A week ago at our CnC Introduction Webinar (our final Webinar is on June 17--see the flyer for how to sign up), someone asked, “Does Confirm not Conform encourage an individualistic faith?” A good question. I think the answer is that Confirm not Conform encourages a personal faith within a community of faith. And then I got an email that supported that hypothesis.
The Rev. Ann Tillman wrote to me about the class creed prepared by her CnC class at the Caroline Church of Brookhaven in Setauket, Long Island and directed me to an article about the class in the Diocesan newsletter (it's on the third page, two right columns). Here’s what stood out to me:
The students decided that their creed would be a communal creed, “we believe,” instead of an individual creed, “I believe.” Once the list [of statements of faith] was complete, students beautifully articulated arguments for and against the inclusion of each term in the final product, noticing when some terms were similar, and graciously letting go of their own agenda when necessary for the good of the order.
One of the things I think CnC does is provide a space for both individual beliefs and “the good of the order," recognizing that we live in a community. People of faith are not all going to believe the exact same thing; it’s silly to expect otherwise. And so I do think there is a place for individual faith. At the same time, a church of one is not much of a church, so how do we work together? Are there broad areas that are important to all of us and how do we articulate them? CnC gives opportunities to find those areas of common ground as well.
If we can learn how to find the areas of common ground and work together while recognizing that different people may believe different things, that’s huge. That’s a game changer. Imagine a church full of people who can do that.