The discussion rose to a crescendo with my successful young friend pronouncing that his life and its direction was solely the product of his own effort, and had nothing to do with a mythical deity, the participation of a formal religion, or the vague nonsense of spiritual blessings – the possibility of which he does not accept.
My friend, a good person, is a late Gen X/ early Millennial, and his remarks were not so much the words of an atheist or agnostic but rather they were ominously reflective of the growing trend of “Nones.” They are a segment of the population, 1 in 5 in general, and up to 1 in 3 among youth and young adults, who while not considering themselves atheist or agnostic, check “none of the above” on religious identification – not everyone who says “no thanks” to organized religion does so for the same reasons.
Nick Street discussed those reasons in a recent article in the New York Times, citing a Pew Research study indicating that 70 percent of American adults believe that religion is losing its influence. He observes that mainline institutional religions of all stripes, caught in rituals, priorities, strictures, and the packaged metrics of rote faith, are driving a generation of people away. They are missing the reality that the culture and the face of faith are changing.
In their 1995 book, The Death of the Church, Mike Regele and Mark Schulz accurately forecasted the religious trends of my ranting dinner guest’s generation, predicting that it will not be a generation to be lectured to about faith, but one which will seek how to “do” faith. For mainline churches, it will be a defining moment of significant change from doctrine to action. It will be a shifting generational cycle, moving away from status quo faith, demanding a changing role for church and their participation in it. To the inattentive leaders of mainline religions we are reminded of the words of Eric Hoffer - “In a time of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world which no longer exists.”
We join the mainline Protestant faiths in observing an alarming dwindling of our faithful – the second largest religious grouping in the United States being previously professed Catholics. However, we must see that we are in a unique historical and theological moment to turn towards this new challenge. Pope Francis has reached back to the wisdom of Blessed Paul VI and his call for a re-evangelization of fallen away Catholics. He has retrieved that call, supplemented and enlarged it through the works of Saint John Paul II and Benedict XVI, and has renewed a challenge of evangelization for our 21st Century Church. It is a clear call by the Holy Father for our Church to come out of its centralized self, and to move to the edges of faith, to sin, to pain, to injustice, to ignorance, to indifference to religion, to the marginalized, to the disenfranchised, to stand and accompany those who struggle and seek the meaning of God in their lives.
While this struggle is global in scope, it is still a local challenge. We are challenged to have the courage to engage in dialogue with those who are the closest… brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews, sons and daughters, our spouse and our self, to share the values of our evangelizing church driven by the “good news” of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The need is urgent, the need is now. In the words of our Hispanic Community, “Ahi de mi, si no evangelizo” - shame on me, if I don’t evangelize.
Ted Furlow is Director of Pastoral Planning in the Diocese of San Bernardino.