Jerry Rigdon commented on the “Rigamarole” post, and this is my reply.

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Jerry, I wasn’t sure how to respond to your comment at first. I have been focusing on the discontinuity of the big change proposed by the CTA Steering Team, but you drew my attention to the COB, the real “steering team,” and the impossibility of genuine change.  

And you are absolutely right. There is no “radical change” coming down at us.

My wife Diane is a big-time fan of the Harry Potter franchise, so the philosophy of Voldemort (sounding an awful lot like Nietzsche and Machiavelli) naturally came to mind just now. “There is no good and evil. There is only power–and those too weak to seek it.”

The CTA Manifesto does not call for radical change, despite the revolutionary rhetoric. That is, the proposals do not strike at the “root” (radix) of the institution, which remains unredeemably founded on hierarchical power. It just talks about a more efficient exercise of power. And that efficient exercise of power need only be temporary (ten years is the figure suggested by the Steering Team), after which time we can return to “business as usual,” minus a few unpopular annoyances (e.g., the Claremont School of Theology, the General Board of Church and Society, etc.).

And it works out for everyone. The Prophets feel righteous; the Priests feel righteous; the Kings feel righteous. Everybody gets to do their job.

Several people–Servants to my way of thinking–have commented on the need to return to things like our calling to love, our need for the Holy Spirit, and the WWJD approach to life and ministry.