Unclaimed

What sets us apart?  What makes us come together?

Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose. - 1 Corinthians 2:10

In today's readings, we have a letter from Paul to the early church telling them they are not to fight with each other over the divisions among them.

You are all part of one body, he reminds them, and are not separate factions.

What would Paul say about what we have created from his early beginnings with our thousands and thousands of denominations?

When we disagree, we split.  Does that make sense?  Does division in our congregations allow us to grow in numbers?

Paul didn't think so, and he was a pretty good builder of the faith, even though he began as an enemy.  So, I think the reason we spilt apart and form new factions is not about growth.  It is about fear.

We see and hear of change and we take a stand against it, causing us to take sides and eventually split apart or leave.

From 2000 to 2010 in the Bronx where I serve as deacon, 35% of those who were affiliated with a house of worship left.  That is across all faiths.  While some are on the rise, like Muslims, Adventists and Evangelical Protestants, all others have lost membership.

But the most amazing thing is how many are totally unaffiliated, 63% of the population, or over 800,000 people in our small corner of New York City.

While the adherent population is declining, the number of congregations is growing.  In 1980, there were 314.  In 2010 there were 619.  What does that growth in number tell us?

While the majority of the people are abandoning their faith worship for less structured or no practices, the rest of us are seeking new means of self-identification.  We are dividing and conquering ourselves.

It is a shame, really, because we see attendance drop and we struggle to raise the funds to keep the doors open, doors that need repair, doors that fewer and fewer people enter.

Our Presiding Bishop tells us that we need to get out there and talk to those who are unaffiliated, those who have walked away or never have known about us and what we believe.

That's hard work.  We tend not to work hard at spreading the message of the Gospel, certainly not as hard as Paul worked.  Why is that?  Are we afraid we will offend people?

I believe we need to stop dividing and start working together, at least within our faith.  We Christians can and should get out into the communities and where one group is doing something good, let others lend a hand.

We are getting too small in numbers to do the work alone.  Paul called the factions in Corinth together to do God's work, and we can take a lesson from his teaching.

I, for one, believe it is an important step in the right direction.  But it is something we all need to pray about.  We are half way to the next census when we will see the numbers reported again.  What do you think they will show?  Are we growing in congregations and declining in number, or are we coming together under one God?

Time will tell.  It's time to get out there.

More to come...