My regular readers know I do not consider myself a scholar. I am a reader and a synthesizer of the things I read. Information I report is in the public domain. I try not to indulge in rumor. I try to be factual, but do not hesitate to express my opinions about the meaning of the facts as I see them.

Here are my favorite reading sources. Magazines that head my list are Christianity Today, The Christian Century, Sojourners, Time and Newsweek. Two monthly commentaries are especially helpful. Context is Martin Marty’s commentary on religion and culture. Report from the Capital is the publication of The Baptist Joint Committee, the nation’s leading advocacy group for separation of church and state. The Barna Research Group does basic research exclusively in the world of religion. The news service of The Institute for Welcoming Resources keeps me informed about the worldwide activities in the gay movement for acceptance in churches. I almost always have two recent books in process of reading. I do Internet research with some regularity. The Bible is always close at hand. I spend a lot of time sitting down. I do a good bit of pondering. Writing is merely the last step.

Change is taking place in our world at an ever increasing speed. The same is happening in the religious world. We are almost to the end of the first decade of the 20th century. Ten years have passed so very fast. In the United States, this is what I see happening to religion. • Diversity is being embraced. The United States has always been a nation of immigrants. But the patterns of immigration are changing dramatically. From the East come Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Filipinos, South Pacific Islanders and Indians. Coming from the south are Mexicans, Central Americans and South Americans. From the West come Arabs and Africans. Young people of diverse backgrounds attend school together, play together, sing together, date and marry. Young American adults are serving together in the U.S. military where segregation is a thing of the past.

The Internet has sped the process of diversity. Diversity cannot be hidden. Cultures are being blended. Young Americans are more accepting of diversity because of awareness. An inevitable reality is with us. Religious diversity is being embraced

• The study of religion has moved to state universities. This is a change that has received little attention. What started cautiously in the 1960s has become a rush.

Almost every major state university in America now has a department of religious studies. Not just Christianity, but all religious groups are being put under the microscope of serious critical academic analysis. In the past, the study of religion belonged to colleges and universities that were founded by religious groups.

The unfortunate product was almost always circumscribed by the belief systems and creeds of the founding religions. Notre Dame, Fuller Theological Seminary, Moody, Baylor, Valparaiso, and Brigham Young were founded to defend their faith, not examine it critically. America has hundreds of such colleges, universities and graduate schools. Schools founded by religious organizations, while growing, are actually educating a shrinking percentage of American young people.   

A huge exodus from churches is taking place among American young people. The great exit point is America’s burgeoning state university systems, where millions of young people are taking courses in humanities, science and, in ever increasing numbers, religion classes.

• Americans’ interest in religion is not shrinking. Nine of 10 Americans say religion is important to them. They want to live lives that have meaning and a purpose.

At the same time these same people are questioning and criticizing their religious leaders. More Christians are ignoring their church’s social teachings and cross their fingers while reciting the creeds. The Barna Research Group found that two-thirds of all Americans fit into a category that Barna labeled casual Christians. This does not mean their faith is not important to them. It does indicate a kind of adventuresome attitude in the practice of their faith.

Traditional Christian denominations are shrinking, yet people say their religion is important to them. Even the mega-church phenomenon appears to be waning. What is happening? People are looking for new venues in which to be religious.

Barna has studied the “home church” movement. Some 5 percent of Americans now regularly attend worship services in a home setting. Another 10 percent say that in the past 30 days they have attended such home services that are not related to any larger religious body. That 10 percent translates into 30 million people. Barna’s research showed another reality. People who attend home churches are very serious in the practice of their faith.

Yet another phenomenon is the emergent church. Emergents are people who have typically left the institutional church but still want to be serious followers of Jesus and practitioners of a Jesus ethic.

What do I make of all this? I think I will go sit in my favorite chair and ponder a bit more.

           

The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister who lives in Palmer. His email address is hdbss@mtaonline.net.