Monday, October 6, 1997
Denominations revamp their religion
FAITH:
By Diego Ribadeneira
Boston Globe
The Rev. George Anderson, presiding bishop of the
5.2-million-member Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, doesn’t
want to make you a Lutheran.
He just wants to make you a better Christian.
Not that the Lutheran Church is still watching the religious and
spiritual revival that is sweeping America pass it by. It’s just
that Anderson’s main priority doesn’t necessarily involve boosting
membership rolls.
Anderson, 65, the leader of the nation’s sixth-largest Christian
denomination, has the personality of a wise, gentle grandfather. A
theologian and pastor, Anderson has given his life to the Lutheran
Church both in the pulpit and in the classrooms of Lutheran
colleges.
Churches, he declared in an interview last week during a New
England visit, must do no less than shake people’s souls.
A "tepid, lukewarm, oatmeal type of religion" that makes people
"feel good about themselves" is not the way churches should respond
to American society’s search for spiritual meaning, Anderson
said.
A true Christian doesn’t just believe. He acts. A true Christian
doesn’t just pray. He reaches out to those in need. "Jesus didn’t
just preach," said Anderson, sitting on a couch in the Marlborough
home of friends where he was staying. "He healed. He helped feed
the hungry.
"Being a Christian doesn’t just mean witnessing," Anderson said.
"It means acting. And whether it means a person comes to a Lutheran
church isn’t as important to me."
Today, his church stands at a crossroads.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is one of the
country’s mainline denominations, the seven Protestant churches
that for so long dominated and shaped American society.
But the mainline denominations’ hold on society has weakened.
Membership has slipped considerably since the 1960s. Some critics
say the mainline churches have hurt themselves by becoming more
interested in pursuing social-justice issues than in teaching the
Christian faith.
Anderson doesn’t buy this argument. He believes his church and
the other mainline denominations – which include the Episcopal
Church, the United Methodist Church and the United Church of Christ
– have paid the price of a more mobile society.
The notion of generations of families worshiping in the same
church has essentially disappeared, he said. "There are more
believers than belongers," he said.
Despite a loss of membership, power, and perhaps even prestige,
the Lutheran church remains a vital player on America’s religious
landscape.
Many new immigrants, including Chinese and Middle Eastern
Christians, have found a spiritual home in Lutheran churches. The
church has, like other mainline denominations, tapped into the
nation’s growing appetite for spirituality, particularly among baby
boomer parents concerned about the moral growth of their
children.
And the church is experimenting with contemporary music and
alternative forms of worship to lure members. Anderson said
teen-agers are a particularly rich market. "They are very
interested in social-service projects, and that is something we
want to expand," he said.
The Lutheran Church also has been a leader in uniting Christians
and healing centuries of religious animosity.
At the church’s national assembly last month, Lutherans voted to
enter into "full communion" with the Presbyterian Church (USA, the
Reformed Church in America, and the United Church of Christ),
ending a historic split dating back to the Protestant Reformation.
The agreement means the four churches will be able to share
ministers and undertake many joint projects.
In another historic decision at the assembly, Lutherans voted to
end condemnations hurled at the Roman Catholic Church five
centuries ago over the issue of justification – how God chooses to
save human beings.
Confrontations over justification were the main cause of the
Reformation. Historically, Lutherans believe justification is a
gift from God. Roman Catholics believe good deeds also are needed.
But Lutherans voted to accept good works as an appropriate response
to God’s gift of salvation but not something that makes salvation
possible.
"We have a pretty good sense of the direction people want our
church to go," Anderson said. "These are exciting and promising
times in Christianity."