Jason Locke's Blog

"Can Liberal Christianity Be Saved?" This op-ed piece by Ross Douthat in last summer's New York Times prompted lots of response. Many jumped on the bandwagon to say that the Episcopal Church had lost its way. Its blatant liberal path had caused more and more of its members to hit the eject button while attracting fewer and fewer new memb ers. The numbers were bleak (23% decline in the last decade) and the outlook bleaker. This was the conclusion of Douthat and many who re-posted and commented on his article. "But not so fast!" retorted church scholar Diana Butler Bass in her op-ed for the Huffington Post . While she didn't disagree with the data about the Episcopal Church, she reframed the question. "Can Christianity Be Saved?" was the title of her article. Her point? Churches of all stripes and types are declining in North America. Say what you will about liberal churches, but all denominations are struggling—even conservative ones. Souther...

In the past week, a conversation has filled Facebook walls and Tweet chats. Many have hit the blogosphere. They want to discuss an op-ed article by Ross Douthat in NY Times & a follow-up by Diana Butler Bass in the Huffington Post. Ross Douthat wrote to pile on with those who describe the steep decline of attendance in the Episcopalian Church. Could there be complex and multiple reasons for their decline? Not according to Douthat. He views the culprit as the embrace of a social liberal agenda. He writes, "But if conservative Christianity has often been compromised, liberal Christianity has simply collapsed. Practically every denomination — Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian — that has tried to adapt itself to contemporary liberal values has seen an Episcopal-style plunge in church attendance." In other words, embrace liberal values and plummet in attendance. Douthat may be right. The liberal social agenda may drive many church-goers to more conservative congregations. ...