The practice of procession begins worship services
"Wandering" Israel (Ex. 40:36-38, Num. 2, 10:11-28)
Bringing the Ark of the Covenant (2 Sam. 6)
Torah procession (hakkafot) in the synagogue (Orach Chaim 149:1, cf. Josh. 6)?
The Triumphal Entry? (Rodney Clapp, A Peculiar People)
Roman imperial parades
The mode of procession suggests what gathers the Church
II. What Makes and Mediates the Church? Dead Ends
1. The circumcision party: Works of the Law as social marker (Acts 11:2, Gal. 2:12-14)
(contemporary legalism? social correctness?)
2. Gnostics: "Secret knowledge" of an elite (cf. Acts 8:18-24)
(the Sinner's Prayer? proposals for a just society?)
3. Donatists: Moral purity of leaders (cf. 1 John 2:18-20; Rev. 2-3)
(fundamentalist separatism? liberal good intentions?)
4. Social clubs and mystery religions: Members and their interests (Acts 17:16-21)
(consumerism? Constantinianism?)
III. What Makes and Mediates the Church? Three Open Lanes
(see Lesslie Newbigin, The Household of God)
1. Apostolic succession, a formal connecting over space and time
Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican/Episcopal
Jesus appoints apostles and entrusts them with his traditions as his witnesses and leaders (Matt. 10:1-23)
They plant churches, assume leadership, then appoint successors as they leave
Overseers (episkopoi, bishops) maintain fellowship with others and each other
The true Church is the whole fellowship interconnected by this official, Christ-authorized hierarchy
Other communities and their structures are unauthorized, and cannot be the Church
Born in an environment of doctrinal, practical, and biblical uncertainty
Apostolicity is formal structure, tolerating some diversity but not ecclesiological difference
Episcopal communities still find themselves in schism against other episcopal communities
Symbolism: Worship begins with a processing organic, sacramental hierarchy
2. The Word preached purely (and sacraments rightly administered) (Rom. 1:16-17)
Lutheran, (Reformed, Wesleyan)
The apostles' authoritative traditions are in the canon of Scripture
The Church is "where the Word is unadulterated and kept and loved" (Luther on 1 Pet. 1:16-21)
Communities that preach impurely are unauthorized, and cannot be the the Church
Born in an environment of intolerable doctrinal and practical drift
Apostolicity is fidelity to "biblical" standards, multiplying doctrinal statements and dogmatic schisms
"Sola scriptura" in fact relies subtly on the norming of community traditions to make the Bible intelligible
Symbolism: Worship begins with the gospel's proclamation and invites response
3. The Holy Spirit's powerful presence ("this is that," Acts 2:16)
Pentecostal (Baptist too?)
Jesus authorizes his witnesses with the Holy Spirit's outpouring (Luke 24:45-49, Acts 2)
The Church is where the Holy Spirit resides (Acts 8, 1 Cor. 12)
Communities without the fruit of the Spirit are "dead"
Apostolicity is ordination through the Spirit's anointing, marginalizing polity and lowering resistance to innovation and historical heresies
These communities are notoriously independent and fractious, despite their common "Spirit"
Symbolism: Worship begins with inspired praise
IV. Common Lessons and Common Challenges
The dead ends confuse God's giving of the Church with the fruit of that gift
The open lanes exclude each other to justify themselves
Yet these actually imply and depend upon each other
For Newbigin, the impasse demands repentance and ecumenical reunion
