There is only one trend that is continuous, and that is that current trends change.
For example, the average birth rate today in the United States is 1.8 children per woman. In other words, the birthrate is below 2.1/woman, the rate required at a minimum to sustain the population of a people from generation to generation. In 1960 the average birth rate was 3.65. What that means is that the birthrate in our country, if current trends continue, will be zero by 2080. If current trends continue. It also means that with a birthrate of zero in 2080 then shortly thereafter, in a generation or two, the United States will cease to exist. If current rates continue.
They won't.
But even if the birthrate continues at its current rate, the population of the United States will only be able to maintain or grow through immigration-- if current trends continue. It is also true that the highest birthrates globally are among non-white people, meaning that in time white folks will compromise less and less of the world's population-- if current trends continue.
I recently received a piece from one of my church's seminaries that asked the question whether our denomination would cease to exist. Based on current trends, 2050 is the year we run out of members. One fact this does point to is that with the birthrate being what it is we are not regenerating membership through births, as we did in years past. But it also points to a decreasing interest in organized religion across the board.
With regards to current trends, there are shifts in trends that often stabilize, and even reverse themselves over time. For example, most of the decline in the birthrate in this country occurred between 1960 and 1975. Two things happened. The Pill was introduced. And expectations around women's roles in society shifted. But the birthrate stabilized after 1975.
In all likelihood, the decline in Church membership will level out at some point, and may even radically change. A friend speaks of the hope that a Great Awakening will once again transform our land. Whether this country ever returns to a feverish religiosity remains to be seen, but likely religious participation will stabilize at some point. And, if in the course of a couple decades we again face the equivalent of two world wars and a great depression there maybe a significant return to faith communities in order to seek comfort and hope during times of trial.
Baring such an awakening, we will likely see leaner years ahead for our congregations and denominations. Faced with leaner times there will be a fundamental question that will divide religious expressions in the future. Churches will orient themselves either to the future or the past. There will be a motivation either to shape the future or hold fast to the past. My hope is to be involved in a church that is dedicated to shaping the future, not one that attempting to preserve the remnant of the past.
One irreversible change that has occurred globally is the interaction between diverse cultures and people. The world is becoming smaller. And our experience of one another is expanding. Advances in communication and travel have brought the world closer together resulting in an experience of diversity never before imagined. When I grew up in Irene, SD, our town was comprised almost exclusively of Norwegian Americans. The next town over was Danish American. And so it was across the Great Plains. During the time of homesteading ethnic groups settled together. Interaction with other groups and communities was very limited. The result was a sense of homogeneity. Irene was Lutheran and exclusively White.
The question for the future will be whether we seek to cling to a tribalism that is a remnant of the past, or embrace a diversity of people that reflects the interaction between people of different ethnic, cultural, political and religious backgrounds. For the Church the implications are straight forward. We will either seek to maintain the exclusive claims and closed communities of the past or we will learn to thrive in a world that is pluralistic. Within the Church we will need to become more ecumenical, beyond the Church we will need to address interfaith relationships, and individually we will have to deal with diversity as a 'next door' issue.
I'm actually excited about the prospects for the future. I believe that the human experience will be richer for the diversity. But we will have to get over the desire to mandate a conformity in order to enjoy it. Religious communities will not even be able to maintain a homogeneity within their own membership ranks. That's not so bad, unless your compelled to fight about it.
If current trends continue the Church as we have known it in years gone by will indeed die. We simply will not be able to sustain the Church as a tribalistic community that defines itself over and against everybody else. This will be especially true as our neighborhoods and families are increasingly shaped by the diversity of the world. But that's alright.
And remember, homogeneity was ALWAYS an illusion. The world has ALWAYS been diverse. The future that is beckoning us is just more aware and accepting of this basic fact of our existence on this planet.
Showing posts with label diversity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label diversity. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 13, 2019
Sunday, November 10, 2019
For the love of people. . .
Its that simple.
And that hard.
I've spent a lot of time contemplating the future of the church. For years now I have stood in the pulpit and looked out at aging congregations. Probably the most alarming experience was while I was supply preaching. I went from congregation to congregation and saw that the graying of our membership was not an isolated instance,by far. And so I wonder what the church will look like in a decade or two.
I must confess. As I look back too often I have feared membership loss to the extent that I coddled behaviors and attitudes that deep within my soul I feel are contrary to the Gospel. The intolerance and judgmental attitudes that have prevailed in many a conversation hardly reflect the love of Christ or the compassion of our God and Father. Yet in many instances they tithed.
To coddle attitudes because my financial security depends on it is not the most defensible witness to the Gospel. It may in fact be sinful and so I confess.
One of the core tenants of my faith that has emerged more and more over the years is that if we would know the Creator we ought start by observing the creation for it is near to the heart of God. And if we do that there is one thing, one very BIG thing that is undeniable. God loves diversity. From the landscapes that dot this planet (and the universe) to the flora and fauna of every corner of our world.
And one of the most regrettable tendencies of our human spirit is to limit this diversity and opt for a controlled uniformity. Nothing is farther from the Spirit of God. Yet we persist.
You see this in many ways. Bananas for example. Worldwide there are about 1,000 different varieties. And only one that is exported, the Cavendish. One. There was a crisis among banana producers in years past. The one banana that they focused on for production became diseased. The lack of biodiversity meant that crops worldwide were at risk. I digress. If God went to the trouble of creating a thousand different types of bananas, God obviously loves diversity.
And humans also excel at diversity. A few different varieties. And that makes us uneasy.
One tendency of education is to impose conformity as opposed to encouraging diversity. This is especially true of religious education where we are too quick to assume a common path to the divine and a homogeneous human experience. Nothing could be farther from the truth. When God created us it was not with the intention that you would be me.
Human sexuality is one such example of the diversity of creation. We are not all the same. And no one experience can be applied universally without reeking havoc on the individual. And yet we try. Perversity is the condition of being different than me. . .
Back to the original point. Will the church chart a future that imposes conformity or which celebrates the diversity of God's creation?
Kennon Callahan, a church growth consultant, talks about the 'principle of homogeneity'. "Birds of a feather flock together." If you desire to successfully grow a congregation focus on one type of people because few truly can handle diversity.
What is more important? To have a successful congregation or to be faithful to the Gospel and the Love of God?
Dare we live in a world in which the Cavendish is not the only banana and "A Mighty Fortress is Our God" is not the only hymn? Dare we love each unique individual without the expectation of conformity to a universal norm? And to be clear, it's not that the Cavendish is a bad banana. It's just not the only banana. It's not that being a blond haired, blue eyed, balding and aging man of Norwegian descent is bad. It's just not the totality of the human experience.
I wish my church was more diverse. But I also acknowledge that my church will never be able to be home to the full spectrum of human religious conviction. There is a place for Baptists, and Pentecostals, and Orthodox, and Catholics, and Jewish people, and Hindus, and Buddhists, and Muslims, and even those whose experience of the divine is at best a question mark.
What I know is that I can no longer define my faith against others. It is for the love of people that God brought us forth in all our diversity and one cannot love God while despising those who are created in the Divine Image.
And that hard.
I've spent a lot of time contemplating the future of the church. For years now I have stood in the pulpit and looked out at aging congregations. Probably the most alarming experience was while I was supply preaching. I went from congregation to congregation and saw that the graying of our membership was not an isolated instance,by far. And so I wonder what the church will look like in a decade or two.
I must confess. As I look back too often I have feared membership loss to the extent that I coddled behaviors and attitudes that deep within my soul I feel are contrary to the Gospel. The intolerance and judgmental attitudes that have prevailed in many a conversation hardly reflect the love of Christ or the compassion of our God and Father. Yet in many instances they tithed.
To coddle attitudes because my financial security depends on it is not the most defensible witness to the Gospel. It may in fact be sinful and so I confess.
One of the core tenants of my faith that has emerged more and more over the years is that if we would know the Creator we ought start by observing the creation for it is near to the heart of God. And if we do that there is one thing, one very BIG thing that is undeniable. God loves diversity. From the landscapes that dot this planet (and the universe) to the flora and fauna of every corner of our world.
And one of the most regrettable tendencies of our human spirit is to limit this diversity and opt for a controlled uniformity. Nothing is farther from the Spirit of God. Yet we persist.
You see this in many ways. Bananas for example. Worldwide there are about 1,000 different varieties. And only one that is exported, the Cavendish. One. There was a crisis among banana producers in years past. The one banana that they focused on for production became diseased. The lack of biodiversity meant that crops worldwide were at risk. I digress. If God went to the trouble of creating a thousand different types of bananas, God obviously loves diversity.
And humans also excel at diversity. A few different varieties. And that makes us uneasy.
One tendency of education is to impose conformity as opposed to encouraging diversity. This is especially true of religious education where we are too quick to assume a common path to the divine and a homogeneous human experience. Nothing could be farther from the truth. When God created us it was not with the intention that you would be me.
Human sexuality is one such example of the diversity of creation. We are not all the same. And no one experience can be applied universally without reeking havoc on the individual. And yet we try. Perversity is the condition of being different than me. . .
Back to the original point. Will the church chart a future that imposes conformity or which celebrates the diversity of God's creation?
Kennon Callahan, a church growth consultant, talks about the 'principle of homogeneity'. "Birds of a feather flock together." If you desire to successfully grow a congregation focus on one type of people because few truly can handle diversity.
What is more important? To have a successful congregation or to be faithful to the Gospel and the Love of God?
Dare we live in a world in which the Cavendish is not the only banana and "A Mighty Fortress is Our God" is not the only hymn? Dare we love each unique individual without the expectation of conformity to a universal norm? And to be clear, it's not that the Cavendish is a bad banana. It's just not the only banana. It's not that being a blond haired, blue eyed, balding and aging man of Norwegian descent is bad. It's just not the totality of the human experience.
I wish my church was more diverse. But I also acknowledge that my church will never be able to be home to the full spectrum of human religious conviction. There is a place for Baptists, and Pentecostals, and Orthodox, and Catholics, and Jewish people, and Hindus, and Buddhists, and Muslims, and even those whose experience of the divine is at best a question mark.
What I know is that I can no longer define my faith against others. It is for the love of people that God brought us forth in all our diversity and one cannot love God while despising those who are created in the Divine Image.
Sunday, February 3, 2019
Biodiversity, Conformity, and the Church
If there is anything we can learn about God from creation, it is that the Creator had incredible imagination and loved diversity. The world is filled with mind boggling complexity, millions of different expressions of the Creator's concept of life, and an ever changing and evolving universe. Sometimes we contribute to the diversity of creation. Think of the many different breeds of dogs that we have developed. But we've also been prone to do things like settle in on one variety of wheat, of corn, etc., and global conformity. We are starting to learn our lessons about the pitfalls of this, but slowly.
And then there are humans and our limited capacity to deal with diversity. Bananas. 1,000 different varieties of bananas and we prefer to have only one, the Cavendish, available in our stores. Why? I suppose its because we simply want to know what to expect. There are all sorts of examples of this tendency of humans. We gravitate towards McDonalds, not local diners with a varied menu. "Bud Light, for the many not the few." Cultural norms and expectations limit the scope of our uniqueness. We like to know what to expect and so we push conformity. As humans interact, rather than increasing in our biodiversity we tend to allow a dominant culture to emerge and to overwhelm the various regional, ethnic, and cultural differences. The American experiment is especially telling. With immigrants from every continent we pushed an anglicized uniformity. Speak English. Melt into one. Do the American thing. And then watch as "Westernization transforms cultures throughout the world." Chinese people wearing blue jeans. And Starbucks is opening 3,000 new stores there.
And then there is the church. One, holy, catholic, and apostolic church. Doctrinal conformity. Inculturation. Should the church be transformed by the variety of cultures in which it is present or should the church transform those cultures toward a unified expression? We haven't done so well with cultural diversity. And when diversity divided the church we saw that as a curse, not a blessing. The single largest question in this regard is whether it was God's will that humans express their religious inclination in a uniform way, or whether God intended from the beginning for our spiritual lives to be a diverse as our physical and mental tendencies.
How do we deal with anomalies? You know, those deviations from the norm. "Deviant" is a negative word. I'm bipolar. What that means is that my capacity for mood swings from highs to lows exceeds the norm. My highs are higher. My lows are lower. My medication is designed to eliminate that and achieve a culturally acceptable middle ground. Are variations from the norm a disease or God's diversity coming into play? Good question.
Sexuallity. How often have we tried to force a spectrum of expressions into a culturally defined and rigidly maintained duality. Its just not quite as simple as "male and female he created them". Ironic that the Creation story that details the vast diversity of God's creation is used to force a compliance with cultural norms and a condemnation of deviation from those norms. Again, "deviant sexual behavior" is used to condemn. This in spite of the fact that we, as humans, exhibit "diverse sexual expressions". We struggle to understand. "LGBTQ" is an evolving expression. We're not even always sure what those letters stand for, or how many variants are present within them.
I'm not into 'anything goes'. Child abuse, whether physically, sexually, or mentally is always immoral and should be severely punished in my mind. But what is abusive, and what is nurturing? By the way, I'm not much into abusing adults either. . .
It's all so mind boggling. Hence we tend to settle in on normative behaviors and discourage variations from the norms. And God is used to enforce those norms.
I love my church, but I deeply regret its lack of diversity. We are the whitest denomination in the United States. We set a goal to become a church with a minimum of 10% people of color or whose primary language is other than English. That was 1988. The only significant change in color of our church since then has been the greying of our hair. Fact is that we are not the church catholic. We can only become an inclusive, diverse, church through ecumenical work. And an ecumenism that celebrates diversity, not one that seeks uniformity.
I am convinced that there is a reason God created platypuses. Perhaps just for the shear delight in it. And not every bird should be a bald eagle, as majestic as that bird is. And the thought that one day, through generations of interracial marriage we will emerge as a unified race is appalling to me. What I hope for is an appreciation of diversity. Deviation from the norm is the norm, by the way. And God said it all is good.
And then there are humans and our limited capacity to deal with diversity. Bananas. 1,000 different varieties of bananas and we prefer to have only one, the Cavendish, available in our stores. Why? I suppose its because we simply want to know what to expect. There are all sorts of examples of this tendency of humans. We gravitate towards McDonalds, not local diners with a varied menu. "Bud Light, for the many not the few." Cultural norms and expectations limit the scope of our uniqueness. We like to know what to expect and so we push conformity. As humans interact, rather than increasing in our biodiversity we tend to allow a dominant culture to emerge and to overwhelm the various regional, ethnic, and cultural differences. The American experiment is especially telling. With immigrants from every continent we pushed an anglicized uniformity. Speak English. Melt into one. Do the American thing. And then watch as "Westernization transforms cultures throughout the world." Chinese people wearing blue jeans. And Starbucks is opening 3,000 new stores there.
And then there is the church. One, holy, catholic, and apostolic church. Doctrinal conformity. Inculturation. Should the church be transformed by the variety of cultures in which it is present or should the church transform those cultures toward a unified expression? We haven't done so well with cultural diversity. And when diversity divided the church we saw that as a curse, not a blessing. The single largest question in this regard is whether it was God's will that humans express their religious inclination in a uniform way, or whether God intended from the beginning for our spiritual lives to be a diverse as our physical and mental tendencies.
How do we deal with anomalies? You know, those deviations from the norm. "Deviant" is a negative word. I'm bipolar. What that means is that my capacity for mood swings from highs to lows exceeds the norm. My highs are higher. My lows are lower. My medication is designed to eliminate that and achieve a culturally acceptable middle ground. Are variations from the norm a disease or God's diversity coming into play? Good question.
Sexuallity. How often have we tried to force a spectrum of expressions into a culturally defined and rigidly maintained duality. Its just not quite as simple as "male and female he created them". Ironic that the Creation story that details the vast diversity of God's creation is used to force a compliance with cultural norms and a condemnation of deviation from those norms. Again, "deviant sexual behavior" is used to condemn. This in spite of the fact that we, as humans, exhibit "diverse sexual expressions". We struggle to understand. "LGBTQ" is an evolving expression. We're not even always sure what those letters stand for, or how many variants are present within them.
I'm not into 'anything goes'. Child abuse, whether physically, sexually, or mentally is always immoral and should be severely punished in my mind. But what is abusive, and what is nurturing? By the way, I'm not much into abusing adults either. . .
It's all so mind boggling. Hence we tend to settle in on normative behaviors and discourage variations from the norms. And God is used to enforce those norms.
I love my church, but I deeply regret its lack of diversity. We are the whitest denomination in the United States. We set a goal to become a church with a minimum of 10% people of color or whose primary language is other than English. That was 1988. The only significant change in color of our church since then has been the greying of our hair. Fact is that we are not the church catholic. We can only become an inclusive, diverse, church through ecumenical work. And an ecumenism that celebrates diversity, not one that seeks uniformity.
I am convinced that there is a reason God created platypuses. Perhaps just for the shear delight in it. And not every bird should be a bald eagle, as majestic as that bird is. And the thought that one day, through generations of interracial marriage we will emerge as a unified race is appalling to me. What I hope for is an appreciation of diversity. Deviation from the norm is the norm, by the way. And God said it all is good.
Tuesday, September 25, 2018
The Blessing and Curse of Diversity
The blessing and curse of diversity in the Church-- they're one and the same thing.
They sit just a few feet from each other in Church. One Sunday a few months back, during the refugee crisis, one of them asked that we pray for President Trump because he's destroying our country. The sentiment was clearly that through prayer we might change the direction Trump was headed and the course down which our country is being led.
And then this last Sunday, we were asked by the other person to pray for Brett Kavanaugh that God might give him peace throughout these confirmation hearings and the vicious attacks that are aimed at destroying him.
In the first case I had a conversation with the gentleman and explained that I simply could not offer such politically partisan prayers. In the second I offered a petition for "wisdom and discernment for our elected officials and peace of mind to all involved" in the hearings.
After thought and reflection I have come to a couple of conclusions. First, given the political divide in our country it is incredibly difficult to maintain a unity of Spirit within a congregation. Secondly, that we face such a divide in our congregation is a wonderful blessing for it indicates that there is no political litmus test for membership here.
Of course, this puts pressure on me as the pastor. There is a balancing act involved in the attempt to be in active conversation with the various voices in the congregation. The most difficult thing is that I have a political bias, and the truth is that those biases inevitably show up in various subtle and not so subtle ways. How does one keep that enough in check as to be able to continue to effectively serve both camps? And yet, how does one avoid losing all integrity by not addressing issues that are clearly important with deep convictions of faith involved.
Case in point, our immigration crisis. That families should be reunited (actually, never separated in the first place) seems to me to be such a basic issue of Christian virtue, justice, morality, etc., etc., that it blows my mind that others support the practice at our border, and that to suggest it should be otherwise is such a politically biased and controversial position in our day and age. A second and more complicated issue is the controversies involved in the Kavanaugh hearing. Let's just say that it is unfathomable to me that some Christians (actually many!) will side with Kavanaugh, even if he is guilty of the allegations, and that they are ready to vilify the woman who is alleged to be the victim in this case. I mean, my sentiments believe that we should be supporting the victim, not the abuser. And yet there is another perspective, namely that though wrong, this behavior is so far in the past and really should be water under the bridge by now. Destroy a man's life over some poor judgment calls as a youth? No, many people are saying. And of course, there is the question of who do you believe?
Our congregation has a purpose statement which declares "God's purpose for our congregation is to welcome, love, and serve all in our local and global community." That we have such a statement to guide us is wonderful and everyone seems to embrace it. But the implications can be very controversial. I believe that it is my calling as a pastor to offer pastoral care to everyone, regardless. But in saying that am I making a highly biased statement? The truth is that many can support such a statement in general, but the specifics get sticky. Are conservatives ready to extend the Church's welcome to gay and lesbian people? Are liberals willing to extend the Church's welcome to those who feel this is wrong? And can the two live together?
Reconciled Diversity is a concept our national Church adopted. We differ, but remain one in Christ.
My hope and prayer is that we will continue to live into that reality.
They sit just a few feet from each other in Church. One Sunday a few months back, during the refugee crisis, one of them asked that we pray for President Trump because he's destroying our country. The sentiment was clearly that through prayer we might change the direction Trump was headed and the course down which our country is being led.
And then this last Sunday, we were asked by the other person to pray for Brett Kavanaugh that God might give him peace throughout these confirmation hearings and the vicious attacks that are aimed at destroying him.
In the first case I had a conversation with the gentleman and explained that I simply could not offer such politically partisan prayers. In the second I offered a petition for "wisdom and discernment for our elected officials and peace of mind to all involved" in the hearings.
After thought and reflection I have come to a couple of conclusions. First, given the political divide in our country it is incredibly difficult to maintain a unity of Spirit within a congregation. Secondly, that we face such a divide in our congregation is a wonderful blessing for it indicates that there is no political litmus test for membership here.
Of course, this puts pressure on me as the pastor. There is a balancing act involved in the attempt to be in active conversation with the various voices in the congregation. The most difficult thing is that I have a political bias, and the truth is that those biases inevitably show up in various subtle and not so subtle ways. How does one keep that enough in check as to be able to continue to effectively serve both camps? And yet, how does one avoid losing all integrity by not addressing issues that are clearly important with deep convictions of faith involved.
Case in point, our immigration crisis. That families should be reunited (actually, never separated in the first place) seems to me to be such a basic issue of Christian virtue, justice, morality, etc., etc., that it blows my mind that others support the practice at our border, and that to suggest it should be otherwise is such a politically biased and controversial position in our day and age. A second and more complicated issue is the controversies involved in the Kavanaugh hearing. Let's just say that it is unfathomable to me that some Christians (actually many!) will side with Kavanaugh, even if he is guilty of the allegations, and that they are ready to vilify the woman who is alleged to be the victim in this case. I mean, my sentiments believe that we should be supporting the victim, not the abuser. And yet there is another perspective, namely that though wrong, this behavior is so far in the past and really should be water under the bridge by now. Destroy a man's life over some poor judgment calls as a youth? No, many people are saying. And of course, there is the question of who do you believe?
Our congregation has a purpose statement which declares "God's purpose for our congregation is to welcome, love, and serve all in our local and global community." That we have such a statement to guide us is wonderful and everyone seems to embrace it. But the implications can be very controversial. I believe that it is my calling as a pastor to offer pastoral care to everyone, regardless. But in saying that am I making a highly biased statement? The truth is that many can support such a statement in general, but the specifics get sticky. Are conservatives ready to extend the Church's welcome to gay and lesbian people? Are liberals willing to extend the Church's welcome to those who feel this is wrong? And can the two live together?
Reconciled Diversity is a concept our national Church adopted. We differ, but remain one in Christ.
My hope and prayer is that we will continue to live into that reality.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)