Eugene Peterson, Presbyterian pastor and author of “The Message Bible”, writes of his desire for the perfect congregation — one where the people are holy, alert, responsive to God’s word and experiencing glorious revival.
He decided that kind of place doesn’t exist, and he has a term for keeping that kind of image in our minds:
“Parish glamorization is ecclesiastical pornography — taking photographs (skillfully airbrushed) or drawing pictures of congregations that are without spot or wrinkle, the shapes that a few parishes have for a few short years.
These provocatively posed pictures are devoid of personal relationships…
Ordinary congregations are God’s choice for the form the church takes in locale, and pastors are the persons assigned to them for ministry.” – Eugene Peterson, Under the Unpredictable Plant, page 22
God uses real people and real relationships, not airbrushed images, to grow us and his kingdom.
– fritz@langgang.com
Patrikin - Kinship through The Father 
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