The Nones

An article in the 12 March issue of Time titled, “The Rise of the Nones,” described the Nones as people who say they have no religious affiliation.  This group, the article says, has more than doubled since 1990 to about 16% of the U.S. population. It is the fastest growing “religious” group in the country. Yet, only 4% of the population characterize themselves as atheist or agnostic. So where do the Nones fit? They describe themselves as spiritual, but not religious, that is, they have no affiliation with organized religion, but “they’re not rejecting God...they are rejecting organized religion as being rigid and dogmatic,” Time quotes Erin Dunigan, a Presbyterian cleric who ministers to a group of Nones.

Diana Butler Bass, a noted author on trends in churches makes the point in her newest book, Christianity After Religion, that this phenomenon is touching nearly every religious tradition.  She includes the megachurches who historically market themselves to people turned off by organized religion. A 2009 Pew Forum survey found that, “40% of the unaffiliated people were fairly religious” in that they reported they believed in God and prayed fairly often. Many of the respondents reported they hoped eventually to find a suitable religious home.

Time goes on to remind us that the organizers of the so-called emergent-church movement are trying to “take religion away from the musty pews and fierce theological fights by creating small worship communities that often meet in members’ homes.” The historian in me can’t help but remember that long before the Church coalesced into an organization, it existed as small groups in peoples’ homes.  When St. Paul writes in his letters to the church in such-and-such a place, it is to a house church in that city, or maybe several house churches, not to the local cathedral--they didn’t exist.

What the Nones tend to do, at least the group covered in the time article, is gather for weekly worship, hear sermons, engage in spiritual dialogue and prayer, deliver food to sick members and work with the poor. In other words, they do something very much like any vitale institutional church, such as St. Mary’s. So what is the difference? I wish I knew for sure.

There is some evidence that those churches that market themselves to the “unchurched” or “disillusioned” or “Nones” emphasize informality, group cohesion, (small groups within the larger group who have a separate identity, like an on-going, more or less self contained Sunday class), contemporary religious music, and what I would call “warm fuzziness,” (because I don’t otherwise know how to characterize the atmosphere or experience).

I’m not being critical. If this is what helps you build your relationship to God and to others and gives you hope for the next day and the future--great! What I am being is curious about two things: (1) what happened besides scandal and infighting in the institutional church to turn these folks off, and (2) what this suggests to St M’s about reaching this group. I have a theory about number 1: incompetence and inattentiveness. By incompetence I mean, the institutional Church’s tendency to turn out people who don’t lead worship well and don’t preach well. How many jokes have you heard about counting ceiling tiles during sermons or compiling grocery lists? And by inattentiveness, I mean the membership’s reserve or reluctance to welcome others who show up on Sunday and to take them under your wing. See an unfamiliar face on Sunday: introduce yourself and invite them into the hospitality time in the parish hall for starters. The other inattentiveness is the institutional Church’s tendency not to teach pastors how to effectively care for parishioners and to develop the parishioner’s ability to care for each other. Again mentioning Paul, he did say we “should bear one another’s burdens.”

So with regard to number 2, there is not marketing plan to attract them, but if a None (or anyone else) visits on Sunday, we have plenty to offer. We just need to remember that making people feel welcome and at home is everyone’s responsibility, not just the clergy.

Peace,

Jerry