The rise of non-denominational churches in the US seems to continue, as specific Protestant denominations both traditional (like my own Episcopal) and evangelical continue to shrink and shatter. Only the Catholics seem to be keeping up their numbers, and much of that is from immigration.<\/p>\n
This article, from a few years back, talks about that non-denominational rise from the author's personal perspective. The drivers behind it feel difficult to overcome: non-denom churches tend to have minimal barriers to joining, both in terms of doctrine to study and\/or claim allegiance to, and in terms of ritual and tradition to learn.<\/p>\n
It's hard to believe that Christian denominations in the US were once as fiercely antagonistic toward each other (if not more so) than they were as Christians against Jews, Muslims, and more exotic heathen. James Madison's impetus as a defender of religious freedom was seeing the persecution of Baptist preachers by the established Anglican Church, and in early times Catholics, Quakers, Methodists, and all the other denominations faced harsh treatment from one another; indeed, the search for religious freedom in early settlers to America was more to be able to form exclusive communities of one denomination than to establish a land of religious tolerance. Doctrine was all, as Thomas Jefferson complained:<\/p>\n
"My religious reading has long been confined to the moral branch of religion, which is the same in all religions; while in that branch which consists of dogmas, all differ, all have a different set. The former instructs us how to live well and worthily in society; the latter are made to interest our minds in the support of the teachers who inculcate them. Hence, for one sermon on a moral subject, you hear ten on the dogmas of the sect."<\/i> [Letter to Thomas Leiper (11 Jan 1809)]<\/p>\n
Those denominational barriers began to break down substantially in the 19th Century, mostly through Protestant sects putting aside their doctrinal differences as to the nature of the Elect or the proper way to be baptized or what actually happens to the bread and wine in order to pool resources as well as … band together against the Papist Catholics, esp. where it came to public education (including the critical question of which translation of the Bible should be used in class).<\/p>\n
Today, aside from sniping from one extreme at another regarding who is a True Christian(TM), denominational differences are more about the church-going experience, what hymns are sung (or performed), wine or grape juice, what the pastor wears to the pulpit (and, to some degree, what the politics are of what he or she preaches from there), and, for those interested, how the church itself is run. I doubt most denominational Protestants could name five doctrinal differences between their church and the Baptists, or Methodists, or Presbyterians.<\/p>\n
In that context, as well as the increase in moving around, the decline of tribalism that prevented inter-religious marriages, and the growth of "church shopping" amongst Christians, it makes perfect sense that non-denominational churches would gain on the denominations themselves. My own ecclesiastical and liturgical aesthetic aside, non-denoms have a low entry point and maximum convenience, something that Americans appreciate. They meet the social needs of church-goers, which is what a lot of church-going has always been about, and they have a fresh appeal unbound by centuries of tradition, strife, and doctrinal debate.<\/p>\n
Whether they provide sufficient roots to last for long against the rising tides of the un-churched is another question. Though that begs the question of whether the idea of a church being a constant in a community, vs. something that comes and goes like a favorite restaurant, is passe in modern times. Again, there's something lost and something gained in that level of flexibility and approach to spiritual communities, when done in a spiritual, vs. commercial, fashion.<\/p>\n
(h\/t +<\/span>Steven Flaeck<\/a><\/span>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n \n View on Google+<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\n
\n<\/a>
\nWhy Be a Methodist (or Baptist, or Lutheran, etc.)?<\/a><\/span>
\nI got groceries today and saw two bumper stickers for churches: Austin Powerhouse Church (“A Church Alive Is Worth the Drive”) and Hill Country Cowboy Church\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
