Buckle Up Folks - The Concept of Church is Shifting!

There is little doubt that transition is occurring at the heart of Christianity.  Decreasing numbers of members and worshipers as well as a current discontent signal that some sort of Christian transformation is occurring.[1]  We can nearly all agree that something is happening.  Dr. Diana Butler-Bass says, “Indeed, the first decade of the twenty-first century could brightly be called the great Religious Recession.”[2]  In 1990, the number of people who claimed no religious affiliation was 8 percent.   In 2008, the number had grown to 15 percent and had spread from the northwest part of the United States to the Northeast,[3] and the number of people who now consider themselves only spiritual, non-religious or both religious and spiritual has grown.[4]

One great challenge in the midst of religious transitions is naming exactly what is occurring.  When something is not named, it is more difficult to understand.    Butler-Bass’ identification of re-traditioning[5] or William McLouglin’s identification of the Fourth Great Awakening[6] has provided my first glimpse of a naming to match my observations of church as a religious professional.  First and foremost, whatever change is occurring, it is big!  The current of change in religion, spirituality and church has many nuances and means different things to different people.  The change is more permanent than a renewal of some ideal of the past.  The shift our culture’s understanding and acceptance of religion and spirituality is new.  I believe we are in the midst of a great awakening.  Butler-Bass quotes William McLouglin when she observes that “Awakenings begin when old systems break down, in ‘periods of cultural distortion and grave personal stress, when we lost faith in the legitimacy of our norms, the viability of our institutions, and the authority of our leaders in church and state.”[7]  This definitely defines today’s Christian culture.  This is us and this is now!

Even though I believe we are in the fourth (or possibly fifth) great awakening, I cannot quite put my finger on where we are in the process.  It seems as if this awakening is taking a really long time.  The past Great Awakenings in the United States last about 30 years.[8]  If this Great Awakening has its roots in the early 1970’s then we are well into the fourth decade.  One might ask why this particular Great Awakening is taking so long.

Eras of transition such as a Great Awakenings are best labeled in hindsight.  Maybe our culture is so ingrained in the transition that we do not have enough distance to identify it properly.  We know what the beginning looks like and can name many examples to demonstrate this beginning.   People are restless and sure of only the fact that the usual ways of doing church are not working for them.  But it is hard to surmise if we are in the middle or the end.  Is the Great Awakening almost complete or does our society have a long way to go?

Over the next few blogs, I will explore this look at larger religious and spiritual shifts in today's global church.  I will argue that it is possible that the shift we are encountering is greater than an Awakening.  Even though this particular blog names Christianity, I believe these shifts can be seen in many (if not most) religions of the world.  

What do you see?  What larger religious and spiritual shifts are apparent to you?
Please feel free to comment!  The conversation makes this a collaboration and therefore, a richer conversation.

Works Cited

Butler-Bass, Diana. Christianity After Religion:  The End of Church and the Birth of a

New Spiritual Awakening.  New York:  HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 2012. 

McLoughlin, William G. Revivals, Awakenings, and Reform: An Essay on Religion and Social Change in America, 1607-1977. Chicago: U of Chicago, 1978.  

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[1] See Butler-Bass, Diana. Christianity After Religion:  The End of Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening.  (New York:  HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 2012).  Chapter one outlines research in decreasing membership and discontent.  To see 2015 Pew Research on the subject, go to http://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/.  To see the rollercoaster of membership numbers in the author’s own Unitarian Universalist tradition, go to membership http://www.uua.org/directory/data/demographics/uua-statistics. 

[2] Butler-Bass, 20.

[3] Butler-Bass, 11.

[4] Butler-Bass, 65.

[5] Tickle, Phyllis, The Great Emergence:  How Christianity Is Changing and Why.  (Grand Rapids, MI:  BakerBooks, 2008), Kindle Edition.  Tickle refers to Butler-Bass’s work drawn from Alban Institute Articles. 

[6] Butler-Bass, 32.

[7] Butler-Bass, 28.

[8] Butler-Bass, 29.