In yesterday’s sermon, I spoke of Exvangelicals, a term you may not have heard before. Here is a link if you want to do a deep dive (Exvangelicals: Who They Are, Why They Left, and What They Believe – PRRI). Simply put, they are former Evangelicals who recently left their churches over theo-political differences. This is similar to what happened to us in the Mainline Protestant traditions in the 1960’s and 70’s, but with a difference. The Mainline Church exodus was a movement away from Christian Nationalism; the Evangelical Church has embraced it. So, while presidents at the end of the 20th century welcomed Billy Graham to the White House, Pres. Trump has invited Evangelicals like Paul White in. This blending of politics and partisan religion isn’t new, but this Evangelical version seems divisive and cruel. And it isn’t that Christians cannot speak spiritual truth to political power; we just can’t – at least before the recent IRS ruling – embrace one party over the other.
There are a lot of ex-church attenders in America; in fact, far more people don’t attend regularly than do. There are many good and bad reasons for this exodus – some people disagree with some of the stances and practices of church in general. For others, their kid’s activities or work or just plain exhaustion lead them away from what used to be a common Sunday morning practice of education and church. And while churches have, to some extent, tried to become what people needed, it was never really enough. 25 years ago, I offered three additional worship services to the members of my church; the only one that stuck was our 8am service, and while it has been a great addition spiritually, numerically it has been fairly low. We keep doing it because it has made a difference in the lives of those who attend, and that matters.
I have maintained, and will continue to do so, that the biggest problem the church in America has had over the last 60 years is not modernity or being old-fashioned or trying too hard to be relevant; our biggest problem is disinterest. When so many of our congregations have a majority of members who aren’t involved, it makes it hard to convince others that church matters. The real question every person of faith needs to ask themselves, whether active in a congregation, or not, is this: does their experience of their faith community matter? For me, my life is better because of my faith and the community I share it with. My life is enriched by the good people I come in contact with every week. Our neighborhood in Reading, PA, is better because we are there. Because God is still speaking at Calvary UCC. And that makes all the difference. That matters.
Prayer – Holy God, teach us to meet the needs of the world with our faith commitment, so that You might be lifted up. Amen.
Today’s art is “Step of Faith” by Jennifer Main.