They say, "all PR is good PR" — it means that people are talking.
We agree.
But we also think it's important to specify some of our beliefs and practices, because from time to time, saying things like, "we are a theologically progressive church" leads to some misunderstanding. (Again, this is the problem with labels. They don't always communicate what you think they do.)
We thought it might be constructive to use some of the things that we have heard about TRP as a starting point for clarification.
"TRP doesn't believe in all of the Bible."
We definitely believe in the Bible. It is a book. It exists. We've seen it, and we've read it.
We hear this a lot.
In one respect, it's kinda silly.
One of our pastors has a PhD in Old Testament studies. He has dedicated the overwhelming majority of his adult life to formal and rigorous theological education. He loves the Bible and will readily admit its importance.
Our other pastor is in the middle of a seminary program because she also takes the Bible seriously and seeks to understand it.
On most weeks, the sermons at TRP exemplify these commitments. We preach through the Bible at a deep level. We talk about Greek and Hebrew and the Bible's ancient Near Eastern or 1st century Jewish context. We respect the Bible by trying to read it well.
So what do people mean by the claim, "TRP doesn't believe in all of the Bible”?
They probably mean that we don't believe everything in the Bible happened historically ... or we don't read and apply the Bible literally ... or because we have women serving in pastoral and leadership roles or LGBTQ members in our congregation that we must "pick and choose" what *we* deem to be authoritative and reject the rest.
These are all pretty complex issues to clarify fully on a website or, at least, we think they should be! The Bible is an ancient library of texts written by different authors in different cultural settings addressing different needs in different languages over a span of many, many, many years (centuries, in fact).
It’s a tough book, and we shouldn’t reduce it so easily!
But you’re here and you’re reading, so let’s clear the air.
(1) It is absolutely true that our pastors don't think everything in the Bible happened historically or just as the Bible says. (Neither do you, I bet.) It is also true that when they don't believe a story is historical, they have reached that conclusion because they believe the best reading of that story (or the available archaeological and/or extrabiblical evidence) suggests otherwise.
(2) Do we read and apply the Bible literally? Sometimes. But no one reads and applies the Bible literally from cover to cover. Nor should they. That wouldn’t be appropriate.
(3) Do we “pick and choose” and/or reject the authority of certain passages? No. We don’t. But we do reach different conclusions based on our best interpretation of the Bible in some places. Some people think that is indicative of one “not caring” about the Bible. We actually think it demonstrates a great deal of care. Again, reading the Bible isn’t always easy, and we work really hard to prayerfully and responsibly interpret our time honored, sacred texts.
The sad truth is, in many Christian communities, the Bible has been weaponized. Certain readings are "off limits."
From the same folks who think we don’t believe in the Bible, we have heard arguments that begin, "If you don't think creation happened in 6, literal, 24 hour days, then..."
Or "If Jonah wasn't really swallowed by a big fish, then ..."
Or even more pedantic stuff like, "Jesus must have cleansed the Temple TWICE because it's early in the story in John's Gospel and late in the story in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. If he didn't actually do this twice, then ... "
At TRP, we respect the Bible enough to discern, as best as we are able, what it is saying ... and how it is saying it ... and what it actually means for us. Sadly, that has become a novelty in American church culture, so it looks weird when it happens right in front of you.
“TRP is inclusive."
Also true. Or, at least, we try to be. As we state elsewhere, we strive to be inclusive of all — regardless of gender identity, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, ability, cultural background, education, theology, political affiliation, and any other category that might be perceived as a barrier.
"'Inclusive' is a buzzword. Be specific. How do you feel about LGBTQ folks?"
That's fair. Churches can be really slippery with how they market themselves. We apologize if that has given you an unfair or inaccurate view of a church in the past. We don't want to be anything less than honest and forthright.
LGBTQ folks are welcomed, accepted, and treated just like anyone else. They are free to serve and/or partner with us in any way they feel called. They can be members. If called, they can be leaders. We will baptize them without expecting a change of orientation or identity. We will celebrate the wins and weep the losses with them. If they fall in love and want to get married, we have folks who will perform their ceremony (and we have even more folks who will dance at their reception).
We believe that monogamous, committed, loving, marital relationships are honoring to God and can be an image of Christ and his love for the church.
We will admit we don't understand everything about human sexuality, but we believe that LGBTQ folks are beloved children of God, and we would be honored to follow Jesus alongside them.
*Here's where we want to be honest: TRP is, as most churches are, filled with people, who are on different parts of their spiritual journey. While many of our leaders/elders are affirming in their theology of LGBTQ inclusion, some of our congregants are still processing how to read the Bible and still forming their theological conclusions. This is a new conversation for some. And honestly, they may never get to the point of fully affirming what we have written above. We believe it is important for us to make space for those individuals too. But as partners of TRP, even these people are committed to loving LGBTQ folks well. We make no room for bigotry and prejudice and hatred. We view part of our job as making sure LGBTQ folks feel safe and respected.
"I follow you on social media. Y'all have said, 'Black Lives Matter.' Does that mean you are anti-police?"
There's a lot to unpack here.
First, black lives do matter. That should be stressed. Regardless of how one feels about the social movement surrounding BLM or its advocates or how one views the work of BLM as an organization, saying, "black lives matter" is a true, biblically-correct, gospel-saturated, Jesus-honoring statement. It is a shame that this sentiment has become so equated with other political commitments that uttering the phrase becomes shorthand for stances on abortion and family structures and sexuality and very pointed policies on police reform.
It is also lamentable that saying “black lives matter” is met with unnecessary and combative responses, like "all lives matter." Of course we believe all lives matter. But that's not the issue. It never has been.
We say “black lives matter” because in our society, not all black and brown people believe that folks who occupy white majority spaces, including churches, actually mean it.
So as a necessary corrective, we want to start here with this affirmation.
But we also want to work to earn our credibility, and live as Christians who believe our black and brown brothers and sisters are created in the image and likeness of the most high God. It’s not a social media statement for us. It’s a theological statement that we hope to live out.
If that's too political, TRP probably will not be a good fit.
Second, to our views on police.
TRP, as a church — that is, as a group of individuals, united together by the focused call of following Jesus and/or loving each other — is absolutely, unequivocally, not anti-police. In fact, we currently have (and have had in the past) police officers in our congregation. We love them. We support them. We care for them and their safety ... and their families and the safety of their families. We recognize the difficulty of the work they do.
And because we love them, we have hard conversations with them about reform and education and racism in law enforcement.
That said, we do have some members and regular attenders who are in favor of defunding the police. (We imagine most churches do.) Those who hold these views at TRP are not against the humanity of law enforcement officers. They believe "the system" is flawed and demands reform. You will probably see things on their facebook pages or instagram feeds that declare as much. Those aren’t the views of “the church.” Those are the views of some of our members and regular attenders, and we honor that.
Likewise, we have some other members and regular attenders who are not in favor of defunding the police. (We imagine most churches do.) For them, it's not the system that’s the problem, it's the participants, some of whom are not ready to carry the weight and responsibility of law enforcement work. You will probably see things on their facebook pages or instagram feeds that declare as much. Again, those aren’t the views of “the church.” Those are the views of some of our members and regular attenders, and we honor those too.
The broad majority of us, I think it’s fair to say, are less inclined to hold firm political and legislative views on the issue of policing, and are instead, simply desirous of holding bad policing accountable when it occurs, and trying to ensure that justice is enacted in cases of police brutality, inappropriate uses of force, racial profiling, traffic stops that lead to shootings, murder, and other grotesque misuses of power.