Sociology 101: Every Group Needs a Purpose. What is the Purpose of a Church


When I left the farm to go to college one of my first courses was called "The Sociology of Groups."  Looking back, I think the course was there to train future employees of the Agricultural Extension Service and local farmer leaders.

One of the basics was that every group needs a purpose. The purpose needs to be summarized in a sentence or two. Today I think of it as an idea that can be displayed on a highway billboard, read and understood at 70 mph. 

Christians use highway signs: JESUS LOVES YOU. PRAYER WORKS. GOD IS GREAT. HELL IS FOREVER.

These versions of purpose about sin and heaven are losing their punch. A new version of purpose is being introduced from outside the old status quo. The "outside" is influential writers who have left, new denominations and revolts inside denominations. 

A few denominations are changing on the inside. One is the denomination of my childhood, the Evangelical Covenant Church. The denomination claims to be the fastest growing in the U.S. It was originally founded on "piety." Decades ago this referred to sins like working on Sunday, alcohol and swearing. The word piety is still used a lot on its web page but now it means something entirely different. Piety now means reaching out to include all races and ethnic groups. To exclude any is to violate the denomination's tenets. It sounds like the Social Gospel. (All of this needs be taken with a grain of salt. It still dumps local churches and ministers that do gay weddings although views on that are mixed. It licenses women as pastors but few are hired by its churches.)  

The Evangelical Covenant denomination then has a purpose: To establish interracial churches and fund several missionaries. Its old purpose of fighting sin to achieve heaven is mostly gone. I think if it had held to its old purpose it would be declining and not growing.

I have the impression it takes members come from churches who are trying to hang onto the old purpose of fighting sin. There have been many splits in denominations over the gay issue. Older members want to keep fighting sin, especially equal rights for gays. It seems inevitable this purpose will not provide what younger people want and with a meaningful purpose this kind of church will die off.   

Any groups of people has diverse opinions. Every church will have some of that. Yet every church and every denomination needs to have a fairly clear purpose. Writing a mission statement may not clarify its reason for existence. The purpose is best short, one sentence. If young people do not relate to that purpose the future of that church or denomination is cloudy.  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Maybe the "Original Sin" Should be Reassigned

Image
We can all agree most Catholic priests are fine people and not guilty of sexual abuse. What Catholics must face, however, it that their church harbors executives who are dishonest . There is an incredible story about the Argentine Bishop Zanchetta. The Pope worked with him in Argentina and they are considered friends. Around 2015 Zanchetta sent nude pictures of himself and they began circulating world wide. He also was too friendly with young seminarians and some left because of him.  Three different officials say they made formal complaints to the Vatican about Zanchetta between 2015 and 2017. Yet, in 2018, the Vatican claimed it was unaware of any complaints about Zanchetta. This might be a good time to repeat the Catholic hierarchy claims to have the sole authority handed down from Jesus to what the faith stands for. It condemns as sinners those who practice birth control, have abortions and gay sexual relationships. Handing the hierarchy this responsibility would make som
Read more

The Religious Capitol Invaders May Yet Win

Image
So much about U.S. society and religion can be learned from the Civil War and what happened afterwards. After its defeat, the South started a myth about the unethical soldiers from the North. The South fought for principles of God and states rights. The North did not. It was the South, this propaganda told the country, that had the high moral ground.  The Capitol invaders, encouraged by Trump, swallowed the myth that Biden's election was stolen. Thus, they think they held and still hold the high moral ground. This was reinforced by the cross and prayers during the invasion. Even with Trump is gone, we will see political opportunists like Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley stroking crowds and feeding the same lies as Trump. Like "the South will rise again" these gullible followers will talk of victory over the unclean. After the Civil War the South rallied around the phrase, Lost Cause. For decades, and maybe to this day, there are ceremonies remembering fallen martyrs, Re
Read more

Father Frank Pavone, the Ultimate Crook

Image
Recently, the Vatican defrocked Frank Pavone. His diehard fans are outraged. This is because he cleverly manipulated his fans and the press all the while living well from donations and, apparently, abusing some women. By making abortion the "sin" of the century, and himself the main opposition to this one sin, he himself could get away with any sin he pleased.  As the link points out, Pavone was the perfect priest for the Trump era. Trump is so self-important laws have no role in his life. He felt accountable to no one. Women were there to be had. Pavone and Trump are interchangeable.  Pavone was very successful raising money. In his mind, abortion was so important in Catholic beliefs and he was so important in anti-abortion the money he raised opposing it was his to do with what he liked. The Catholic Church, the brand name he used to raise this money, thought the money belonged to it. When he gave the Vatican the bird, it gave him walking papers. With polls showing the majo
Read more