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Douglas John Hall urges readers to “think the faith” within North American cultural and ecclesial realities. The work frames the message as an appropriate counsel for the reformation of once-mainline Protestant churches, structured into three sections and followed by a second lecture on the rationale for church-directed disestablishment.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":45,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/religion-spirituality/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/an-awkward-church-theology-and-worship-occasional-paper-no-5/447765/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/an-awkward-church-theology-and-worship-occasional-paper-no-5/447765.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Aldword","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-12","2026-09-29",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":44},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What does the author say is the cause behind the church’s current crisis?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"The author argues that the deeper crisis cannot be reduced to technical solutions; it is a crisis of thinking. Apparent structural decline is treated as symptomatic of this underlying issue.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What does “disestablish yourselves” mean in the author’s context?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"In the first address, “disestablishment” is explained within the specific cultural and ecclesial setting. The aim is to give responsible direction to de-constantinianization rather than letting it simply happen.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"How is the first lecture organized?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"The lecture is divided into three sections: the confusion of a deprived “glorious past,” the tenacity of the new world form of Christian establishment, and disestablishing as an alternative to being disestablished.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},447765,1790913416,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":44,"category_name":45,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":44,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145},2336478940917,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_6f874abed73319feea01a86fa6f0fab8","# An AwkwardChurch\n\nby Douglas John Hall  \nTheology and WorshipOccasional Paper No.5Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)  \n## Preface\n\nMany people believe that the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)is incrisis.Declining membership,shrinking budgets,organizationaldisarray,and loss of influence characterize the General Assembly,most presbyteries and synods,and many congregations.Do theserealities constitute the crisis,orare they symptoms of a deeper crisis?  \nDouglas John Hall maintains that\"The crisis behind the crisiscannot be submitted to computer programming.For that rudimen-tary crisis is a crisis of thinking.\"[Thinking the Faith.Minneapolis:Augsburg,1989 p.12]Professor Hall 'thinks the faith'from withinour North American cultural and ecclesial context.His theologicalwork is not a timeless abstraction,but a rigorous attempt to engageChristian faith with social and historical actuality so that the gospelmay be more faithfully proclaimed and lived.  \nThe Theology and Worship Ministry Unit invited Douglas JohnHall to address its final meeting in January,1993.We asked him tohelp us think about the current state of the church,and to suggestpossibilities that go beyond the treatment of symptoms.His twoaddresses comprise Theology and WorshipOccasionalPaper No.5,An Awkward Church.The Theology and Worship Unit offers them tothe church in the hope that they will provoke conversation incongregations and presbyteries,helping us to 'think the faith'to-gether as a way toward greater faithfulness.  \nThe second of Professor Hall's lectures,\"Ecclesia Crucis:TheTheologic of Christian Awkwardness,\"has appeared in a somewhatdifferent version in the theologicaljournal Dialog.The Theology andWorship Unit is grateful to the publishers of Dialog for their permis-sion to publish this address.  \nDouglas John Hall is Professor of Christian Theology in theFacultyofReligiousStudies atMcGill University inMontreal,Canada.Among his many books are the first two volumes of a proposedtrilogy,Thinking the Faith:Christian Theology in a North AmericanContext,and Professing the Faith;Lighten Our Darkness:Toward anIndigenous Theology of the Cross;The Reality of the Gospel and theUnreality ofthe Churches;The StewardshipofLifein the KingdomofDeath;and God and Human Suffering.  \nMuch ofthe work of the Theology and Worship Ministry Unit willbe carried on by the Christian Faith and Life Program Area of theCongregational Ministries Division.Christian Faith and Life staffhope that many readers will continue the conversation begun in AnAwkward Church.Please write,sharingany reflectionsyoumay have,including proposals for ways the church can respond.  \nJoseph D.Small,CoordinatorTheology and Worship  \nTo respond,or for additional copies,please write:  \nChristian Faith and LifeRoom 3202  \n100 Witherspoon StreetLouisville,Kentucky 40202-1396  \n(502)569-5334  \n## THE SPIRIT TO THE CHURCHES INNORTH AMERICA:\"DISESTABLISH YOURSELVES!\"\n\n“Andto theangel ofthe churchin Ephesus write....Tknowyourworks,yourtoiland yourpatient endurance...ButIhavethis againstyou,that you have abandoned the love you had at first'....”  \n\"And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write....'ITknowwhere you dwell;where Satan's throne is;you hold fast my name andyou did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas my witness....But I have a few things against you....  \n\"And to the angel of the church in Sardis write....Tknow yourworks;you have the name ofbeing alive,and you are dead....“  \n“And to the angel of the churches in North America write....Disestablish yourselves!'....\"  \nOr so it seems to me.In these two addresses I shall try to explainwhy such a message might be appropriate,especially for the edifica-tion and reformation of the once-mainline Protestant churches of thiscontinent.In this firstaddress,Ishallformulatewhat'disestablishment’would have to mean within our particular context.There will be threesections.In thefirst,\"The Future of a Glorious Past\",I comment uponthe confusion that reigns in the churches","cbCaikdkCwsyHQLo","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaikdkCwsyHQLo","pdf",3131982,36,"English","# Preface\n# THE SPIRIT TO THE CHURCHES IN NORTH AMERICA: \"DISESTABLISH YOURSELVES!\"\n# I. THE FUTURE OF A GLORIOUS PAST","[{\"question\":\"What does the author say is the cause behind the church’s current crisis?\",\"answer\":\"The author argues that the deeper crisis cannot be reduced to technical solutions; it is a crisis of thinking. Apparent structural decline is treated as symptomatic of this underlying issue.\"},{\"question\":\"What does “disestablish yourselves” mean in the author’s context?\",\"answer\":\"In the first address, “disestablishment” is explained within the specific cultural and ecclesial setting. The aim is to give responsible direction to de-constantinianization rather than letting it simply happen.\"},{\"question\":\"How is the first lecture organized?\",\"answer\":\"The lecture is divided into three sections: the confusion of a deprived “glorious past,” the tenacity of the new world form of Christian establishment, and disestablishing as an alternative to being disestablished.\"}]","An Awkward Church - Theology and Worship Occasional Paper No. 5 | PDF",1790722778,91]