The latest Pew Research report has some amazing statistics in it. Almost every headline has been about the incredible losses being sustained by Christianity across the board. The evangelicals are putting a positive face on it by referring to the remaining righteous remnant. We in the liberal church did that twenty years ago. The graphs could be plotted with a blindfold. Indeed, I shared those graphs while in the UK last year.
For traditional church, it’s ugly. The number of clergy and congregations have dropped considerably. But the number of people actually heading to hear the clergy in those congregations has taken a shocking dive over the last decade. Indeed, it is precipitous.
But back to the great news! 
Pew’s research shows that the demographic that may be interested in the kind of work we are doing is growing at an incredible rate. It’s the line with the highest angle upwards in the graphic to the right, increasing by 6.7% since 2007. A whopping 22.8% of all Americans now identify as having no religious affiliation. In Canada, which generally reports as more secular than its southerly sister, percentages may be even higher.
Where are you on this graph? You may be one of those who identifies as not being affiliated with any religion. Perhaps church, synagogue, or a Friends’ meeting is in the roots of your family tree and you’re hanging on by your fingernails, translating everything you hear, singing every other line of a hymn (okay, not the Quakers), and wondering how long you can manage like that. Or, you may have already left but you feel like something is missing. Perhaps you’ve never ever ever ever ever understood yourself or anything you’ve ever been involved with as religious and you’ve been part of that “unaffiliated” group all along. Regardless of what your history is, if you’re here on my page, it’s very possible that you’re looking for something that exists in between that place of religiously attending religious gatherings and the growing isolation felt by so many these days.
I am feeling very excited about what is to come and I know that my work and that done by my congregation, West Hill United, will be valuable to those of you looking to find or create a gathering of people who can build inspirational community outside of doctrinal barriers and those of you who are doing the heavy work of transitioning something that already exists. You both have incredible opportunities and challenges. If you’re building something new, you’ll be jealous of the pre-existing community that religious gatherings already have; creating community from the ground up is tough work. If you’re transitioning a community either as a leader who is in a paid, accountable position or one who volunteers, you’ll be jealous of the clean slate with which new communities start; peeling fingers off old traditions is a painful and often divisive undertaking. I’m hoping I can offer some things that will help either of those pieces of important work succeed. And, if you’re not wanting to be part of any group, I hope you engage simply for whatever you might find is a source of inspiration for your own journey.
This blog is going out as the first communication from my new email list. (I cannot believe I have not built one until now, but better late than never.) Having achieved my first subscription goal of three hundred, it’s cued up to go. For those of you who haven’t already subscribed, the box that is now open somewhere on this page is your opportunity to join in the conversation on a more regular basis. In the next few weeks, I’ll be sending a survey out to find out what it is you’re really looking for; my interests could take us all over the map! At a time when the work I’m engaged in is becoming the focus of concern within the church and beyond, I want to stay focused on what it is that you need – as individuals, as participants in values-based communities (church or otherwise), or as leaders in those communities. Look for that survey and let me know.
I am so pumped about what can be accomplished when we contemplate the future and try to see the ways in which we can influence it positively. So much will be going badly; we know that already. But we have something important to add to that mix and it will make all the difference in how we attend to the emerging crises we and future generations will face. Indeed, what we have to add is what has only ever made the difference. Reading Tim Flannery’s Here on Earth I came across one of his crystal clear reflections on evolution and have adapted it for religion in order to frame what is most important.
If [security] is [religion’s] motive force, then [humanitarian values are] its legacy. And legacies are important, for they can endure long after the force that created them ceases to be.
Our challenge is to find what is worthy of taking forward and then making that happen. After fifteen years of transforming a single community, I know it is time to spread that important work. Thanks for being part of it.
Congratulations! Welcome to to the blogosphere. Let’s do this!
So much to be done but lots of awesome energy! Spread the word and we’ll make it happen!
Last night the Archbishop of Ireland said ” the church has to look at change because the youth want same sex marriage”. He implied the church has to change because if they don’t they the followers will leave or there is no future if the youth is ignored. Institutions try to maintain the status quo until it is too late. In private business they go bankrupt or adapt. Resisting change be it same sex marriage, slavery, women’s place in the church or sex education is justified by sacred scriptures but then it is ok. What happened to the sacred? You are right. We are the future. They know it. We don’t have to attack people’s views but we deserve the same. Let’s keep talking. Jim
Thank you, Jim. We just need to keep dancing in the dust, and one of these days, others are going to dance, too!
It’s a transformation celebration…always scary for some and an immense yearning for others. Thanks for inviting me into this circle of support and conversation!
I thank you for this. Even though we all have our own particular beliefs, I think a door has been opened, one that has been closed for far too long. There is a proverb along the following lines …”As the winds of change blows, some build walls and some build windmills”. I like the windmill…it is both positive and liberating.
Anne Ehret
A beautiful image, Anne. Have you seen this? http://bit.ly/1IRSZcY
wow…what a fantastic idea…so many people doing so many great things in this world!
🙂
Brilliant! I’m in.
Great! Thanks for connecting!
Glad you’re doing this! When I left church the loss of community was hard. But, I was sick of doing the translating that you described. I couldn’t honestly say that I believed Jesus to be my personal savior (a requirement for membership). I was tired of living in the closet.
Peace, and good luck to you!
Thank you, Nancy. If you haven’t already spent some time on the site, you can scroll and find some new words to old hymns and maybe reclaim some of the wonder you once felt in church. We are aiming for a secular spirituality that offers the “off-label” benefits of religion to humanity. It’s going to take work, but I’m sure we can do it even though we are so late to the game. Thanks for being part of this!
Gretta, You are a pioneer!
( Cue background music “What the world needs now is Love sweet Love )
When it comes to religion, I have been through many ups downs and sideways emotionally spiritually and intellectually for years.
Conclusion: Humanity urgently needs to listen to Gretta Vosper.
PS. Early days/years progress may at times seem oh so slow. But take heart “The Tipping Point” is a reality. So let’s go everyone, get the word out!
So want us to reach that tipping point! I think the Pew Research is helping us get there but building and sustaining community beyond doctrinal barriers is such an important step. There is a tipping point at which everything just spills into isolation and our world is too fragile for us to risk that one happening.
I’ve been with you all along, as an observer and as a member of a small but cohesive and visible group in my congregation.
Thank you, Russell! Glad to hear you’re riding that edge and with support from others in your congregation!
I’d like to know more, Gretta! The way we live IS more important than what we believe. I’m unaffiliated and have been my whole adult life. We need spiritual leadership that addresses the issues in this defining moment on our planet, from war and poverty to climate change and the economic transformations wrought by technology. But how can you offer yourself as a leader of the unaffiliated and at the same time describe yourself as an atheist, a Christian and an agnostic? Aren’t these affiliations? And if not, what do they mean?
Thank you so much for these questions, Brett. I have been doing some serious thinking since being a presenter at the American Humanist Association’s conference in Denver, two weekends ago. Much has percolated about how I describe myself. I’m planning to write on that in the next few days so you will be one of the first to hear.
I am very much wanting to resource groups who are trying to do something beyond doctrine that calls us into community. So much is now known and still being learned, about the benefits of religious gathering. Not the religious part of it, but the part that calls out of us an awareness of the extraordinary shift in our awareness of ourselves, our neighbours, our world when we explore those things together. Look for comments on that too!
I’m so eager to get these things out there. Only hope that, in the midst of the responsibilities of a busy church, I have the time to share it all! Here’s to carving out that important time!
Thanks, again, for your thoughts, Brett. If you don’t see them answered in the next dozen blogs or so, call me on it!
Amazon pioneered online shopping. Brick and Mortar stores are closing.
Apple popularized mobile phone (computing) platform. The world is now within reach, anytime, anywhere.
Air B&B created more “hotel” beds than all existing Hotel beds combined, virtually overnight.
Uber created more “taxis” than all existing Taxi companies, another miracle overnight.
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Paradigm shifts are powerful forces. They define the way we interact with the world.
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Traditional churches have been serving humanitarian values with doctrinal barriers inside building walls. You have courageously overcome doctrinal barriers inside Westhill but the market is too small to support your vision, much like Toronto can’t support Uber or Air B&B. Global first, then localize.
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My humble opinion is that you are doing something significant but you need resources. Crowd funding could be an interesting vehicle especially with an existing constituent.
Thanks, Gary! I am right with you and our conversations have been all around how to really resource this work so that it has a serious opportunity to flourish. I love the word “flourish”. We take the challenge of church for granted – dwindling resources, fewer volunteers, lack of interest. But no one can convince me that people don’t care. They do. We simply need to find ways to bring them together. If there is anything I can offer that will help make that happen, that’s what I want to lean into.
I love your input. Always have. Your insights are so clear; they wipe away all the little stuff that gets into the works and clogs up our creativity. Now is the time for creative thinking, for powerful action, for seizing opportunity. And this is a very good start today. Thanks so much for connecting!
Thank you for starting this Gretta. Although I am not smart and as understanding of all words that are spoken, I know there is no other place I’d rather be than the caring, compassion place of West Hill United, I love our community and I love you.
Please add me to your email distribution list. We need your mighty wind…
Thank you, Mary!
I like your post but won’t be responding too soon. Tied down with lots of “secular” work. I don’t identify myself as atheist but have been so by others. I identify myself with a new branch of the secular world … a “Q”.
Yes. It’s a single letter. Our logo is a black star. Keep the candle lit Gretta. Later.
Please add me to your email list Gretta perhaps it might help get something going over here in Scotland!
John