Welcome to the Margins

Rev. Dr. Carlos Cardosa, professor of missiology at Columbia Theological Seminary in Atlanta, blessed the Assembly this morning with a lecture entitled "Welcome to the Margins." The lecture centered around three questions:

• Is Christianity a religion of the margins?
• What are some of the missional and church-life gifts that we receive from Christianity at the margins?
• Is it OK to be at the margins?

From its earliest formation as a sect of Judaism, Christianity has always found its vitality and energy from the margins. As the church attempts to make itself more mainstream, it also tends to lose its vitality. Dr. Cardosa answered with a firm "yes" that it was OK to be at the margins. The church is at its best in the margins.

One interesting point from the lecture was data that showed the decline of Christianity in Europe, but not in North America. A new religious fervor is building in North America, not so much among the established population but because religious fervor is immigrating into North America, especially the United States.

The Stone-Campbell movement found its formation on the American frontier. In that sense, the movement grew up in the margins. However, part of understanding the seismic shift in our cultural environment is a shift in how we view and understand the margins. This movement grew along a frontier margin, and a frontier margin is unidirectional. It only goes one way. However, the margin today is a border margin, and a border margin is bidirectional. Those inside and outside pass back and forth through the margin. This is a new environment for Disciples and other churches of the Stone-Campbell movement.

Did you know:

that Spanish is spoken by more Christians than any other language?