So, at this point I am identifying as some kind of a quasi-transcendentalist vaguely-Hinduish esoterically-inclined green Christian. How I got there from paganism is not really the topic of this post, but I promise to post about it someday. Maybe.
The topic of this post if the trouble with finding a church home for my family, and the disappointment of modern liberal Mainline Christianity.
We have been going to a Presbyterian (PC(USA)) church for a couple of weeks, and I am increasingly feeling like it’s probably not going to work out. I haven’t passed a verdict yet, but so far I am seeing a lot of things that lead me to conclude that this church, like many other liberal Protestant churches, emphasizes social justice to the near-total exclusion of theology, personal righteousness, and spirituality.
And that is the heart of my conundrum. There simply appear to not be a lot of churches out there that are able to be theologically liberal without it reducing to merely politically liberal (and theologically nothing at all). I’m sure my more theologically conservative friends are going to insist that such a reduction is inevitable, that theological liberalism invariably leads to no theology at all. I dunno; they may be right, but I kind of think that’s a false dichotomy. I think that the reduction of theologically liberal churches to mere social justice clubs has a lot more to do with American culture wars and political polarization than it does about anything inherent about liberal theology. But either way, it’s immensely frustrating.
My notions of spirituality and theology may be offbeat, but they’re what I am focused on and interested in, not social justice. Make no mistake, I believe that Christianity can and should give rise to social gospel concerns and the desire to address the evils of our society. But if that’s all that’s going on at your church, I would suggest that you are putting the cart before the horse, and I suspect that if I look hard, I will see that your social gospel is motivated almost purely by political and cultural considerations, not by spiritual or theological ones. And thus I am not interested in going to your church at all, because it has nothing that interests me.
In many ways, I think I would be happier being a quiet heretic in an orthodox, theologically conservative church. Except that I don’t necessarily want my kids indoctrinated that way. And I’m not sure how well being a quiet heretic really works out in practice.
A related issue is the fact that right now we live in a large northern metropolitan area: most of my neighbors are Catholics, Jews, or nonreligious. There’s not the massive smorgasbord of Protestant churches to pick from that I grew up with in my Appalachian-upper-South hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee. And while I would dearly love to move back to the South (sooner rather than later), this is where I am at the moment.
Going to church is important to me and to my family (for a lot of reasons–maybe a topic for another post that I can promise to write and then never deliver on?), so I’m not okay with just being religious-at-home. So that’s out, too.
One thing I am considering is whether I will find more satisfaction in a communion/eucharist-centered liturgical tradition. The homily may be about something ridiculously politically liberal, but the service is centered on the eucharist, the eucharist is the real message. Isn’t it? Or am I just cruising for more disappointment? Of course, this line of thinking points me once again in an Anglican direction, which is somewhat comforting. I wouldn’t mind finding a nice Episcopal parish to belong to.
On the other hand, I know that a thought-provoking sermon is essential for my beautiful and sexy wife–it’s basically what she wants to go to church for. And she’s not wild about lots of liturgy. so, Episcopalianism may not be the way to go after all. Where we would really like most to be is back at Cedar Ridge Community Church, but that’s a long drive for a Sunday morning. Cedar Ridge was far from my personally perfect, ideal church, but it was a pretty good place for us as a family. But that’s moot, because there doesn’t seem to be anything comparable around here. I’ve looked.
So there you go. I’m not really sure what to do. I feel like I and my family have pressing spiritual needs, but I am growing increasingly concerned that the right church for meeting those needs doesn’t exist anywhere nearby.
PS, here’s a good recent editorial about (sigh) the state of the Episcopal Church that addresses a lot of these issues.
Sailing to Byzantium 
Good post. Wish I had something more to add than to question is the inspiration coming from my the Bible or liberalism?
Whose inspiration?
Thought you might find these two pieces interesting in light of the Douthat piece you linked to.
Kat and I have had a similar (although fundamentally different, because we’re coming from the perspective of insiders) experience. We had to accept a long time ago that however much we believed in the LDS church, we’re not and probably never will be culturally Mormon. Our solution is to accept the church because we like the doctrine, ignore the more irritating cultural aspects, and push back when we can from the inside (we both sometimes remind people at church that the church endorses no political candidate, has no official policy on the theory of evolution, and that “Mormon Doctrine” is not, in fact, necessarily Mormon doctrine).
Kullervo — I can understand where you’re coming from re mainline Protestantism. After growing up evangelical and before becoming LDS, I attended several mainline churches and found the same thing you did — politics informed spirituality rather than the other way around. And even though my politics were liberal, I found the situation less than satisfying.
So I’ve ended up somewhat like Jeremy. There’s so much of LDS theology that speaks to me, such as its inclusive nature, but yet there are aspects (especially of the culture) that run contrary to that inclusiveness and could drive me bonkers if I let them. Even so, it’s where I belong, and I believe that to the depth of my being. (I could say “I know,” but I dislike the way that phrase is used in the Church. I digress …)
I have no good advice for you other than to keep looking. I’d guess there might be something in the Wesleyan tradition somewhere that would be suitable, but whether it’s within reasonable driving distance is another matter.
There’s another nearby UMC church we might try out. We’ve been to this one Episcopal parish for the last two weeks that I think we’re going to try sticking with for a bit.
You’ve examined emerging congregations in the area?
So, at this point I am identifying as some kind of a quasi-transcendentalist vaguely-Hinduish esoterically-inclined green Christian. How I got there from paganism is not really the topic of this post, but I promise to post about it someday. Maybe.
YOU BETTER.
Which ones, pray tell?
It’s probably going to be a disappointing story. I may just never bother writing it.
Another good response to the Douthat post you referred to.
Also, in my own search for communion/theology-first traditions that were not easily labeled conservative/liberal, led me to this well known congregation in MI. Its too far for me to attend, but the sermons via podcast are really good IMO.
Thanks Christian, I am familiar with Rob Bell.
Ya, I assumed you knew of Rob Bell. Just pointing out that his former Church is still pretty good example of communion/theology based worship – without being what I would call “conservative”.