My kids and I went to services at Boston's Old North Church 2 years ago while on vacation. It was Columbus Day. There were pride flags hung outside and inside the "sanctuary" (I put it in quotes for reasons that will be obvious) and their guest pastor, an American Indian "bishop" from New Mexico, included a prayer thanking the great spirit father for granting us the "holy strawberry". (My kids had been doing great, but they couldn't hold it together at this point.) I knew this would happen, which is why I took them there and warned them that it would be weird. It was. But it's the Old North Church; you go for historical, not theological reasons.
Liberal Christianity (as is common in the Northeast) is purposeless. If Jesus was just a nice teacher, the virgin birth is a prop for the patriarchy, the resurrection is metaphorical, and sin is subjective... what exactly is the point of church? It's not a church; it's a social club like the Elks or the Masons, both of which are also in freefall.
On the other hand, if an omnipotent God cares and loves us, if he makes real demands on us for our own good, if sin is a violation not of our consciences but of the natural order of the universe itself... church is where you go to help you assault the universe less. Church is where you go to achieve oneness with God (theosis) and natural law. Church is what makes you a whole human being. Church is, as Jesus said: "a hospital for sinners."
The former view pervades liberal, secular, urban, New England communities. The latter view pervades the South. It's not geography that causes church growth; it's culture. Courtesy of The Big Sort, that culture tends to be geographically specific. If you were to graph the "church growth" variable against the "how many demands does the church make on its adherents" variable, I suspect there would be a high positive correlation even controlling for geography.
I’d say that is truly the bulk of it, but I worked for a church in Englewood Colorado that had a location that was the envy of other congregations. Ultimately it has stagnated and is in a slow motion decline. The deep pockets of a few key givers is forestalling the inevitable, but I foresee that the faith will not be passed onto the children and grandchildren. Ultimately they have no vision for growth. It has become a sort of family chapel. It brings to mind Proverbs 29:18, “where there is no vision, the people perish.”
My kids and I went to services at Boston's Old North Church 2 years ago while on vacation. It was Columbus Day. There were pride flags hung outside and inside the "sanctuary" (I put it in quotes for reasons that will be obvious) and their guest pastor, an American Indian "bishop" from New Mexico, included a prayer thanking the great spirit father for granting us the "holy strawberry". (My kids had been doing great, but they couldn't hold it together at this point.) I knew this would happen, which is why I took them there and warned them that it would be weird. It was. But it's the Old North Church; you go for historical, not theological reasons.
Liberal Christianity (as is common in the Northeast) is purposeless. If Jesus was just a nice teacher, the virgin birth is a prop for the patriarchy, the resurrection is metaphorical, and sin is subjective... what exactly is the point of church? It's not a church; it's a social club like the Elks or the Masons, both of which are also in freefall.
On the other hand, if an omnipotent God cares and loves us, if he makes real demands on us for our own good, if sin is a violation not of our consciences but of the natural order of the universe itself... church is where you go to help you assault the universe less. Church is where you go to achieve oneness with God (theosis) and natural law. Church is what makes you a whole human being. Church is, as Jesus said: "a hospital for sinners."
The former view pervades liberal, secular, urban, New England communities. The latter view pervades the South. It's not geography that causes church growth; it's culture. Courtesy of The Big Sort, that culture tends to be geographically specific. If you were to graph the "church growth" variable against the "how many demands does the church make on its adherents" variable, I suspect there would be a high positive correlation even controlling for geography.
Location, location, location.
I’d say that is truly the bulk of it, but I worked for a church in Englewood Colorado that had a location that was the envy of other congregations. Ultimately it has stagnated and is in a slow motion decline. The deep pockets of a few key givers is forestalling the inevitable, but I foresee that the faith will not be passed onto the children and grandchildren. Ultimately they have no vision for growth. It has become a sort of family chapel. It brings to mind Proverbs 29:18, “where there is no vision, the people perish.”