Minneapolis Multi-Faith Network

Some reflections from the Minneapolis Multi-Faith Network meeting at Breck School from Monday, June 9.

The topic was “Why Are Millions of Americans Leaving Their Faith Behind?” This is a topic that I have thought much about and I was happy to hear the perspective of many clergy from a variety of faith traditions. My personal emphasis will always be the evangelical perspective, but there was much wisdom to be gained from the experiences of the other faith traditions.

The format was six clergy giving prepared remarks followed by a brief question and answer session.

The first speaker was Jim Gertmenian from the Plymouth Congregational Church. He started out with the provocative question of whether Americans were actually leaving their faith behind, or rather were they leaving the church behind? Faith communities are struggling because faith is evolving. People still have soulful questions but faith communities are not addressing these questions. This has led to the increase in the spiritual but not religious.

Jim concluded by outlining three fundamental causes of why Americans are leaving their faith, or more accurately their church.

1. There is a movement towards individualization and privatization. Since the Enlightenment there has been a general assault on institutions and movement towards personal autonomy. Institutions responded to this assault by increasing control and reasserting authority, resulting in an increase in alienation from institutions.

2. There has been a sluggishness of institutional theology. The new understanding of God has moved much quicker than the institution has been able to respond. As people engage their understanding of God, they find it easier to leave than to continue battling within the church.

3. The image of the church in media and public forums has been owned by the right wing. This involves social issues and the like. When people think of the church they think of the conservative church, unaware of progressive options. This has consequently turned off a significant segment of the population.

My take: While I don’t exactly agree with Jim’s theology, I think he addresses great points to consider about the future of the church. There is no doubt a large segment of the population that would consider themselves spiritual but think they want no part of the church. And I think the three reasons he states are a big reason. The church should not change to fit society, but I do think the church is able to provide a more accurate conception of what it is and what it stands for in a way that would be more attractive.

The second speaker was Handy El-Sawaf from the Islamic Community Center of Minnesota. His talk was on why people were leaving Islam, but could easily apply to why people are leaving the church. There are personal reasons – God doesn’t show up, prayers aren’t answered. There is the thought that there is no difference between Islam or any other religions when it comes to exclusivity claims and no difference between professing Muslims and non-professing Muslims. There are other concerns – bad personal experiences within the community, contradictions in the Qur’an, questions of how a loving God could allow suffering, seemingly the conflict between religion and science, oppressive positions on social issues, and overall the sense the religion has done more harm than good.

My take: These concerns could be accurate for any religion. These are complaints that are often heard and the reason people are turned off from religion. It is up to those within the church to show they are not true, that there is a difference that comes with faith.

The third speaker was Justin Schroeder from the First Universalist. He started with a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson in the 1830s that religion is corpse cold. He said this has continued as there are better sources of social insight outside the church, and there is an overall mistrust of the church.

My take: The quote from Emerson shows me that this has been a concern throughout history. While this is a concern, it is probably not a critical one.

The fourth speaker was Timothy Hart-Andersen from Westminster Presbyterian Church. He started by referring to “The Future of Faith” by Harvey Cox. He spoke of the different eras of humanity, that from the 4^th to the 20^th century humanity was in an era of faith. Since the mid 20^th century, building upon the work of the Enlightenment and using the World Wars as a catalyst, humanity has now entered the age of the spirit. This has been seen in a movement from hardline doctrine towards freedom of thought.

He went back to the roots of the faith and made the observation that Christian followers started with shared community with minimal need for hard credos, but this changed in the 300s with the development of Christendom. This has lasted until the aforementioned changes that started in the 1950s.

Now, we have seen a move from orthodoxy (right belief) to orthopraxis (right behavior). There is still a lively Christian community outside of the established church, seen in the new monasticism, intentional community, and the emerging church. While people are moving away from the church, over 90% of Americans still claim a belief in God, so perhaps there is still a need. It really isn’t possible to privatize worship, hope, justice or love.

My take: I especially enjoyed the historical context. I do think we are moving in a cycle closer to what the early Christian church experienced. Despite what current political debates may seem like, we are seeing the dismantling of Christendom. I personally see this as a positive development and a great opportunity to redefine the mission of the church in a way that is more attractive to people who are currently alienated from the church.

            The fifth speaker was Father Michael O’Connell from the Church of the Ascension. He sees the younger generation as being in the midst of “disenchantment with everything”.  This has been brought to light further through the abuse scandals of clergy and leadership and led to a crisis of authority. The questions and longing are not about what, but wisdom, understanding, compassion and love with commitment.

My take: Definitely some truth here. While I lack the perspective of what it was like in previous generations, there definitely seems to be some extra pushback against authority helped along by abuses of power. I wonder how much room there is for an aggressive reassertion of authority. Is that possible in the current society?

            The last speaker was Rabbi Marcia Zimmerman from Temple Israel. She started with a joke that brought home the fact that the issue of people leaving their faith is nothing new. The question we should look at is why are young people leaving TODAY. She thought it was a crisis of leadership. Not a crisis in the sense of poor leaders or bad people, but more about a lack of mentoring from the experienced clergy to the new clergy. The leaders are not to be the sage on the stage but instead the guide on the side.

My take: I am always in favor of more mentoring for leaders, and there is great wisdom to be passed on from the older generation to the younger. Definitely something we need more of.

So that was the conference. Interesting points were made to reflect upon, and these are points that I will return to in the future, as one the themes I hope to continually address is what does the church look like for the new generation.