Streams of Living Water and Me

Reading Richard Foster's Streams of Living Water was a watershed moment in my ecclesiology.  Whereas I had formerly lamented the shattered nature of Christ’s church, I now relish the pluriform expressions it takes, still with sobriety about the brokenness of this diversity.  There is little question that I am most at home in the Evangelical Stream, having grown up and been educated in thoroughly evangelical schools.  Yet, I have had significant experience and exposure within several other streams as well.  My mother (and much of her family) are best characterized as Charismatic and I myself spent the better part of two years worshipping at a Charismatic Anglican church in Wheaton, IL called Church of the Great Shepherd, pastored by Dr. Lyle Dorsett.  Most of my pre-college years were spent in Foursquare and Christian Missionary Alliance churches, with a strong Holiness tradition.  My last 8+ years in Presbyterian churches have convinced me of the importance of Social Justice to the Gospel of the Kingdom, which is now central to my faith.   Despite a strong introverted tendencies and appreciation for the contemplative stream, I have never found great resonance with it’s practices, though I deeply long for moments of contemplative union.