"Today's church has the opportunity of becoming both the womb and the midwife for the great spiritual changes of our time. Apart from the guidance, structure, and historical tradition of the church, these ungrounded creative energies may collapse into chaos. Just as the new age is a breath of the Spirit, the church is also a revelation of the Spirit of God in our time. Today, the church cannot travel alone. It must open its doors to the winds of the spirit in all its varied forms and open its arms, heart, and mind to all those who seek to travel by the spirit embodied in Christ.

"During a recent visit to Southern California, I had the opportunity to tour the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove. As I jogged at sunrise through the grounds of this monument to 'possibility thinking,' I was fascinated by a crystal cross that stands in the shadow of the Cathedral. Although its pastor, Robert Schuller, is hardly an adherent of new age theology and probably is unaware of the purported power of crystals, the image of a cathedral and a cross in crystal form represents the challenge Christians face today. It represents my own quest for a vital Christianity for this new age. We must embrace and affirm the vital energies of the new age as we discover the beauty of the crystal in all its many facets. But, as we embrace these energies, we must also transform them and mold them into the shape of a cross. In faithfulness to the one who promises a 'new heaven and a new earth,' we must lift high the cross and treasure the crystal as we journey together toward God's new age."