A presentation I presented to a group of clergy through Grand View University's Center for Renewal.
Please note primary sources section at end of presentation.
3. Where the Cross
Meets the
Dream catcher
Brian McLaren
“A New Kind of
Christian” (1992)
4. Where are We?
2009 Princeton Research Associates Poll
http://www.psrai.com/filesave/0904%20ftop%20w%20methodology.pdf (Accessed 5/8/12)
60
50
40
30
20 % of US Population
10
0
Spiritual Spiritual Religious Neither
but not and but not Religious or
Religious Religious Spiritual Spiritual
11. Spiritual vs. Religious:
What’s the Difference?
http://benaiah.mischenko.com/pinacoladahappyhour/archive/i-love-jesus-but-hate-religion/
12. Spiritual vs. Religious:
What’s the Difference?
“They (the public) have
essentially substituted the word
“religion” for institutional
religion and “spirituality” for
lively faith.”
-Bass, Pg. 71
“this newly defined construct
(institutional Religion) is
contrasted with the
spiritual, which refers to the
personal, the affective, the
experiential, and the thoughtful.”
- Kenneth Pargament “The psychology of
Religion and Spirituality. International Journal
for the Psychology of Religion Vol. 9, No. 1.
16. A “Christian” Nation?
Perception: Americans have
always been peculiarly
“religious”.
Reality.
1600’s: only 1/3 belonged
to a Church.
Revolutionary War: > 15%
Sources: Robert Fuller “Spiritual but not
Religious: Understanding Un-churched
America. Roger Finke and Rodney Stark “The
Churching of America”.
17. The Distant American God
Puritanism: An
“Authoritarian” God.
Enlightenment rationalism:
a “Distant God”.
Deism: God the “watch
maker”.
Left Americans craving a
more “spiritual” connection
to God.
18. American Concepts of God
The Authoritarian God
(31%)
The Benevolent God (23%)
The Critical God (16%)
The Distant God (24%)
Source: Paul Froese & Christopher Bader, “America’s
Four Gods” (New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 2010)
20. The Rise & Fall of Modern
Evangelicalism
Fundamentalist/Modernist
Split (late 18th/Early 19th
Century)
Modernists: Biblical
Criticism, Social Gospel.
Fundamentalists retreated
from modern life.
21. The Rise & Fall of Modern
Evangelicalism
The re-emergence of
Evangelicalism: A more
public form of conservative
Christianity. (circa 1940-
1950)
Golden Age for
Evangelicals: 1970’s-1980’s.
Moral Majority.
Religious Right.
22. The Rise & Fall of Modern
Evangelicalism
Backlash against
Evangelicalism.
Numbers declining since
1990’s, particularly with
young adults.
1986: 26%
Now: 15%
23. The Rise & Fall of Modern
Evangelicalism
Evangelical
growth/Mainline decline
Birth rates.
Reality: American
Christianity is in decline
across the theological
spectrum.
24. The Mega Church Anomaly
Nondenominational
(Evangelical) Megachurches
still growing.
Overall percentage of
Christians in US continues
to decline.
Where are they coming
from?
25.
26. Where are We?
2009 Princeton Research Associates Poll
http://www.psrai.com/filesave/0904%20ftop%20w%20methodology.pdf (Accessed 5/8/12)
60
50
40
30
20 % of US Population
10
0
Spiritual Spiritual Religious Neither
but not and but not Religious or
Religious Religious Spiritual Spiritual
27. American Religious
Trends:1990-2009
The Rise of the None’s
• The fastest growing religious
affiliation in the US is
“None”.
• 1990: 8%
• 2009: 16%
Source: Newsweek Article, “The End of
Christian America” April 3, 2009
28. American Religious Trends
The Rise of the None’s
(Source: Diana Butler Bass “Christianity after Religion” )
30
25
20
15
Percentage of US
10 Population (2011)
5
0
None's Mainline Roman Evangelical
Protestants Catholics Protestant
29. A Sign of things to Come
25-30% of young adults are
“none’s”.
Only 25% attend worship
weekly.
40% never pray.
Source: “2012 Millenial Values Survey”, Public
Research Institute
http://publicreligion.org/research/2012/04/millenn
ial-values-survey-2012/ Accessed: 5/8/12.
32. What’s missing in American
Christianity?
Faith has become impersonal & isolating.
Personal experience
Participation
Graciousness
33. Changing Questions
Source: Bass, “Christianity after Religion”
Modern question:
What do I believe?
Contemporary questions:
How do I believe?
Why do I believe?
Discipleship & Spiritual
Formation.
34. Reaching Out
The Missional
Church
Resources:
Craig Van Gelder: “The
Ministry of the Missional
Church”.
Alan Roxburgh
“Introducing the Missional
Church”
ARE (Kelly Fryer).
35. Best Practices
Spiritual Practices
Personal:
Prayer, Reflection, Study, M
editation.
Communal:
Service, Friendship, Worshi
p, Hospitality, Lectio
Divina.
Resources:
Brian McLaren “Finding our
way again”.
Richard Foster: “Celebration
of Discipline.”
Diana Butler Bass:
“Christianity for the rest of
us”.
36. Best Practices
Catechumenate.
Resource:
Paul Hoffman: “Faith
forming Faith”.
37. Best Practices
Participatory
worship
Resources:
Dan Kimball: “Emerging
Worship”.
Robert Webber: “Ancient-
Future Worship”.
Mark Pierson: “The Art of
Curating Worship”.
38.
39. Primary Sources
Robert C. Fuller, “Spiritual but not Religious:
Understanding Un-churched America”. Oxford Press, 2001.
Diana Butler Bass, “Christianity after Religion”. Harper One:
2012.
Robert D. Putnam & David E. Campbell, “American Grace:
How Religion Divides and Unites Us”. Simon &
Schuster, 2010.
The first time the term SBNR was used was in Alcoholics Anonymous in the early 20th century.
Pastor Daniels and Dr. Bass offer rather different strategies to addressing the Spiritual but not Religious phenomenon.http://www.christiancentury.org/article/2011-08/you-can-t-makehttp://www.patheos.com/blogs/dianabutlerbass/2011/09/spiritual-but-not-religious-listening-to-their-absence/Which one do you resonate with?
My own approach has been deeply shaped by something I read in Brian McLaren’s book “A New Kind of Christian”. The book is written in a narrative format in which Dan (McLaren’s alter ego) pursues a new way of thinking about Christianity. In this particular scene Dan is on a panel with a conservative Christian who is complaining about seeing a cross and native American dream catcher hanging from the rear view mirror of a car. The man reacts with disdain because he regards it as syncretism. Dan counters by saying that his own reaction is to ask what these paired symbols communicate about what the person is longing for spiritually. I look at the SBNR phenomenon not so much as something to be feared, but rather an opportunity for us to ask what is missing in contemporary Christianity? I believe that the these two talisman’s indicate that the person may be yearning for a deeper sense of spirituality that they find missing in their lives and in the message of contemporary Christianity. The thing is that we have an incredible tradition of Christian spirituality that has often been deemphasized in the Church during the period of dominance by enlightenment rationalism.
-As we will see the majority of Americans aren’t actually SBNR, they describe themselves as Spiritual & Religious. But they are increasingly disaffiliating with organized Churches. -If McLaren is right…They’re doing this not because they are rejecting Christianity for their own religion but rather because they are yearning for something that the Christian tradition has a long history of…spirituality…-We will see that an interest in spirituality has always been present within religious consciousness in the US…it tends to come to the surface when the dominant form of American Christianity has portrayed God as either distant or wrathful…In our own time this is a result of the public triumph of evangelicalism…
Both positive and negative aspects to each, usually depending on perspective.What do you think of when you hear the word “Spiritual”?
DBB: Worked with groups in Texas, Toronto, New Jersey,, Newport Beach, Colorado, Columbus, Sydney, Seattle…Almost all came up with same lists.
Both positive and negative aspects to each, usually depending on perspective.What do you think of when you hear the word “Religious”?
DBB: Worked with groups in Texas, Toronto, New Jersey,, Newport Beach, Colorado, Columbus, Sydney, Seattle…Almost all came up with same lists.
So, what’s the difference? This viral video tries to set us straight.
As others have noted it’s not as easy to separate being “spiritual” from being “religious”.
Here are some helpful insights into what people actually seem to mean when they talk about being spiritual vs. being religious…
Here’s my stab at trying to define these words, at least for this presentation.
Here’s my stab at trying to define these words, at least for this presentation.
-This is a grossly simplified overview of the historical factors that have created the recent upsurge in “spiritual” interest in the United States. It’s important to note that in the Midwest Christendom is lingering on which tends to isolate us somewhat from these trends. But as we shall see when looking at young adults…change is coming.
Misperceptions: Today’s interest in the “spiritual” is not a new fad…there has long been an undercurrent within American religion…Contrary to popular belief the US was not always a particularly religious country.
-Much of the early interest in spirituality in the US was a reaction to the dominant images of God which were overly “authoritarian”, as is the case with Puritanism, or overly “distant” as is the case with the rationalized deity of the enlightenment…
Actually four different dominant concepts of God in the US…Authoritarian God: Wrathful, sin hating.Bevevolent: forgiving, healer, peacemaker.Critical: Bringer of justice, make things right.Distant God: Cosmic creative force behind Universe.-My contention: When dominant theological concepts become too distant or authoritarian, Americans react by turning to spirituality.
Robust history of alternative spiritualities.
-Evangelicalism had been the dominant form of 18th century American Christianity. Fundamentalist/modernist split: modernists became mainline, fundamentalists retreated from public life.- Modernists became mainline: biblical criticism, social gospel…personal piety or spirituality took a back seat.- Fundamentalists emphasized piety/spirituality but also conservative worldview which distanced them from surrounding culture.
-1940’s conservative Christian emerged from cultural exile.-Golden age 1970’s-1980’s. Led some to suggest that Conservative Churches were growing b/c of their conservatism…
-Rise of evangelicalism led to backlash…particularly the public political involvement of the Religious Right.-Numbers of Evangelicals declining since the 1990’s, particularly with young adults. -My belief that much of the contemporary interest in spirituality, particularly among young adults, is a reaction to modern evangelicalism.
-We’ve also seen that evangelicalism’s rise/mainline decline has been fueled by other factors like birth rates.-Mark Chaves, from Duke University, says, “The evidence for a decades-long decline in American religiosity is now incontrovertible—like the evidence for global warming, it comes from multiple sources, shows up in several dimensions, and paints a consistent factual picture—the burden of proof has shifted to those who want to claim that American religiosity is not declining.”
Discussion.
Some time now poll’s asking…SBNR,S&R,R&S.
There are now more unaffiliated people in the US than Mainline Protestants
These trends are even more pronounced among young adults…As Putnam& Campbell argue in “American Grace” it takes time for generational differences to change mainstream views. But clearly this is what is coming down the pike.
-Danger: Deepening divide between “religious” and “spiritual”…-Opportunity: Mainline Protestantism is better positioned theologically to reach out to sbnr and spiritual and religious.
-Go back to McLaren…what’s missing in American Christianity?Personal Connection: People are yearning for a personal/daily connection to God.Experience: People want to experience their faith.Graciousness: People are tired of faith being divisive/harsh.
-How have the questions changed?-Faith was once about what one believed…in a post christian age that is shifting…-People now are asking “how” do I believe…how do I practice faith? How does one practice christianity? Also asking why do I believe? Why do Christians do the things we do?
How
Answering How and why…Essentially teaching people how to be Christians.
A great text for thinking about how to engage spiritual seekers…