I actually say something along these lines in my profile. My intention is to take things easy and develop a relationship out of friendship, as I hope I have made that clear in the profile itself.
That was a very good attempt. Since I am more into interpreting poetry then writing it, allow me to say something about that.
If I was to give a title for this poem I would call it something like the good, the bad and the everyday. Why? Because the poem describes three different settings. I know for a fact (though I have not been married) that there will be good times in his marriage and that he will enjoy them. I also know that there will be bad times which he will have to endure. Finally, I know that there will be much more that falls in between. Thus, I think that you are right to pay the greatest attention to the final setting.
Here is a short story from my experience. We had a new campus pastor arriving at the seminary where I teach about a year ago. Guess what was the first thing he did? Well, se separated the prayer group into males and females and asked them to have separate sessions in separate prayer rooms. This applied to the married couples as well!!!
Anyways, he is no longer here maybe things will get back to normal :)
You have made a very good point on the meaning and, may I add, the value of doctrine. You are also right to highlight the double-edged nature of referring to particular movements without getting one's life in line.
Still, I would be reluctant to declare a good part of the official teaching of the Roman Catholic Church as wrong. The matter of practice among the ordinary Roman Catholics is a completely different issue, unfortunately.
btw. the Catechism was published only a few years ago.
I often find myself puzled by the same thing. I often take it to refer to the free churches which are not connected to the well-known denominations. "not sure yet" is for non-church-goers.
Still, everyone holds beliefs that fit somewhere in the spectrum and everyone has things that they disagree about. Yet, I often feel as i "Non-Denomination" is being used as a sort of a cover. After all, denominations relate to belief-systems and "non-denominations" do so as well. This is to say that "non-denomination" seems a bit pointless to me. Maybe the term needs to be revised by whoever invented it. No offense meant.
This is certainly one of the most hotly contested issues in our generation.
In my opinion women may and should take part in ministry. There was a woman who was ministering to the church in Rome in the days of Paul. Her name was Junia (not Junius!!!). Paul called her an apostle.
Besides, church history gives us sufficient evidence to say that the growth and spiritual health of the church could often be red out of how much women were involved in ministry. Think of the early church or the early days of the Pentecostal movement.
Thus, I think that ministry, be it pastoral or any other, is not something forbidden to women. Rather, they also have the spirit of God.
Having said this, I should also add that ministry is no more pleasing to God then any other vocation that a woman may desire to pursue.
