Ivy League Divinity Schools are Holding non Christian Services


Both Harvard and Yale Schools of Divinity are now holding church services for groups that are not Christian. This seems both a sign of the time and a sign of changes to come.

Today, the trend of Protestant churches in general is to not affiliate with any denomination. Or, if affiliated with a denomination, to not put it out there for all to see. If there is an affiliation it is relegated to the back pages somewhere.  

Holding "religious" services that are approved of but not unaffiliated with Christianity is an extension of non-denominational. Harvard and Yale are training pastors who will need to accommodate non-Christian religions. There was a big story last year about an atheist professor in the Harvard Department of Religion being named President of the Chaplains there.

What should Christians, i.e., those in the pews make of all this? I think they should be delighted that somewhere in the faith there are people dealing with the obvious. The obvious is that religion in general and Christianity in particular is in a time of dramatic change. The old, "I know there is a God because I experienced it personally" no longer sells like it used to. Today this sounds like all the other propaganda pitches everyone is bombarded with. It's like, "I know the election of Joe Biden was stolen because Trump said he had heard this." 

I would guess about 30% of voters in the U.S. believer Biden stole the election. Further, perhaps 30%, maybe the same group, believes Christianity is the only true religion. This 30% is an obstacle to society becoming more fact based and rational. Yet the remaining majority, perhaps not yet 70% accepts that Christianity is not the only legit religion. Harvard and Yale understand that majority and are adjusting accordingly.   

Graduates of divinity from Harvard or Yales will not all be going out to churches and holding services with Pagans, feminists and Black spiritualists. They will accommodate the churches who pay their wages. I sometimes attend a church where the majority of pastors are Yale School of Divinity graduates. I listen carefully to what the talk about. They use the word "sin" about six times in every service. I have never heard even one give an example of a sin. It's as if pastors know those in the pews expect to hear the word sin but the pastors themselves have no interest in it. 

Attendance and revenue are down since Covid. Maybe a good Pagan service would turn things around.  

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