A report from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public life issued this week gave my colleagues and I fodder for good conversation yesterday. The report states that one fourth of adult Americans have a different religious affiliation than the one in which they grew up. That figure actually lumps together all Protestant denominations and when you allow for those people who move fluidly between United Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans and all others, the number jumps to 44 percent. This is not particularly startling news to those of us who live and work in the church. We see it every Sunday, every time we receive new members, at nearly every class that is held, at every dinner that is served. The circle of who we are is made up of people who have been open to the Spirit’s movement in their lives and that has often led them to places they never dreamed of.
Of course, these statistics can make those trying to maintain the institution quake in their Sunday shoes. And there is reason to worry if what we are trying to do is simply maintain the institution, to continue an unchanging tradition that is the church, to maintain a pledge base that will sustain buildings built in another time when loyalty to one church was the norm. Seen through that lens, there is much to lose.
But I often wonder if we really see the great gifts in this fluidity of movement between faith communities. Yesterday around our circle we shared the gifts we had been given by being in the presence of people from other faith traditions. People spoke of seeing the world, the church,even God in new ways through worshiping with and hearing the messages of other religions….ways that enriched their own spiritual life and helped them grow in their understanding of what it meant to be Christian. Others learned through that same kind of encounter what they don’t believe. Always a good thing as the negatives make our own understanding clearer and fuller, more truthful somehow.
From my own spiritual journey I recognize the gifts I received from being in seminary with Unitarian Universalists. That experience helped me to articulate my own faith experience in new ways. I think of my friends who practice Buddhism. I have learned the gifts of meditation, of presence, of letting go from them. My many Roman Catholic friends have challenged me to see social justice as a mandate of the Gospel. My Jewish friends have helped me remember my faith roots and the power of family ritual, of life passages. My more evangelical family and friends have helped me know the power of heart and speaking your faith in the world. Those I have known who are Quaker have instilled in me the gift of silence and listening before acting and speaking. So many traditions, so many ways of walking faithfully in the world.
Could I have learned all these things by simply hanging around with those just like me? I don’t think so. Each encounter with those other faith traditions and also many of no faith tradition has helped me see the Holy in new ways, ways that have informed and continue to form who I am in my walk with God. I will always believe this is a good thing. The faithful will continue to find ways to maintain the institutions that give structure to who we are. But the people…the faithful, seeking, amazing people will continue to be open to the Spirit…and only God knows where that will take us.
"And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability." Acts 2:2-4