DanSheffield

Faith has its days and its nights

Just finished reading a great book by Czech Catholic priest, professor of sociology at Charles University in Prague, and winner of the 2014 Templeton Prize, Tomas Halik, entitled: Patience with God: The Story of Zacchaeus Continuing in Us.  The premise of the book is situated around the story of Zacchaeus as a sympathetic observer, perhaps seeker, (but not involved in organized religion) wondering if the voice of Jesus is the real deal, followed by Jesus noticing, calling out to, and entering into Z's space.

Halik wonders, from the context of post-Christian, post-communist, secularized, Eastern Europe if there are many hopeful observers watching for faith communities from which the authentic voice of Jesus might emerge. Perhaps we need to notice, call out to, and enter into the spaces of those who are not coming into "our" spaces.

The notion of "patience with God" in this context is that faith or trust in God is not so much about a certain belief system that one assents to, but faith is really patience with God that God will accomplish what God intends to, and we will hang in with God (persevere) even when there seems to be silence or absence (citing Jesus on the cross).

This passage, written in the voice of Jesus to a struggling, skeptical "believer":

"You yourself insisted that you had to hear my voice in its absolute purity, with no human weaknesses, doubts and searching mixed in. But my voice has never been heard in that way in human history since the day I ascended into heaven. My words, my legacy, and my name are entrusted to the lips of people who are never completely pure, to hearts in which love for me is always mixed with love for the self and for the things of this world. I gave myself to the faith of my church, which is made up of sinners, not angels, and I was also in those who are still far from its visible gates, those who are grimy and sweaty from their seeking and wandering along paths full of questions and doubts. They are the ones you should have listened to above all; it was in them above all that you should have sought me. 

And there's another thing. Faith -- if it's a living faith -- has to breathe; it has its days and its nights. God speaks not only through His words but also through His silence."

dwindling demand and Christian formation (Thiessen III)

Recapping my first post on "The Meaning of Sunday" -- It is no surprise to most Canadians that Christian religious presence is dwindling in our society. In fact the fastest growing sector in Canadian society is those who identify as having "No Religious Affiliation" -- now at 24% of our population (Census 2011). Over the pastcouple months I have been digging into the research of Canadian sociologist Joel Thiessen in his book The Meaning of Sunday(2015). Thiessen's work is based on qualitative social research that he conducted with 90 participants, 30 each of whom he describes as: "active affiliates" (those who regularly participate in a Christian community), "marginal affiliates" (those who rarely participate but still identify as some sort of Christian), and "religious nones" (those who have no involvement in a religious community). 

While some in the Christian community want to make the issue of dwindling numbers a matter of "supply" -- that is, if we had a better product, whether preaching, music, programming, spiritual vitality, etc. -- numbers would return, Thiessen's research encourages us to take a broader look.

Although reported almost as a sub-text, Thiessen gives us a glimpse into why "active affiliates" pursue their spiritual convictions so ardently, and, also a glimpse into why young adults might remain as "active affiliates" when their generation is increasingly identifying as having no religious affiliation. 

Active affiliates gave the following reasons for why they feel "rewarded" by active participation in a faith community:

1. the greatest benefit is the sense of community they experience with fellow believers -- things like: encouragement in common beliefs and practices, honesty, vulnerability, emotional and physical support, accountability, mutual aid
2. a sense of meaning, direction and purpose that they receive from their faith; common belief, public and private practices, provide a source of meaning in life. A dependable God and a dependable faith community are mutually affirming in staving off anomie and alienation
3. allows for development and affirmation of their faith via ongoing learning opportunities, corporate worship experiences and commonly invoked prayers -- there is something about collective activity that maintains and sustains this perspective differently than solitary religious expression.

Thiessen uses the language of "master status" to describe this kind of religious expression that informs all aspects of one's life.

Thiessen identifies religious socialization as the key determinant in whether a young adult identifies as a "none" -- i.e., no religious affiliation. This makes sense in the increasing number of young adults who have been raised in families which likewise have no religious affiliation. For several decades now (1960s-2010's), each generation has raised more children who have no religious identification in their family of origin (and therefore no formation in any particular beliefs or practices). The result becomes exponential at a certain point (hence 2001/16% -2011/24%). 

What is perhaps most challenging about Thiessen's findings (again, as a bit of a sub-text) is the number of marginals and nones who were raised in "active" homes but chose to leave the faith expression of their parents. He firmly places the essential cause as "lack of religious socialization" -- parents did not form their children in the beliefs and practices of their faith. "Lack of religious transmission in the home is an important contributor to declining levels of religiosity across cohorts..."

When parents share the same faith, they are more likely to pass on their faith to their children... Young people are prone to maintain the faith when their parents are actively involved in their religious group, when parents bring their children to religious services, when young people are actively involved in a religious group and maintain personal religious practices, when they have good relationships with older mentors who are religious and when they are given responsibilities in their religious group.

Thiessen goes on to describe a few more societal factors that have shaped the worldviews of even "active affiliates" that have led active, believing Christians to fall prey to practices and viewpoints that produce the outcomes now being described in statistical terms as "dwindling demands" for what churches offer.

In my view there are clear "takeaways" from Thiessen's research that impact:

1. our disciple-making practices (Christian formation) for the adults/parents in our congregations.
2. our support for parental Christian formation of their own kids; rather than "out-sourcing" that responsibility to local churches
3. our understanding of corporate worship and gathered community -- does this experience pay attention to, and include the participation of, the children and teens among us?

 

what would lead to greater involvement? (Thiessen)

Recapping my first post on "The Meaning of Sunday" -- It is no surprise to most Canadians that Christian religious presence is dwindling in our society. In fact the fastest growing sector in Canadian society is those who identify as having "No Religious Affiliation" -- now at 24% of our population (Census 2011). Over the past month I have been digging into the research of Canadian sociologist Joel Thiessen in his book The Meaning of Sunday(2015). Thiessen's work is based on qualitative social research that he conducted with 90 participants, 30 each of whom he describes as: "active affiliates" (those who regularly participate in a Christian community), "marginal affiliates" (those who rarely participate but still identify as some sort of Christian), and "religious nones" (those who have no involvement in a religious community). 

While some in the Christian community want to make the issue of dwindling numbers a matter of "supply" -- that is, if we had a better product, whether preaching, music, programming, spiritual vitality, etc. -- numbers would return, Thiessen's research encourages us to take a broader look.

Thiessen says he seriously doubts whether marginal affiliates and religious nones (even though they might go to a candlelight service at Christmas or want to get married in a church) continue to give much thought to faith issues. In his research only about 35% of marginals and nones said they might consider greater involvement in a faith community -- more than half said they had no interest at all. So he asked those who expressed some interest in greater involvement, what would actually lead them to increased attendance in a faith community?

1. 18% of those who don't participate actively in any faith community said: if they could find and experience a true sense of community, they would consider greater involvement. By this they meant -- if I wanted to find new friendships I might consider a faith community, or if some of my present friends were to take greater interest in a faith community I might join them, and if I knew more people at a church I might participate more actively ("as soon as I have that belonging I think I would definitely be more likely to go").
2. 16% of those who don't participate actively said: family factors of some sort might prompt them to greater involvement -- such as getting married, having children, finding good programming for children, and even rethinking things when the kids leave home. Some sense of church as a place that might give appropriate moral grounding for children -- that the parents don't feel adequate for. One reason for not following through on this was fear of beliefs being taught that the parents no longer adhere to. 
3. 11% said: if religious groups were less exclusive they might consider greater involvement -- ie., don't judge others beliefs or behaviours, keep faith out of politics, don't proselytise, and let people think for themselves. 
4. 11% said things about the way church is "done" -- pointing to more relevant preaching, charismatic leadership and engaging music.
5. 10% said if religious communities were seen to live out their faith in more concrete terms -- i.e., active participation in humanitarian efforts, public service, etc.
6. 6% said if there was a church they could relate to within closer proximity.
7. 6% said if their life was less busy they might consider greater involvement.

Important to remember from this info -- these are factors just for the small sector (35% of marginals and none) who said they "might" consider greater involvement if...

And Thiessen's point -- most of these factors, including the most substantial ones, are largely beyond the control of church "strategies" for increasing attendance, they are intangibles that are dependent upon 1) authentic disciple-making, creating an environment of caring koinonia and outward-oriented, authentic friending; and 2) family life factors that have nothing to do with people "in" church.

Thiessen also makes the point that, for the most part, people will continue being in the future, what they have been in the past -- something significant would have to intervene for most of the marginal affiliates and religious nones to make any changes to their present approach to faith issues.

 

(1 more post to come on thoughts about, for me, the most important reflection on Thiessen's research -- the role of Christian community in shaping belief, belonging and behaviour, that might have any hope of catching the attention of the majority of the Canadian population.)

Dwindling demand for what churches provide (Thiessen)

It is no surprise to most Canadians that Christian religious presence is dwindling in our society. In fact the fastest growing sector in Canadian society is those who identify as having "No Religious Affiliation" -- now at 24% of our population (Census 2011). Over the past month I have been digging into the research of Canadian sociologist Joel Thiessen in his book The Meaning of Sunday (2015). Thiessen's work is based on qualitative social research that he conducted with 90 participants, 30 each of whom he describes as: "active affiliates" (those who regularly participate in a Christian community), "marginal affiliates" (those who rarely participate but still identify as some sort of Christian), and "religious nones" (those who have no involvement in a religious community). 

While some in the Christian community want to make the issue of dwindling numbers a matter of "supply" -- that is, if we had a better product, whether preaching, music, programming, spiritual vitality, etc. -- numbers would return, Thiessen's research encourages us to take a broader look. He suggests 8 reasons why people have left active involvement in church community or were never interested to started with. These are weighted in that the first 4 reasons were most significant, while the last 4 descend in significance rapidly.

1. The attitudes and behaviours of religious groups are seen as too exclusive -- a separation of "us" and "them." Thiessen frames this concern within the larger dialogue in Canadian society that continues to shape citizens around tolerance, and social and religious pluralism. As civil society builds these approaches through legislation, education and media, they become the underlying message that affects most Canadians values and decision-making practices. Some of Thiessen's subjects left religious involvement as an act of rebellion against "staunchly conservative" home environments, or adopted more inclusive and tolerant approaches after leaving such homes when going off to university, etc.
2. Life transitions -- a move away from a setting where a family or individual was actively involved in a church community, the death of a parent or spouse who was more actively committed, divorce in a family and break with a faith community, struggle for meaning following a death or divorce. Just never returned to active involvement after the loss of a sense of community.
3. Opportunity for teenage choice -- typified by "my parents said I could choose, so I did, I walked away." Again Thiessen frames this as thoughtful parents wanting to echo societal values of independence, choice and tolerance. Some viewed this as demonstrating the marginal significance of religion to their parents.
4. Too busy with other things. There are so many options for children, extracurricular activities, a 24/7 lifestyle that active faith community involvement takes a marginal role, again suggesting that faith involvement was not too deeply held in the first place, so leaving isn't a big issue.
5. Scandals and hypocrisy play a role for some. Inconsistencies between teachings, words and actions in parental homes, among church members and on the part of church leaders.
6. Intellectual disagreement regarding place of science over religion, questioning the existence of God, and religious pluralism -- how can there be one true god?
7. Interpersonal tensions mostly on the part of adults who were once actively involved but through offence or church conflict left.
8. Lack of social ties -- no one in social circle is involved, active family members move or die, leaving no meaningful connection to a faith community.

Thiessen's point is that most of these reasons that people give for their lack of involvement, or actually having left active involvement, don't have a lot to do with issues of "supply" or a certain kind of attractive product, they have to do with broader societal issues, personal choice, religious socialisation in families and subjective responses to factors largely beyond what churches can control.

This is a simple glimpse at several of Thiessen's observations. Not particularly hopeful on the surface... But there are several other issues Thiessen discusses that offer some insight: what would be attractive to "marginal affiliates" and "religious nones?" and how could "religious socialization" (disciple-making/discipleship) be conducted differently in home and church communities? Stay tuned for posts on these topics.

reflections on liberal evangelicalism in the United Church

Great post at Books and Culture by Mark Noll - O Canada: Liberal Evangelicalism - a case study. He reviews several recent books on the history of the United Church of Canada. My father grew up in the heyday of the United Church (1930s-50s); interestingly that is where he both lost his way and yet also met Jesus in a profound way. Then left the UCC in the 60s about the time everything began to fall apart. Noll's review gives insights that are helpful for those of us who espouse a broad-minded evangelicalism.

Live such good lives vs clash of civilizations

A friend recently asked for my opinion on a video doing the rounds among some Christian groups. I am not an expert on Islam, but I have lived and worked in the Middle East, and have studied and paid attention to Christian-Muslim engagement for over 30 years.

That video link is hosted at a website called “Israel video network” – although David Wood is a Christian. He clearly wants to make a point that Obama is a Muslim apologist (he makes it seem like Obama is quoting a whole series of Quranic passages himself); so probably a Republican. He doesn’t clarify when he is reading from the Quran vs the Hadith (essentially the oral tradition of saying and teachings of Muhammed, collected long after his death). So, I am starting from the perspective that this fellow wants to manipulate the understanding of his listeners – he has an ideological point to make.

That being said, there is a social, historical and political examination of Islamic civilization that largely corresponds with his 3 points. He is not addressing the subject of classical Islamic theology and practice (think orthodox Christian teaching).

An examination of the social, historical and political trajectory of Christian civilization will tell a largely similar story. Think, the Holy Roman Empire; the Crusades, the birth of capitalism and the advance of “Christianity” as a civilizing mission – Columbus, the East India Company, US Manifest Destiny, etc. (with Scripture quoted in each case) From a Muslim perspective, it is exactly the same kind of storyline.

Wood is articulating the case for “clash of civilizations” theory; a theory espoused by social/political conservatives (just war, etc).

A key piece for me is that the apostolic and early church era (0-300AD) is understood to be the normative story for orthodox Christian teaching – the founding era. On the other hand, moderate/classical Muslims want to make the normative period in Islam as 800-1100AD (about 200-400 yrs after Muhammed, i.e, not the founding era); the reasons for this require a bit more explanation than a short post here. Radical Muslims (not the majority) want to make the founding era normative; hence the violent jihadist notions.

So, a complex story – not simplistic. Which is the issue -- any reductionist version of history and social development is doing a disservice to the complexity of reality, to make an ideological point. Andrew Coyne has an interesting article here on the use of rhetorical language on this topic, contrasting Obama and Harper's language.

Now if we want to talk theology and texts, and reasonable conversation in a pluralist society, that’s another topic. Miroslav Volf’s Allah: A Christian Response is an excellent resource; as is Newbigin’s The Gospel in a Pluralist Society.

I am not a just war theorist (more of an Anabaptist), which inevitably leads to the use of violence as a response – reference the last 25 years of world history.

As a Christian and missiologist, I would like 1) the opportunity for Christians to live their lives in peace, even in the midst of a Muslim majority country (Orthodox Christians in Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine); and 2) to be able to articulate my faith as an option for consideration in a pluralist society without fear of shaming or death (whether Canada or Libya).

But I don’t believe that normative Christian theology and practice (apostolic and early church era) support the use of violence to achieve those desires. Only “live such good lives among (them)…” 1 Peter 2 & 3 are very instructive in this conversation.

my two cents in a world of multiple perspectives...

looking for a concrete, tangible community

In Lamin Sanney's journey toward faith in Jesus, (in Summoned from the Margin) he struggled with the place of suffering and failure in human experience. In his own experience of suffering during his early life in The Gambia, he wondered where God was, and if God was absent did that mean his own sufferings or failure were signs of God's displeasure. It was the Jesus revelation that helped him make sense of this dilemma:

If God accepted Jesus' suffering and failure, it would require us to judge him and God by a different rule, thus giving hope to suffering humanity; it was proof that God would not abandon us in the desolate experience of pain and loss. If a God-appointed Jesus suffered, as scripture claims, that fact would trump all theory; it would give us new knowledge about God and about us: God is in suffering to transform us. It would be crucial to affirm that truth. "For who dares despise the day of small things? ... for they shall rejoice" (Zech 4:10).

Although I could recognize the logic, it was a different matter to submit to it. I had no experience of a corresponding community of faith to be able to imagine how one would live life on those terms. Living is conceivable only in concrete terms, and religion shares in the vitality of tangible, palpable life." 

That was the key challenge for Sanneh, he couldn't find a Christian community that lived the life he was finding answers for, in the Jesus story. I think that is a common concern. 

Short clip here:  

David Fitch on 'why & how' of founding new Christian communities

David Fitch interviewed briefly by Martin Robinson

 

Well, He is.

quote from Canadian novelist David Adams Richards...

I believe all of us, even those who are atheists, seek God -- or at the very least none of us would be unhappy if God appeared and told us that the universe was actually His creation. Oh, we might put Him on trial for making it so hard and get angry at Him, too, but we would be very happy that He is here. Well, He is.

 

Herbert E Randall, missionary to Egypt

Ever since my wife and I lived in Egypt in the late 1980s I have been intrigued with the founder of the Holiness Movement Church in Egypt (affiliated with The Free Methodist Church, internationally). A couple years ago I finally had the time to focus on researching and writing up his story.

This past week the article was finally published in the Canadian Journal of Pentecostal-Charismatic Christianity.

Here is a brief abstract; the full article can be read here.

Abstract

The life of Herbert Randall (1865-1938) leads us through a series of uniquely inter-connecting occurrences on the international stage. From rural eastern Ontario in the newly-minted Dominion of Canada (1867), to the churning spiritual environment within the worldwide holiness/higher-life/Keswick movement (1870s-1920s), the triumphalistic period of the British Empire following the Second Anglo-Sudan War (1896-98), eight years of village ministry during the British occupation of Ottoman Egypt (1899-1906), to his instrumental role in the ‘baptism in the Holy Spirit’ of Aimee Kennedy (1907) [later, Aimee Semple McPherson, flamboyant founder of the International Foursquare Church], and not least, initiating two separate Protestant denominations in Egypt, Randall participates in a perfect storm of historical, social and spiritual events.