Ever since this article was published, I have been giving some thought to why traditional ‘Evangelical’ churches are, possibly but not definitively, beginning to decline. Certainly within the US there is a trend of young evangelicals switching to Anglicanism, Catholicism and Orthodoxy. Parallel to this is the rapid growth of Pentecostalism and other charismatic movements in other parts of the world. Here in Northern Ireland, the most vibrantly ‘alive’ churches are the churches which encourage the expression of ‘charismatic’ gifts such as tongues and words of knowledge. Indeed, arguably the most influential Anglican Church in Britain is HTB, the epi-centre of the Charismatic Anglican movement. While attendance at mainline churches continues to decline, the charismatic churches are flourishing in Britain and Ireland and the High Churches are seeing a renaissance in the US.
Being as I am I cannot help but wonder whether these two movements in, but not limited to, Western Christianity share a common root. One could be forgiven for believing that the Charismatic Movement and the High Churches are about as far apart as one can get on the spectrum of Christian orthodoxy. However when one examines the theology (particularly in relation to corporate worship) of these two branches of the Church, we find a common thread. The High Churches emphasise, almost to a fault, the centrality of the Incarnation. The Word becoming Flesh, the unknowable becoming known. Within the Charismatic Movement, the emphasis is on the presence and power of God seen in the work of the Holy Spirit through prophetic gifts and healing. The more astute among you will see the link: both of these groups have grasped the immanence of God in a way that is sadly lacking in many traditional Reformed and Evangelical Churches. In one, God is not only talked about, but his presence can be touched, smelt, tasted and seen. In the other, the work of the Holy Spirit is immediate, God’s power is seen when it breaks most dramatically into our present lives.
In the Evangelical churches that I and many others grew up in, the focus of the services is on the sermon and the songs. The corporate acts of worship present God in words and ideas to be given intellectual assent, rather than opening the door to the presence of God himself. Indeed, in evangelical circles, becoming a Christian is more about acceptance of an idea and a truth than it is about encountering the living God. Discipleship in these churches is boiled down to Bible studies and Church services are focused on hearing about and talking about the faith, rather than corporate acts that constitute the practice of the faith. Of course, many reformed types will say that preaching and bible study are practices of faith. And they’re right, of course. But focusing on these things as the central or even only acts of worship to God is to tear apart the very seams of the incarnation.
As John tells us, Jesus is the Word, but he is the Word made Flesh. He is where the divine Word/Revelation/Truth of God meets our physical and immanent reality. He is the focal point of God’s whole redemptive mission: to bring God and Humanity back into relationship. Moreover, he sent the Holy Spirit to continue the work of healing that he had begun, bringing the redemption of all things into the here and now through the Holy Spirit’s work in the Church. In many Evangelical churches these fundamental and central truths of the gospel are lost in the corporate acts of worship and the personal acts of devotion. The focus is all too often on the justification of the believer rather than the immanence of the one who justified him. One hears so much about the truth of the Word and so very little about the incarnation of the Word in our everyday lives through prayer, Eucharist and Baptism. In many, but not all, cases the redemption of the world is projected into the future rather than seen in the work of the Holy Spirit in the now.
It seems to me that young people in Evangelical churches are hungry for a God who they can meet in this physical reality and worship with their whole selves. They seek forms of worship that demonstrate the truth of Christ and the scriptures through physical acts and not simply words. Moreover, many seek the Kingdom that brings healing and redemption into the present reality and not just words about a Kingdom to come. They seek the faith that is Word and flesh, and in Evangelicalism we all too often find simply the Word.
That would be an Ecumenical matter. 