Church on Sundays

When you go to church on Sundays, what do you expect it to be?

A haven of refuge or a furnace of transformation?

Watch the video below and find out!

Those who think that going to church on Sundays is like going to a haven of refuge would want to hear sermons that are “inspiration and light.”

The sermons would often focus on the topics like “self-help,” “mental health,” “environmental protection,” and “making the church a welcoming church.”

“Welcoming church,” of course, meant that “divisive issues” like abortion, divorce, and social justice are not discussed during homilies. Frequently, homilies appeal to emotion and promote a sense of well-being. Homilies are meant to make you feel good.

Those who go to a church where it is a “furnace of transformation” can expect to hear sermons that “disturb.” Challenging issues are discussed without fear, or discrimination but preached with conviction.

In attending churches like these, people may even come out of the church feeling “low” and “uncomfortable.”

The church as a “haven of refuge” is becoming trendy nowadays. While the church as “furnace of transformation” is relegated to the margins.

The Second Plenary Council of the Philippines and the experience of being Church in Negros is more related to the concept of “church as a furnace of transformation.”

For decades, the Church in Negros has sought to inform and “conscientise” the faithful. It tried to avoid the gap or the dichotomy between life in the church and life in society. It envisioned that the Word of God would transform society.

However, when evangelization has become synonymous with management, the church as “haven of refuge” has a tremendous uptick. When you attend Sunday masses, gone are the days when justice and equality are preached and sought.