My seminary education was surprisingly reliant on sociology. Not in the theological classes, but in the ecclesiological ones. There was great attention paid to where the "church", writ as largely as possible, was going. I came to call some of the conclusions "vulture theology." Something like this:
Social science research has long suggested that Americans’ relationship with religion has a tidal quality — people who were raised religious find themselves drifting away as young adults, only to be drawn back in when they find spouses and begin to raise their own families. Some argued that young adults just hadn’t yet been pulled back into the fold of organized religion, especially since they were hitting major milestones like marriage and parenthood later on.Vulture theology is the idea the church will always falter but never die because young people will do what they did in the '60's: abandon church until they need it for marriages and baptisms and weddings and someplace "safe" to take the family at least once a week. Nothing in this article surprises me; or disturbs me, for that matter. Does it point toward a bleak, dystopian future in which no one attends church and the buildings become the "bare, ruined choirs where late the sweet birds sang" that Shakespeare alluded to? Only he was thinking of the Catholic churches taken over by Elizabeth I's father, and abandoned on pain of death. This future is not that past, but is it as dreary and dreadful as the images make it sound?
Nah. What's going on in church attendance has been going on for a long time. We've becomes used to "mega-churches" replacing churches, but that's a phenomenon that's, at best, 40 years old. And they will fade as their pastors fade (Mars Hill is gone; the Crystal Cathedral died with Robert Schuller). I'd go so far as to say mega-churches are the Facebook of churches: attractive to old people who think they're on the cutting edge, but of no interest to Millenials who, frankly, probably have a lot of reasons for not going to church besides politics. We've also gotten used to the idea that church is a central pillar of American society; but that's an idea that's pretty much the experience of the post-World War II world, which is, SURPRISE!, the experience of the Boomers. And let's face it; we're fading away, too.
The politics is an interesting issue. Seems that doesn't attract people to church the way we imagined it would. I remain critical of the United Church of Christ (the church which ordained me) because of the public emphasis on social justice/political issues. Not that I am opposed to social justice; far from it. But while LBJ and Bobby Kennedy could talk about social justice as a national commitment, it has become an issue that is purely political, as everyone now sees the world as a zero-sum game (a report on NPR this morning about a union in Nevada is illustrative. Sanders, Warren, and Biden spoke to the union, but Warren and Sanders had to explain how "Medicare for All" would preserve the healthcare benefits the union had negotiated and was so protective of. They didn't care how a proposal would benefit everyone; they were most concerned with preserving their benefits from any change, where "change=loss." That's the zero sum game we practice today, a presumption Kennedy and LBJ did not have to work against.). When the UCC talks about social justice, the world hears a "liberal" political position being advocated. Much as I agree with Walter Brueggemann, a little attention on matters spiritual and even communal might not be a bad idea. Then again I'm hardly a 'builder' of churches, so what do I know?
Except that I'm not surprised by the study concluding Millenials aren't going to church because they never went to church and because the public face of church is an institution interested in power and money. The church writ large has done that to itself, selling out to Mammon and the prestige offered by the world rather than trying to be the Body of Christ in the world. But what withers away is false, and what remains will be true, no matter how few people adhere to it.
As I've said before, when that 4 in 10 becomes 6 in 10, we'll be back to where we were 100+ years ago. Which still won't be the worst place to be.
Here is a church taking a truly radical path to rejuvenate itself from a dozen parishioners to a viable congregation. I respect and admire what they are doing, but I am not sure it's a place I want to join. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/annehelenpetersen/jubilee-baptist-church-debt-forgiveness-lgbtq-socialism
ReplyDeleteIt may be more a sign of where I am at the moment. After 2 rough years at work, I was told right before Thanksgiving my job is being eliminated in April. I work at a University, and me and my department became the target of two tenured faculty that were angered with a what would be a minor decision anywhere else. We where hounded with emails, complaints filed against us with the university, the funding agency was harassed. One professor emailed other universities, agencies, and more. The administration kept we demanding we satisfy the ever more bizarre demands. My professional credentials were attacked, grievances filed with bar committees of myself, my supervisor, the general counsel. Two independent investigations were initiated. We were totally exonerated in both, but the attacks continued. The solution from the administration was reorganize my job away to satisfy the two faculty. We talk of privilege, tenure is an extreme form. Behaviors that would have gotten me fired in the first week were tolerated for years, there was no accountability and no restraint. Administrators mostly come from the faculty and will return. Why rock the boat, why anger those you have to live with, why set rules that you will have to live with yourself later. It has been completely disheartening but now it's over. My boss fought to at least give me time to find another position. My livelihood is very specialized, there are few jobs in the local region. Relocating will be hard, our youngest two children are in high school and almost middle school. My parents moved across several states to be with near us this year, my mother-in-law is in a local nursing home. As you said in an earlier post, we all live in fear. That fear is very real at the moment. At the same time I am grateful for the family, friends, coworkers, church and more that are reaching out and offering support, but in the end I need a job. I am trying to live in Advent, find hope in faith and not break down in the vegetable section of the local supermarket and start crying over the cucumbers. The lead up to Advent was the Apocalypse, the stripping away of illusion. The first week was the unexpected and unpleasant happening. Soon it will be an angel arriving, and the first thing it says is "don't be afraid", because no matter what it's going to say next, the mere presence of this thing in this world but not of this world is terrifying.
I guess I am saying I am not having a festive, light filled season with Joy to the World echoing from every hill. Maybe I am just having the most true Advent in my life. What is holding me together is that we will all go to the early family Christmas service, my daughter will play music and sing with her friends in the choir. After a group of families decided to ditch the hectic Christmas Eve dinners at our homes and do a potluck at church. After will be the midnight service. I will be in the choir loft singing. The lights will go out, we will sing Silent Night and with each of us holding a candle will pass a flame from candle to candle with the words "Jesus is the light of the World". Maybe in that moment I will lose some of my fear and gain some hope that the flour will never run out and the flask will never be empty of oil, until the rain comes and restores the land.
Peace be with you.
And also with you. I am burying my 90 year old mother this weekend, alongside my father who also died at 90. Darkness always seems to overcome the light. But I've been where you are, and all I can tell you us what looks like darkness will turn to light, because the darkness is merely the absence of the light, and the light is what is forever. Hold tight to your family, and you will see them through.
DeleteThank you for your kind words. I very sorry that you have lost your mother, your daughter has lost her grandmother and your family and your mother's friends have lost someone special in their lives. I know you grieving now t and I pray time will come when you may receive some of God's grace for your loss. You and your family are loved not only by each other and your local friends, but by those of us far away.
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