The percentage of Americans fluent in “church speak” or the insider language used in many Christian faith communities has been waning for multiple generations. Realistically, we should expect even fewer people to understand this insider language in the future.
Barbara Bush
Yesterday I watched a good portion of Barbara Bush’s funeral service. I immediately noticed the production effort involved in making the occasion fully accessible to a broad audience that may not be Christian and even more who have never entered the doors of an Episcopal church. I found the voice of a commentator more distracting than the pop up banners, but realized both helped some viewers more fully enter into the experience.
Great Commission
A recent Barna survey of American churchgoers found that less than half of the churchgoers are familiar with the Great Commission. More specifically, 51% of churchgoers surveyed indicated that they did not know the term “Great Commission.” When provided a list of five verses and asked to identify which was the Great Commission, 37% chose correctly.
So What?
These two examples are some of many that could be used to help remind my readers (and myself!) that it is unwise to simply assume people will understand what you are talking about if you use insider vocabulary that is specific to a religion or subgroups within a given religion.
For more on the topic consider some of my earlier posts on the topic:
- A book review of a book that calls Christians to recover the ancient meanings of key Christian words – Review of Speaking Christian: Why Christian Words Have Lost Their Meaning and Power — And How They Can Be Restored by Marcus Borg (2011)
- Discussion about a humorous video that highlights some of the many words that were popular among Evangelical insiders five years ago – Speaking Christian (2013)
- Thoughts about the waning usage and meaning of the term “Mainline Protestant” – The Day the Mainline Disappeared (2014)
There are still occasions when “church speak” may be appropriate. In general, however, the use of such language should be limited and should be supported by terms that explain the meaning for those present who have little or no familiarity with such vocabulary.
Take a moment to share your experiences
- Share a few words or phrases that are used frequently within your congregation that likely would not be appropriate for use elsewhere without some additional explanation.
- Share a time when you heard someone using religious language that you did not fully understand.