Categories: uncategorized
Date: 16 February 2007 08:52:21
What do you do when a name or a brand has become so tarnished that it is something that the people you are seeking to appeal to, & even perhaps yourself, no longer wish to be associated with? Well you change that name.
What do you do if you want to make an old product seem like a new product? You relaunch
Well, from what I can see this is what the progressive evangelicals in the US have done. They have apprently set up a new network and are now describing themselves, according to Sojourners, as Red Letter Christians rather than evangelicals. If you look at the list of who is involved in this network there are few surprises (Campollo, McLaren, Wallis and Claiborne are all there), it is the great and the good of US progressive evangelicalism.
Whilst I think that this moving away from the term "evangelical" is great my only concern is the term is being used as the name for a network & so is owned by a specific group of people who are part of a specific organisation, with particular status. They describe themselves in the following way:
" The Red Letter Christians are a network of effective, progressive, Christian communicators urging an open, honest and public dialogue on issues of faith and politics. We believe and seek to put in to action the red letter words in the Holy Bible spoken by Jesus. The goal of the group is to advance the message that our faith cannot be reduced to only two hot button social issues - abortion and homosexuality. Fighting poverty, caring for the environment, advancing peace, promoting strong families, and supporting a consistent ethic of life are all critical moral and biblical values. "
Through the first sentence, and the inclusion of the term communicators (which in this case largely appears to mean "media faces") they are excluding many ordinary people (both those with backsides on pews and probably some church leavers, within and beyond the US) who would also wish to identify with the version of Christianity they are giving and who are themselves desperately seeking to have a way of describing themselves which adequately sums up their faith and beliefs but does not involve the E word. I believe the term "Red Letter Christians" should be exactly like the "progressive evangelical" tag it appears to be replacing and open to everybody, and not be something used to name groups (sorry networks) for the elite (however inspirational these people are & however greatful we are for the lead they have given us).