{"id":6426,"date":"2010-06-16T00:08:29","date_gmt":"2010-06-16T00:08:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/2010\/06\/what-is-required.html"},"modified":"2010-06-16T00:08:29","modified_gmt":"2010-06-16T00:08:29","slug":"what-is-required","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2010\/06\/what-is-required.html","title":{"rendered":"What is Required?"},"content":{"rendered":"

When you “join” your church or “profess your faith” or “get baptized” or complete your confirmation — depending on your church orientation —  what are you asked to do? Are you asked to tell your story of faith? What is required?<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
I’m reading Patricia Caldwell’s exceptionally-researched and well-written study, The Puritan Conversion Narrative: The Beginnings of American Expression (Cambridge Studies in American Literature and Culture)<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/strong><\/em>, while in Ireland and it details the “relation” (spiritual autobiography) that the Puritans were asked to provide for membership. Furthermore, not only where they asked to provide a “relation” they were also often examined by both the leaders and the entire church to see if the marks of grace were truly evident.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
There are plenty of interlocking issues here — like the difference between the English and the Americans on this issue, the debates by Presbyterians against the Congregationalist Puritans for developing the “relation” into an art form and into a mandatory exercise, the connection of the “relation” to travel to America, the connection of a genuine church member and the ability for a local church to limit membership to the “visible saints”  etc … but those are not the issues.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
As I read this study, I routinely put it down to ponder what is required of us today? What do they expect of you at your church?<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When you “join” your church or “profess your faith” or “get baptized” or complete your confirmation — depending on your church orientation —  what are you asked to do? Are you asked to tell your story of faith? What is required? I’m reading Patricia Caldwell’s exceptionally-researched and well-written study, The Puritan Conversion Narrative: The Beginnings…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gospel"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat is Required? - Jesus Creed<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2010\/06\/what-is-required.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What is Required? - Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When you “join” your church or “profess your faith” or “get baptized” or complete your confirmation — depending on your church orientation —  what are you asked to do? 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