Sheesh, Pablo and u-dog. You guys get up at 'Ye-God' o'clock just like i do.
To what you've both posted - a big ole' lusty AMEN!
while recently reading some writing by Brian McLaren i came across a phrase which was new to me: deep ecclesiology. To lift only one of many possible explanations:
A deep ecclesiology seeks to honor the church [catholic] in all its forms, from highest (most sizable, historic, hierarchical, institutional, liturgical, traditional) to lowest (most ephemeral, relational, small, innovative, grass-roots, organic, disorganized).
Kind of sounds like what you guys are talking about. It's an idea that keeps percolating around in my head, along with Matthew 18:20
"For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them".
The fracturing & squabbling of the human-created institutions we are used to calling churches saddens and often angers me as well. Jesus never said "establish churches in my name which use your own ideas to define dogma/doctrine and then subsequently squabble about who has the better claim of ownership of their piece of God". That realization and the experience of seeing individual people of faith, like those here at SF, regardless of the tradition they follow, coming together and creating 'church' brings joy to my heart.
Pax,
scott