What's Progressive Christianity?
I. See the "Christianity 101" page
II. 8 Points of Progressive Christianity:
1. Have found an approach to God through the life and teachings of Jesus.
2. Recognize
the faithfulness of other people who have other names for the way to
God’s realm, and acknowledge that their ways are true for them, as our
ways are true for us.
3. Understand
the sharing of bread and wine in Jesus’ name to be a representation of
an ancient vision of God’s feast for all peoples.
4. Invite
all people to participate in our community and worship life without
insisting that they become like us including but not limited to:
believers and agnostics, conventional Christians and questioning
skeptics, women and men, those of all sexual orientations and gender
identities, those of all races and cultures, those of all classes and
abilities, those who hope for a better world and those who have lost
hope.
5. Know that the way we behave toward one another and toward other people is the fullest expression of what we believe.
6. Find more grace in the search for understanding than we do in dogmatic certainty – more value in questioning than in absolutes.
7. Form
ourselves into communities dedicated to equipping one another for the
work we feel called to do; striving for peace and justice among all
people, protecting and restoring the integrity of all God’s creation,
and bringing hope to those Jesus called the least of his sisters and
brothers.
8. Recognize that being followers of Jesus is costly, and entails selfless love, conscientious resistance to evil, and renunciation of privilege.
(from The Center for Progressive Christianity)
III. In a nutshell, it means following Jesus in taking the Bible seriously, but not necessarily literally, not being judgmental or exclusivist, being affirming of all people's calls to ministry, and focusing on social justice and the peaceful transformation of hearts and minds.