I’ve just become aware of the website called Rekindling Theological Reflection: Transformative Thought for Progressive Action. The first page news release states:
We are Christians of many shades and stripes, colors and nationalities, beliefs and convictions. We are mainline Christians and emerging church folk, progressive Evangelicals and old-fashioned liberals, seekers and settled folks. We do not represent a single organization, denomination, “ism,” or school of theology.
What bonds us together is the conviction that what you believe most deeply can and should make a difference in how you live in the world. For Christians, a set of beliefs about what is most important in the world is called a theology. So our motto is: theology matters.
I am very intrigued by all this. I believe regardless of your theological persuasion, if you have been involved in institutional religion for any length of time, you have recognized the amount of time, money and energy that has been virtually wasted trying to maintain the institution. I truly believe that the very institutions that so frustrate many of us can be redeemed/transformed/re-birthed as catalysts driving profound change in our world.
Again, I haven’t read much of this yet…just wanted to make you aware of the conversations.
so here we are in the field... 
Mike I have a few questions for you. Remember, I’m dumb, so help me here. I’m haing trouble with simple definitions for words we have thrown around as well as words thrown around in this website. (Keep in mind, my questions are coming from our “practice” vs “belief system” discussions.) What are the definitions (and thus differences) in the words ‘christianity’, ‘theology’, and ‘doctrine’. It seems as if these are interchangable in some context and conversations, yet very different in other contexts. Maybe it is I who is using them interchangably. I think the church does need transforming. Some of my belief comes from my bad experience at First Judgmental Baptist, so I recognize my opinion is probably as much about running from one experience as it is about seeking a life-impacting experience. I know the larger city non-denoms have experienced success, but I think there are a lot of folks “lost in the crowd,” which is why I believe small groups are vital. The problem with small groups is the weekly commitment necessary to make them successful, especially if the group is meeting at a time and place other than at church on Sunday morning. Anyway, I’ll go along with you on this. I totally agree that time, energy, and money is wasted on creating the church experience. At what point are we going to take church to the people instead of waiting on people to come to the church? How many times have I heard “invite all your friends to come” to this program or that event at church? When are we going to go to them and offer to help them fix a faucet or clean out their garage? (I am scolding myself the most here.) Goes back to practice vs belief system…