Just a Hospital for Religious Health

In response to an offline query: We are not asking people to join our covenant. We seek to set people free to find out what covenant God designed them to embrace.

Our covenant is our choice to come together and fellowship in a common expression of faith. This covenant began as the expression of a very narrow minority, outsiders who had nowhere else to go, but in dire need of fellowship and communion. This online parish and covenant remain just that and nothing more. It’s a volunteer association from start to finish, and there is no expression of ill will to anyone who feels it’s time to move on. There is no social pressure at all, because the last thing we want is someone who feels constrained in their pursuit of serving Christ. We already know our path is not for everyone.

Our goal was never to grow in numbers; it still isn’t our goal. We have no budget and no facilities. However, this whole thing rests on conviction, and it is assumed each of us has at least one computer device of one kind or another which we dedicate to our kingdom service. That’s because this covenant presumes a whole human existence dedicated to that kingdom, so the computer devices are simply the nexus of how we connect with each other. Our “facility” is the Internet, which nobody owns.

We are content to remain a small and insignificant association as humans measure such things. What we want most to see is a renewal of people discovering how to be led by a heart of conviction. We have no fear of where their hearts will led them; God has always done a good job of that without any human assistance. All we are doing is sharing our experience because we simply cannot be silent. What you do with that is for you and God to decide. Our goal and our measures of “success” are to see a change in how people of faith go about the business of religion, regardless of their organizational identity.

Again: Radix Fidem is more a meta-religion than a religion, per se. It is a study led by faith on how to be better led by faith. Religion is a human response to faith; we study how to make religion more accurately representative and expressive of faith. In the process, it is impossible for us to ignore our own religious needs, so we seek ways to stay connected in sharing them.

We don’t rob churches of their members. So far we have gathered just a tiny handful of folks who were poorly served by their churches, people who were already on their way out the door. That’s where I came from. Like many people, my membership in church required me to do things I found violating my convictions, and I was forbidden from doing things my convictions demanded of me. So instead of stirring up trouble in that church, I left to find my own way. I had no plans to draw anyone to my path, but people came anyway. They can leave it when their convictions lead them elsewhere. I am on the path I must take to find peace with God. Peace with God is what we want for everyone alive.

We few are proof that existing religious institutions cannot serve everyone. There can be no universal church because God Himself leads people out of such structures. We are pleased to let them ignore us, and we are pleased to work outside their boundaries. There is nothing we need to defend; we are not a problem for anyone who operates in good conscience. But we do claim the divine right to defend our choice by whatever means our faith and convictions compel.

I’ll offer a parable. We are a hospital for religious people. We are wounded, too, but we treat the wounded and discharge them when they feel ready to move on. That a few choose to stay and join the staff (refusing to be discharged) is simply inevitable, and they can still leave when they feel led away. But there will always be a small core of folks who have no other purpose in living except keep this hospital running.

We are Radix Fidem.