The solar eclipse as seen from the surface of the Moon in Mare Crisium by the Blue Ghost Mission 1 lander. The Sun’s corona shines as a bright circle around the dark disc of the Earth. A “diamond ring” flare glows at the five o’clock position against the darkness of space. Credit: Firefly Aerospace/NASA
“Humans are very seldom either totally sincere or totally hypocritical. Their moods change, their motives are mixed, and they are often quite mistaken as to what their motives are.” — C. S. Lewis
The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York informed us that the investigation into the Southern Baptist Convention and Executive Committee has officially concluded,” SBC attorneys Gene Besen and Scarlett Nokes told Baptist Press, an official SBC outlet.
This came as little surprise to me. Over the last few years, I have been writing about the SBC, a denomination that really isn’t a denomination. It has successfully kicked congregations out of the SBC for having a female pastor and then pivoted and said that all churches function autonomously. Somehow, in legal terms, this appears to be kosher. It makes me confused. Before the DOJ investigation ended, only one individual was convicted of lying to the FBI.
No abuse charges have been filed as a result of the Guidepost report, though Matt Queen, a former Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary professor and provost, pleaded guilty last fall to lying to the FBI, and last week was sentenced to six months of house arrest, a year of supervised release and a $2,000 fine.
So, it appears the only way to win is to sue the local church and fold in the SBC mothership (the Executive Council) as part of the lawsuit.
I have long been a proponent that the sure way to make an entity revisit its policies on sex abuse is to hit it in the pocketbook—money talks. To be sure, the SBC is in hot water when it comes to lawsuits alleging sexual abuse. The Baptist Standard posted SBC legal expenses surpass $12M in three years.
The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee reported it has spent more than $12.1 million on the 2021-2022 Guidepost Solutions investigation into its handling of sexual abuse claims and subsequent legal expenses dating back to 2021.
To cover expenses and operating costs moving forward, the Executive Committee voted in executive session at its September meeting to authorize President Jeff Iorg to execute a loan secured by the SBC Executive Committee building and place the Nashville building on the market.
Things are so bad that it has to sell its relatively headquarters in Nashville.
They not only are getting sued for sex abuse cases of members, but Johnny Hunt, a former SBC president, is suing them and Guideposts over naming him in a report committing questionable deeds with a woman. They sure pay their inner circle big bucks. I always knew the secretive NAMB was a cash cow for aging inner-circle pastors.
Christianity Today wrote SBC to Sell Nashville Headquarters to Cover Cost of Abuse Cases.
An investigation into how leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) have dealt with sexual abuse by clergy has cost more than $12 million over the past three years, causing the nation’s largest Protestant denomination to put its Nashville headquarters up for sale, the SBC’s Executive Committee announced on Tuesday.
The expenditures, which include $3 million spent fending off a lawsuit filed by a former SBC president, have led the committee to spend down its reserves in what its auditors have called an unsustainable manner. The group, which met in Nashville this week, also approved a loan to cover budget shortfalls.
It’s a bad time to sell office space, but the leaders needn’t worry. They still have the faithful sending their tithes to do God’s work.
The investigation is over.
CT reported:
Jeff Iorg, president and CEO of the Executive Committee, gave thanks for the investigation’s end. “We’re grateful that we can close this chapter in our legal proceedings and move forward,” he said.
There is no functional database of abusive pastors. There is a hotline to nowhere, and I cannot recommend that anyone with good sense would use it to report anything. They have a nice learning program called Caring Well. It is a program that will help churches prevent sexual abuse. Since the SBC is a non-denomination, there is no requirement to use the program in the church. Over the last few years, I have asked SBC churches if they use the program. All have refused to tell me if they do, which I consider to mean “Negatory.”
SBC abuse survivors are in retreat
The Tennessean posted Abuse survivors retreat from advocacy for SBC reform after feds close case: A ‘hard death.’ The key points of the article include:
- Conclusion of a federal investigation has contributed to survivors’ feeling there are few remaining opportunities for Southern Baptist leaders to face justice for contributing to an abuse crisis.
- With incremental collapse of reforms focused on oversight, including a database of abusive ministers and a process to evaluate complaints against churches, has further discouraged survivors.
- “It feels like giving into the evil as much as it is saving ourselves from the devastation of it all,” Tiffany Thigpen said. “So, it’s a really hard death.”
… “As a survivor who’s been on the scene since 2018, it’s exhausting. It’s cost me to continue to speak out and I don’t feel my voice is valued there anymore,” Jules Woodson said.(link is inserted by TWW ed.) “It’s an end of an era.”
… “I wasn’t surprised by it…which doesn’t mean I’m not saddened by it. I had hoped at one point there would be something more,” Christa Brown said, referencing the DOJ closing its case. “It sends a message about how extraordinarily difficult it is to impose any form of accountability upon this faith institution.”
…Beyond the increasingly unlikely prospect of Southern Baptist leaders facing consequences for contributing to an abuse crisis, momentum has slowed for reforms that would prevent abusive ministers from hopping between congregations or churches from mishandling abuse reports. At the urging of survivors and Guidepost, those issues pointed to the need for the Ministry Check database of ministers accused of abuse and to much-needed improvements to an oversight group called the SBC Credentials Committee.
“I see a system that ultimately will time and time again protect itself,” Woodson said.
My thoughts
The numerous reports of sex abuse have colored the SBC as an institution. I frequently see comments on social media like “The Baptists are like the Catholics.”I have heard from people in Boston who want to know how to figure out if startup churches are with the SBC since they wish to avoid that non-denomination.
On the other hand, I have heard from some pastors who are trying to deal with the sex abuse crisis in positive ways. Are they enough? I’m not sure. In the meantime, I will continue to write my stories. They are getting noticed, as the readers will see shortly.
In the meantime, other denominations need to think twice before saying how bad the SBC has become.
Pastor Vroegop of College Park Church, Indianapolis, critiqued the SBC while ignoring their own sex abuse crisis in the past.
The Gospel Coalition on Mark Vroegiop’s selection as third vice president of TGC.
“Vroegop, 53, is currently lead pastor of College Park Church in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he has served since 2008. With nearly 30 years of experience in pastoral ministry, Vroegop has also been a TGC Council member since 2018 and a Board member since 2023.”“Longtime TGC Council member Sandy Willson has served as interim president since March 2023. Vroegop will begin as TGC president in March 2025, taking leadership of TGC as the ministry celebrates its 20-year anniversary.”“The selection of Vroegop came after the TGC Board appointed a search committee, chaired by Ligon Duncan and including H.B. Charles Jr., Andy Davis, Nancy Guthrie, Ryan Kwon, and Board Chairman Juan Sánchez.”
Van Gorp graduated from Grace Theological Seminary, receiving a Master of Theology.
Vroegop came to scandal-ridden College Park Church in 2008. Terry Van Gorp, an elder, molested a child.
According to the Indianapolis Star which posted. Ex-Church Elder Pleads in Molestation, which Bishop Accountability reposted:
A former elder at College Park Church in Carmel faces 10 years in prison after pleading guilty today to molesting a 3-year-old girl he had been baby-sitting.
…Van Gorp was arrested in June 2006 after he admitted to family and other church members that he had molested the child at his home in February 2006.
…Joe Rice, administrative pastor at the church, issued a statement today.
“We continue to pray for the healing of all those who were hurt in this crime, and for the repentance of Mr. Van Gorp,” the statement read. “We are thankful for the efforts of the criminal justice system in adjudicating this offense. We will continue to offer help to the victim and the victim’s family.
“We believe our efforts as a church over the past 18 months have helped bring the truth to light. Any abuse of a minor is vile, immoral, sinful and without question a violation of everything College Park Church stands for as a ministry of Jesus Christ.”
Van Gorp graduated from Grace Theological Seminary, receiving a Master of Theology.
In 2006, the 4-year-old victim’s father said:
“They made her testify in front of him and describe body parts and everything,” the child’s father said. “It was a traumatic experience for her, and she’s been having nightmares ever since.”
Disturbing information on the abuser was posted by.” VIGILANT ANTIS’S WEBLOG. The abuser was not remorseful.
During the sentencing, Hamilton Superior Court Judge Steve Nation said Van Gorp, 59, admitted to viewing child pornography one to two hours at a time, once or twice a week since 1998,
bu the didn’t think it was a problem. He also said he didn’t view the exploited children in the pornographic videos as victims.Van Gorp offered a brief apology to the victim’s family but showed complete lack of remorse for his actions, the judge said.
Van Gorp’s attitude was “it’s something that just happened, he’s asked for forgiveness, now we’re moving on,” Nation said.
“He didn’t have any emotion,” the victim’s father said Friday. “He faced us, said he was sorry and sat back down. (My wife) cried and cried, but he and his wife just sat there with no emotion whatsoever.”
The family left the church after the church went out of its way to support the abuser and his wife.
The child’s family left the College Park congregation after church leaders encouraged parishioners to rally around Van Gorp. The church also provided financial assistance to Van Gorp and his wife, Barb, a former receptionist at the church.
Joe Rice, administrative pastor for College Park, said the church offered assistance to the victim’s family as well. The family said it received an unsolicited check for $1,000.
Fox News posted Family of Molested Girl Leaves Church After It Embraces Attacker.
College Park elder John Schmidler said church officials have encouraged parishioners to rally around Van Gorp and his wife, the church’s office manager, but that Van Gorp is not allowed in the building without an escort. Since news of the molestation broke, the church’s senior pastor has since left the congregation, saying he felt he could no longer fulfill his duties.
Fred Childers, a former member of the church who left because of how the situation was handled, said, “the (child’s) family has been treated like they’re overreacting.”
College Park Church, which one counseling director called a “hospital for sinners,” would not be doing its job if it did not help “both the crime victim and the victimizer,” Doug Pabody, a counseling director, told The Indianapolis Star
After prison, he will be a registered sex offender.
After the prisoner finishes his 10-year prison sentence, he will be a registered sex offender.
After Van Gorp is released from prison, he will have to register as a sex offender and complete a court-approved sex offender treatment program. He will not be allowed to contact the victim, travel alone after 10 p.m. or use a computer with Internet access without permission from his probation officer
So what’s the big deal? Vroegop wrote an article on his church website condemning the SBC without mentioning his church’s history.
This church is not an SBC church but a Northern Fundamentalist Baptist church in the GARBC tradition: How We Protect Children at College Park.
Unfortunately, the issue over the last two weeks was not with a NASA spacecraft. It was the explosive news from the Houston Chronicle detailing 700 victims of sexual abuse over a twenty year period in Southern Baptist Churches. The newspaper’s six-month investigation uncovered stomach-churning statistics:
…Reading the three-part series is shocking. But it is even more frightening to consider the ripple effects in the lives of innocent, trusting children. I’ve known too many friends affected by sexual abuse. I’ve sat with an abused teenager during a police interview. I’ve had to call Child Protective Services too many times. Children and teenagers can heal, but scars will remain.
…However, this is not just a SBC problem. This is a moment for every church to take a careful look in the mirror, including College Park Church.
The shocking revelations are a reminder to be vigilant. As a result, we are evaluating our policies and procedures through the lens of what can be learned from the Houston articles. We’re securing an outside vendor who specializes in abuse prevention to assist us with an audit and expand our training.
…here are four protective measures already in place to keep kids safe at College Park Church:
And he ended
By God’s grace, we are not in the middle of the ugly controversy revealed in the Houston Chronicle. But that doesn’t mean we can rest. The painful revelations are a sober reminder that sexual abuse is a real and present danger. We must remain deeply committed to creating a safe environment for every child and teenager the Lord entrusts to our care.
Our prayers are with the victims and for church leaders as they minister to those who are deeply wounded. Perhaps this gut-wrenching story will yield some important changes in many churches.
I hope so.
What’s the old saw? “People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw bricks?” An honest pastor would have admitted to his church’s failures. But appearing virtuous seems to be the way of The Gospel Coalition leadership. I like my pastors’ approach. “We sin just like you sin.” Maybe it’s time to show the truth, warts and all.
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Julie K. Brown comes to mind. Her story is in her book: “Perversion of Justice.” Brown has been credited with re-opening a case after LE, the DOJ, and the FBI had given up. Her reporting worked.
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Looks like the current administration did some favors and made it go away.
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What are women and children worth???
Nothing, apparently…… at least not to these “men of God” (blech).
I walked away from the SBC 3 years before all of the sex abuse stories broke….. glad I wasn’t there to hear the fake wailing and moaning and see the fake tears. I am not bragging or gloating…… it actually pains me to know that my gut feeling was right about the SBC’s opinion of and beliefs about females for 5 or 6 years before all of that stuff was exposed.
There are some SBC churches not so far from me who are made up of good, upstanding, trustworthy people that I’ve know for decades. But, I cannot bring myself to attend those churches. I can’t put money in an offering plate when I know where and to whom some of that money is going. And, they have all gone all-in with silencing and seriously limiting women’s voices and involvement.
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Nancy2(aka Kevlar),
Even more generally, what are pew peons worth?? I am sure there are allot men that were abused as boys that were thrown under the bus also…
As HUG would say, “party purity” is most important..
And, to these clowns, party purity is men spewing their “message”, and covering there “sin issues”…,
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Former SBC here. What follows is just my opinion:
The SBC has not been Baptist for a looonnnggg time. Baptists held to soul sufficiency and priesthood of THE believer. Baptist held to congregational governance for that reason. A person got saved, and then found a church they were in agreement with, and joined. That church was governed by ALL the members. Jesus Christ was head of the church. And yes, women served. The broader culture meant most pastors were men, but at the time most women were home full time. When women began serving in industry, commerce, etc Baptist women began becoming missionaries, northern plains “Bible women” aka preachers, etc.
So far so good. But in the American south that could be a problem, all that soul sufficiency. Did that mean your slave was as soul sufficient as you were? That they had a voice in how the church operated?
To preserve the institution of slavery the institution of the local Baptist church got thrown under the wagon. (No busses then.) There had to be some sort of hierarchy established. White males first, of course of course. Those in power tend not to share it. Then white females, then non white males, then non white women.
In other words, it was fine and dandy for a white woman to go preach to the dark skinned male hordes overseas where it did not mess up slavery, but not here. Never here. Have to keep the social order.
And that continued until the Jim Crow era was abolished. With it no longer being so acceptable for the white male to be in power over non whites because of his race, he wasn’t about to cede his power. He has fought back most viciously by embracing sexism and agism. He can toss out the old people (agism), molest the women (sexism) and molest the children (agism) to prove he is still top dog.
He has to turn a blind eye to science, fight it aggressively, to prove he is still stop dog. It isn’t about the age of the earth. It IS about forcing you to bend the knee and against the functioning brain God gave you engage in “double think” and accept his crazy timeline so he knows he has you under his power.
This kills. It killed people when covid first hit, and continues to kill. It is killing children with the fake autism hysteria over measles shots.
It polarizes. If you listen to almost every Baptist people out there, people are born genetically and functionally male or female. Adam and Eve were. Well, yes they were, but mutations have happened but now people can be born male, female, neither, or both genetically. (xx,xy,xxxy,xxy,xyy) and they can be born male, female, neither or both functionally as well. (example is born xy with no androgen receptors, or born xx with no estrogen receptors, etc.) This need not be a polarizing issue. It is written and will always be true Biblically that a person born both genetically and functionally male or female must not have sex with the same sex. And those born neither or both are not necessarily breaking that law of God when their actions reflect that fact they are neither or both.
See how easily hot button issues can be solved when we use the brains GOD gave us and read both books HE said he gave us, both scriptures and nature?
Of course the ones in power will NEVER embrace real Baptis faith, because in that Jesus is Lord and every save person equal to all others.
But the people CAN!
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Snakes have slithered out of tough spots before … only to eventually have their heads chopped off.
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What continues to be disturbing … there are no doubt hundreds of SBC “pastors” breathing a sigh of relief today.
Victims, remember that Jesus is on your side. While we would all like to see justice on this side of eternity, there is another Judge waiting.
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Apparently, Matt Queen became SBC’s scapegoat with only a slap on the hoof. He was released into the wilderness for a short period of house arrest, assuming with his scapegoat assignment all the sins and impurities of a great host of SBC bad-boys.
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The Southern Baptist Convention property in downtown Nashville has been listed for sale for $35 million. With all the building down there, no telling what it will be torn down to become.
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Max,
Let the record show that Heath Woolman lied.
(That, and directing his staff to destroy evidence)
This is his legacy.
(I’m sure there’s a real good proverb about this)
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Elastigirl,
And, as long as this Blog stays “on-line” this stuff will stay “out there”..
I am struck by how good old Robert Morris made is tirade about bloggers, and look at him now…
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Luckyforward,
“For sale for 35 million”
Even a conservative investment of that amount can maintain or provide a number of salaries plus benefits for the hierarchy and friends.
Living off the heritage and legacy left by others has also become the rationised norm for many churches and denominations today.
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And they will pay the price if they don’t change their tune.
The SBC will die out if they don’t change course.
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Amazing what a “Touch Not Mine Anointed” Executive Order from a Friend in a Really High Place can do.
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There’s a reason “Rags to Riches to Rags in three generations” is a folk proverb in both English and Chinese.
Once you burn through the Legacy/Inheritance like a Dot-Com startup with Other People’s Money, what happens? next
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“Science”?
They have THE! WORD! OF! GAWD! (TM)
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Not only virtuous, but More Virtuous Than Thou.
Virtue-signalling like a Wokeie Celebrity.
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The SBC is done … they just haven’t quit yet.
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He called Christian watchblogs “Satan’s Hit List” in an effort to keep Gateway members from reading “gossip” … and now we know why.
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Elastigirl,
Stealth and deception are modus operandi of the New Calvinists who have taken over the SBC. You can’t believe a word they say.
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Just because something looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck doesn’t mean I can’t close my eyes, raise my arms, sway back and forth, and confidently declare, “That there’s a chicken.”
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I would really like to learn more about Trey’s Law. Particularly the next step and a calendar. I had not heard of it until yesterday.
It looks like it made it out of committee 10 votes to 0 yesterday.
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The Book of Proverbs is full of stuff like that.
And, it’s also full of fools and their folly.
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Yep, long-standing doctrines of “Soul Competency” and “Priesthood of ‘the’ Believer” went bye-bye when the New Calvinists rolled into town. They are also booting out congregational governance as elder-rule sweeps through the ranks. As I’ve been saying for years: the SBC is done, it just hasn’t quit yet.
But, actually, as I think about it, the American church at large doesn’t resemble what God planned for His people. If the Holy Spirit was lifted out the American church, 95% of the stuff would still go on. The power of God is simply not resting on the work of our hands … the authority and influence of Christ are waning in this thing we call “church” … the Done ranks are growing – believers who are done with church, but not done with Jesus.
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You got it Max. I am a musician, albeit a poor one. But I know the difference between the Holy Spirit showing up and turning a church inside out during a song and the song leader deciding last Tuesday you are going to cry and shout come Sunday. BTDT got the tshirt to prove it regarding being directing what tempo, key, lighting, smoke or no smoke, gestures, how to dress, etc to elicit the desired response.
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Church as Entertainment is manufactured faith … you can’t substitute the counterfeit for the genuine in an effort to make God adapt to your way of doing church … there is nothing to much of the American church; just big screens, fog machines, and skinny jeans … no humility, no prayer, no repentance, no seeking God’s face … no Holy Spirit = no power
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There was a time that news about the sexual abuse in the sbc would have generated 100s of comments on this site and other sites. I believe the sbc leaders have had a long term strategy to drag this serious issue out for decades so that people would forget about it or realize the sbc was only going to give lip service.
I can remember back in the 1980s when the stated goal of the sbc was to get rid of all the liberals and women preachers.
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re: Van Gorp’s emotionlessness in court, this reminds me a bit of people I know (thankfully, I only know a few who are like this) who seem incapable of mentally envisioning or regretting the harm they have caused to others, and who, to the extent that they have any regrets about past misconduct, seem to regret only the consequences to themselves. The evil they did was not evil in their eyes, but it was in retrospect a mistake because the way things worked out ended up damaging their own interests in addition to the harm that was done to the others.
People like the people I am reminded of — people who seem to exhibit serious deficiencies of both conscience and empathy* — IMO ought to be kept away from positions of power, and they ought to be kept away from vulnerable people.
I think that the churches need ways of assessing this personality type that could be implemented as part of background checks before appointment of individuals to any position of authority in a congregation, or to any volunteer post that involves interactions with vulnerable individuals.
—
I note with some bemusement a NPR radio item today that noted that conservative Evangelicals in US seem to be defining empathy as sin. That’s a pretty neat trick, just half-way to sanctifying sociopathy as a necessary virtue in Christian leaders. I do not think that the Creator will bless this move over the long term, though on shorter timescales it may be an effective way of “getting things done.”
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i.e. the textbook definition of “Psychopath”.
Yet they are the very ones who CRAVE positions of Power, and know how to do anything and everything to Get It.
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Max, Christians are compulsive and prolific counterfeiters.
Look at all the Christian Culture of Christian Counterfeit knockoffs of everything on the outside, consolation/booby prizes for those who are forbidden the real thing.
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like the “symp” and “parasymp” ograns of “The Heirarchy” (the global religious dictatorship in Fritz Leiber’s novel Gather, Darkness!, whose every sound, note, and pitche were calculated to instantly manipulate the common pewsitters’ emotions ans thoughts to anything the Priest-organists wanted them to think or feel. Like Pavlov’s Dogs, an auditory Charm Person, No Save.
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<a
"Evangelicals in the US seem to be defining empathy as sin"
After interviewing & analysing numerous war criminals (public servants, professionals, military etc) during the Nuremberg trials. The appointed psychologist Gustave Gilbert concluded by defining evil as, "the absence of empathy".
"And Jesus saw the crowds, he had compassion on them"
"When Jesus saw the mother, his heart went out to her"
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If one goes to a leadership meeting that involves finance, the conversation inevitably drifts toward what lessons can be learned from professional sports, the music and film industry, and, of all things, professional wrestling.
Even the most staid churches are discussing the importance of ‘The Show’ and how it affects attendance and the ability to generate revenue.
Something I find interesting is that when I was a kid in the 1980s, we always did a prayer before a school sporting event. All the kids took a knee. One of the coaches or refs said a quick, “God; please help these kids be safe and play fair. May the best team win.” Everyone in the stands sat quietly when they saw the players take a knee. 30 seconds of respect for God and each other. The players stood up, the crowd cheered.
By the early 2000s, churches were protesting that the qualified clergy should do the prayer. It turned into a production as the clergy person walked from the sidelines, shaking all the important people’s hands. The coach would struggle to get the kid to take a knee while the pastor/priest rambled on. The spectators would either sit still or talk quietly.
Now the prayer is done by a clergy wearing a wireless mike that is broadcast through the PA. It is rare to take less than 5 minutes. Some players and coaches take a knee, some continue to warm up.
In the stands, 1/3 completely ignores the prayer. The concession stand keeps running. People walk around to find their seats and their friends.
About 1/3 sit still or talk quietly to each other.
About 1/3 raise their faces and hands, creating quite a spectacle while glaring at everyone around them. What comes to mind is the part in Mathew “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray, standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward.
The part that I think is worth watching is how the prayer evolved from a voluntary showing of respect to a mandatory performance. As that progressed, fewer and fewer people participate, while those who do participate become more aggressive/assertive in their participation.
It is interesting to consider the causality. Are few people participating because they are ‘Nones’ or ‘Dones,’ or are people becoming ‘Nones’ and ‘Dones’ because they are forced to participate in something in which they don’t believe?
This might be a completely local phenomenon. I don’t remember ever seeing a local high school game outside our area.
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davewis,
“By the early 2000s, churches were protesting that the qualified clergy should do the prayer.”
++++++++++++++++++++++
very interesting.
i find this nauseating. the elite pastor class (at least those who identify / behave as such) make me sick.
prayer and the pursuit of faith are an equal opportunity action.
good grief, (some) pastors & church folk are so full of themselves.
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During my time in the OPC, I encountered the view that laypersons should not utter the words “God bless you” because this amounted to a benediction spoken in the Name of God which should only be spoken by an ordained gospel minister. I think that the people expressing this view genuinely believed that something serious was at stake.
I think that the growth of “Done” and “None” is a broad trend. I think that church attempts to cling to cultural hegemony do not help, but are not the cause of these changes. I think the Story the churches are telling isn’t as believable as it was in the past. I have the impression that in terms of metrics of cultural health, such as rates of divorce, the churches are not doing a whole lot better than the wider culture.
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The Great God Entertainment now sits on the throne in many American churches. A.W. Tozer described our dilemma perfectly:
“Many churches these days have become little more than poor theatres where fifth-rate ‘producers’ peddle their shoddy wares with the full approval of evangelical leaders who can even quote a holy text in defense of their delinquency. And hardly a man dares raise his voice against it.”
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There is little to no pursuit of holiness in the American church. The church once stood counter-culture to the world … it is now a sub-culture of it.
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I would say that mission has been largely accomplished. Millions of SBC pewsitters apparently don’t consider sex abuse by church leaders important enough to affect their church membership and financial support.
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Yes, another one of the metrics I have been watching is loneliness and the reduction in meaningful social relationships both inside and outside of churches.
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Re clergy and prayer:
One thing that has bothered me about the LCMS church to which I belong is this:
There was a sort of sideline church function. Church people but not an official church activity. Pastor not present. I have family in emergency medicine in another state. They had received an “all call” due to a public transportation accident with a lot of riders being involved in a vehicle accident. Family notified me to do a prayer “all call” for the injured and the people helping them, traffic cops, emts, docs, all of them. Icy roads had caused the wreck and emergency personal had to traverse it to get to them. I took the call and quickly asked the people at the meeting to pray with me for moment. Simple prayer of “Lord please help the injured, their families, and the emergency personnel.” No big deal…..except I quickly found out the people were VERY uncomfortable with any prayer not led by qualified clergy. I just bowed my head closed my eyes and prayed and have no clue who joined in or did not.
But I WAS made aware I had overstepped bounds big time.
I would do it again in an heart beat.
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Like Christianese Counterfeit pop culture,
“Just like Fill-in-the-Blank, Except CHRISTIAN(TM)!” is NEVER a good sign.
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In the words of the prophet Alfred Yankovic, “MANDATORY FUN”.
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Back in local Eighties fandom, there was an observation that “It’s gotta be Chrsitian(TM). Look how shoddy it is.” This referred to Christianese Counterfeit knockoff merch that was pretty common at the time.
An accompanying proverb was “It’s gotta be good. All the Christians are denouncing it.”
Think about both of those.
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And even such pro wrestling angles to put butts in seats as the infamous Gobbledy Gooker (https://www.wrestlecrap.com/inductions/the-gobbledy-gooker/) are beyond their creativity.
(Though there was an attempt at a CHRISTIAN Pro Wrestling league whose angles were “No cursing” and “NO scantily-clad women”. That was their draw. Talk about third-rate knockoffs…)
Compared to “WrestleCrap – The Very Worst of Pro Wrestling!”‘s worst angles of all time.
Thin about it.
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As C.S.Lewis wrote, “Holy shoddy is stll shoddy.”
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And its corollary “Shoddiness does not equal Holiness.”
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HUG–I grew up in an EXTREMELY conservative part of the desert, where the SBC ruled.
It was oilfield, and science and geology were served up for breakfast daily so to speak. Before the fundamentalist take over, no one suggested the Bible and science did not agree. We kept getting told how the Bible told us who did what, and science told us how. And that the Bible gave us beautiful word pictures describing the very facts science was learning.
This anti science garbage isn’t really about Genesis or preserving God as creator, not at all.
Every top dog comes up with something he expects his lackeys to do to prove their loyalty.
The fundies chose setting aside our functioning brains and five senses in favor of adopting their version of reality. That is just proof to them they have you firmly in their thrall.
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Headless Unicorn Guy,
Well, for some, it does. At least, self-attributed holiness, the only one that counts.
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Is that another way of saying “bumptious mandating”?
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And they’re also full of something else (hint: it’s a colorful American expression).