Archives for 2012

You Can’t Tell a Peacemaker…

December 31, 2012 by

…without a guidebook

The good news as 2013 opens is that peacemakers are front-page news around the world. Throughout 2013, Americans will hear about abolitionists who pushed to end slavery 150 years ago—including some names most of us won’t immediately recognize. Right now, South America is abuzz with news that the murderers of Chilean folk singer and human-rights activist Victor Jara may be brought to justice after four decades.

FOR THE INSPIRING STORIES BEHIND THE NEWS:  As vendors shout at sports events: “You can’t tell a player without a program!” Get a copy of Daniel Buttry’s Blessed Are the Peacemakers, a guide packed with stories about more than 100 peacemakers circling the globe. Blessed Are the Peacemakers includes both an uplifting profile of Victor Jara’s contributions to peace before his martyrdom—as well as stories about abolitionists and contemporary civil rights heroes in the U.S.

BREAKING NEWS ON VICTOR JARA

NEW YORK TIMES: Pascale Bonnefoy, writing in the New York Times: SANTIAGO, Chile—Eight retired army officers were charged with the murder of a popular songwriter and theater director, Víctor Jara, who was tortured and killed days after the 1973 military coup in a stadium that had been turned into a detention center.

CNN: Mariano Castillo, reporting for CNN, produced one of Google-News’s most-cited stories, describing Jara as: a cultural ambassador for socialist President Salvador Allende who was detained immediately after a September 11, 1973, military coup. His body, with signs of torture and 44 bullet wounds, was found days later in an abandoned field. His is considered one of the most emblematic deaths of the political repression that followed the coup. “Victor Jara was a symbol, he was a cultural, political and social icon,” Nelson Caucoto, a human rights attorney representing the singer’s family, told CNN Chile. “He was the embodiment of a process of change headed by President Allende.”

BBC: This late-December 2012 news comes as part of a wide-reaching series of investigations into what happened during the violent military coup four decades ago. In 2011, BBC News reporter Gideon Long reported on new investigations into the deaths of Allende as well as poet Pablo Neruda. Long’s story begins: They were towering figures in 20th Century Chile: Salvador Allende and Pablo Neruda, the president and the poet, two men united in life by their left-wing politics, and divided in death by a matter of days. For years, Chileans have been taught that Mr Allende committed suicide during the military coup of 11 September, 1973, and that Mr Neruda died 12 days later of heart failure brought on by prostate cancer. But now, both deaths are under investigation. In both cases, the Chilean military stands accused of murder and the country’s former dictator General Augusto Pinochet is once again in the metaphorical dock.

PROMOTE PEACEMAKING IN YOUR COMMUNITY

As Daniel Buttry points out in in his book, peacemaking is global good news—often heroically achieved even in the face of terrible violence—but peacemaking also is a practice you can develop close to home. One way is to schedule a small-group discussion of Blessed Are the Peacemakers in 2013. The book is appropriate for congregations, schools, nonprofit groups or library book clubs.

 

A Prayer for Light in Dark Times of Accidie

December 30, 2012 by

CLICK THE BOOK COVER to learn more about Fleming’s spiritual themes in the James Bond novels, including much more about the challenge of accidie.AS THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE passes through the darkest season, pastoral counselor and author Dr. Benjamin Pratt shares a prayer that helps us take a first tentative step from accidie. That may sound like a strange new term, but it is a classic part of Christian teaching on the so-called 7 Deady Sins.

In addition to his current work helping caregivers nationwide—Dr. Pratt is a scholar of Ian Fleming’s literary works. Most of the Hollywood 007 blockbusters skip over the theme of accidie. But, Fleming wrote the original Bond novels to explore what he argued were the deadliest sins of our modern age. If this is news to you, then you will enjoy Dr. Pratt’s Ian Fleming’s Seven Deadlier Sins & 007’s Moral Compass.

Dr. Pratt explains:

This prayer reflects the nature of one of the original 7 Deadly Sins, accidie, which was translated in the Middle Ages as sloth or torpor. This is a spiritual condition and is distinctly different from depression. In accidie, we loose all energy for engaging the world. The needs, the goals and even the good and the evil around us do not matter enough to inspire any action.

In the Ian Fleming novels, James Bond often struggles with this sin. It was the word accidie that first drew me to serious study of these novels and the life of their creator. The word accidie appears in eleven of the fourteen Bond tales and is central to understanding James Bond—as well as the dangerous powers of the most evil demons 007 pursues. When I first encountered accidie in the Bond tales, I did not know it was one of the original 7 Deadly Sins. I had not yet discovered Ian Fleming’s long-time fascination with these themes as both a journalist and a novelist. I do know that accidie has been the most insidious sin in my own life and I agree with Fleming: Accidie is one of the most insidious sins in our world today.

If these ideas resonate in your life, we invite you to use this prayer. You are free to share it with others, as well. Simply credit Dr. Benjamin Pratt and readthespirit.com as the source.

Prayer for Light
in Dark Times
of Accidie

By Dr. Benjamin Pratt

Create in me a clean heart, O God;
And renew a right spirit within me.
I lament;
I resent;
I feel powerless now;
I can’t see a point, a direction, a purpose in my life.
I’ve lost my passionate spirit.
I‘ve lost my energy to struggle forward.
I’m living each day, but my heart is dry, tepid—
like a saucer of milk in the noonday sun.

Create in me a clean heart, O God;
And renew a right spirit within me.
I know what my life should feel like.
I’ve lived hard, worked hard, loved hard,
And I once believed hard, too. My faith was a rock.
I’ve thrown myself into my work, my relationships, my community.
Once, I knew I was making a difference in the world.
But, now I’m adrift without a compass.

Create in me a clean heart, O God;
And renew a right spirit within me.
I know there are countless issues crying for my energies.
I am surrounded by pressing needs, by loving people
But I’ve lost my heart for any of it.
I crawl out of bed each day and meet the day,
But my spirit, O God—my spirit feels broken.
I’m empty.

Create in me a clean heart, O God;
And renew a right spirit within me.
I’m yearning for the light of a new day.
I long for the old courage, the old calling.
Now, I’m taking this step in prayer;
I’m calling out humbly for just a taste of purpose and passion—
a ray of light in these dark times.
Fill me, O Lord, with the hope of joy—the joy of hope.

Create in me a clean heart, O God;
And renew a right spirit within me.

Amen

By Dr. Benjamin Pratt and …
Originally published at readthespirit.com, an online magazine covering religion and cultural diversity.

This article also has been posted into Dr. Pratt’s column at the website for the Day1 radio network.

New Map of the World’s Religious Populations

December 23, 2012 by

CLICK ON THE MAP TO VISIT PEW’S WEBSITE FOR THIS LANDMARK REPORT.News on Global Religious Affiliations

THE WORLD is more religious than many of us assume. Reports of rampant secularization, which have been popular for decades now (including stark warnings from the Vatican), seem to be much ado about nothing. Just in time for our new year, the Pew Forum has released a long-awaited map of the world’s religious populations. The remarkable opening lines of this report are:

Worldwide, more than eight-in-ten people identify with a religious group. A comprehensive demographic study of more than 230 countries and territories conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life estimates that there are 5.8 billion religiously affiliated adults and children around the globe, representing 84% of the 2010 world population of 6.9 billion.

Click the map above or right here to visit the homepage for the Pew report.

THE NEW POPULATION ESTIMATES FOR GLOBAL RELIGOUS GROUPS

Visit the Pew website, where you’ll find a link to download the entire report in a PDF format, but here are the new population estimates that are likely to show up in news media reports in 2013.

CHRISTIANS: 32 percent of the world’s population; 2.2 billion people.

MUSLIMS: 23 percent of the world; 1.6 billion.

HINDUS: 15 percent of the world; 1 billion.

BUDDHISTS: 7 percent; 500 million.

JEWS: 0.2 percent; 14 million.

COLLECTIVE CATEGORIES IN THE PEW REPORT:

FOLK or TRADITIONAL RELIGIONS: 6 percent; 400 million. Category includes African traditional religions, Chinese folk religions, Native American religions and Australian aboriginal religions.

OTHER RELIGIONS: 1 percent; 58 million. Category includes the Baha’i faith, Jainism, Sikhism, Shintoism, Taoism, Tenrikyo, Wicca and Zoroastrianism, to mention just a few.

NO RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION: 16 percent; 1.1 billion. Category includes people who say they have no faith—as well as people who hold non-affiliated spiritual beliefs, such as a belief in God or a universal spirit.

BREAKING OUT THE ‘OTHER RELIGIONS’ CATEGORY

In the middle of Pew’s 81-page report is a fascinating section offering “estimates of population” for “Other Religions” that the Pew researchers drew from a wide variety of data. These religions “are not specifically measured in most censuses or surveys” around the world, so studying their populations is a greater challenge, Pew reports. Here is where the Pew report sets those numbers for us at the moment:

SIKHISM: 25 million (“more than 9 in 10 Sikhs are in India”)

TAOISM (or DAOISM): 8 million (“predominantly in China and Taiwan”)

BAHA’I FAITH: 5 million (“with significant populations in India, the U.S., Kenya and elsewhere”).

JAINISM: 4,250,000 million but Jains say the number likely is higher (“the vast majority of Jains live in India” with significant minority communities “in Kenya, the U.S., Canada and the UK.”)

SHINTO: almost 3 million (“vast majority concentrated in Japan”)

ZOROASTRIANISM: 200,000 (“mainly in India and Iran”)

TENRIKYO: unknown (“founded in the 19th century by Nakayama Miki” as “one of many new Japanese religions”) Wikipedia claims 2 million adherents, but Pew says too little reliable data is available.

WICCA (or PAGAN or NEO-PAGAN): unknown (“gained popularity in the 20th century” and “practiced mostly in the UK and the US”) Wikipedia cites wildly divergent estimates from more than 100,000 to 800,000; Pew regards the available data as unreliable for making an estimate.

OTHER—“OTHER RELIGIONS”: The Pew study’s total for Other Religions includes groups that, like Tenrikyo and Wicca, do not have reliable worldwide population estimates. Those groups, nevertheless, are listed by Pew as groups they wish to follow in their studies: from Japan, the new religions known as Shinreikyo, Mahikari, Oomoto and PL Kyodan; and from other parts of the world, the religions known as Cao Dai, I-Kuan Tao, Mandaeism, the Rastafari movement, the Ratana movement, Scientology and Yazidism.

Outside the Christmas circle, looking in …

December 22, 2012 by

Christmas decorations photographed by Nevit Dilmen, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.AT CHRISTMAS, we remember that millions of Americans follow faiths other than Christianity. Plus, in a new study, 1 in 5 Americans say they have no particular faith. So, what does this overwhelmingly Christian celebration look like from outside the immediate circle of Christianity? Earlier, we published Rabbi Bob Alper’s delightful Mrs. Steinberg’s Christmas Tree. Our new movie review and small-group discussion story about Les Misérables has both Christian and non-Christian ideas for discussing the movie. TODAY, we welcome writer Bobbie Lewis reflecting on her own Jewish journey through a lifetime of American Christmas culture …

Fa-la-la!
Or, Bah, humbug?

By BOBBIE LEWIS

As a Jew, I’ve had a love-hate relationship with Christmas my entire life.

I don’t think I was even aware of the holiday until I was in first grade. My family had just moved to a new neighborhood in northeast Philadelphia. It was a very Jewish neighborhood, but our house was on the last street of the district for an elementary school in the older, heavily German-American neighborhood of Burholme.

During my seven years at that school I was the only Jewish girl in my class (there were also two Jewish boys). We started every day with a reading from the Bible, and on assembly days, with a hymn. I loved the imagery and cadences of the King James Bible, and am grateful that I had the chance, in the days before the Supreme Court said it was a no-no, to become familiar with important passages from the New Testament.

My class was preparing to present a Nativity pageant during assembly. I was to be one of Mary’s attendants, and I came home and told my mother I needed a costume to be a “birgin.” (She made something appropriate out of a white sheet.) During the pageant, we sang Silent Night, and Away in a Manger, the first Christmas carols I learned.

As I got older, I became unsure about what to do about Christmas carols. I loved the tunes but for many years I would silently mouth the words whenever the lyrics said anything about “Jesus,” or “Christ.” Still later, I decided that singing these beautiful songs was a testimony to the composer, not a statement of belief, and sang along enthusiastically.

My parents lit Hanukkah candles every year, but gifts were never an important part of the holiday for us. My father’s coworkers sent us Christmas cards, and my mother used to tack them onto Dad’s large wooden drawing board in the shape of a Christmas tree. For a few years, she let my brother, sister and me tack stockings next to the card-tree, and we’d receive little chatchkes in the stockings on Christmas Day. But I think we all knew it was a hollow gesture—they weren’t even real Christmas stockings, just old socks, and the gifts were unimpressive—so the custom quickly died.

I admit I envied my friends’ annual haul of Christmas gifts. But I developed my own tradition of going to visit my best friend, Carol, on the day after Christmas to look at her tree and her gifts and to eat her mother’s Christmas cookies—the best I’ve ever enjoyed!

My ambivalent relationship with Christmas continued into adulthood. My first post-college job was with the Jewish Federation of Metro Detroit, where non-Jewish holidays were ignored, so Christmas wasn’t an issue. Then I went to Sinai Hospital of Detroit. Although it was a Jewish-sponsored institution, most of the staff were not Jewish, and many wanted to decorate their work areas for Christmas. It became a huge controversy in the early 1980s. The administration finally decreed that Christmas trees and any religious-inspired decorations were out—evergreens and snowflakes were fine.

In subsequent jobs, I joined in the holiday festivities but I always felt niggling resentment that these supposedly secular organizations were giving so much attention to a Christian religious celebration; calling it a “holiday” dinner didn’t camouflage the real reason for the hoopla.

That changed 11 years ago when I went to work at Lutheran Social Services of Michigan. Because it was a Christian organization, I felt comfortable with the Christmas decorations, the Christmas parties, the “Secret Santa” gifts and enjoyed the holiday very much..

Now that I’m retired, I don’t have staff or colleagues for whom I need to buy Christmas gifts. Almost all of our friends are Jewish, so there’s no one to invite us a Christmas party. I don’t do a lot of shopping or watch a lot of TV, so I’m barely aware of Christmas in the malls or on the airwaves. For the first time in many years, I am doing nothing at all for Christmas.

And I admit, I sort of miss it.

For those of you who celebrate, I wish you the merriest of Christmases.

LIKE TO SEE MORE FROM BOBBIE LEWIS?

Barbara (Bobbie) Lewis is the founder and creative talent behind Write4Results, a consultancy offering writing, editing, public relations and communications counsel.

Movie review and Bible study: Les Misérables

December 22, 2012 by

EDWARD MCNULTY’S books on faith and film are used in congregations nationwide. Earlier, he reviewed Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln. In 2013, ReadTheSpirit will publish his new book, Blessed Are the Filmmakers. In the following review, McNulty shows how to spark discussion in your congregation.

Update for New Year’s: We are not alone in encouraging discussion of the religious themes in this new version of the classic. In reviewing Les Misérables for the New York Times, Manohla Dargis made the same point, writing: “Georges Sand apparently felt that there was too much Christianity in Hugo’s novel; Mr. Hooper seems to have felt that there wasn’t enough in the musical and, using his camera like a Magic Marker, repeatedly underlines the religious themes that are already narratively and lyrically manifest.”

Review:
Les Misérables

By EDWARD MCNULTY

OUR WAIT IS OVER! The long-awaited Les Misérables musical is here.

In world literature, the original novel ranks with War and Peace. But Victor Hugo’s story has been produced for film and television in at least 80 different forms over the past century, compared with less than 10 of Tolstoy’s epic. That shows the enduring, worldwide affection for Les Misérables. I think that we really have two great stories of Law and Grace in Western culture: Saint Paul’s transformation in the New Testament and Hugo’s celebrated tale of Inspector Javert and Jean Valjean.

If you’re like me and can’t get enough of Les Misérables, I recommend that you also enjoy other film versions, especially if you would like to lead a small-group discussion with this review and guide. Each of the filmed versions has some details that are omitted in other versions. Among earlier versions I can recommend are: the 1935 version with Frederick March and Charles Laughton, the 1958 version with veteran French actors Jean Gabin and Bernard Blier in the two central roles as Valjean and Javert, and then I also like the 1998 version co-starring Liam Neeson and Geoffrey Rush as fugitive and policeman. Like millions of moviegoers, you may have your own favorite version.

In Tom Hooper’s newest release, opening nationwide on Christmas Day, music moves from a supporting role into the heart of the story, thus adding an emotional intensity not possible in the straight dramas. The spiritual agony and questioning of Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) is beautifully expressed in the song “What Have I Done?” As fans of the story know, the repentant thief’s life is transformed by a graceous bishop—and, in a chapel, Valjean addresses his prayer to “Sweet Jesus.” He reflects upon the past injustice committed against him and the remarkable man who shows him such inspiring kindness. Valjean vows to live up to the bishop’s love and trust in him as he sets forth to build a new life, devoted to serving humanity and thus serving God.

Valjean succeeds and eventually becomes the mayor of the town where he settles. Unfortunately, the town’s new police chief turns out to be his nemesis from years ago, Javert (Russell Crowe). Close at hand and increasingly suspicious of Valjean’s real identity is the very man who can destroy him.

Inspector Javert is an uncompromising enforcer of the law with the zeal of a man who was born in prison but rose above his past. He clings to the law as his own form of faith. At one point, Javert sings: “Mine is the way of the Lord/And those who follow the path of the righteous/Shall have their reward.” But what of those who stray from “the path of the righteous”? “And if they fall/As Lucifer fell/The flame/The sword!”

There is more—much more—that could be said about the spirituality of this version, including other prayers and invocations of God in various scenes. If you are familiar with the Bible, you will see other stories and passages resonate throughout the film that you may want to raise in a discussion with friends. Clearly, though, the most striking is the parallel with the New Testament life of Paul.

And, what if you are not interested in these biblical connections? Well, you’re sure to enjoy the terrific storytelling and stirring music. Toward the end, the rousing repetition of the chorus “Do You Hear the People Sing” even puts a positive spin on the tragedy of the freedom fighters at the barricade, suggesting that eventually the struggle of people for justice and freedom will triumph. There is no doubt that this belongs at or near the top of this year’s best films!

Want more from Edward McNulty? See the links, after the Brief Study Guide. Through his own website, Visual Parables, Ed produces much more detailed versions of his film reviews and study guides for group leaders who like to regularly feature film-and-faith discussions.

Les Misérables Brief Study Guide

DISCUSS LAW and GRACE / SAUL and PAUL: An easy way to spark lively discussion is to revisit the life of Saul, who becomes known as Paul in the New Testament accounts. You can read about Paul’s transformation in the book of Acts. In addition, there are many passages in Paul’s writings that you can share with your group to get a Bible-related discussion going. Talk about Javert and Valjean in the film as embodiments of Law and Grace—the dual spiritual poles in the life of Saul/Paul. Here are a few passages from Paul’s writings that could be useful in discussion …

In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
Saint Paul in Philippians 4:12-13

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one may boast.
Saint Paul in Ephesians 2:8

The Lord said to me, ‘My Grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.’ So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
Saint Paul in 2 Corinthians 2:9

DISCUSS RELIGIOUS LEADERSHIP: You also could start the discussion by focusing on the role of Victor Hugo’s fictional bishop as a religious leader who has a great impact on the world. If you care to get DVDs of earlier film versions, I suggest looking for the three productions I mentioned above. Find scenes involving the bishop and show them to your group. How does the bishop embody the best in faith and leadership? What do you think of his actions? Are there parallels with choices we face today?

DISCUSS THE MUSIC: Congregations struggle all the time with choices of music for worship and other settings. Is music relevant today? What kinds of music express faith today? Discuss the powerful message of the music in this version.

DISCUSS THE STATUS OF THE IMPRISONED TODAY: Many congregations have connections with prison ministries. America’s prison population has grown dramatically over the years and many religious leaders are raising questions about our current legal policies on crime and punishment.

Where to find more from Edward McNulty …

Welcoming churches: Greeting Nones and Jedi knights

December 16, 2012 by

Costumed Star Wars fans in a public park. Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons.AMERICANS HAVE ALWAYS LOOKED TO GREAT BRITAIN for religious inspiration. Sure, millions of us also look to Rome, Jerusalem, Mecca and regions of Asia. But Britain shaped American culture from early pilgrims through the era of John Wesley, whose Methodist forces built the nation’s largest religious group prior to the Civil War. Later, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and the Inklings took America by storm. In fact, Tolkien’s The Hobbit is predicted, now, to set a new world’s record for opening-weekend boxoffice receipts. Even “our” American Shakers, beloved for their furniture and music, were founded by Manchester-native Ann Lee. And that’s not even mentioning the huge influence of Anglicans like N.T. Wright and Desmond Tutu.

There’s so much to this British spiritual invasion! New Year’s Day marks the 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation—which Steven Spielberg’s new movie rests proudly on the 16th president’s shoulders. But it was Bitish abolitionists in the 1700s, such as the visionary political activist Thomas Clarkson, who pioneered the course for eliminating slavery. (For more, read our story on the Lincoln-150 milestones about to sweep across the country in 2013.)

NEXT, from the sublime to the ridiculous … here is fresh news from Britain …

BRITISH SPIRITUAL INVASION:
JEDI KNIGHTS ARE COMING! (OR ARE THEY?)

A Star Wars fan in Brazil appears as Obi-Wan Kenobi.As silly as this next news item may sound, there is vital news here for anyone who cares about a congregation. In Part 1 of our coverage of Henry Brinton’s new book, The Welcoming Congregation, we reported on the need for congregations to seriously embrace biblical mandates for welcoming strangers. Henry talked more about this in Part 2 of our series. Still, most readers leap to the conclusion that welcoming strangers is a matter of good manners, handshakes and big smiles.

But there’s more: The “strangers” who walk into houses of worship these days may be stranger than ever: like the Jedi knights, inspired by the Star Wars saga. News this week out of Great Britain is that—in a newly released census of religious affiliations—Jedi once again rank as one of the UK’s largest minority religions. Ten years ago, the Jedi shocked British Christians—who still make up two thirds of the island nation’s population—by suddenly appearing in the census totals with 400,000 Jedi adherents. The knights claimed a higher ranking on the list of UK religions than Jewish, Sikh or Buddhist Brits.

Ten years have passed. Now, eager to see how the Jedi would fare in the latest report on religious affiliation, British newspapers were poised to file stories about this Star Wars-inspired spiritual movement. This time, far fewer Brits entered “Jedi” as their faith. The new census of Jedi adherents is down to just under 180,000. That still ranks Jedis among the largest religious minorities in the UK, but safely moves Jews, Sikhs and Buddhists higher on the list.

Are the Jedi seriously a religious group? If you Google British newspaper reports, some of the leading papers on Fleet Street are reporting typically dead-pan stories on the current state of the Jedi faith—but clearly a good number of these reporters are writing with tongues in their cheeks. To American eyes, a few of these stories might suggest there actually are Jedi congregations holding services. In fact, the whole Jedi campaign was started by British humanist groups a decade ago to protest the fact that an official government census question was continuing to ask about citizens’ religious preferences. A nationwide campaign was launched to take an amusing swipe at the census by entering “Jedi.” British census-takers say the trend caught on especially among young adults.

Is there actually a Jedi faith? Like almost everything in the religious realm—yes, inded, there are people around the world who claim to follow a Jedi creed. One group uses this prayer-like affirmation: “Emotion, yet peace. Ignorance, yet knowledge. Passion, yet serenity. Chaos, yet harmony. Death, yet the Force.” Other Jedi adherents use other creeds. Mostly, however, occasional news stories about people who claim to follow the Jedi faith involve brushes with civil authorities. Every couple of years, a fully costumed Jedi gets into a scuffle in some UK business when the Jedi refuses to remove a hood or mask. A search of several journalism databases, this week, shows no recent coverage of actual Jedi ceremonies in any actual Jedi temples around the world.

If it’s so silly, then why does it matter? It matters because the Jedi protest—and the ongoing debate surrounding it in the UK—is a sign of just how outspoken religious skeptics have become in defending their right to be skeptics. Now across the UK, humanist, agnostic and atheist organizations are arguing that it was a mistake to encourage the Jedi protest ten years ago. These days, the consensus of UK skeptics seems to be: Instead of poking fun, they should urge people to freely stand up and identify themselves with whatever response to organized religion they may have.

On this side of the Atlantic, we may not have Jedi … but we have the rise of the Nones …

AMERICAN RELIGIOUS TRENDS:
RISE OF THE NONES AND THE QUEST FOR SPIRITUAL FREEDOM

CLICK this Pew chart to visit Pew’s website and find our more about this report.ReadTheSpirit has published interviews with dozens of leading experts on American religious life, including Harvey Cox and Kenda Creasy Dean and Diana Butler Bass, all arguing that religious leaders need to adapt to dramatic changes in the American mindset about religion. Since the beginning of human history, religion always has involved both a call to accept revealed traditions—and a desire to to engage in spiritual quests. These two strands (revelation and quest) form the DNA of what we call “religion.” In the current era of American culture, however, that passion for individual spiritual quests is dominant. Americans have strong opinions and questions. Religious leaders no longer have the authority to teach without interruption. Certainly, millions of us still accept revealed religious traditions—but the excitement of the individual spiritual quest is rising nationwide. From the realm of pop culture, many observers point out that the huge popularity of super-hero movies and even the new Hobbit holiday debut are signs of the ascendancy of the spiritual quest in American culture.

Want to be a welcoming congregation in America? Brace yourself. No, you won’t have to fend off costumed Jedi. But you will have to contend with opinionated “Nones” who may walk through your doors. “None” is the term widely used to identify the millions of Americans who answer polling questions about religious affiliation with the word: None. The Pew Forum’s latest tracking research on this phenomenon concludes, in part:

The number of Americans who do not identify with any religion continues to grow at a rapid pace. One-fifth of the U.S. public—and a third of adults under 30—are religiously unaffiliated today, the highest percentages ever in Pew Research Center polling. In the last five years alone, the unaffiliated have increased from just over 15% to just under 20% of all U.S. adults. Their ranks now include more than 13 million self-described atheists and agnostics (nearly 6% of the U.S. public), as well as nearly 33 million people who say they have no particular religious affiliation (14%).

A new website to watch for insights into Nones: Journalists watching this historic transformation of the American religious landscape conclude that—like Britain and Europe before us—America is becoming more secular. However, even with that trend, American culture remains distinctively religious. We continue to rank with countries like Iran, Mexico and Pakistan in our religious intensity, compared with other nations surveyed around the world. New American spiritual trends are arising especially among the Nones. This month, longtime religion expert Martin Davis has opened a new website just to explore None phenomena. He calls his site NEW NONES: Tracking the Birth of New Faith in America.

Consider what the Pew data, Martin Davis and writers like Cox, Dean and Bass are arguing: This is not a time for people of faith to hang their heads and assume that the tide is shifting away from us. On the contrary! This is a time of vigorous spiritual seeking coast to coast. No, the strangers walking through our doorways are not arriving to humbly bend their knees and automatically accept whatever we are preaching. These new strangers may not come with light sabers flashing—but their questions and opinions and criticisms will, indeed, flash brightly in our congregations.

And that leads us back to Henry Brinton …

BECOMING A WELCOMING CONGREGATION:
FINAL ADVICE FROM HENRY BRINTON

Click the book cover to visit its Amazon page.In closing his book—and in closing our three-part series with Henry Brinton (see Part 1 and Part 2)—we are reminded of the ancient patriarch and matriarch Abraham and Sarah. Brinton writes: We should always begin by looking for the presence of the holy in the guests who come to our door, much as Abraham and Sarah welcomed three strangers and discovered that they were the Lord, in Genesis 18. These guests “can be both gift and challenge,” says Ana Maria Pineda, “human and divine.”

Then, a page later, Brinton writes: We have learned that practicing God’s welcome includes ongoing efforts to make worship accessible to guests. In the Iona Abbey, barriers to participation in services are broken down by the teaching of songs as the service begins; at Saddleback, guests are told that they can expect to enjoy the service and that no one will do anything to embarrass tehm. In all services, orders of worship should be projected clearly on screens or included in comprehensive printed bulletins that minimize the amount of juggling that a worshipper needs to do, especially in churches that use both hymnals and prayer books. The focus on the service should be on “creatiing comunity for that hour,” says Sam Lloyd, dean of the Washingotn National Catehdral.

That’s the kind of solid advice you can find throughout Brinton’s 133-page book. Right now, start talking about the ideas we have shared in this three-part series with Henry Brinton. Get a copy of his book and ask church leaders to discuss it over a series of weekends.

And: From all of of us at ReadTheSpirit—
have a Merry Christmas and a very Hopeful New Year!

NOTE: You are free to reproduce, repost or otherwise share this story. Just make sure to include this tagline in any sharing …

By ReadTheSpirit Editor David Crumm and …
Originally published at readthespirit.com, an online magazine covering religion and cultural diversity.

Meet Henry Brinton, expert on Welcoming congregations

December 16, 2012 by

Henry G. Brinton, author of The Welcoming Congregation.THIS WEEK, AS AMERICANS HEAD toward the biggest religious celebration of the year, we are featuring insights from columnist and author Henry G. Brinton. Read Part 1 of our series for an introduction to his book—and for tips on what churches should be doing right now to get their websites ready for visitors. Then, Part 3 in this series also features some of Henry’s wisdom; it’s a story about how “strange” some strangers may seem these days. To purchase a copy of Henry’s book, please click on the red cover below. The book will start your mind racing in creative ways and can lead to spirited small-group discussion as well.

Today, ReadTheSpirit Editor David Crumm talks with Henry G. Brinton in …

HIGHLIGHTS OF OUR INTERVIEW
WITH HENRY G. BRINTON ON
WELCOMING CONGREGATIONS

DAVID: Reading your book, Henry, reminded me of a commentary I wrote in the spring, headlined Another Great Reason to Join a Congregation. I pointed out the dire warnings of New York Times columnist Tom Friedman and Harvard scholar Michael Sandel that America is losing “places and institutions that used to bring people together from different walks of life.” Both writers recall the days when millionaires sat next to janitors in the bleachers at baseball parks and they both decry what they call the “sky-boxification” of America. Today, people are encouraged to stay separated almost everywhere they go. So, Henry, one reason I appreciate your new book is that you explain why houses of worship still should be oases of hospitality.

HENRY: That’s absolutely true. Churches hold great promise for bringing people together across a variety of barriers that tend to separate people, today—barriers of race and education and wealth. Even with all of those barriers, people still are drawn to community churches. Think of it: Churches remain one of the few places in our society where people can come for inspiration, for education for themselves and their children, for opportunities to give back and help the larger community. So many other community organizations have fallen on hard times—bowling and golf leagues, fraternal organizations, veterans groups. But churches remain and can continue to do this important work, if we understand our role.

DAVID: You’re clearly not a church-growth huckster; you’re not arguing that we should work on hospitality because it will automatically result in more members. In fact, in some cases, becoming more hospitable to the larger community could result in less members. (News Note: On December 13, the New York Times’ Laurie Goodstein reported on angry reactions toward a Pasadena, California, church that agreed to let a Muslim conference meet at its facility.)

HENRY: Overall, hospitality does hold the promise of growing churches numerically, because the very act of improving our ways of welcoming people will lead to growth. But Christian hospitality is not an option you can choose from a list. It’s a central practice for all people of faith and it’s certainly a central Christian practice. The most important goal in all of this is helping our congregations to discover more about what God is desiring from us and for us.

My book begins with the roots of hospitality. Then, growing out of hospitality first is reconciliation—allowing people of different backgrounds and sometimes opposing points of view to sit down together and learn from each other. Another fruit of hospitality is finding new understandings of God’s inclusive love. We gain a new awareness of who is “in”—in God’s vision. In my reading, the Bible is the story of God’s ever-expanding inclusiveness, moving from the people of Israel, one homogenous group, to a time in which faithful outsiders were allowed into the life of the community—to the ministry of Jesus where he dared to sit down with tax collectors and sinners, to the great evangelistic work of Peter and Paul taking the Gospel to the Gentiles. We’re challenged to do that today around divisive issues like race and nationality and sexual orientation. And, as we do, we will keep making new discoveries of God’s inclusive love.

WELCOMING ‘THE IMAGE OF CHRIST’ IN STRANGERS

Click the book cover to visit its Amazon page.DAVID: These discoveries in hospitality are inspiring and exciting—but we should be aware that there will be some bumps in the road. You’re not bringing us a 10-steps-to-success list for churches. This is something deeper—and also potentially much more rewarding.

HENRY: There’s a difference between transactional ministry, which is doing something specifically to get a result like putting up a new sign to get more visitors and, thus, more money in the collection plates. I’m talking about relational ministry in which you also may decide to improve your signage, and you also may improve your greeters at the front door and you do other things as well—but we do this because we know that we should be doing these things so that visitors are received as holy people. As Christians, we teach that strangers coming to us bear the image of Christ. We will grow in faith together through these new relationships. We are doing all of this in an attitude of hopefulness and expectation. In this book, I’m talking about relational ministry that finds value in developing deep-spirited friendship, one person to another, with a special focus on those who are currently outside our community.

REDESIGNING THE POTLUCK WITH HOSPITALITY IN MIND

DAVID: Your book is big on food. Over the years, I’ve eaten in congregations around the world—Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh congregations across Europe, the Middle East and Asia—and food truly is the universal flavor of faith. But, while your book is big on sharing food—you also caution people to rethink the way we use food. Share just a couple of your ideas with our readers.

HENRY: The celebrity chef James Beard said food is our universal experience. Food is potentially the thing that can bring us together across boundaries of race and culture and class. We all need to eat. We all enjoy eating. The path to unity is through our stomachs.

I prefer potluck dinners to catered meals, because potlucks encourage mutuality. The roles of hosts and guests are sacred roles to play. Jesus played both roles; he was guest and host. But you have to be careful that no one in your congregation becomes the constant host, always organizing things and telling everyone else what to do.

Try new ideas. For example, you might have an international potluck dinner and encourage your older white members to sit down with younger immigrant members sharing foods across cultural lines—talking about their foods and their lives.

DAVID: Here’s the problem: Some people engage in this kind of hospitable mixing with incredible grace and creativity. Others are stuck in a rut and hold church dinners that are reminders of the local boundaries: who is in and who is out. There are lots of lonely people at potlucks, right?

HENRY: Yes, food can be alienating if we don’t look at our practices from the perspective of real hospitality. For example, at most potlucks, people are told to sit wherever they want. That encourages people to sit with old friends. The youth go off to their own corner. People don’t mix.

There are lots of ways to change that. One idea: Hand out numbers randomly at the door as people enter, so they have to take a place with a new circle of people. Or, plan the seating so that each table is intergenerational.

At your home, you welcome guests and plan their seating. At a restaurant, there is a host. Try having someone at the door to your church’s dining room who welcomes guests and shows them to a table.

DAVID: Hospitality is more than big smiles and social etiquette.

HENRY: That’s right. And, we’re not born knowing these techniques I’m talking about; you have to learn to be good hosts.

The church-growth movement seduced people into thinking that the goal of a church is to meet our needs. So often, we come to our own church expecting to be pleased with our favorite music, our favorite seat, our little bit of inspiration for the week ahead. But it’s quite different if we start thinking of ourselves as hosts: We come to church because we are charged with welcoming others. When we start thinking like that, we shift 180 degrees. When we talk about music for our church, we stop focusing on what we prefer ourselves—and we start asking: What music will help newcomers sing joyfully with us? We don’t just look for our friends when we arrive at church—we start looking for the visitors, the people we don’t know.

HOSPITALITY: BEYOND CHRISTIANITY TO INTERFAITH RELATIONSHIPS

DAVID: The bulk of your book is about Christianity and churches. After all, you’re a Christian clergyman and the places you did your research are primarily Christian communities. But you do reach beyond Christian exclusivity.

HENRY: Yes, the book offers challenges to readers. For instance, around the fruit of reconciliation, I think it’s important that every church schedule some kind of bridge event with a group outside Christianity to develop and deepen relationships. Have a Christian-Muslim dialogue. Have a gathering with an organization of senior citizens outside your congregation. Plan an event to host youth from the whole community, not just from your congregation.

TWO SENTENCES, FOUR WORDS: ‘DON’T JUDGE. JUST DON’T.’

DAVID: And you argue that our goal is to transform the whole culture and the larger community toward hospitality. I like the lines in the middle of your book—two sentences, four words: “Don’t judge. Just don’t.”

HENRY: This is what people of faith have known since Abraham welcomed three strangers to his tent thousands of years ago. I admit that it’s human nature to judge. We see people coming up the church steps and we judge who they are from their clothes, their age, their class, their race, their nationality. What I want people to look for first is Christ in that stranger coming toward us. Being rigorous about not judging opens us to the possibility of seeing something we don’t expect in that person. Still tempted to judge? Just remember: In judging, we may end up driving away someone who God has sent to us.

Continue with Part 1 or Part 3 of this series.

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Originally published at readthespirit.com, an online magazine covering religion and cultural diversity.