{"id":1484,"date":"2013-04-10T17:29:00","date_gmt":"2013-04-10T17:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/04\/how-to-avoid-a-religious-apocalypse-6-changes-the-church-needs-to-make.html"},"modified":"2013-04-10T17:29:00","modified_gmt":"2013-04-10T17:29:00","slug":"how-to-avoid-a-religious-apocalypse-6-changes-the-church-needs-to-make","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/04\/how-to-avoid-a-religious-apocalypse-6-changes-the-church-needs-to-make.html","title":{"rendered":"How to Avoid a Religious Apocalypse: 6 Changes the Church Needs to Make"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/p>\n

We are headed for a religious apocalypse \u2014 if we are to believe the statistics and the commentators, that is. Study after study tells us that Americans are leaving religion in droves, with the\u00a0number of spiritual but not religious (SBNR)<\/a>\u00a0increasing dramatically. In fact, the \u201cnones,\u201d as they are often called, now account for\u00a0one-fifth of all Americans<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 a significant number from anyone\u2019s perspective. Based on these statistics (as well as anecdotal information), some religious scholars predict the\u00a0death of Christianity<\/a>\u00a0and maybe even the\u00a0end of religion as we know it<\/a>.<\/span><\/div>\n
Although I suspect that some of these predictions may be an over-dramatization, I do think thatsignificant changes in organized religion are inevitable and necessary.\u00a0<\/strong>And whilesweeping changes are necessary on a societal level<\/a>, the most urgent need for transformation lies with the Church.<\/span><\/div>\n
In Mark Sandlin\u2019s recent post, \u201cChurch Where the Sidewalk Ends<\/a>,\u201d he encourages the Church to follow the \u201c[c]halk-white arrows\u201d to \u201cthe place where the sidewalk ends\u201d in order to maintain relevance. He writes:<\/span><\/div>\n

Church after Church ends (or, at least, the way we currently practice it ends). For all of its messiness and the growth that can happen there, it is ultimately limited and insular when it stays on the sidewalk. True, we are called to be in the world but not of it \u2014 but that still calls us to be decidedly in it. It is time for the institution of Church to once again live more fully into the image of its God who is continually doing a \u201cnew thing.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read the rest here\u00a0<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We are headed for a religious apocalypse \u2014 if we are to believe the statistics and the commentators, that is. Study after study tells us that Americans are leaving religion in droves, with the\u00a0number of spiritual but not religious (SBNR)\u00a0increasing dramatically. In fact, the \u201cnones,\u201d as they are often called, now account for\u00a0one-fifth of all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2251,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Avoid a Religious Apocalypse: 6 Changes the Church Needs to Make<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We are headed for a religious apocalypse -- if we are to believe the statistics and the commentators, that is. 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