One of my favorite religion writers, Bob Smietana, recently published a book that grew out of his decades of religion writing. His book is called Reorganized Religion: The Reshaping of the American Church and Why It Matters. I’m biased a bit and here’s why. Bob was at one time working for a denominational magazine and we at times met for coffee or lunch or to chat, and one time he suggested to me that I should “blog.” I wasn’t even sure what a blog was so I asked “What is a blog?” He told me. He told what to do to start one with Blogspot. I left that discussion, walked to my office, opened up a blog at Blogspot – and you guessed, here we are. Just under 20 years ago! Thanks to Bob.
I loved your book, a church called Tov (but I love all your books.) My husband and I recently moved to Boone (the mountains of NC) and we decided not to join another church. He does F3 (fitness, faith and fellowship) so he has a strong network of Christians and I am still finding my community. Have you ever heard the phrase "No organization is safe for the individual". Well, I interpret that to mean, organizations always exist to perpetuate themselves, even if it's against the interest of the individual. In a way, joining a church is like joining the "least bad" organization. But I still think there are churches that are Tov, I just think they look different than what we expect. We decided not to join a church in the traditional sense because they always expect free labor from us (my husband's a general contractor) but as you pointed out, there are several reasons why people are leaving. So right now, I am in a position of faith, trust, openness. I've recently started going back to recovery meetings. Maybe that is my church and my way of spreading the message of hope.
So different in Canada. You write "only about 60% of Americans claim now to be Christians and less than 50% are members of a church" and I can't help wondering whether a large proportion--even of those who are "members of a church"--are Christians in name only. If that is the case, I'm not concerned that numbers are dropping. It's not because of what the church is doing wrong, but because of political and social change. For some, anyway. I'm not for a minute quibbling with what you say about abuse and error.
On a different point, I've been reading your blog all those 20 years, and, as I've told others, it's been a theological education for me. Many thanks for all the time you've spent blogging!
I have experienced a little bit of what the Moore's have in that I continuously went to a church where I was spiritually abused, ostracized, rejected, ridiculed, etc. I felt so strongly God wanted me to be there I stayed until He told me GO. This takes an extremely deep faith to survive with your faith intact. I still haven't recovered trust in churches, but my relationship with Jesus has deepened. My respect for the Moore's has grown by leaps and bounds!
Pleased that you're doing Bob's book! I attended a book talk by him at the Seminary Co-op bookstore (have you been there?) and his charm and passion for the church was infectious.
Despite the underbelly he details in the book - I left surprisingly hopeful after reading it and reminded that the church doesn't give enough credit to the rare prophetic gift that religion journalists like him bring to the church. Looking forward to more of your reflections on the matter.
I’m also hoping that word will get into the mainstream more, about how subtle spiritual abuse can be. So many evangelicals don’t recognize it (or don’t want to).
I’ve not gone wrong yet, when buying a book you recommend enough to address in your blog. So, I know that, moving past the title, this will be a worthwhile book. My hope is that the “re-organizing” is around “purpose today,” which, yes, does reflect your opening remarks, as general editor of a new commentary series. I look forward to your coverage of the “Re-Organizing” book because of your perspective, and because of the perspective of the author who has spent plenty of time studying and commenting on “The Church” and what it means to the world.
Years ago, I used to get a nasty sinus infection in the Fall, and another one in the Spring. Initially, doctors would prescribe medicines to address the symptoms. Two to three weeks later it would go away, mainly on its own. One year, because of an insurance change, I changed my primary care physician. The first time I went to him for a sinus infection, he told me exactly what it was, what caused it, and prescribed what would cure it. Three days later I was completely well.
I appreciate source work that provides real help for the current realities we face. Add that to Biblical help for today, and we can walk into Hope! Thanks for this!
I loved your book, a church called Tov (but I love all your books.) My husband and I recently moved to Boone (the mountains of NC) and we decided not to join another church. He does F3 (fitness, faith and fellowship) so he has a strong network of Christians and I am still finding my community. Have you ever heard the phrase "No organization is safe for the individual". Well, I interpret that to mean, organizations always exist to perpetuate themselves, even if it's against the interest of the individual. In a way, joining a church is like joining the "least bad" organization. But I still think there are churches that are Tov, I just think they look different than what we expect. We decided not to join a church in the traditional sense because they always expect free labor from us (my husband's a general contractor) but as you pointed out, there are several reasons why people are leaving. So right now, I am in a position of faith, trust, openness. I've recently started going back to recovery meetings. Maybe that is my church and my way of spreading the message of hope.
So different in Canada. You write "only about 60% of Americans claim now to be Christians and less than 50% are members of a church" and I can't help wondering whether a large proportion--even of those who are "members of a church"--are Christians in name only. If that is the case, I'm not concerned that numbers are dropping. It's not because of what the church is doing wrong, but because of political and social change. For some, anyway. I'm not for a minute quibbling with what you say about abuse and error.
On a different point, I've been reading your blog all those 20 years, and, as I've told others, it's been a theological education for me. Many thanks for all the time you've spent blogging!
I have experienced a little bit of what the Moore's have in that I continuously went to a church where I was spiritually abused, ostracized, rejected, ridiculed, etc. I felt so strongly God wanted me to be there I stayed until He told me GO. This takes an extremely deep faith to survive with your faith intact. I still haven't recovered trust in churches, but my relationship with Jesus has deepened. My respect for the Moore's has grown by leaps and bounds!
Pleased that you're doing Bob's book! I attended a book talk by him at the Seminary Co-op bookstore (have you been there?) and his charm and passion for the church was infectious.
Despite the underbelly he details in the book - I left surprisingly hopeful after reading it and reminded that the church doesn't give enough credit to the rare prophetic gift that religion journalists like him bring to the church. Looking forward to more of your reflections on the matter.
Hooray! So glad to learn about this.
I’m also hoping that word will get into the mainstream more, about how subtle spiritual abuse can be. So many evangelicals don’t recognize it (or don’t want to).
I’ve not gone wrong yet, when buying a book you recommend enough to address in your blog. So, I know that, moving past the title, this will be a worthwhile book. My hope is that the “re-organizing” is around “purpose today,” which, yes, does reflect your opening remarks, as general editor of a new commentary series. I look forward to your coverage of the “Re-Organizing” book because of your perspective, and because of the perspective of the author who has spent plenty of time studying and commenting on “The Church” and what it means to the world.
Years ago, I used to get a nasty sinus infection in the Fall, and another one in the Spring. Initially, doctors would prescribe medicines to address the symptoms. Two to three weeks later it would go away, mainly on its own. One year, because of an insurance change, I changed my primary care physician. The first time I went to him for a sinus infection, he told me exactly what it was, what caused it, and prescribed what would cure it. Three days later I was completely well.
I appreciate source work that provides real help for the current realities we face. Add that to Biblical help for today, and we can walk into Hope! Thanks for this!