Over the last four weeks I've visited five mainline Protestant congregations in the Dallas - Fort Worth metro area that have recently reopened for worship. All five experiences required that I pre-register to attend, and that I commit to a covenant or list of expectations regarding my participation (i.e., not attend if I had a fever or was experiencing COVID-like symptoms, while attending wear a mask and remain socially distanced from others while indoors, etc.). Additionally, all five Read More …
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Giving Up the Old and White Church (#1924)
I've spent my entire life in congregations affiliated with Mainline Protestant denominations. For Lent, I’m giving up something big: the church I always knew. And, unlike past Lenten disciplines that ended on Easter, this change is one I expect to be permanent. Here in the final post in this series, I'm giving up the old and white church. Old According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median age of all Americans is 38.4 years (2019). By comparison, the Pew Research Center Read More …
Giving Up the Tech Averse Church (#1923)
For Lent, I’m giving up something big: the church I always knew. And, unlike past Lenten disciplines that ended on Easter, this change is one I expect to be permanent. Slow to Change I remember learning in seminary that the church in all of its forms tends to change more slowly than the dominant culture. And, I remember hearing cases for why this was positive as well as ways in which it could be negative. Additionally, I recall a phase known to many as the seven last Read More …
Giving Up the Output Oriented Church (#1922)
I've spent my entire life in church. More specifically, I've been a part of a dozen congregations affiliated with a group of denominations most continue to label Mainline Protestant (for more on my departure, check out Giving Up Mainline Protestantism). Defining Success Individual congregations rarely provide stakeholders with a clear definition of success. As a result, most members and many active participants are left to assume their congregation is doing just fine provided it Read More …
First Indoor Worship Service in a Year (#1921)
Last Sunday I attended my first in person worship service in over a year. For that outdoor service at First Presbyterian Church (Fort Worth, TX) I sat masked in a socially distanced chair with fewer than 20 other outdoor attendees - a group which was supplemented by folks worshipping in a nearby parking lot in their vehicles. (For more on this check out my post titled First in Person Worship Experience in a Year.) Today was another milestone day: I attended my first indoor worship service in Read More …
Giving Up Mainline Protestantism (#1917)
For Lent, I'm giving up something big: the church I always knew. And, unlike past Lenten disciples that ended on Easter, this change is one I expect to be permanent. My Christian Identity For all of my life, I've self-identified as a Mainline Protestant. Despite this unchanging identification, I've spent significant time outside my own tradition. My experiences beyond the Mainline include Worship. I've visited and worshipped in dozens of congregations affiliated with a variety Read More …
Giving Up the Church I Always Knew (#1916)
For the last fifteen or so years I've focused on approaching life, ministry, and the life of faith from a both/and perspective rather than the either/or framework that was normative in my earlier years. For Lent, I'm accustomed to both giving something up and adding something on as a way of growing in my faith. In past years, items in both the giving up and adding on categories have been mundane. They were not original. Nonetheless, they were helpful. This year, for Lent I'm formally Read More …
Staying Home, Staying Warm (#1915)
Some assumptions go unspoken. For example, I had always assumed it would be safe (and even wise) to leave my house and to interact with other people every day. That assumption was challenged almost a year ago with the arrival of a global pandemic known as COVID-19. In response to COVID-19, I've learned new ways of being out and about in the larger world, have modified interpersonal interactions to provide enhanced safety, and have increased the percentage of interactions conducted Read More …
Top 20 Posts – All Time (#1907)
Since launching So What Faith in 2009, I've written more than 1,900 posts about matters of faith that matter. Based on page views, my all time most popular posts (as of December 28, 2020) are Prayers of the People - Youth Sunday (2009) Pastoral Prayer – Love (2014) Review of Not a Fan (2011) 12 Marks of Convergence Christianity (2012) My Visit to Next Level Church (2012) Sermon: Lost --> Found --> Party (2015) Are 10,000 Churches Closing Every Year? (2019) Reading Read More …
Top 10 Memories of 2020 (#1906)
2020 has been quite a year! When the year started I'd never heard of COVID-19 and rarely used words and phrases that are now commonplace: contact tracing, essential workers, quarantine, pandemic, personal protective equipment (PPE), social distancing, and Zoom. As I reflect on a year that offered more time for reflection than any other, the following 10 memories stand out: Vacationing with Susan in Naples, Florida to celebrate that we’ve now been married for more than half of my life Read More …