"Unfortunately, today, doctrine won out over pastoral need. It is disappointing that those who recognized the need for a more inclusive Church were defeated."

I feel like...this is an example of the self-centeredness of the world, where our needs are greater than God's needs (as stated in doctrine). God is for God and everything else is also for God. The Bible is a story about God, and the kingdom is going to be about God as well. We cannot change the fact that there are things God does that are not going to conform to the humanly worldview. I don't think I've met a single person who is going to like every single thing in the Bible, but we accept them all as truth because it is God's very breath. We cannot pick and choose.

No, doctrine does not give life, only the Gospel does. But we need it to understand who God is, to follow Jesus, and to live a life worthy of the Kingdom. 

“Doctrines are not God: they are only a kind of map. But that map is based on the experience of hundreds of people who really were in touch with God—experiences compared with which any thrills or pious feelings you and I are likely to get on our own are very elementary and very confused. And secondly, if you want to get any further, you must use the map. You see, what happened to that man in the desert may have been real, and was certainly exciting, but nothing comes of it. It leads nowhere. There is nothing to do about it. In fact, that is just why a vague religion—all about feeling God in nature, and so on—is so attractive. It is all thrills and no work: like watching the waves from the beach. But you will not get to Newfoundland by studying the Atlantic that way, and you will not get eternal life by simply feeling the presence of God in flowers or music. Neither will you get anywhere by looking at maps without going to sea. Nor will you be very safe if you go to sea without a map.” - C.S. Lewis