Friday, December 10, 2004
From 'liberal' pews, a rising thirst for personal moral code
Mainline Protestant congregations, known for emphasizing the social-justice and global-equity dimensions of the Gospel, are increasingly making space for airing parishioners' day-to-day moral dilemmas, which they used to leave largely between an individual and God.
Often, this thirst for a personal code of conduct is being satisfied among lay members themselves, who gather in small groups in homes, cafes, and church basements to talk over daily moral challenges.
Guidance in private moral matters helps keep the spirit alive, says Jim Adams of the Center for Progressive Christianity in Cambridge, Mass. "I think people want it and need it," he says. "Progressive churches that are thriving do pay as much attention to the personal as they do to the social and the political.... That's where people get what they need to sustain their lives."
Such daring encounters with one another's moral struggles have become remarkably regular at "St. Bart's," a progressive congregation whose average Sunday attendance has leapt from 100 to 1,200 since the early 1990s. Small groups that discuss personal dilemmas deserve much of the credit, according to Rector William Tully.
Other churches reversing years of decline say the same is true for them as well.
"This modern resurgence of interest [in small groups] in the past 15 years is authentically a new thing," says Ian Evison, director of research at the Alban Institute, a think tank for mainline American Christianity in Herndon, Va. "People found themselves with all these self-help groups, and it tended to create a culture for how things are dealt with."
Churchgoers are increasingly willing to go to their peers in the pews for guidance, says Mr. Evison, in part because few want to rely on clergy for one-on-one counseling in an era charged with sexual-abuse scandals.
Another reason has to do with urban lifestyles that include fewer "occasions for natural friendships" among adults who miss the blunt advice given in childhood and college days, according to Mr. Adams.
Whatever the causes, some hope they've found an effective way to stem decades of declining numbers in mainline churches.
Forging small groups for support and encouragement is not entirely new to mainline Protestantism.
In the 18th century, Methodism founder John Wesley pioneered "class meetings" for 12 or fewer who would help one another live morally upright lives. Today's accountability groups follow in this Wesleyan tradition.
As small-group ministries mature, moral self-improvement is in certain circles coming to be understood as something of an outreach project of its own. So it seems to the Rev. Marlin Lavanhar, senior minister of All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Okla.
"In the past, there was a tendency for liberals to see evil as something out in the world that we are called to stop, such as poverty or oppression," says Mr. Lavanhar.
"Today there is a growing sense that part of the work of countering evil and building up our world is done through self-awareness and personal transformation."
In seeking moral counsel, religious progressives are opening a door by which others in the community might influence their preciously guarded domain of individual conscience. Yet in doing so, they hope to reach what is for them an even higher priority.
"We tell each other what we think the gospel would have us do," says Potter. "We say, 'Tell us how you really feel,' and then we ask, 'Is there a target that would be more Christlike?' "
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