I write this with a heavy heart, and shortly after having celebrated the 65th year since my ordination in 1959.
I love the Church (in the all-inclusive sense). And I deeply cherish my experience in serving some twelve congregations as a minister with standing in both the United Methodist Church and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ}.
Indeed, I regret that I am not currently serving a congregation.
But I write here to witness to a sad reality I know to be the case: the so-called Christian Church in the USA is neither Christian nor churchly. It does not proclaim the Gospel boldly and without fear; in fact, the presumed "Christian" pulpit has been silenced. consequently, making what's supposed to be a church into a place to worship prosperity or alternately, into a place to rid oneself of personal guilt and shame.
Yes, the modern Church has failed in its stated goal of meeting the basic moral and spiritual needs of humanity.
Very rarely today, in any congregation. does a worshipper hear the real Truth of the Gospel, namely, that following Christ demands change for everyone who hears it, meaning change by you and by me.
Where does the fault for this irrelevance mainly lie? There's no doubt in my mind that we clergy and denominational officials must bear a huge load of the responsibility; although timidity may not ever have been our stated goal, step by step over the past two centuries we church-leaders have replaced the Gospel with extremely mundane concentrations on the sizes of budgets and the number of members, In other words we have replaced the Gospel with worldly interests.
As guilty as we in the clergy are, however, the primary cause of the Church's irrelevance lies manly, I believe, in the members. For The Gospel is the last thing they want to hear. Mostly, what church members desire from their church and their pastors is to be assured that they are okay as they are
Church members themselves have silenced the pulpit and undermined if not actually destroyed any real semblance of humanitarian ministry.
How ridiculous! One cannot encounter the Christ of the New Testament without confronting His challenge to make the changes necessary to live a life of service to the humankind.
Yes, it is the people in the pew who have silenced the pulpit, sadly so, without much challenge by the clergy, who. for the most part, have become more concerned today with keeping their jobs that with the authenticity of their witness.
I passionately desire a rebirth of the Church of Jesus Christ, especially in the USA, where I believe it would have a dramatic positive impact fot good in the world.
But even were such a rebirth to take place, we of the pulpit and of the pew are asked to remain humble, to live as those who, at last, truly understand the meaning of discipleship.
Putt, aka Andrew L. Pate, Jr, holds the BA from UT Austin, an STM from Emory U. and another master's and his doctorate from the Graduate Theological Union. Currently retired, a native Texan, Dr. Pate resides with his daughter Gale Marie in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
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