October 7, 2004

John Hines

Somehow the present inconveniences brought upon us by our current inward obsessions and squabbling pale beside these words of Presiding Bishop John Hines addressing the General Convention in Houston, Texas, thirty-four years ago.

“Against even the worst of possibilities, must be set the inescapable obligations of Christians, that the Body of Christ must be prepared to offer itself up for the sake of the healing and the solidarity of the whole human family, whatever its religious or racial identities. Especially must the Body of Christ risk its own life in bearing and sharing the burdens of those who are being exploited, humiliated, and disinherited!…We simply can no longer afford churches whose real mode is a ‘vanished’ universe. In a world of sometimes agonizing change the church cannot be less than the ‘radical minister of change.’ God willing it should be more than that, but it cannot be less — and still be faithful to the God who makes all things new.”

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