LETTER TO THE CHURCH - DECEMBER NEWSLETTER

Dear Friends in Christ,

“If you build it, they will come.” Is that true? A friend who heads up a non-profit agency recently insisted to me this is no longer true. “Today,” he said, “you might build it, but they will not come simply because it’s there or because you or your ancestors put it up. If you want them to come, you’ve got to go out there, go into the streets and drag them in. Just building it is no longer enough.”

Throughout American history Christian churches have been afforded an extraordinary level acceptance. It felt like, if we built it, people came. But this was not only or simply acceptance. Despite the “melting pot” label our nation has, it is clear that Christianity had a central place in society. It can be safely said the secular culture in which we lived gave people messages about the traditions, the symbols and even the rituals of the Christian faith.

Hence, it is also argued, historically churches had to do very little when it came to delivering their message. People understood church before they entered our doors because society was largely a place where Christian traditions, Christian symbols and Christian rituals were “normal.” After all, Christmas is a Federal holiday. Why isn’t Hanukkah, a Jewish winter feast, a Federal holiday, just like Christmas? Because many Christian practices were simply adopted by secular society.

It can also be argued that another reality is with us today. The importance and influence of Christianity in our society has been in decline for at least four decades. Indeed, we live in what many now call a “post-Christian” world, a world in which the Christian church cannot expect favorable treatment or high visibility simply by dint of its existence. To be clear: Christian traditions, symbols and rituals still hold sway much of the time. But that influence is diminishing by measurable amounts.

How measurable is it? I have written in this space before about one of those measurements: the group in society sociologists currently call “nones.” Loosely, these are people who insist they have no religions affiliation. But it also needs to be noted that many of the people who fall into this group also insist they are “spiritual.” Therefore, this group is made up of people who simply refuse to be connected with either a church or even any religious tradition.

In a little more than a decade “nones” have gone from... and this figure varies from survey to survey and depends on who and how you count, but it is a fairly accurate estimate... in a little more than a decade “nones” have gone from about 3% of the population to as much as 19% of the population. This growth is largely being fueled by what many call “young people,” those who had their 18th birthday starting in 1988. So, the oldest member of this group is now about 40.

Since “nones” consider themselves “spiritual” but have, up until now, not associated themselves with a church or a tradition, I cannot classify them with what I view as the very old fashioned term “unchurched.” These are folks are simply not affiliated with a church. I look at that as a big difference, since I think the implication of “unchurched” is “unknowing about religion.” “Nones” know a lot about religion.

Here is another observation many people think of as accurate: people look back at the 1950s, when Christianity did have a more central place in society and as a time when the culture did, indeed, carry the traditions, the symbols and even the rituals of the Christian faith. And many take that era as a kind of “golden age” for the church. Certainly many churches had larger congregations.

But what got those people into the church? A Gallup Poll done in the mid-50s asked this question of church goers: ‘were you invited to church by a relative or a friend or a neighbor?’ 62% of those who responded (62% in the 1950s!) said they were invited by a relative or a friend or a neighbor.

All of which brings me back to what my friend said: “Today you might build it, but they will not come simply because it’s there or because you or your ancestors put it up. If you want them to come, you’ve got to go out there, go into the streets and drag them in. Just building it is no longer enough.”

Based on the statistic that 62% of the people attending church in the 1950s were invited by a relative or a friend or a neighbor, it is clear the same thing was true in the 1950s! People did not just show up at church. They were invited!

If you look at our church calender for November and December, you will see there are many special things going on in this church over the course of the Advent and Christmas Seasons. (In fact, we are always doing special things.) But these Advent and Christmas things done in churches still do speak to the secular society precisely because secular society has adopted them. So, these are also things to which it might be appropriate for you to invite a relative or a friend or a neighbor. Is someone “from away” visiting? Bring them to church.

It worked in the 1950s. Who knows? It might work now, in the early part of the 21st Century, especially since there seems to be such a large potential constituency among those people who are 40 and under and who call themselves “spiritual” and are, therefore, interested.

What can I say? See you in church?

In Faith,
Joe Connolly

P.S. Bonnie and I wish everyone a joyous, peaceful Christmas filled with love and hope as we remember the birth of the Messiah.