I feel like you're listening in to my conversations. I have been talking with colleagues about the church as an institution that clearly fills a need, but they also have to decide what kind of institution they will be in the grand scheme of things. In the Church of Sweden, for example, most people are not religious, at all. But they remain as part of the church as members who get baptized, confirmed, married and buried there because of tradition AND the fact that the CoS, as an institution, has decided that it's going to focus on serving the wider community according to the gospel and not be as focused on being the popular kid in the group. Hence, people stick around because the institution values what it can contribute to supporting the larger society (obviously there are always exceptions). But I think the American churches (particularly the evangelical ones) have decided that they are going to be institutions that want to be part of the "winning" group. They are more focused on wielding power than they are the greater good.
Thanks for this insight! This is a really useful comparison--I once heard a pastor ask, "If our church disappeared tonight, would anyone in the community notice?" And the answer was: probably not. We can't be transformational places while also being focused on power and control.
Hadn’t heard the term exvangelicals, but I like it. Thanks for holding space for hope, my friend.
"One of us! One of us!"
May our brains not fall out :)
I feel like you're listening in to my conversations. I have been talking with colleagues about the church as an institution that clearly fills a need, but they also have to decide what kind of institution they will be in the grand scheme of things. In the Church of Sweden, for example, most people are not religious, at all. But they remain as part of the church as members who get baptized, confirmed, married and buried there because of tradition AND the fact that the CoS, as an institution, has decided that it's going to focus on serving the wider community according to the gospel and not be as focused on being the popular kid in the group. Hence, people stick around because the institution values what it can contribute to supporting the larger society (obviously there are always exceptions). But I think the American churches (particularly the evangelical ones) have decided that they are going to be institutions that want to be part of the "winning" group. They are more focused on wielding power than they are the greater good.
Thanks for this insight! This is a really useful comparison--I once heard a pastor ask, "If our church disappeared tonight, would anyone in the community notice?" And the answer was: probably not. We can't be transformational places while also being focused on power and control.
It’s the opposite of a con man! Yes!!