Pagans and Christians; mutual learning?

Sometimes it is really helpful to see things, even if only in a small way and momentarily, through the eyes of those who often oppose us. So this is really interesting:

My experience as a Pagan clergyman, however, has made me aware of a difference between the cultures of Christians and Pagans, and it is one that I feel is something they (for the most part) have, that we (for the most part) lack, to our collective detriment. The key to the difference can be seen in the basic fact that most Christians have a more institutional approach to their faith than most Pagans do to ours:

He goes on then to outline the practical ways he is aware of that having an institutional and corporate dimension to faith practice can be helpful. It comes down to helpful default positions and a kind of resource sharing that goes beyond individuals and small groups which enables more exceptional things to be taken care of without making a bigger than necessary drama out of a crisis.

However, as I was reading, I was thinking ironically that the reversion to small groups was precisely something that is happening in a lot of northern/western Christianity, sometimes deliberately, often by accident. So I valued this reminder from a small group situation of the value of wider connections and networks of resource sharing. I may not be a big fan of big institutional relgion [well, I'm not], but I tend to take the view that we cannot escape institutional life; it is a natural outgrowth of corporate and networked life. The issue is how to make sure that it remains at the service of God and people, and how we build in and maintain accountability and yet also make sure that things don't become bland and stifle good and creative initiative.
Witchvox Article:
Filed in: Christian, Pagan, institution