A Vision of the Church: Making the Lord God Jesus Christ Visible in Our Midst

The following is the vision statement that supported and continues to support the development of Logopraxis as a form promoting the development of the Church in the individual and collectively. This was developed just prior to the inception of the Logopraxis form, probably sometime in 2002-2003, and while this version has undergone a few minor edits it has changed little from when it was first conceived. When I read this still I feel my heart rate quicken, and feel a yearning from deep within to see this become more and more a tangible reality for people. And, of course, as with any vision this one tries to capture the ideal, and as such will always be something we are working towards, but it also serves to inform the what, the how, and the why, of the structures and methodology employed in Logopraxis.

The focus in Logopraxis is building the internal Church. This is understood to be the Church that forms within the human mind when the Word is applied to our mental life in an effort to become more conscious of the quality of what’s arising as to our thoughts and affections. It is then that the work of shunning evils as sins against the Lord/Word can begin, which is the work of charity from a spiritual point of view. It is this work that fulfills the three essentials of the Church, for to practice the Word is to 1. acknowledge the Lord in His Divine Human, 2. to acknowledge the holiness of the Word and 3. to live the life of charity. Logopraxis structures for meeting and its method for individual practice are intentionally minimalist in their design so that the core focus for spiritual life remains on supporting people to work with truths from the Word individually and then to share what they are discovering through that work with other practitioners. So I share the vision below in the hope that it might inspire you in your work as well as build a fuller understanding of the vision that sits behind Logopraxis.

A Vision of the Church

A passionate love for reaching others burns within her heart and this love is the Word lived among those who belong to her. This love is the Lord Himself who seeks the salvation of all. He is her very life and fires her affection for truths that will see this love expressed in real and tangible ways. Because her focus is single and never deviates from a genuine concern for the spiritual well being of others as her centre, He clothes her in splendour, in garments of precious stones, infinite in number, multifaceted, and of an unfathomable depth. These are the ideas available to her, drawn from the Word which, is opened due to the light of heaven shining forth from His coming as its inner meaning. By means of this spiritual light the Lord directs and guides her thoughts and her affections, so that all who come into contact with her might be touched by the living witness she is to the transforming power of His love. All who truly belong to her cherish and nurture her as she does them. All who truly belong to her are continually looking to see how they might draw forth what is of the Lord in each and every one they are brought into contact with. Forgetting themselves, their focus is the Lord as the Word, their desire is to do His will, each nurtures the gifts and abilities of each other that together they might be more effective in fulfilling the Lord’s purposes. All who are in her live and work consciously toward being ever more responsive to the Lord in others that He might be experienced more fully as the Word together. All who are in her work inwardly so that together they might strengthen those things that are the Lord’s and so give expression to a collective form that bears a living witness to His love and mercy.

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Kent Rogers
5 years ago

This is very beautiful, David. Thank you very much for sharing such a meaningful, inspiring, and personal vision.