COMMENTARY: Out of the church and into the world

(RNS) In a whirlwind month of yesteryear, I graduated from seminary, was married and ordained. I joined a team planning the consecration of our new bishop. Thinking no church large enough, planners had rented a basketball arena for this epic event. On the day itself, I kept waiting for eager Episcopalians to pour into the […]

(RNS) In a whirlwind month of yesteryear, I graduated from seminary, was married and ordained.

I joined a team planning the consecration of our new bishop. Thinking no church large enough, planners had rented a basketball arena for this epic event.

On the day itself, I kept waiting for eager Episcopalians to pour into the arena’s 16,000 seats, where Elvis Presley had just played his final concert. But they didn’t. Some came, but the hall felt empty to this self-absorbed young clergyman.


That should have been a sign that the world wasn’t holding its breath while we ordained a bishop. Although the new bishop was a fine man and would lead capably, even our own folks had other things to do.

That was 1977. If we had been paying attention to such outcomes, we would have known a steep decline was in its 13th year. After three decades of growth up to 1964, mainline Protestant congregations were hemorrhaging members, as all but a handful of denominations are dwindling today. It was time to rethink everything.

But we were in no mood to rethink anything substantial. We were fighting over who could serve as captains of this sinking ship, but few wanted to see the icebergs. To this day, we continue to put on lavish ordinations, some making bold political statements, but we fail to see that ordinations, improved facilities, even better hymnals and prayer books don’t speak to our culture.

The question facing church insiders is whether we can open our doors and step into a world asking other questions. Or will we stay safe inside, as if the Day of Pentecost hadn’t given Peter some “spine” and driven him outside into the marketplace.

In that public square, at least one in four Americans is dealing with addictions. Some come to church basements for 12-step meetings, but few come to church activities seeking “conscious contact with God.”

The second largest cohort of the broken, victims of sexual abuse, typically feel embarrassed in church, not cared for.


In the marketplace, people get divorced, lose their jobs, fall behind on mortgage payments, find real income stagnant and their child’s school failing. What does it matter to them who’s being ordained or winning church arguments?

With budgets sagging and pews emptying, many congregations are turning boldly toward an uninterested world and listening to cries for help. Whether that humble submission to reality has come in time or gone far enough is the primary question facing mainline congregations.

Thus far, new strategies don’t seem new enough — still too focused on clergy, Sunday worship and denominational identity. Self-absorption hasn’t vanished.

I am eager for two things to happen.

I want local church leaders to stand up and say to religion’s institution-keepers: “We don’t care what groundbreaking ordination is planned this week. People around us are dying of drink, drugs, despair, disparity and disillusionment, and they are sitting ducks for demagogues. This is what God cares about, and so must we.”

And I want the uninterested and ignored to say to those church leaders, “We yearn to know God, but we won’t pay your institutional price. The maintenance you deferred, the people you didn’t notice slipping away, the conflicts you can’t resolve, your memories of better days — those are your burdens.

“Be faithful, and let them go. Let’s build something new together.”

(Tom Ehrich is a writer, church consultant and Episcopal priest based in New York. He is the author of “Just Wondering, Jesus,” and the founder of the Church Wellness Project, http://www.churchwellness.com. His website is http://www.morningwalkmedia.com.)


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