Essential Ideas of Progressive Christianity
by: Rev. Jim Gertmenian

Progressive Christians seek a way of faith that is:

  • Compelled by the love commandment of Jesus and the vision for social justice found in Hebrew and Christian scripture and valuing this work above a striving for doctrinal purity or dogmatic correctness
  • Open to the insights of reason and science while being grounded in the experience of transcendence, wonder, and mystery
  • Grateful for the truth discovered in other ways and languages of faith
  • Nurtured by an “open” reading of scripture that goes deeper than literalism
  • Grounded in the authority of the individual conscience lived out in the context of a mutually accountable community.
  • Willing to engage in self-critique and development, believing that theological truth is not static but is always in process
 
Progressive Christianity evokes words like:   inclusive, searching, honest, generous, non-judgmental, compassionate, practical.   

The progressive Christian movement will appeal to people who:

  • Have found fundamentalist and orthodox ways of faith to be narrow, judgmental, and anti-intellectual
  • Are more attracted by wonder than  they are by certainty
  • Believe that God can never be completely contained by one religious system
  • Wish to retain a grounding in religious tradition without being constrained by that tradition
  • Understand that “following Jesus” rather than “believing in Jesus” is the goal of Christian faith
  • Envision a world where God’s inclusive, compassionate justice is lived out
  • See science and religion as being essentially compatible though different ways of describing reality
  • Seek a middle way between rigid orthodoxy and barren materialism, between the “religious right” and the “secular left.”
  • Find their essential authority for matters of faith within themselves in the context of a loving community rather than in external institutions, documents, or traditions.
  • Affirm the sacredness of all creation
 
Progressive Christians value both “head” and “heart” . . . “mind” and “spirit.”   They reject systems of domination but seek, instead, systems of equity, inclusiveness, and justice.   Progressive Christians are comfortable with the idea that the journey is more important than the destination, that faith is not about who gets into heaven but about how we are meant to live together on earth.   They believe, with Saint Paul, that while faith, hope, and love are all essential to the Christian life, “the greatest of these is love.”

The Plymouth Center for Progressive Christian Faith is an important and integral part of the movement that is proclaiming the ideas and ideals listed above.

To find out more about progressive Christian faith, please click on one of the sermon series in the left sidebar to access one of Rev. Jim Gertmenian's outstanding sermons on this topic.

Rev. Gertmenian is Senior Minister of Plymouth Congregational Church in Minneapolis and serves on the Plymouth Center Board of Directors.