Confession: I am a lifelong Mainline Protestant. While I've switched denominations many times - from Presbyterian (PCUSA) to Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) to Lutheran (ELCA) to Presbyterian (PCUSA) to United Church of Christ to Presbyterian (PCUSA) to United Church of Christ - I've never left this religious tradition. Stating the Obvious For my entire lifetime, Mainline Protestant denominations have all been experiencing a numeric decline in membership. The narrative of decline Read More …
Episcopal
Happy New Year! Celebrating Visits to 12 Churches (#2093)
Happy New Year! Or, more precisely happy new church year. For those in liturgical traditions, Advent starts a new year in the life of the church. Advent is about preparing for what's to come. And, in many traditions, today started with an emphasis on hope. In the year that just ended, I found much to be hopeful for in my experiences with many local communities of faith, especially the 12 congregations located in the greater Dallas Fort Worth metropolitan area that are profiled below. Read More …
Preaching and Ordination Update #13 (#2079)
I'm current seeking ordination in the United Church of Christ. And, I've been sharing updates as I progress through the discernment process that I hope will culminate in ordination. My last update was about two months ago: My Ministry in the United Church of Christ – Ordination Update #12 (July 2022). In that post I shared parts of the third section of my ordination paper, which focuses on my experiences in the United Church of Christ and plans for ordained ministry. Preaching One Read More …
Learning from 9 Congregations & 10 Denominations – Update #11 (#2067)
In this series on my journey to ordination in the United Church of Christ, I've been sharing some of the specifics of what my life has been like in recent months as a Member in Discernment. In this post, I explore how my current theology has been informed by lessons I've learned from 10 denominations or traditions. As I engage in this reflection I'm mindful of the nine congregations I've served, which are shown below: (1) First Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) - Duncanville, TX; (2) Central Read More …
Pandemic Worship: 10 Sacred Spaces (#1955)
A year before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, I wrote "Visiting 50+ Churches in Dallas-Fort Worth," highlighting congregations I had worshipped with since relocating to Texas from Florida. When the pandemic started, I stopped attending worship in person. After experiencing a full year of life without attending corporate worship, I gradually reentered that world. March 7 - I attended my first outdoor worship serviceMarch 14 - I attended my first indoor worship service Now, seven Read More …
My “Next Normal” Communion Experience (#1937)
COVID-19 has forever changed the church. While exactly what the "next normal" of worship will look like will vary regionally and, within regions, between congregations, it will not return to how it was before the pandemic. With this in mind, I included worship changes as one of five changes I expect in the life of the church in the months and years ahead (for more on that check out Giving Up the Church I Always Knew). Returning to Indoor Worship After more than a year of worshipping Read More …
Another Decade of Major Decline in The Episcopal Church (#1823)
Earlier this week Episcopal priest Tom Ferguson wrote a piece titled "The Collapse is Here," exploring The Episcopal Church's recently published statistics on Sunday worship attendance from 2008 to 2018. Ferguson offers several high level observations about what has happened and what the Episcopal Church looks like today: Average attendance dropped 25% (24.7%) between 2008 and 2018. Average attendance in 2018 was 562,529.There are now more parishes with an average attendance of less than 10 Read More …
Faith Palm Banners Go Viral (#1715)
Until a few days ago I had never heard anyone use the term "faith palm." Thanks to a tweet by Daniel Dale, a Washington D.C. correspondent for the Toronto star I not only learned the term, but also was introduced to a unique marketing campaign by a progressive Episcopal congregation in D.C. The President Said What? The image at right is one of four banners on a chain link fence outside of a construction area on the campus of St. Thomas' Parish Episcopal Church. Each banner contains Read More …
Politically Partisan Pastors (#1689)
Over the last week I have seen one red, gray and blue graphic more than any other. It seeks to tell the complex story of pastoral political affiliation in the United States in a single image. The widely shared graphic comes from Kevin Quealy's June 12 New York Times article "Your Rabbi? Probably a Democrat. Your Baptist Pastor? Probably a Republican. Your Priest? Who Knows." Quealy's article reports on the most ambitious research of its kind, which was undertaken by Eitan D. Read More …
Mainline Members – Political Leanings (#1613)
If you know much about American Christianity, you may expect Mainline Protestants to be more likely to have more liberal political leanings than the average American. The Pew Research Center’s 2014 Religious Landscape Study affords an unparalleled look at this topic by breaking down many of the larger religious denominations by what political party their members self-identify as leaning toward or with which they affiliate. Among all US adults the survey found that 37% are Read More …