News from Faith United Presbyterian Church

Where Have All the Protestants Gone?

This is the question asked by a recent article in USA Today. Making the assertion that American culture, at least through the 1950's, has been defined and shaped by Protestant Christians, the article asks in so many words, Where are they now?

Once America's most influential religious group, mainline Protestant Christianity has become marginalized. What happened? Many would cite relevance. The world turned and the church didn't. But I believe there is more to it than that, for the church has been chasing relevancy for decades.

The article suggests that some would look to the culture wars of the last century, believing that the more liberal mainline churches must have lost out to the more conservative Roman Catholic and Evangelical churches. However, when you look at the influence mainline Protestantism has had on the culture that belief proves false. In the words of the article,

"Just look at what these mainline Protestants have championed: racial justice, equality for women, food stamps, rights for the disabled, reproductive choice and so forth. American law and society have embraced nearly every one of their issues down the line. We have largely become the inclusive, pluralistic society that these more liberal Protestant Christians envisioned."

So what happened? The article points to the privatization of the faith and I would agree. In the process of privatization, personal experience usurped God's revelation. For too many, the "gospel truth" is no longer revealed to us in the person of Jesus Christ as witnessed by the Holy Scriptures and proclaimed by the church. For too many, the "gospel truth" becomes "whatever is meaningful to me." For too many, one of the great truths of the Protestant Reformation: "God alone is lord of the conscience" has become "My conscience alone is lord."

Where do we go from here? The article suggests this is a transformational time in mainline Protestantism. The word I used on Sunday was "Xairos", a time of crisis in which God may work like never before to bring new life. In this opportune time, we will either continue down the secular slide or we will find new ways to proclaim the gospel truth of Jesus Christ. We will proclaim, not our personal, privatized version, but the "gospel truth" that is revealed in Holy Scripture and the witness of the church.

Issues of poverty, justice and inclusion, the same issues with which our grandmothers and grandfathers in the faith strove, are among the issues that we must take on today. That is the gospel. Jesus came to preach good news to those who suffered under poverty and oppression, those who lived on the margins of power and privilege. That is where Jesus lives. That is where mainline Protestantism is finding itself and finding new life. Thanks be to God.

See you in church!