At the annual Calvin Worship Symposium on Saturday my overwhelming impression was the diversity of organizations (faith traditions) and individual seekers after the LORD. All the energy that goes into maintaining boundaries and enforcing difference could better be spend building bridges and sharing experiences in an effort to see God more clearly, follow him more nearly and love him more dearly, as the lyric goes.
If you were to ask a sample of the attendees, men and women of all ages and home countries/states, what is Christianity is all about, chances are that a few shared practices or at least beliefs would emerge, but beyond that there is likely to be a wide range in depth and breadth of understanding. For some just a few rigid facts hold the religion together, for others the spirit of the thing trumps the details or letter of the law. So for them membership is not to belong to one building, but to the fellowship of all believers.
The closing worship service and communion were majestic in sights and sounds and scale, but underneath all that one can still listen for the still small voice of God.
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