Cross Balance

Five Church Types

If you look at the Christian church types
that have developed over the last two thousand years,
you could expect them to correspond to the personality types
that have predominated in leading to their establishment.
Again, this seems to work.

The evangelical church places importance on the Bible and correct doctrine;
the sacramental church, as its name implies,
puts emphasis on the sacraments, on doing things, on works;
the traditional church looks backwards in time
and tends to be made up of passive observers;
the pentecostal church is the outward verbal type
that corresponds (at least outwardly) to the manifestation of the Holy Spirit;
and the liberal church tries to be all things to all people
and is therefore all around the outside!
Are any of our churches in the middle?
Should they be there?

Christians have interpreted the Lord’s Supper in a range of different ways
– from a simple memorial to the real presence of Jesus.
Perhaps these reflect our human temperaments and ways of viewing the world?