WHAT DOES GOD LOOK LIKE?

What does God look like?

 “I really don't know!” John Churcher, Chair of the Progressive Christianity Network Britain, admitted with a twinkle in his eye, as he began his talk to nearly thirty PCN churchgoers from this area. But he did go on to offer some challenging insights and convictions about how he personally envisaged God.

 After tracing his journey of Christian faith which, for much of his life, was based on a traditional understanding of God – a Being who exists independently of the human mind though may be persuaded to intervene on our behalf – Churcher explained his more recent and current notion of God.

 Now, he thinks of God more as an internal experience, a presence within each of us that is felt in our innermost selves and is detectable in the lives of others – in the smile of the woman at the checkout, in the tranquil spirit of the dying patient, in the joyous gift of a new baby. In short, God is not a remote and mighty figure 'out there' but the profound and unique Reality we may experience when we are most truly and fully human.

 The speaker then touched on a number of progressive Christianity features: how, for instance, it values the past as important in understanding the present, but is more concerned with contemporary truth than with tradition; how it is concerned with a spiritual journey to be lived in the ever-present 'now' rather than as a preparation for a 'home' beyond the grave; how it believes the Church today should move its focus from ancient creeds and doctrines, which present Jesus as an essentially supernatural figure, to the genuine message of Jesus the Jew.

 Inevitably, not everyone in the audience agreed with everything John Churcher said. But I believe we were all grateful for his courage and candour, and left the meeting more convinced than ever, that the Church should promote the essential humanity of Jesus and what it means to follow his transformative Way.

 Edward Hulme

 Report on a talk given at Bath PCN Britain Group 17th October, 2011