Deliberate Choice...

Individualism in America is revered...and non-existant.  Even the agreement that that we are "individualistic" is agreed upon as a value by the entire society.  So, really, as part of being in the world, and especially as part of being called to be different from the world, we need to be aware of our culture to the best of our ability.  That is hard.  There's a great story that illustrates the point...the little fish swam quickly home to his mom to tell her about his adventures that day.  "Mom, I jumped out of the water and you won't believe what I saw...it's beautiful...rocks, trees, birds."  And the mom says, "What do you mean you jumped out of the water?  What's water?"

We think we are making decisions that are well-reasoned and objective, we certainly understand all the influences shaping our thinking.  The reality is, we are constantly shaped by what's happening in our culture, most of which we are unaware of.  So what is happening in our culture relevant to stewardship issues?  According to the author of an interesting historical account of money and American Protestantism:

...American Protestantism has entered an era where--at least at the margin of residential growth--a denoninational family affiliation is perceived as a drag on, rather than a strength for, a local church. (p. 203)

This has happened accidentally.  Wealthy suburbs and extremely low interest rates in the 1990's and 2000's provided for a good bit of new church construction.  People independent of denominational structures were able to move more quickly and be more "specific" in their brand, and for every one mainline church built, several local and entrepreneurial organized churches are established.  That was no one's deliberate decision...just a response to opportunity..and a bit of the down side of working together in an endeavor--it always takes groups longer to move.

The author claims that the fact that the "new" religious outlets are not denominational has a couple of significant impacts.  First, the character of congregational life will be reshaped.  Mainline denominations will lose members, but also, because most of these new churches are independent, fewer people will understand life in church as something that serves beyond itself to a "regional, national, or even international expression."  The second major impact is a reshaping of existing denominational congregations.  If historical patterns hold true (and that is likely), the denominational churches are likely to become less denominational in practice, claiming for themselves a "independent" identity and becoming more critical and less supportive of denominational structures.

Sounds familiar to me.  Does it to you?  Certainly denominational budgets show that trend.  There is no doubt that some denominational structures make us unwieldy as churches trying to respond to immediate need and significant change all around us.  Certainly "reformed and always reforming" is a good thing.  But  I think these patterns raise some significant questions that we need to think about.

1. It is easy for wealthy areas to redefine, reinvent, and support new churches that are not necessarily denominational but support the needs of the community.  But poor people do not start new churches, they join existing ones, if they are able to attend at all.  Does Christianity become a religion of the middle and upper classes?  And the related question, does Christianity become a religion of the suburban, because small churches in rural areas are not likely to have the resources (financial or people) to build large independent churches.
2. Is it a sound understanding of our identity as a people of God to focus our existence and ministry to our local area, assuming that regional, national, or international ministries should be done by others, that ministry should only be local, or that we have nothing to learn from partnering with ministry outside of our local area?
3. Specifically as Presbyterians, what does our connectional system say about us and about who we think God is, should we be aware of that and be able to articulate it, and do we want to live into those understandings or should they change?
4. How deliberate and educated do we want/need to be about what our denomination is (and not just one or two divisive issues, but the whole spectrum of identity) and how to we reform ourselves to keep the best and remove the "unwieldy?"

We are well on our way as a culture to losing denominational identities.  Perhaps that is a good thing.  But perhaps, we should attend to that change in a way that chooses how we redefine ourselves and doesn't let culture choose for us without our knowledge.  We may find beauty and meaning beyond the denominational waters, but we may also find that the waters in which we swim give us life and support in ways that we never imagined because we never became aware until it was too late.