the church invests a lot of time in discussing words that no longer connect to the experiences people have. heaven, hell, damnation, salvation, on and on. but Tillich's essay "you are accepted" offered a glimmer of a way to connect these words to contemporary experience. and I don't mean visions, voices, and speaking in tongues. see https://progressivechristianity.org/resources/exploration-a-field-manual-for-a-faithful-renewing-community/
I had the pleasure of meeting Phyllis Tickle speak and hearing her speak. I was a seminary student at the time and both her words and her "new," book made a lot of sense to me. Thanks for remembering her. Also thanks for the report of what she said on that road trip with you.
How right she was, as we see in the Pew report. As a Lutheran, we were already looking forward to the 500th anniversary of the posting of the 95 theses. It never occurred to me (at least) that we too might be part of that great cleaning out of the attic, with all the stress and change that goes along with it.
And a few days after this post, something really frightening occurred to me. I connected your posts about Christian Nationalism to the decline of the church. I and imagined something along the lines of "The Handmaid's Tale." A nation where only those who were members of the "Right Church" (pun intended) held power. The parallels to Communist countries came to mind as well. Party membership is a small percentage of the population, but they get to run things, while the nones make up the bulk of the population and labor force. Progressive Christians will either disappear, be targets for re-education, or tollerated because we are irrelevant.
I think that Christ's spirit is still alive and can still be spread; however the institutional church and traditional services don't seem relevant today -- especially to younger folk.
We who are energized by Christ need to spread the Love and message in all other ways possible. We have to show that Love and how it can work in the world -- outside the walls of the buildings.
"......and some new studies claim that if we look at the statistics, we will see that Christians are not leaving Christianity as much as they are realigning with groups that live Christian values in the world, instead of just gathering to again hear the readings, recite the creed, and sing songs on Sunday. In that sense, actual Christian behavior might just be growing more than we think."
We will always be challenged by the demographic and religious trends around us: the nones, the Christian nationalists, the atheists. Being faithful does not depend on dollars or numbers, ultimately. But a lot has to change, I guess.
Christianity is broken. We need to evolve to the example Jesus left for us. Not judges of each other but brothers and sisters - even those who don't believe the same way. We need to focus on spirituality. Anyone who looks at this world and doesn't believe it's a creation is blind. That being so, we are left with the spirit of God who lives in us and guides us. Embracing that is where joy is found. Change the message.
I have been a paid member of the Cottage community for a little over a year now and am pleased with the investment. I find the subjects of your reflections, the podcasts and dialog fascinating and energizing and sometimes disturbing. When it came time to renew this year, I had no question about the value I had received for what I had paid.
You and I share some common ground in terms of our spiritual journey. I was born and raised in the Church of the Nazarene, a conservative, evangelical church with strong Anglican/Wesleyan/Armenian theological roots. I grew up in a little Nazarene Church in Castle Rock, Washington, graduated with a BA in religion from Pasadena College (now Point Loma Nazarene University) and an M-Div from Nazarene Theological Seminary. I then pastored local Nazarene churches for 10 years, before transitioning to ministry in the UCC.
The transition was not abrupt, nor did I leave the Nazarene Church, an angry former pastor. Even after retiring from active ministry in a UCC congregation in northeast Ohio in 2011, my wife and I found ourselves on occasion worshiping with an evangelical faith community. After the 2016 election I found myself feeling more and more isolated and alienated, not so much from the local congregation, where we were worshiping as from the larger evangelical community with its adoration of Donald Trump and accompanying drift into Christian nationalism.
When I am most tempted to bail out of the Church, I am reminded of something Paul Bassett, my church history professor in seminary used to say. In talking about the ups and downs of the Church over its 2000-year history, he said, "the last rites have been pronounced over the 'old girl' on numerous occasions down through the years, but she has an incredible record of experiencing resurrection, when she seems nearest to death."
With Brian McLaren and a host of others I have, do and probably will continue to wrestle with the question of "Do I Stay Christian," but the Cottage certainly helps and encourages me as I'm in the ring and trying not to get pinned down. The work you are doing through the Cottage gives me hope, when the tide seems to be going the wrong way. Thanks for the work you are doing, Diana.
I look forward to the day of Christianity as minority status. The security of domination has never served Christianity well. The years of minority status, even persecution, stimulated our prophets, our artists, our theological leaders. We need a reason to cherish our faith and losing our political and social edge may stimulate our love for it. While I don't welcome persecution, I welcome the lower status of a minority.
In the absence of "christianity," there might well be a christian nationalism in its place ... an ideology of power that couldn't care less about numbers, or opinion ... a small group of white males, well-funded by hyper-capitalists, running the nation is exactly what the christian nationalists want. Yes, I know, this is terribly pessimistic ... I can only hope that the "nones" have enough gumption and intelligence to not let this happen ... unless they're too busy trying to land that next big job or monitoring their calorie intake. I may need a drink. Oops, darn it all, I don't drink anymore. Ha.
A wonderful tribute to Ms. Tickle! It's interesting, I deconstructed my fundie heritage some 30+ years ago, became a spiritual junkie, experimenting with many wisdom traditions; even tried a out atheism. During the pandemic I came back to Christianity. All those years of experimentation were extremely valuable, and the still small voice of the spirit kept calling me home. I came to understand I can bring all of the wonderful teachings and technologies I learned to a reimagined Christian experience. My faith is now free to be what it needs to be to help alleviate suffering where and whenever I have the opportunity. Ms. Tickle's prophecies are very real to me. "One can argue — with only varying degrees of success, though — that private faith can exist independent of its cultural surround." Amen, sister. I commit to the best of my ability to be the butterfly that with each small act of love, pray it will have a reciprocal effect for the better on the cultural in which I act. That the Christianity that emerges will be better than the one it replaces.
When people would say the children are our future I would respond, no, if we are not preparing our children today there is no future.
the church invests a lot of time in discussing words that no longer connect to the experiences people have. heaven, hell, damnation, salvation, on and on. but Tillich's essay "you are accepted" offered a glimmer of a way to connect these words to contemporary experience. and I don't mean visions, voices, and speaking in tongues. see https://progressivechristianity.org/resources/exploration-a-field-manual-for-a-faithful-renewing-community/
I had the pleasure of meeting Phyllis Tickle speak and hearing her speak. I was a seminary student at the time and both her words and her "new," book made a lot of sense to me. Thanks for remembering her. Also thanks for the report of what she said on that road trip with you.
How right she was, as we see in the Pew report. As a Lutheran, we were already looking forward to the 500th anniversary of the posting of the 95 theses. It never occurred to me (at least) that we too might be part of that great cleaning out of the attic, with all the stress and change that goes along with it.
And a few days after this post, something really frightening occurred to me. I connected your posts about Christian Nationalism to the decline of the church. I and imagined something along the lines of "The Handmaid's Tale." A nation where only those who were members of the "Right Church" (pun intended) held power. The parallels to Communist countries came to mind as well. Party membership is a small percentage of the population, but they get to run things, while the nones make up the bulk of the population and labor force. Progressive Christians will either disappear, be targets for re-education, or tollerated because we are irrelevant.
Enough happy thoughts for one night.
This is a test My last attempt to post a comment did not show up
I think that Christ's spirit is still alive and can still be spread; however the institutional church and traditional services don't seem relevant today -- especially to younger folk.
We who are energized by Christ need to spread the Love and message in all other ways possible. We have to show that Love and how it can work in the world -- outside the walls of the buildings.
"......and some new studies claim that if we look at the statistics, we will see that Christians are not leaving Christianity as much as they are realigning with groups that live Christian values in the world, instead of just gathering to again hear the readings, recite the creed, and sing songs on Sunday. In that sense, actual Christian behavior might just be growing more than we think."
Richard Rohr The Universal Christ pg201
We will always be challenged by the demographic and religious trends around us: the nones, the Christian nationalists, the atheists. Being faithful does not depend on dollars or numbers, ultimately. But a lot has to change, I guess.
As you know, Phyllis has been on my mind, too -- and I deeply appreciate getting to talk about it briefly last week.
But what I want to say here, now, is that I'm grateful for your friendship with Phyllis and I offer my prayers for you, Diana, at this tender time.
Christianity is broken. We need to evolve to the example Jesus left for us. Not judges of each other but brothers and sisters - even those who don't believe the same way. We need to focus on spirituality. Anyone who looks at this world and doesn't believe it's a creation is blind. That being so, we are left with the spirit of God who lives in us and guides us. Embracing that is where joy is found. Change the message.
Diana,
I have been a paid member of the Cottage community for a little over a year now and am pleased with the investment. I find the subjects of your reflections, the podcasts and dialog fascinating and energizing and sometimes disturbing. When it came time to renew this year, I had no question about the value I had received for what I had paid.
You and I share some common ground in terms of our spiritual journey. I was born and raised in the Church of the Nazarene, a conservative, evangelical church with strong Anglican/Wesleyan/Armenian theological roots. I grew up in a little Nazarene Church in Castle Rock, Washington, graduated with a BA in religion from Pasadena College (now Point Loma Nazarene University) and an M-Div from Nazarene Theological Seminary. I then pastored local Nazarene churches for 10 years, before transitioning to ministry in the UCC.
The transition was not abrupt, nor did I leave the Nazarene Church, an angry former pastor. Even after retiring from active ministry in a UCC congregation in northeast Ohio in 2011, my wife and I found ourselves on occasion worshiping with an evangelical faith community. After the 2016 election I found myself feeling more and more isolated and alienated, not so much from the local congregation, where we were worshiping as from the larger evangelical community with its adoration of Donald Trump and accompanying drift into Christian nationalism.
When I am most tempted to bail out of the Church, I am reminded of something Paul Bassett, my church history professor in seminary used to say. In talking about the ups and downs of the Church over its 2000-year history, he said, "the last rites have been pronounced over the 'old girl' on numerous occasions down through the years, but she has an incredible record of experiencing resurrection, when she seems nearest to death."
With Brian McLaren and a host of others I have, do and probably will continue to wrestle with the question of "Do I Stay Christian," but the Cottage certainly helps and encourages me as I'm in the ring and trying not to get pinned down. The work you are doing through the Cottage gives me hope, when the tide seems to be going the wrong way. Thanks for the work you are doing, Diana.
Dan DeWeese
I look forward to the day of Christianity as minority status. The security of domination has never served Christianity well. The years of minority status, even persecution, stimulated our prophets, our artists, our theological leaders. We need a reason to cherish our faith and losing our political and social edge may stimulate our love for it. While I don't welcome persecution, I welcome the lower status of a minority.
In the absence of "christianity," there might well be a christian nationalism in its place ... an ideology of power that couldn't care less about numbers, or opinion ... a small group of white males, well-funded by hyper-capitalists, running the nation is exactly what the christian nationalists want. Yes, I know, this is terribly pessimistic ... I can only hope that the "nones" have enough gumption and intelligence to not let this happen ... unless they're too busy trying to land that next big job or monitoring their calorie intake. I may need a drink. Oops, darn it all, I don't drink anymore. Ha.
A wonderful tribute to Ms. Tickle! It's interesting, I deconstructed my fundie heritage some 30+ years ago, became a spiritual junkie, experimenting with many wisdom traditions; even tried a out atheism. During the pandemic I came back to Christianity. All those years of experimentation were extremely valuable, and the still small voice of the spirit kept calling me home. I came to understand I can bring all of the wonderful teachings and technologies I learned to a reimagined Christian experience. My faith is now free to be what it needs to be to help alleviate suffering where and whenever I have the opportunity. Ms. Tickle's prophecies are very real to me. "One can argue — with only varying degrees of success, though — that private faith can exist independent of its cultural surround." Amen, sister. I commit to the best of my ability to be the butterfly that with each small act of love, pray it will have a reciprocal effect for the better on the cultural in which I act. That the Christianity that emerges will be better than the one it replaces.
I have always lived in The Pacific Northwest; I have no experience of Christianity as anything other than a minority practice.
Hi, Thank you. I recently read a Sojourners piece about the Pews report with interesting reflections.
Thank you for this. The Gary Snyder poem and the quotes from Phyllis at the end are priceless.