Western Christian Educators Conference - Day 2

We spent the morning with Joyce MacKichan Walker talking about the results of the National Study of Youth and Religion that was done in 2002-2003, specifically focusing on the book Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers, by Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton (Oxford Uni verity Press, 2005). Our table discussions were about our reactions to the data and how it fit with what we observed in our own communities. A lot of it didn't seem to fit, but the majority of those in the study turned out to be conservative Christians, which, of course, skews all the rest of the data. It left some of us wondering just how random the sampling truly was.At least half of our time was in discussion of (Christian) Moralistic Therapeutic Deism, which is the main thesis of Soul Searching

...[W]e have come with some confidence to believe that a significant part of Christianity in the United States is actually only tenuously Christian in any sense that is seriously connected to the actual historical Christian tradition, but has rather substantially morphed into Christianity's misbegotten stepcousin, Christian Moralistic Therapeutic Deism. This has happened in the minds and hearts of many individual believers and, it also appears, within the structures of at least some Christian organizations and institutions. ...It is not so much that U.S. Christianity is being secularized. Rather more subtly, Christianity is actively being colonized and displaced by a quite different religious faith. (p. 171)

My reaction? It's not the first time Christianity has "strayed" along these lines, and it probably won't be the last. And I'm not sure that's really a bad thing.

Often Joyce forgets that there are non-Presbyterian and non-reform folks in the room. Not all of us are familiar with the Westminster Catechism, for example. Note to self: Remember this when working with ecumenical groups!

We've been using music from different denominations during worship. Today we used The New Century Hymnal, which is not used by all churches in the United Church of Christ. It is an attempt to use more expansive language about God, and according to our worship leader, when it is used, it often leaves everyone mad.

My first workshop was "Let's Start A Sunday School." I didn't learn very much, and there really wasn't anything cutting edge presented. But it was interesting to see how a small church Sunday School is handled by someone else.

My second workshop was "Using Children's Literature in Sacred Ways." Every book on the table was "secular." No retellings of Bible stories, etc. My book for the workshop was The Three Questions, which is based on a story by Leo Tolstoy. We were asked to read through the book and then think of Scripture that might relate, or how we might use it in our congregations--and not just with children. I thought The Three Questions might make an interesting reading at the end of our service at Grace when Lois gives us a moment of silence to think about how we are going to go out into the world.

The Episcopalians here have been gathering in the evenings to share Eucharist. The one priest amongst us is Aris, who was a classmate of Rob Bloulter's at Berkeley. It has been an interesting experience doing the entire service without a Book of Common Prayer or a leaflet with the service in it. Some of what Aris did was jarring, but it was holy and life giving nonetheless.
(Get out of your left brain, Jeff!)

The office intrudes on the conference:

I've been checking Email a couple of times a day. This afternoon we received one from Toni Daniels. They're consolidating Church Center Staff and opening up another floor to be rented out. The General Convention office will be moving to the second floor, and the Program Staff will be located on the fifth floor. Yes, I'm moving again--the sixth time in the eight years I've been at the Church Center. I won't know details until I go back into the office because Toni wrote that they would be talking with those of us affected by this move during the week. Since I won't be back in the office until next week...

Peace,
Jeff