This is an excerpt from some brainstorming writing I did for a recent clergy gathering…

“My contribution conceptually in the group has been to help them see the opportunities before them…I told [them] that PNW and O/I needed to get over themselves and realize the blessing of NOT having cultural Christianity breathing down their necks all the time…Ministry up here to our “None brothers & sisters” is God’s work, and we are privileged to be a part of it. It is tough, but the toughness needs to be understood. The presence of Nones and the pervasive dismissal of religion is a purifying reality. Here, one cannot just minister from the La-Z-Boy of cultural Christianity. In fact, cultural Christianity has been exposed as fraudulent and even dangerous. The Nones force us to be honest and competent. They force us to be clear about who we are and what we’re about. Nones also bear the symptoms of some of the church’s sins: many have been lost due to our stances on homosexuality. Some have been lost due to the church’s laziness with the gospel. [And we can’t blame the Nones for not wanting to a part of this kind of faith.] We have to be engaging. We have to be relevant. We have to be compassionate and prophetic. This is the joy of ministry in the Great Northwest…”

FWIW