Yesterday's posting, "Lewis County, NY - Sorta Red, Sorta Purple" drew on a recent survey of the county, which suggests that Lewis County is more politically/ideologically diverse than one might think. On reflection, the survey's data also suggests that there is an important place for a "purple" church in our "sorta purple" county. A purple church is an open, inclusive church that values and practices diversity. It understands that there are a variety of entirely faithful ways of following Christ—one can do so as a "conservative Christian" or a "liberal Christian" or "non-ideological" Christian or a large number of other "kinds" of Christian. A purple church preaches social as well as personal salvation. It affirms the authority of the Bible, looking to Christ as the measure of scripture. The Bible is the "word of God written," while only Christ is the Word of God (John 1). A purple church provides a spiritual home for those who are uncomfortable with a strongly ideological or fundamentalist message and practice. It does not live in a "black-and-white" world or rely on human so-called "absolutes". A purple church lives by faith, which is primarily a matter of trust in God and only secondarily concerns itself with beliefs about God .
First Presbyterian Church, Lowville, seeks to be just such a church. Its members embrace the fact that they see and live out the Christian faith in different ways. They look beyond the labels and can listen with interest to and learn from views not their own. As a congregation, they value preaching that asks hard answers. They feel uneasy with conventional answers. It is good, thus, to have some statistical confirmation that there is ample room for this purple-leaning church in sorta purple Lewis County. Amen.
