OldSoul.blog

The coffee was good, the conversation was lively, and the sun was shining, and the denominational executive with whom I was chatting asserted, “The progressive church is dead.” His thesis was that local churches with a progressive theological perspective were in rapid decline in terms of both numbers and vitality. This was several years ago, and at the time I argued that this was not the case, but I fear that current data – empirical and anecdotal – seems to be proving him right and me wrong. The progressive Christian movement in Australia is struggling for life – its ‘adherents’ are aging, its networks are waning, and its profile is fading. 

It has always been difficult to define what is meant by the term ‘progressive Christian Church’, but broadly speaking it is a movement that applies contemporary scholarship to its understanding of scripture and the teaching of Jesus, with a focus on justice, compassion and diversity. For example, the Progressive Christian Network of Victoria holds as its mantra ‘Open Minds … Open Hearts … Open Hands.’ Perhaps the movement is more easily defined by what it doesn’t hold to: it does not hold to a conservative, fundamentalist or literalist interpretation of scripture, or an interventionist, anthropomorphic understanding of God.

As one who has found the progressive understanding of scripture and its story of the life and ministry of Jesus to be liberating and life-giving, and as one whose ministry and leadership has been largely exercised at the progressive end of the theological spectrum, I find the apparent demise of the progressive church lamentable and puzzling. Why do conservative, evangelical churches seem to be growing faster, be more vibrant and ‘spirit-filled’, be more popular amongst young people, and be generally more ‘appealing’ than the progressive congregations within which I am most comfortable? What are progressive churches doing wrong? Or perhaps, not doing right? Having been anchored within the Churches of Christ movement my whole life, I acknowledge that my experience may be limited, but I would like to offer the following observations on this conundrum.

First, by way of diagnosis, I wonder whether the progressive Christian movement has been too successful. My ‘awakening’ to Christian values and church polity happened in the early 1960s when I was around 10 years old. I can recall discussions in the church about issues such as the role of women, the ‘priesthood of all believers’, the ecumenical movement, the peace movement, and the plea for justice from indigenous leaders (including the later-to-be Sir Doug Nicholls who was a C of C pastor). Over ensuing years, as my sensitivities developed, I began to listen to, and eventually participate in, discussions about these and other issues, such as industrial chaplains championing the cause of ‘fair work’, ‘conscientious objectors’ and ‘boat people’ lamenting the Vietnam War, motions supporting the ordination of women, motions affirming the place of LGBTQI+ people in the church, projects in support of affordable housing, the development of social justice networks, task groups promoting awareness of environmental issues, etc., etc.. While I’m not suggesting these conversations were taking place only in the Church, it is true that the Church was at the cutting edge of many of them (as it had been in centuries past with the emancipation movement, the suffragette movement, the Sunday School movement for the education of children, amongst others), and Churches of Christ in Victoria was often at the forefront of the social justice movement, due in no small measure to the influence of the College of the Bible (the Churches of Christ Theological College) with its commitment to rigorous biblical and theological scholarship, and to the credibility of its print publications, The Australian Christian and the Provocative Pamphlet Club. To me, this whole scene was stimulating, invigorating, and ultimately led to my engagement with theological study and my formation for ministry.

But while all this discussion and championing was going on within the church, the secular world was changing. Society was adopting many of the values and practices that the progressive church was proclaiming:women were being accorded equal status within workplaces and sports; the LGBTQI+ community was being affirmed; secular charities were picking up the reins of housing, social justice and care; local community groups began to actively care for their environment; community-based sports clubs began to replace church-based sports competitions; etc., etc..

In the course of, say, fifty years the core raison d’être of the progressive church had been subsumed by secular society. While the causes were not off the table – there was still much work to be done in many of those areas – the task of championing those causes had been taken up by secular organisations and lobby groups and the role of the church became less and less significant. That’s not a bad thing, of course – if the goal of the progressive church was to transform and liberate some of the traditional attitudes and patterns of society, then it had largely succeeded – but it does raise the question of where to from here for the progressive church movement.

So second, by way of solution, I wonder whether it might simply be a matter of recovering our roots. Before it was an activist movement, the progressive church was a reflective movement, devoted to rigorous study, discussion, reflection and contemplation – on scripture, on the life and teaching of Jesus, and on the dynamics of human community. Clearly, the call to both action and reflection has been, and will continue to be, a dual focus for the progressive movement, but I suspect that activism has been the increasingly dominant partner in recent decades. There are signs that a correction is underway (both in the church and beyond it), with more attention being given once again to reflective practice. This is evidenced in the proliferation of spirituality centres, the availability of spiritual directors, and an increased focus on mindfulness in the general community. Let me be clear – none of these is the exclusive domain of the Christian Church. Indeed, in these and other areas, the Christian Church has learned much and been positively impacted by its engagement with other faith and mystic traditions. But it is my conjecture that the progressive stream of the Christian Church has something significant, perhaps even unique, to add to this eclectic mix and in doing so it may rediscover its core values and purposes. I offer the following as starting points in this journey:

• Recover a sense of the sacred. One risk of progressive theology is that it so rationalises and intellectualises the quest to reinterpret the teachings of Jesus that it loses sight of the sanctity of all creation. To proclaim the sanctity of all creation is to affirm that God – the creative force at the centre of all life – is deeply embodied in nature, in the broad diversity of humanity, in the geographical and celestial structures of the universe … in all things and in every thing. Such awareness will inform our action: we will serve others and work for justice not because it’s the ‘right’ thing to do, but because we feel the holiness of all those amongst whom we live; we will care for the environment and make sustainable choices about climate not out of fear of the consequences but because we affirm that the Earth is sacred; we will treat ourselves and others with respect because we understand that all people are manifestations of the sacred presence. This dimension has been explored more fully by writers such as Diarmuid O’Murchu in Incarnation, and by and Matthew Fox et al in Order of the Sacred Earth.
• Recover the practice of community. Worship has a bad rap in contemporary society – for some it’s too staid and boring, for some it’s too trite and glitzy, for some it’s too pious and perplexing, and for some it’s simply a waste of time. Due perhaps to worship’s apparent passivity, the progressive church has sometimes devalued it in favour of social action. But we would do well to reaffirm the importance of the gathering of the faith community as a place where the mystery and ‘otherness’ of the creative Spirit may be experienced and shared. The form of worship is, I believe, much less important than the act of gathering, of being together. In the best expressions of ‘being together’, something happens, something shifts, something emerges. Too often our worship gatherings become subverted by the goal of entertainment, or scholarly input, or solemn occasion, or ritual practice. All those elements have a place, but if we made our primary focus simply ‘being together’ and ‘attending’ to the present moment and ‘waiting’ to see what emerges, I suspect we are more likely to notice the action of the creative Spirit in our midst. And the upside is that having noticed and attended to it, we are likely to be impelled to effective, right and just action. The Church Nerd, by Loren Richmond Jr, a Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) minister, offers food for thought around this theme.
• Recover the deep story and teaching of Jesus. Like worship, Jesus has been given a bad rap by a Church that has tended to overlay his story with lots of do’s and don’ts, with spurious threats and obligations, and with some questionable interpretations. One of the great gifts of the progressive Christian movement is its quest to unearth the real Jesus and to reinterpret Jesus’ words and teaching in a new light. Unfortunately, this new scholarship is often subject to a conspiracy of silence in the Church – preachers hesitate to share the insights of biblical scholarship or progressive theology lest they fall foul of the hierarchy (local and/or institutional) that employs them. But to recover the deep story and teaching of Jesus is to ‘free Jesus’ (as Diana Butler Bass has titled her most recent book) and allow Jesus to speak unambiguously into the predicament of our times. It is a story that, in its essential simplicity and profound wisdom, has both relevance and appeal to contemporary seekers of truth. The Jesus story is not a story of judgement, or condemnation, or evangelistic fervour; it is a story of liberation and justice, of compassion and peace. And its faithful telling is both the hope and the responsibility of the progressive Christian Church.

That’s a lot of words, but I do hope that some of them might resonate with you as you read them! James Finley, a modern mystic who writes and guides within the context of Fr Richard Rohr’s Centre for Action and Contemplation said it much more succinctly when asked by Spiritual Wanderlust how one might become a healing presence in a traumatic and hurting world. Finley prescribed: find a (reflective) practice and practice it; find a teaching and follow it (find someone whose words ring true for you); find a community and enter it (it may be just you and God, or you and an author, or you and a group of trusted others). He closed with the assertion, The soul knows where it needs to go to find what it needs to find. May each of us be so tuned into our own soul that we find that path – for our own sake, and for the sake of the world we inhabit.

David Brooker (4^th March 2025)