8 Arizona Pastors Create 'Progressive Christianity: Fact or Fiction' Sermon Series; Local Progressive Pastor Says They're Trying to 'Alienate' People Who Don't Interpret the Bible Literally
Eight conservative Arizona pastors have banded together to teach a sermon series to their local community titled "Progressive Christianity: Fact or Fiction," but one local United Methodist Church pastor, who holds more progressive views on the Bible, says they're trying to alienate people who don't interpret the Scriptures literally.
The series will be taught at eight different Fountain Hills churches and is being advertised on large billboards in front of each of them.
"It's a sermon series dealing with some of the essential tenets of Christianity — that being the deity of Jesus, the validity of Scripture, the literal, physical resurrection of Christ and the atoning sacrifice of Christ," said Christ's Church of Fountain Hills pastor Don Lawrence, one of the eight pastors preaching the series, to The Christian Post.
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Lawrence said the series will deal with topics discussed in recent progressive Christian seminars held in Fountain Hills.
"For the last four or five years, there's been a series of seminars hosted in our community pushing the progressive movement," he said. "In those seminars they dismiss or argue against some of these basic Christian tenets. It has created a lot of questions and some confusion among [people] in our community, and so we [are doing] a series to address some of those questions that we have heard."
Pastor David Felten of The Fountains Church, a United Methodist Church, has taken part in the progressive seminars and believes the eight pastors who created the "Fact or Fiction" sermon series feel "threatened" by opposing theology.
"I think it's clear what they're aiming for is to alienate what they think is a threat to their particular way of doing Christianity," Felten told CP. "In their publications and what [these pastors] say, it is a more general attack [on progressive Christians]. However, The Fountains Church is the only church in Fountain Hills that is openly progressive. So I can't help but think that it is primarily directed at what we're doing in the Fountain."
Felten has written a book on progressive Christianity titled Living the Questions: The Wisdom of Progressive Christianity that he says is being "used all over the world." He believes Jesus was divine, but was not God. He also doesn't believe in the literal virgin birth of Christ, but says he still takes the Bible very seriously.
"Progressive Christianity is every bit as biblical if not more biblical than these fundamentalists' outlooks. We take the Bible seriously, not literally," explained Felten.
Despite Felten's statements, Lawrence says the series is not aimed a Felten or his church, but is actually about addressing the opposing theology of progressive Christianity.
"Progressive Christianity is not just a local issue, it's really a worldwide issue. And it's really not a new issue," said Lawrence. "In the early days [of the church it was called] Gnosticism. It's been called many different things. It's basically anyone who wants to dismiss some of the basic core values and beliefs of biblical Christianity."
First Baptist Church of Fountain Hills pastor Tony Pierce, another one of the eight, said he hopes the "Progressive Christianity: Fact or Fiction" sermon series will bring clarity to believers.
"We see the progressives are growing. Not only in our community, but nationwide. And we wanted our people to know a clear distinction between progressive theology and conservative or biblical theology, because we believe that progressives have removed the authority of God's Word," Pierce told CP.
Felten told CP that Pierce has "referred to him in print as an apostate and a reprobate." However, The Fountain Hills Times letter he is likely referring to does not mention Felten by name.
"The progressives are at it again, and for a small fee you can join the primary proponent of this apostate religious movement to get answers," wrote Pierce in a February letter to the editor in the FH Times.
"Albeit, not answers with any biblical authority, but from the minds of reprobates who believe they know more than the original authors of the Scripture and more than the Holy Spirit who inspired them to write the Scriptures."
Pierce agreed with Lawrence in stating that the series is not aimed at Felton or his church and believes media outlets such as the local Fox Channel 10 and The Huffington Post are feeding into the eight conservative churches "bullying" one progressive church narrative.
"The battle of eight churches against one church is a media creation. And I personally think it's a creation of David Felten himself," said Pierce. "He called [Fox] Channel 10 News [in Fountain Hills] and brought them into it. It's not what's happening and it's not the intent of these eight pastors."
Pierce admitted that the series will have an impact on Felten due to his progressive views, but its true aim is to communicate the authority of the Bible and the core beliefs of the Christian faith, including the deity of Jesus Christ.
Lawrence said they plan to finish the series despite media backlash.
