The Unchurching of America

Yesterday the Star Tribune continued its occasional series called, “The Unchurching of America.” Jean Hoffensperger wrote an article about the religious “Nones.” These are people who don’t belong to any religion.  They don’t believe in God or don’t believe in the church or are not connected to a church.  Hoffensperger wrote that “the share of adults who identify as “none” has more than doubled since the 1990s—to 56 million and climbing.” The article can be read here: http://www.startribune.com/fastest-growing-religion-in-minnesota-the-nation-is-none/498664191/  

Like other articles in this series, it has prompted plenty of comments.  As I write this blog, 595 people have shared some sort of comment on the Star Tribune web site. 

Jean Hoffensperger is certainly doing a service to religious people by writing this series. I responded to her first article written this past July in this blog, https://chainlink-chainoflakesncd.blogspot.com/2018/07/the-unchurching-of-america.html  I do quibble with the headline of the article (“Fastest Growing Religion is ‘None”) as by definition someone not attached to a religion cannot be defined as part of a religion.  

Religious leaders like me must address the issues that Hoffernsperger has written about in this series.  As someone who helped lead the redevelopment of one Presbyterian church and has helped lead the start of a new Presbyterian church practically from scratch, I live and breathe these issues.   The reality of religious “Nones” is not new to those of us in religious leadership.  The challenge is how to connect to this group of people from a faith-based perspective. 

Despite the rise of religious “Nones” good news does exist.  The good news is that God has not changed, the message of Jesus hasn’t changed, and I would even argue that the spiritual quest for “something out there” has not changed.  By definition most humans are searching for something. 

In the article Hoffensperger shared vignettes about four people who are part of the religious “Nones.” In reading their stories, I came to see that none of them shared that “something out there” doesn’t exist. All of them had some sort of experience in church. Each of them could be described as spiritual, but not religious. 

On my Facebook page last Sunday I shared six critiques of the church by young people not affiliated with a church that David Kinnaman identified in his book “Unchristian.”  Those critiques from “un-churched” young people were the church is 1) Antihomosexual; 2) Judgmental; 3) Hypocritical; 4) Old-fashioned; 5) Too involved in politics; 6) Out of touch with reality.  A robust debate broke out on my Facebook page when I lifted up these critiques.  I’m guessing that the four persons highlighted in Hoffensperger’s article would identify with these six.

Put overly simply, one way for congregations to connect with people is not to reflect these six  critiques that Kinnaman identified. 

Another way to respond is for local congregations to work hard at adapting.  This past Saturday the leaders of Chain of Lakes Church, the community I serve, spent most of the day making plans for the upcoming year.  We spent significant time vigorously talking about how to connect with the wider community.  We’ve already decided that most of our first-phase building will be a high-school sized gym.  We plan on breaking ground in March 2020.  The plans we developed this past Saturday for reaching the community in 2019 were innovative.  I wouldn’t have dreamed them up myself.  .

Congregations have done a terrible job of adapting our message to the changing attitudes of the wider culture.  Recently I walked into a congregation where I spent a lot of time in my youth.  That building was almost the same as it was 30 years ago. The music was played on the same organ; the hymn book was practically the same. The pews were the same as they were 50 years ago.  The sanctuary has stayed the same while the culture has changed dramatically.

Businesses have always understood the importance of adaptation. While on the Star Tribune web site this morning, I read an article about Toyota & Pizza Hut collaborating on a pick-up truck that would cook pizza while the pizza is being delivered.  The link is here: http://www.startribune.com/toyota-to-help-pizza-hut-cook-on-the-run/499992021/  The idea sounds a bit “out there” to me, but these businesses have identified the need to adapt.

I also believe that part of the frustration among the religious “Nones” is the perception that the Catholic Church did not adequately respond to the sexual abuse crisis.  I attend a small group of lay people from my wife’s Catholic church.  This group repeatedly shares frustration about the Catholic Church’s unwillingness to change.  Too much power was placed with too few people.  This group wants to see change within the church they love.  They are frustrated by the lack of options for change that they perceive they have. 

The Pew Research Study recently did a study of people who attend church.  They essentially asked what they wanted from church.  They responded that they attended church 1) to become closer to God; 2) so children would have moral foundation; 3) to be a better person; 4) for comfort in times of crisis.

I believe that local congregations can do these four.  However our methods of doing them have to change.  And until congregations are willing to adapt in a compassionate way to the needs of the wider culture, the religious "Nones" will continue to grow.

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