Mainline Mission
Martin Marty takes on the question of what's happening in the Mainline churches -- I'll leave it to him to tell you about Mainline mission.
Sightings 6/4/07
There's a church somewhat like that not far from you, one which may have less money for missions, but which tries to keep a focus on "mainline" mission, far and near.
References:
James Wellman, The Gold Coast Church and the Ghetto: Christ and Culture in Mainline Protestantism (University of Illinois Press, 1999).
John Buchanan, Being Church, Becoming Community (Westminster John Knox Press, 1996).
Stephen Toulmin, Cosmopolis: The Hidden Agenda of Modernity (University of Chicago Press, 1992).
Martin E. Marty's biography, current projects, upcoming events, publications, and contact information can be found at www.illuminos.com.
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The current Religion and Culture Web Forum features "Christian Responses to Vietnam: The Organization of Dissent," by Mark Toulouse. To read this article, please visit: http://marty-center.uchicago.edu/webforum/index.shtml.
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Sightings comes from the Martin Marty Center at the University of Chicago Divinity School.
Sightings 6/4/07
Mainline Mission-- Martin E. Marty
When asked, as I often am, "Whatever happened to the mainline Protestant churches?" I respond by saying that "mainline decline" is a tired ol' story -- but "mainliners' mission" is urgent. How are they recovering? They went local to turn global. Philosopher Stephen Toulmin has written on the paradoxes of modernity: People poised to be "cosmopolitan" tend to trust and share "the local" more than before. "Mainliners" may have been put off by what they often perceive to be remote, bureaucratic, or generic, and are re-learning at home to reach out. Scoop up Sunday bulletins from thirty of their churches (and throw in some from Catholic parishes, synagogues, and, of course, "open" evangelical congregations) and study their weekly calendar to grasp their outreach. They tend to fill urgent niches as they deal with the homeless and the ill and the hungry, while being hospitable to addicts -- on whom doors are shut when the professionals go home.
I have one case study in mind, prompted by a line in Robert Franklin's fine portrait in last week's Sightings of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, a congregation slammed by some political media folk, especially from the Right ("Obama's Faith," May 31). Franklin signed off by imagining "that Fourth Presbyterian Church in downtown Chicago's Gold Coast neighborhood would love to have [one of the presidential candidates whose church home is Trinity] and his family as members," but that it is less well located to serve the working poor.
I have an "interest" here, I confess, having studied Fourth Presbyterian for decades, including as adviser to a dissertation by James Wellman on the history of the mission of the church. That interest also finds me oft-times profiting from the ministry of Pastor John Buchanan, who serves as the Christian Century editor as well. This means that he is my "boss" when I turn in my fortnightly columns there. Dr. Buchanan can point to some engagements of Fourth Presbyterian -- atypical because it is large and endowed, but typical in its self-concept, mission, and outreach. Yes, there are wealthy members, but not so many as any hopeful presidential candidate has to rub shoulders with while seeking money ....
So here is a denominationally responsible mainline church in mission. For samples: Its volunteers tutor 400 inner city kids who live only blocks away, mentoring them and supporting some of them en route to and at college. Its volunteers and a staffer or two invented a Near North Magnet Cluster School Program to link with public schools in the Cabrini Green housing area within a mile of the church. Drop in most any hour at the church's Social Service Center and you'll meet homeless, hungry people. Teamed with Catholic Charities and using their facilities, Fourth Presbyterians weekly serve suppers to a couple hundred people. They host a health care center for inner city folk, and do all kinds of things for and with seniors (also known as "Life and Learning" people). They offer counseling, help bring gardens to the ghetto, send relief teams to other continents, sponsor an AIDS clinic, and pass a third of their budget on in mission.
There's a church somewhat like that not far from you, one which may have less money for missions, but which tries to keep a focus on "mainline" mission, far and near.
References:
James Wellman, The Gold Coast Church and the Ghetto: Christ and Culture in Mainline Protestantism (University of Illinois Press, 1999).
John Buchanan, Being Church, Becoming Community (Westminster John Knox Press, 1996).
Stephen Toulmin, Cosmopolis: The Hidden Agenda of Modernity (University of Chicago Press, 1992).
Martin E. Marty's biography, current projects, upcoming events, publications, and contact information can be found at www.illuminos.com.
----------
The current Religion and Culture Web Forum features "Christian Responses to Vietnam: The Organization of Dissent," by Mark Toulouse. To read this article, please visit: http://marty-center.uchicago.edu/webforum/index.shtml.
----------
Sightings comes from the Martin Marty Center at the University of Chicago Divinity School.
Comments
The thing that worries me most is campus ministry. Catholic though I am, I'm a big fan of focusing on the local community as the most immediate and most important expression of the church -- makes me sound like a congregationalist. ;-) But kids from those congregations need to have a place to go and be formed as Disciples of Christ or Presbyterians or Methodists when they get to college, and that takes money and a staff and a building and the common effort of a whole conference or synod. The fact that that's getting totally lost in the shuffle (and lots of ineffective campus ministers are being kept on while their ministries die) makes me wonder what kind of future the mainline can have as a whole...
(And to be clear, I say all that with the hope that it will survive.)
Your analysis is right on. I think that the "judicatories" are in a wilderness period. Though, I think that the Disciples (perhaps because we're small) is beginning to turn the corner -- but we're not out of the woods yet.
Your mentioning campus ministry though, that is a signficant worry. Having pastored a congregation in a University community (Santa Barbara) I have seen how difficult it is to make those connections. I'm even president of the board for the University Religious Center at UCSB, and most mainline campus ministries are either not present or are in decline. And, congregations are often not in a good position to connect with university students (UCSB is a good 6 miles from town).
As to how that relates to the difficulties of the mainline denominations, I'd have to say this sense of mission is a start, but by itself, it won't sustain any sort of long-term revitalization. Fr. Chris is absolutely right that the regions/conferences/synods and national manifestations of the church are floundering and, I'd add, becoming less relevant as local congregations begin to realize that the denominations need them more than they need the denominations.
I tend to blame the problem on emotional systems that are embedded in the organizational structures of the denominations. It's a macrocosm of what happens when a local congregation loses sight of it's real mission, which is to equip the saints for ministry outside its own walls. Institutions such as denominational judicatories tend to slip into thinking that their own preservation is the mission of local congregations, rather than seeing the judicatory's mission as empowering the local congregation in empowering individuals to do ministry. That's probably not very well said, but I guess my point is that judicatories need to see their role as serving/empowering/helping local congregations if they expect congregations to support them.
I also wonder where the mainline churches are going in terms of spirituality. The movement seems to be towards understanding spirituality as a corporate or communal phenomenon, and away from the building of spiritual disciplines within individual believers. We don't much talk about personal salvation anymore, but it seems to me that personal commitment rises from a sense of personal relationship with the divine. We need to be able to embrace a risen Christ, and to talk about our love for God (as made known to us by Jesus) without hemming and hawing. Isn't there a way to maintain both a sense of God's immanence and God's transcendence without falling into the trap of thinking God's going to get you a new TV, or that God is too remote to care about us as individuals?
Sorry for the rant...I guess I haven't had too much time to spout off lately. :-)