A veteran parish pastor, now retired, loves to tell the story of a conversation he had many years ago with a young adult congregant who was drifting away from church after years of faithful attendance as a child.
“I don’t believe in organized religion,” the young woman said. The pastor quipped, “Do you prefer disorganized religion?”
Today, that pastor could safely quip, “Not to worry! There is no such thing as organized religion.”
The organized Church is unraveling.
The Roman Catholic Church, the paradigm of structure, is scrambling to bolster its traditional teachings against changing popular sentiment and practices. Its hierarchical structure is threatened by disinterest. There are fewer candidates for priesthood and religious orders. That means the power of the hierarchy is made available to fewer candidates, leaving weaker talent to rise to the top. It should be no surprise that scandal has followed. Without the traditional pool of workers to staff parishes, the foundations of parish traditions — the schools — are closing or merging. They may be more economic but will struggle to provide the parish identity which parishioners value as highly as the quality of education.
Protestants are not immune. They tend to get less media attention, but they, too, face challenges attracting professional leadership, dwindling support, and their share of scandal.
What does this mean to the average believer?
It means the laity will carry a greater burden in maintaining and administering parishes. They will do so with negligible support from any hierarchy. They will be asked to commit time and resources that begin to outweigh the investment of professional leadership. They will have no support system when there is trouble—and there WILL BE trouble.
As a result, lay Christians will think twice before committing to supporting any congregation. The remaining hierarchy will reward the laity who are strong followers and penalize the laity who step into the leadership void. The faithful will have a tougher time meeting the expectations set for them in healthier days. Since lay involvement is, for the most part, volunteer, they, too, will become fewer in number.
As things deteriorate the blame game will begin. As the stakes get higher, the game will become nastier. The basic tenants of Christianity will be tested.
Much of this prediction is already happening.
If you don’t believe in organized religion, there was never a better time to sign up!
But 2×2 does not like to leave any reader feeling hopeless. While troubling, we view this as growing pains.
The old structure is crumbling but a new Church is emerging. New life will take root in the ruins of the past.
The internet is rebuilding the foundation of the Church. The laity now have a voice. The hierarchy won’t like it and will try to control it. They will fail.
There are controls, however. The “joy stick” is not in any one person’s hand. We are entering a time when we will be held accountable by one another, not by a hierarchy.
Hang in there, Christians. This is going to get exciting!
