Namely, The Episcopal Church -- where growing -- is growing by folks who are joining it, not by birth, but by choice. In some places, those who are joining by choice are also doing so because it is where they want to raise children. I see a lot of this.
What I am noticing, as TEC's make-up begins to change, is that the usually older generation of Episcopalians (older Boomers, mid-20th century modernists) who so often seem completely enamored of the likes of John Shelby Spong, Kevin Thew Forrester, Elaine Pagels, etc., are not replacing themselves with like-minded folks.
On the other hand, the people I am seeing becoming more newly active in TEC seem increasingly to share a great deal of affection for the ancient streams of ancient Latin, Eastern and Celtic theology and practice, along with the desire to see the Church not become either 1) Calvinist/Contemporary Evangelical/Socially Conservative or 2) Modernist/Protestant/Capital 'L' theological Liberal.
Among the rather large number of people I know who have become active in TEC in the past decade, (and at least half from other backgrounds), I see a lot of them seeking an alternative to today's non-denominational/evangelical/contemporary worship/Saddle Back type of Christianity, AND, the boring, stuffy old-shoe Mainline business as usual type. I see folks very much excited by the sorts of communities that Diana Butler Bass describes -- those 'intentional practice' ones -- who likewise are looking for intelligent theology, artful worship traditions, and of course a place to openly practice 'mere Christianity' while leaving the brain turned on.
In the parishes I have served, and among the parishes I know about and look up to for what they are doing in ministry, I see significant growth in all the traditional practices of faith (prayer, service, study, fellowship, welcome, etc.) and also in worship attendance and membership figures.
In my view, therefore, I think those who are currently becoming active in TEC are increasingly attracted to that blend of creedal orthodoxy and classical worship forms that are inform our core identity as a denomination. Certainly, I also find a number of folks who have joined because they felt personally or categorically rejected in more 'conservative' denominations -- either because they were gay, or minded toward social justice, etc. Yet among these, the desire I see being pursued is for a welcoming/inclusive Christian home with compelling liturgy, proclamation and mission -- not a place where all the good old basics are constantly deconstructed, the liturgies constantly tinkered with, or local authorities presume to do it the way they want to all the time.
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I have to admit (with some embarrassment) that Spong was part of what brought me to TEC (and frankly, back to Christianity), but after being here a while (11 years this month) I've definitely begun to appreciate the depth of tradition and the importance of regular worship, stable foundations, etc. I can now actually say the whole Creed, whether Nicene or Apostles', without crossing my fingers or going through mental gymnastics; and a lot of that actually comes from regularly saying the AC in the Daily Office. (I guess there is truth to faking it till you make it)
I also noticed when I was at CDSP that the older students (40's, 50's, and such) tended to be a lot more "liberal" than the younger ones like myself. That's not to say that those in their 20's and 30's were "conservative," but there tended to be more of a willingness to accept more traditional parts of Christianity, whether in belief or practice. For example, I've noticed a much greater appreciation for Rite I among some younger people. Although I used to despise it, I have to admit that I rather like it now (though not for every single Sunday celebration) and would really miss it if it were taken out in the next round of Prayer Book revision.
Interesting observations.
There's nothing new about TEC growing by net conversion and not demographically. The statistics I saw in the mid 90s showed that this was largely the case at least since since WWII. Birth rates have been below the replacement rate for many, many years. Net conversion rates have been among the highest of the churches studied. Unfortunately that set of data hasn't been updated with all of the recent defections.
I certainly believe that our infighting has slowed our rate of conversion. No one wants to walk into the middle of a fight.
Kevin M,
It's interesting about the Rite I thing and younger folks. I was baptized at 8 years of age in a very liberal congregation which remains my gold standard of vibrance, intentionality, warmth, welcome and proclamation of Christ's love -- in 1977. I don't recall ever using Rite I in my childhood or early life -- having been raised entirely by Zebra/1979 liturgies. However, after college, when I first went to church on my own at a different place, they did use Rite I (with shorter Eucharistic Prayer II, 'We' Creed, and shorter confession) and the Whelan mass settings --- and man I was in love. And there I was a guy in his early 20's -- who went home to listen to the Grateful Dead, Nirvana and Tribe Called Quest, yet was totally digging this form of worship.
It has been my experience in the parish that I serve that the more enthusiastic new members are drawn by both our welcoming of partnered gay and lesbian members and our fairly traditional worship.
I think the issue is what kind of adult catechesis is being provided at the parish level. When i arrived at the parish I now serve I quickly found out that there hadn't been much else besides the usual Spong/Borg/Crossan mix, and the theology of a majority of parishioners reflected what they had been taught. They're now hearing from other voices such as Rowan Williams, Luke Timothy Johnson, Tom Wright, and Bonhoeffer. They've been quite excited about the new stuff we're doing, and one parishioner recently commented to me that while the parish liturgy had always been traditional, the stuff coming from adult formation was decidedly progressive, and it made for a dissonant experience for her. My guess is that she's not the only one who feels this way.Balance is good, and catechesis in our parishes are often anything but.
And Kevin, dear former classmate, some of us who were older than you were fairly traditional theologically - it's just that our voices were often drowned out or dismissed in the relentless drumbeat of embracing all things new. One of our fellow classmates was simply aghast that I, as a lesbian, did not support inviting unbaptized persons to receive communion. I never did figure out the correlation that went with that particular thinking.
And when I did hear those voices, dear Karen, it was like a breath of fresh air.
Karen+
I believe the correlation you are looking for (regarding supporting ordaining sexually active LGBT people and supporting Communion of the Unbaptized) is called "Party Spirit" (Gal 5:19-21).
Party Spirit says that those who support "X" must also support "Y" because our "party" supports X and Y. This is the spirit at work when someone identifies him/her self as someone who opposes SSBs and those who do support SSBs assumes that the person also does not support the ordination of women. It is the spirit at work when a "progressive" says they support SSBs and the "conservatives" assume that they also are Spongian in their theology.
YBIC,
Phil Snyder
Of course I am slanted!
I've said this before on other blogs, but after 11 years as a chaplain at Royal School of Church Music summer courses it is very clear to me that kids of all ages respond to well-done music of all types, as long as they are given a little help and education into it. One of the highlights for teenagers at the course I'm affiliated with is the daily Sarum-rite Compline, chanted by the schola! And these are kids who an hour before have participated in an all-camp talent show where they write their own rap songs, etc. (and having sung everything from Tudor Evensong settings to Mass settings by Messien at rehearsalo and worship earlier in the day). The very fact that the Harry Potter books and the Tolkien trilogy (both books and films) have such a huge following tell us that kids have the capacity and the desire for language, ritual and the emotional/affective life that has an ancient resonance, as well as a contemporary life and context. This is all part of the phenomena that is the emerging Church movement. Phyllis Tickle's book "The Great Emergence" is very helpful on the subject. Rather than it being about "Why Christianity Must Change or Die" (the title of one of Jack Spong's more recent books), Tickle's book is all about the ways that differing streams of Christian tradition are reacting to social upheaval and increasingly looking for ways to live faithful and authentic Christian lives. And all of this is not a program or a theological position, or a one-size-fits-all way of doing things,but a desire to be faithful to Jesus in the hear and now.
FWIW, at my parish while the 8 am service is largely a Rite I and 10 am is largely Rite II, I believe that everyone should be comfortable, or at least familiar, with the entire Prayer Book, and so we switch things up seasonally, including some Enriching Our Worship, Morning Prayer whenever there's a 5th Sunday, and Evensong several times a year. Among other things, it helps to unify the parish, and keeps us from being segregated by liturgical practice.
Vicki+
Fr. Greg,
While I usually agree with you, and agree with the general gist of this post as well, I have to take issue with a number of things.
I think you are making associations that do not need to be made.
And I am one of those younger Episcopalians that you are referring to.
I desire to be "Evangelical" but not to be "Calvinist" "Non Denominational" or Contemporary Worship.
I desire to be "Protestant" but not to be "Modernist" or "Capital L theologically Liberal"
And while I don't want the Episcopal Church to look like a megachurch or to be completely stagnant, I don't want us to become simply a more lower case p progressive alternative to the Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox Churches Either.
I spiritual meaning in Traditional Elizabethan Settlement Anglicanism, and I value our inheretence of that tradition. we have a long history of "not throwing out the baby with the bathwater." We did not throw out the Catholic baby with the Roman bathwater, and we did not throw out the Protestant baby with the Calvinist bathwater. It is this comprehensiveness that attracted me to the Episcopal Church. We are both Protestant and Catholic, both Evangelical and Sacramental, both lower case p progressive and traditional. I believe it was F.D. Maurice that said that "we are Protestant because we are Catholic, and Catholic because we are Protestant." While there is nothing wrong with mixing things up with a chant or a contemporary hymn once in a while, I think that Cranmerian Prayer Book Worship and Theology (revived by the Elizabethan Settlement) should be the norm in the Episcopal Church.
However, I do agree with most of what you are getting at. That so-called "liturgy" that Kevin Thew Forrester wrote for his parish sounds like something out of a self help book, and I hope that never becomes the norm for our worship either. neither do I desire such things as "inclusive language" when adressing the Holy Trinity.
For some of my thoughts on the sexuality issue, check out My Blog
Okay that didn't work
just click on my username and you'll find a link to it under "My Blogs." It's the only one.
John 316,
Good clarifications there. I was not associating whole movements exactly, but quickly trying to cluster some words to describe something. I definitely agree with your formulations.
As I look over the last couple hundred years in the church, it seems that each generation faces some kind of challenge to orthodox belief. It may come from the natural sciences, from literary criticism, from archeology, or from the social sciences. Each challenge seems to pit the old believers against the new knowledge. But the strange thing is that somehow a good bit of the new thinking is finally found to be consistent with orthodoxy. And so today people who think themselves to be completely orthodox accept natural selection, the mythical nature of some Biblical passages, and the gradual redaction of scriptural texts though oral and written sources. Although all of these seemed at one point to be diametrically opposed to Christian faith, somehow after a generation they no longer seemed antithetical to the creed. Orthodoxy has a way of absorbing and refocusing new ideas.
In our own time, we have seen this with the role of women in the church. Many of us can remember a time when women were not members of the vestry or delegates to General Convention. Those who challenged this seemed hostile to Christianity itself. Remember how one side kept referred to God as "She" if not "The Goddess"? Remember how the other side called them "priestesses"? And yet, after a couple decades, the clash between women and traditional faith somehow disappeared. Now many women priests are articulate proponents of what they see as historic Christianity. Today even most of the conservatives who are leaving the church endorse women in the ordained ministry. Orthodoxy has adapted.
And it continues to adapt. In our time, as gay and lesbian people have become more visible and willing to share their experiences openly in the church, we are seeing another adaptation of orthodoxy. Once again, something which seemed to once shake the very foundations of faith itself is starting to seem not that hostile to Christianity at all. Some of our most persuasive advocates of traditional Christian faith and practice are gay and lesbian clergy or their supporters - think of Tobias Haller or Luke Timothy Johnson here. Orthodoxy is reshaping itself for a new generation.
I recommend Fr Harris' latest posting. His is a reminder that our Anglican conversational way has multiple self-checks. His raising concerns about motivation is a part of that process. We need one another.
Interesting blog and post, but it’s missing an important part of the equation: Generation Jones, born 1954-1965, between the Boomers and Generation X. Generation Jones is a crucial group re. Episcopals partly because Jonesers index higher for religious belief and church attendance than any other generation.
Google Generation Jones, and you’ll see it’s gotten a ton of media attention, and many top commentators from many top publications and networks (Washington Post, Time magazine, NBC, Newsweek, ABC, etc.) now specifically use this term. In fact, The Associated Press' annual Trend Report chose the Rise of Generation Jones as the #1 trend of 2009.
It is important to distinguish between the post-WWII demographic boom in births vs. the cultural generations born during that era. Generations are a function of the common formative experiences of its members, not the fertility rates of its parents. Many experts now believe it breaks down this way:
DEMOGRAPHIC boom in babies: 1946-1964
Baby Boom GENERATION: 1942-1953
Generation Jones: 1954-1965
Generation X: 1966-1978
Here is a recent op-ed about GenJones as the new generation of leadership in USA TODAY:
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20090127/column27_st.art.htm
Here's a page with a good overview of recent media interest in GenJones:
http://generationjones.com/2009latest.html
And here's a five minute video featuring dozens of America's top political commentators discussing the importance of Generation Jones:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ta_Du5K0jk
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