & doesn't realise I'm now
"batting for the other side". I don't know what the best thing to do is,
but I'd appreciate everyone's prayers!

Iain

On 1/23/06, David Opderbeck <dopderbeck@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I'm wondering if there are others on the list who go to "typical"
> evangelical-type churches, and how you handle the dissonance between what
> you see and hear at church concerning faith-science issues and what you
> think about such issues. I noticed some brochures for an AIG seminar on my
> church's bulletin board today and it made me feel ill. In the past, Ken
> Hamm did a seminar at my church, and the Senior Pastor is a fan. I've
> spoken with him about this and there's a big enough tent to allow me to be
> involved in leadership and such despite my "old earth" views. Yet, most
> of the leadership (at least those few who think about this stuff) accepts
> YEC, and I'm sure the K-12 school we have at the church promotes YEC (I send
> my kids to the public school). I love my church and have a long history of
> many years of service there. I wouldn't say that the church as a whole is
> militantly YEC or something like that; it's not something you would even
> ordinarily hear about in the course of a typical Sunday, though occasionally
> someone offers a Sunday School classes that eaches YEC. Yet, as is the case
> in evangelical churches and in the evangelical subculture all around the
> U.S., YEC is always there beneath the surface. I just wonder if others
> have stories of how they've navigated these waters.

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After the game, the King and the pawn go back in the same box.
- Italian Proverb
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