After Evangelicalism by David P. Gushee

Author:David P. Gushee [Gushee, David P.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780664266110
Publisher: Presbyterian Publishing Corporation
Published: 2020-08-24T22:00:00+00:00

WHERE SHALL POST-EVANGELICALS FIND CHRIST’S PEOPLE?

I am fortunate—blessed—that I have found the two local expressions of the church that are likely to sustain me for the rest of my life. I am also fortunate that I get to travel around and catch glimpses of what other congregations are doing. I see plenty of good examples of what the local church can be and do.

I urge post-evangelicals to be open to church options of many types. You will recall that the postwar neo-evangelicals tried to carve out a third way between fundamentalists to their right and mainliners to their left. Those groups are still there. Post-evangelicals likely will not be interested in a fundamentalist turn, but I hope that many will give the mainline a look. The old caricatures should be set aside for actual exploration. You might be surprised by what you find. Mainline churches vary dramatically, and they are also evolving in response to their own challenges and the new landscape of American religion.

I know for a fact that it is a cultural adjustment when lifetime evangelicals venture into mainline churches. Everything is different, it seems—the buildings, worship services, church calendar, robes, music, prayer books. I remember trying to figure out for the first time how to juggle the Episcopal hymnbook, printed order of worship, and Book of Common Prayer, all with just two hands. You can feel like an alien, or even an impostor. You’re not. You’re a visitor, and won’t always be.

I am seeing interesting efforts to welcome and serve post-evangelicals in a variety of mainline church settings. University towns have a lot of Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopal, Lutheran, Disciples, Baptist, UCC, nondenominational, and other churches that are happy to welcome evangelical refugees. I have spoken at a progressive Baptist congregation in Virginia (Williamsburg Baptist Church) that is intentionally and successfully reaching out to college-age questioning/post-evangelicals.14 Other events at churches like this are on my calendar. It looks to me like post-evangelicals will be a welcome source of renewal and new energy in many mainline churches.

I expect university towns will be seedbeds of many such efforts, because universities are filled with such evangelical exiles—who will either find another church option right then or may be lost entirely to Christian faith. I remember talking with a college freshman who told me that her parents required her to take a bus to attend the local Calvinist congregation every week. But she told me this in a mainline congregation after I gave a talk about post-evangelical Christianity. She was defying her parents by being there. Maybe she will find a new church home. I hope so.

For those post-evangelicals open to high liturgy together with LGBTQ inclusion and theological toleration, the Episcopal Church beckons as an especially attractive option. I now have gotten to know one Episcopal congregation (St. Luke’s in Atlanta) and a cathedral and diocese (Christ Church in Cincinnati, the diocese covering much of Ohio) that are making intentional efforts to reach post-evangelicals.15 Surely there are others. There was a time when my wife and I considered becoming Episcopalians.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.