Vegan Church Establishment
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By Mike - 1 Feb 2017

Hi Veda,

I read over the page.  As a vegetarian of over 30 some odd years, and vegan off an on for a few of those years, I don't find the page appealing.  In fact, I find it un-appealing.  Since it suggests that you don't focus on doctrine, I think you will just attract new ager types..  If the focus is on veganism, then it really isn't a Christian church, to me.  Doctrine is very important, when it comes to being a Christian and attracting other Christians, otherwise you will slide down a slippery slope of humanism and new age.  Don't get me wrong; I have been saying for years that we should start our own denomination, but sadly, no one was interested.  As a denomination, we could have really taken off.  We could have kept the doctrine to a minimum, but we would have needed some type of statement of faith.

Let us say we said this:

____________________

We believe in God, the creator of Heaven and Earth.

We believe in Jesus, his son, our teacher and saviour.

We believe the prophets who taught that the new world would be a world with no animal bloodshed, and as Christians, we believe we should live this life, now.

We believe the Bible as God's word to humanity and that we are to live moral and up-right lives.

____________________

Something like the above would be all that was needed... We could have let each individual church decide or each individual person decide if they believed in the Trinity, or Arianism, or Unitarianism...  but, I really believe you need some kind of statement of faith, that keeps people Christian.

Of all the groups I have ever encountered, the least impressive, as far as getting things going, has been Vegetarian Christians.  No, I am NOT saying this to get a rise out of anyone or to be confrontational, I am just simply stating a fact.  There has been some effort, by some, to get printing done and a web site up, but I think one of the problems was trying to get people with Ph.Ds on the board.  Originally, when this all began, I was put on the board, by Nathan, and then taken off, both without any consultation... so, it didn't matter to me... I was demoted to an advisor or something like that.  While I didn't ask to be on the board, once I was put there, I was ready to work... but then, I got demoted and wasn't really sure what was going on.  And, no, I am not bitter, I just saw the whole thing as wishy-washy, and so, I went back into street ministry and working with government officials to find ways to help the homeless and end it, if possible.  I was awarded a medal, in my country, for that work, and so, maybe that is where God really wanted me... I don't know.  What I do know is that I never felt like there was any real structure to the CVA other than a few people making booklets and a web page..   I didn't feel like there was any real Christian spirit running through the movement, either.

The problem with trying to look good by loading up with scholars, is you sometimes don't get people with a drive to get grass roots things done. Personally, if we had really wanted credibility, then instead of hunting down Ph.Ds, to be on the board, we should have started a church, got it registered in what ever countries we were living in.  The Ph.Ds could have helped the church with their knowledge.  If we had done things that way, I believe people would have seen us as being real.  When we just set up veggie BBQs, like I have been doing and many others, or handing out leaflets in church parking lots, we come across more as a cult than believers in Christ.

If the Earth and Humanit last another 100 years, people will likely look back and wonder why the heck we didn't do something; we were the first generation of Christian Vegetarians that had the luxury of the internet and other fast communication devices and we dropped the ball...

Well, that is just my two cents worth.

take care,

Mike

Go on to comments: By Janine - 1 Feb 2017
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