A PROGRESSIVE CHURCH

Blue Ocean, a Progressive Church for Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti

A progressive church, because Jesus came to end oppression of all kinds—personal, social, religious. A progressive church means a gospel (good news) that brings full equality for women, LGBTQ+ people, an end to racism and white supremacy, concern for the poor, care for the environment, and the liberation from oppression for all people.

The ministry of Jesus is in line with the call of the Hebrew prophets for justice. This understanding of progressive goes beyond politics. It’s part of faith. For this reason, Jesus told his disciples they weren’t ready for the fullness of his truth. Therefore, future generations should expect the Spirit to lead them into “all the truth.” Some call this “progressive revelation”—a hallmark of Scripture. As a result, we too, may not yet have ears to hear the fullness of truth. To say it differently, we’re all partly wrong about what we think is true (say, 20% being generous) but we don’t know which 20%! So this calls for a little humility in the truth department.

Reforming Faith to Reflect Jesus

Phyllis Tickle described the church as going through a “once-every-500-years rummage sale.” Meaning that, every 500 years or so, we seem to have to re-think our faith–holding fast to what has stood the test of time, and letting go of what doesn’t. For this reason, the church abolished slavery, but now we have to face the racism and white supremacy that made slavery possible. And while the church and society treats women better than in ages past, much work needs to be done see full equality. In the same way, we feel called to reject policies harmful to LGBTQ+ people. We embrace our responsibility to participate in the progress the Spirit leads us into. Emily Swan and Ken Wilson wrote Solus Jesus: A Theology of Resistance to unpack how we understand the Spirit leading us through these times.

Marriage Equality, Black Lives Matter, Care for the Environment, Return to Civility

Whether this is viewed as “political” or not is less important to us. For example, the Black Lives Matter movement is a call for racial justice, a concern of a Jesus-centered faith. So is care for our environment and dealing with climate change. We grieve the loss of civility in our public and political debate, which has bred contempt and judgement toward those with whom we disagree. We support something we call a “Third Way” based on the wisdom of Romans 14 and 15. This task is deeply spiritual. We need God’s help, God’s Spirit, and the instruction of our rabbi, Jesus.

Non-Partisan, Respecting Differences, Following Jesus, Opposing Fascism

We are not a “partisan” church and don’t promote a single political party, philosophy, or program. Research suggests the “conservative-liberal” designations may represent heritable biological responses, so they seem to be part of human diversity; we respect principled ways of being conservative or liberal. That said, we were (and are) vocal in our opposition to the fascist-leaning tendencies of a particular former president. Facism is a different beast than Republican or Democrat and it is our belief faith organizations must oppose authoritarianism regardless from which end of the political spectrum it arises.

We call on all—regardless of political philosophy—to work toward greater justice for the oppressed, in keeping with the vision of Jesus and the Hebrew prophets. We don’t tell people how to vote or turn church into a political rally, but we also believe faith means speaking up when elected officials scapegoat others, promote falsehoods, and appeal to our baser instincts. As followers of Jesus we are called to act on behalf of the most vulnerable—as a matter of faith.