“Is this just coincidence? What’s the explanation for this? Would the Liberals just say that they’re pruning their congregations of the Conservative folks?”

The double edge of the liberal sword, (my 2¢ here) is that the conservatives get run off, and the folks who are not the most ideologically committed find themselves rather unchallenged by a Christ that expects little, demands even less, and leaves one only with the vaguest suggestions on how to fulfill the one true command – be nice. (To people who deserve it at least.)

One can do that (be a nice person) and sleep in on Sundays.

From there we can observe a few other issues. Questions about obligation and what attendence and membership entails, offers and even means come to mind. As a priest friend of mine who was raised between his dad’s Anglican parish (which is now no longer TEC) and the Catholic Church once put it, “Catholics have to go to Mass on Sunday, Protestants choose to.” (A sweeping generalization, I know, but allow me some lattitude for a moment.)

Without reference to or concern about how the active participation in the worship and sacramental life of the Church is either demanded or benificial in a real and metaphysical way that echoes in the light of eternity… What are the obligations and benefits for Protestants to attend any given house of worship among the various and sundry sectarian groups that (nowadays) no longer claim (1) exclusivity in correctness of doctrine or (2) make demand and obligation of participation?

I contend that a big reason for the mega-church movement and growth of Evangelicalism has been that folks, without need or understanding of a need or demand for membership and worship in a particular communion, are increasingly “consumer oriented” in their needs and demands of a community. With entertaining and invigorating styles of worship better found in congregations percieved (sometimes) as more conservative, folks who are inclined to be believers and have formal affiliation often drift in that direction.

I would like to note that in my experience among a lot of working class Evangelicals, not all of them attend congregations that would be well defined as “conservative”… “Not liberal” would be perhaps more accurate. Joyce Meyers is coming to our city to speak to a sold-out house at one of these rather large churches in the very near future…. She is a big hit among a lot of the folks with whom I work. I don’t think I would describer her as “conservative” but she is NOT cut of the progressive clothe that the mainliners have gone down…

Wow, I rambled on FAR MORE than I had meant to!

Shoe and I just had coffee with a Conservative Methodist minister last Wednesday night who talked about how the Liberal Methodist Churches are declining while more Conservative wings are actually planting more churches.

Is this just coincidence? What’s the explanation for this? Would the Liberals just say that they’re pruning their congregations of the Conservative folks?

“Right reason” is the lynch pin for many theological arguments, problem is (as I see it) is that the ox being gored is the ox that the reasoner is generally indifferent to.

More plainly, the consensus reached by people who are just reasoning their way through something without reference to a higher authority, is often at the whims of the cares, concerns and prejudices of the parties doing the reasoning.

In the Anglican world today, for example, a number of prominent theology-makers have reasoned their way into near-agnosticism with denial of the Virgin Birth, resurrection, Divinity of Christ, necessity to adhere to natural law in carnal relations. Bps. Spong, Robinson, and Schori (to name a few) find this all very reasonable.