One of the great mantras of the “greatest generation” was that they had a goal to give their children a better life than they had. They built homes, schools, hospitals, businesses, institutions, and churches. Many families were able to gather assets that would be handed on to their children so that they wouldn’t have to start from scratch. They built a wonderful country, the best the world has ever seen, with incredible resources, and an attitude of self-reliance. Yet it may be this very attitude that challenges the Churches today.
Signs of the End of the Christian Church as We Have Known It
- “Since 1960, the number of Americans claiming belief in God went from a ‘most emphatic’ 97 percent to 62 percent—a 35 point drop.”
- “Only 20 percent of the population attend church each weekend.” (Pew Research)
- “Roughly 44 percent of Americans have left their childhood faith in favor of another denomination or religion or by dropping any religious affiliation at all.”
- “By 2024, in a stunning change, America’s third largest religious group—and one of its youngest—is ‘unaffiliated,’ an independently minded group, with no single issue, theology, or view of God”
- In 2024 a Pew survey of generational views of Scripture found that 86 percent of younger Americans think the Bible, the Quran, and the Book of Mormon ‘offer the same spiritual truths’ as compared to only 33 percent of adults over 64’, a decision they’ve made without likely knowing much about any of those books, including the Bible. Younger generations, such as Millennials and Gen Z, show a greater tendency to believe that the Bible, Quran, and Book of Mormon all contain different expressions of the same spiritual truths.
Mapping Where We Are Now
Diana Butler Bass is the author of eighteen books including A People’s History of Christianity. In this new and very thought-provoking work, she contends that we are at the end of sea change in religious Christianity which has been going on since the 1970’s. Historians have mapped the Three Great Awakenings in American history where old patterns and beliefs were set aside for new forms and vitality. Bass is convinced that the Fourth Great Awakenings in American history where old patterns and beliefs were set aside for new forms of vitality. Bass is convinced that the Fourth Great Awakening is underway and as a result there is a great deal of doubt and discontent afoot in the culture and in churches.
Drawing on research and visits with hundreds of Christian communities, she reveals the boredom in business-as-usual congregations and the disillusionment of many clergy caused by the resistance to any changes they initiate. In addition, the culture has soured millions of believers with the toxic developments of the past decade including 9/11, the Catholic sex abuse scandal, Protestant conflict over homosexuality, and the exaggerations of a very vocal Religious Right. Not only mainline churches have dissatisfied members; even the mega-church Willow Creek found recently that their members felt that the church had not met their spiritual needs. Bass then makes her point loud and clear: the “rejection of religion is also hope for the future of faith communities.” Empowered by the Holy Spirit, our role is to tap into that hope and rearticulate our faith that others have left.
I hope you will give serious thought to participating in the Wednesday, November 12th 6:30-8pm 
You must register for free tickets on the diocesan website to get access to the webinar.
