When Churches are Dying, Does It Matter What Denomination We Are?

I wrote this for the newsletter of the church I am currently serving, Park Hill Christian Church, Disciples of Christ in Kansas City, MO. It's an answer to questions I've had from laypeople regarding whether being a part of our denomination matters anymore. I have no idea if this is meaningful for any other DOC church or for that matter for someone of another denomination or of no faith tradition at all, but I'm sharing it here in case its helpful.

When I went to seminary in the mid-nineties, church historians were already saying denominations were dying. The decades since have borne their words out. Denominational agencies, structures and missions have fallen away as church memberships and financial contributions have declined. As the generation born just before and during WWII enter their final decades, the dramatic upswing in church attendance and membership experienced after WWII goes with them. From the Baby Boomers forward, younger generations just haven’t cared much about the differences between churches, if they care about churches at all. It is a more than fair question to ask, “Why should a church be a part of a denomination?” and more specifically for Park Hill Christian, Church, “Why should we be a part of the Christian Church, (Disciples of Christ)?”

My answer to both questions essentially comes down to both yes and no. First the “no.”

No, in many ways, denominations don’t matter, especially as church as we have known it fades away. When the house is on fire, taking time to argue about the proper form of firefighting seems senseless. What good is it to argue methodology and ideology as things burn down around you? Also, even if churches were not in their current declining state, there is a certain arrogance to arguing about denominations. If the God we worship is indeed the God of all people, and the Spirit of Christ blows where it wills, who are we mortals to ever presume we possess the one and only truth? For such a great God, how dare we declare our way of being Christian is the only way of being Christian?

On the other hand, yes, things like accountability, preventing abuse of all kinds, avoiding the lure of celebrity clergy, and even avoiding unhealthy religion such as practiced by groups generally called “cults” means boundaries are needed and how we do things does matter. Striking a balance between arrogant legalism on one extreme and relativistic free-for-all on the other extreme is necessary if anything like healthy religion can be found in Christianity.

My answer to finding some kind of middle ground between too much and too little emphasis upon denomination has been to claim two denominations, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the United Church of Christ. (I’ll stick to the former since I am addressing PHCC.) The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) allows individual believers and individual congregations maximum freedom in practice, belief and responsibility, but expects both believers and congregations to exist in a covenant relationship with others in their denomination. That covenant relationship means accountability, shared mission/outreach, and shared resources. Of course, because of the amount of freedom allowed, the covenant part often doesn’t work well, but that is due to the misuse of freedom by individuals and congregations rather than a fault of the structure itself.

(I should add the caveat that I've known plenty of churches who are a part of my two denominations that have failed the covenant test. I have also known of purposefully non-denominational congregations which have done well things like accountability, preventing abuse, partnering with other congregations, etc. What I am describing is my particular journey and my answer to whether or not being a part of a denomination matters.)

In sum, I choose the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), because it allows for freedom within healthy relationships. This balance is shown even in the name of the denomination. Its origins occurred in two 19th century American religious movements which happened simultaneously in Kentucky and Pennsylvania. Both groups rejected the rigid denominationalism of their day and sought to “restore” early Christianity. One group simply called itself “Christian” and the other group called itself “Disciples of Christ.” When they merged both names were kept.

Christian—refers to the understanding that all believers have direct relationships with God based upon their reading of scripture rather than on creeds or doctrine. This freedom is always understood to exist in community lest it become individualistic to the point of narcissism.

Disciples of Christ—refers to the understanding that many people claim to be “Christian” due to their family of birth, cultural identity or even country of origin, but being a disciple necessarily involves a relationship with Christ lived out in communion with other believers.

The freedom and covenant relationship of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) are necessary principles, especially for today’s world. I want to be a part of a church that is generous towards other believers, members of other religion and none. I want a church that recognizes no one person, one interpretation of scripture or one understanding of tradition, creeds and confessions contains all truth. In our global culture, we can no longer assume the way “we” do things is the best or only way. The dangers of churches that exclude, harm and abuse people demand that we act with humility about what we believe and remain open to the possibility our beliefs are incomplete or even wrong.

American culture is dangerously polarized, and we are losing settings where people of differing political beliefs can be together to transcend difference and remember our common humanity. Our kind of church necessitates finding such common ground. We share an open communion table where all are welcome, no exceptions. We don’t require new members to confess a list of beliefs, be baptized a certain way or to adhere to particular stances on politics or social controversies. We lay down our idols of politics, partisanship and division in order to worship Christ together.

Early members of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) claimed mottos like “No creed but Christ” and “Unity not uniformity” which have special relevance today. In a day where churches have equated being Christian with voting for a particular political party or adhering to the talking points of cable news pundits, our denomination declares itself a “movement for wholeness in a fragmented world.”

In our current religious landscape (only heightened by Covid), the minority of people interested in being a part of a church seem to be flocking to congregations offering the best show. The best production values, praise band and preacher have trumped values, integrity and authenticity. As churches fear dying—a legitimate concern—they must remember there are worse fates than death. Being a part of churches that refuse leadership to women, condemn LGBTQ people, continue racist practices and promote politics above people means, in my book, being something other than Christian. I continue to believe there is a way to be church that allows for freedom and does so with integrity and health. The best way I have found to do so is in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

Grace and Peace, Rev. Chase Peeples

Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbor’s Church

Coveting is one of the 10 Commandments, but we don’t treat it like it’s in God’s Top Ten List. All we do is covet. If you’re not familiar with the term “covet,” it refers to wanting what your neighbor has--not in the sense of merely liking what they have but wanting it so bad that you fail to appreciate what you have, so bad you want to have it and you want them not to have it. It’s a matter of status and control. It’s a desire strong enough that it leads to action at whatever the cost. When one covets, there isn’t enjoyment of the thing in itself, but rather enjoyment of others not having what you have, enjoyment of others being jealous of you. It’s an ego trip to a self-centered destination.

The actual verse in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:17) says, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” Although coveting your neighbor’s church isn’t on the list, I’ve learned it should be.

A United Church of Christ minister named Rev. Michelle Torrigan penned a blog post about ministers coveting other ministers’ churches and asked clergy to consider they were called to the ministry they were at. Instead of spending one’s energy coveting what other churches are doing, why not spend that energy on improving where you are at? Ever since I read Torrigan’s blog post, I’ve thought about my own tendency to wish for other places of ministry with more status, more members, more money, more young families, more and more whatever. It’s an indicting self-realization. I believe the same is true for laypeople when it comes to churches.

Recently, I preached on the pursuit of status. I shared that we all compare ourselves to others. We take shortcuts to building our self-esteem by looking down on others, but by those standards you inevitably must realize you may be “above” some but you are also “below” many others. It’s a no-win game. No matter how much your status rises in whatever arena matters to you, it is never enough. You are always below somebody. Instead of being grateful for what you do have and enjoying life, you are constantly feeling inadequate and afraid of falling down the ladder of status.

Because the status game, otherwise known as coveting, is all about oneself, it is inherently self-centered and not in a self-care healthy sort of way. When it is applied to churches, then one is never at church for the right reasons--namely, worshipping God and living in loving community. Instead, one is there as a consumer to get and never give. It’s all about whether the music, sermon, etc. made you feel good, gave you an emotional fix and enabled you to go about your life without sacrificing anything.

In every church I have served, I have watched people move in and out. They show up looking for an emotional fix and when they inevitably stop getting it, they move on to another church. When they get involved and inevitably see a church is made up of broken people just like them, it’s too messy, so they move on. 

In some ways, the transitory ones are preferable to the folks who stay but always complain. They visit other churches and see things they like (never looking below the surface, never questioning the superficiality, never questioning the lousy theology) and then stay in a cycle of negativity complaining but never working to make their church any better. It’s so much easier to covet what the church down the block has than to actually be involved in the messiness of real intimacy in one’s own. Coveting doesn’t require a sacrifice of time, money, energy or empathy. It feels good in that dopamine-firing kind of way but it never feeds the hunger of an empty soul.

In the churches I've served, I’ve heard lots about what other churches are doing. I’ve heard a lot about how former pastors just weren’t charismatic enough, dynamic enough, and talented enough to attract people the way other ministers do--and I guess i became one of the former pastors who weren't enough. I’ve heard about so much fear about the church dying and how we don’t have enough young families and youth and children. I’ve heard a whole lot about coveting other churches, but I haven’t heard very much at all about what people are willing to do to invest themselves in the church they are at.

I wonder what would happen if the people who currently consider themselves members of a church spent the same amount of energy showing up and investing themselves in community as they did comparing their church to other churches--usually megachurches that no small church can "compete" with in terms of money and program. If the folks coveting other churches actually invested in their current one, they might actually have a church they’d want to go to--that is if they really want to go to church for the right reasons: worshipping God and living in loving community. If it’s just a matter of making you feel better, there are plenty of churches to offer you that--but none of that stuff will feed your hungry soul.

Don’t get me wrong, there are lots of things the average congregation could learn from other churches--even megachurches, but ultimately everything the average church needs to be the church God calls it to be is already present--IF folks will do more than covet.

Grace and Peace,
Rev. Chase Peeples

When Our Secret Lives Become Not So Secret

I wrote this for my church newsletter column on 10-14-21, the week Las Vegas Raiders coach John Gruden resigned after his emails were leaked. Two weeks later it is difficult to remember this story was a thing, but I'm still posting what I wrote here in hopes it's meaningful to someone.

There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.
--Luke 12:2-3 NIV

I can’t be the only minister thinking about these words of Jesus this week. It is tempting to write a sermon (or church newsletter column) about this week’s news. As a lifelong Kansas City Chiefs fan, it is nearly impossible for me to feel sorry for anybody in the Las Vegas Raiders organization (they will always be the Oakland Raiders to me), and I have to just shake my head in wonder at the resignation of Raiders coach John Gruden. The friendly guy in the Corona commercials turned out to be pretty darn racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic and probably every other kind of -phobic and -ist once the world got to read his emails from over the last decade. As Jesus declared (sort of), “What is typed in your private email shall be leaked to the media.”

Before “Yeah, but what about . . .” escapes your mouth, let me state a few things.

All the people quoting Jesus this week regarding this story have a point. “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone . . .” Which one of us would want our own emails, texts or deleted social media posts and tweets broadcast to the world? I’m old enough to remember life before the internet, smartphones and social media. My college friends and I all agree that if social media had been around back in the day when we were young and stupid(er), none of us would be employable. We have a solemn compact that the print pictures and videos from those days must be destroyed or hidden somewhere with Raiders of the Lost Ark-level booby traps. All of us have moments where se have said or done lousy things that we wouldn’t want broadcast. God forbid the whole of our lives is summed up by our worst moments.

Also, Gruden is a scapegoat, a guilty scapegoat but still a scapegoat. Reporters and columnists are rightfully pointing out that somebody leaked Gruden’s emails to ruin his career, but there are hundreds of thousands of emails which currently remain hidden. Who knows what other NFL owners, coaches and general managers have written in their emails? Just ask last week’s NFL scandal, Urban Meyer, coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars, who was filmed dirty dancing with a young woman—not his wife—when he lied to his team and said he was visiting his grandkids. In an era where one person with a phone can take a picture or video and instantly send it around the world, hypocrites should beware.

This latest scandal connects with a long line of public figures caught with their public personas not matching up with their private behavior. Whether it is in entertainment (Bill Cosby, Woody Allen, Harvey Weinstein, Lori Loughlin, etc.), politicians (Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, Andrew Cuomo, Matt Gaetz, etc.) athletics (US gymnastics, the Houston Astros, Robert Kraft, etc.) or business (Wells Fargo, Jeffrey Epstein, Tesla, etc.) there is plenty of unethical behavior to go around. What remains hidden is unquantifiable but surely awful. What should the consequences be when this terrible stuff gets revealed?

A current toxic political kerfuffle arrives in the form of so-called “cancel culture.” I won’t wade into it except to say as a Christian minister I believe in two concepts that may be relevant: grace and repentance.

Grace involves the love and forgiveness God offers to us which we cannot earn and do not deserve. Yet, God’s grace does not always free us from earthly consequences for our unethical actions. Scripture consistently declares that God detests false apologies and empty words from insincere people whose lousy deeds come to light.  

Likewise, true repentance involves acknowledging one’s moral failures, accepting the consequences of those failures being found out, seeking to make restitution and committing to not repeat them. No, I don’t think a person’s professional life should be irreparably harmed due to a single bad email or tweet, but patterns of behavior (such as Gruden’s and presumably many other higher ups in the NFL) remain a different matter. I believe God loves John Gruden, stands ready to forgive him and desires for him to grow and change from this experience, and I also think a person in power cannot exercise that power ethically while holding the beliefs revealed in Gruden’s emails. Caring people can only hope this experience causes Gruden to do better than empty phrases like “I don’t have a racist bone in my body” or “I never meant to hurt anybody.”

Most of us aren’t going to hold positions in the public eye, but all of us must constantly assess whether our private beliefs and behavior match what we present to the outside world. Jesus taught that we are our best selves when our actions match what is in our hearts and when our deeds match our convictions. Jesus taught us about the dangers of the divided self and desires for us to live lives of wholeness. Sometimes we are wise enough to see the divisions and change them with God’s help before the consequences become devastating to our lives. Other times, we remain stubborn and prideful and refuse to do so. In such cases, God’s grace may come to us in the form of a public disgrace. I call such painful moments grace, because sometimes it is only when we feel the pain of our broken behavior intensely that we are willing to change for the better.

When our secret lives are revealed resulting in a crash and burn moment, we can be thankful God is there to offer grace and help us change for the better. I believe God’s grace and transforming power is available to everyone, even people wearing clothing with Raiders logos.

Grace and Peace,
Rev. Chase Peeples

What Churches Can Learn From Public Libraries

I am approaching the third anniversary of the morning my mother died from an inoperable brain tumor. I’ve been thinking about her more than usual as this date approaches. Some of the best memories of my mother are of our regular trips to the public library when I was a child.

My mother was a lifelong avid reader who would bring home piles of books to read. Near the end of her life, she shared with me how it grated on her as a child when the librarian in her small Arkansas town refused to allow her to check out books she was interested in, because they were books about subjects for boys not girls. Perhaps that’s why she encouraged me to check out whatever books I wanted. I would come home with stacks of books so tall there was no way I could ever finish them, but my mother never minded. I learned libraries are magical places. Just imagine a place where you can take home as much as you like for free with the only requirement being you must bring it back so the next person can do the same.

Magic.

It’s too bad most American churches refuse to function in a similar way. Our giving to our communities comes with strings attached. We offer worship services, programs and ministries explicitly for free, but the implicit expectations are those who partake of what we offer will join our churches, increase our membership rolls, raise our attendance figures and most importantly give to our budgets. The almighty figures of weekly attendance and contributions drive everything we do. Given Jesus’ selfless giving of his very life, one might think we would know better.

I realize libraries are funded by taxes, have membership drives and take donations, but everyone knows what their mission is--to serve their communities. I expect most people would say the same is not true for churches. Declining numbers and budgets have only heightened the anxiety of congregations and led churches to adopt bunker mentalities. We are less likely to serve the people around us. Our communities rightly understand we serve them for our own selfish reasons.

Sociologists, community planners and social service providers have declared we are losing so-called “third spaces” in our communities. Third spaces are places where people spend time and build relationships other than home (first place) and work (second place). Traditionally third spaces could be houses of worship, community centers, barber shops and hairdressers, coffee shops and bars, and yes, libraries. Yet, the combination of zoning which isolates people by income, age, race, etc. along with technology allowing for online connection, shopping, entertainment etc. has led to dwindling numbers of third places. Architects, planners and government leaders have learned that communities without third places lead to social isolation (especially for seniors) and declines in community health of every sort.

Public libraries continue to meet this need for a third place in all kinds of ways besides the very important service of supplying free books, periodicals and similar material. A University of Pennsylvania study described public libraries as “dynamic, social responsive institutions, a nexus of diversity, and a lifeline for the most vulnerable among us.” (When was the last time you heard a church described that way?) Libraries partner with area health systems and social services to address community needs. They  provide “neutral” meeting spaces and public events responding to community demand. They offer literacy programs, assistance to immigrants, programs for children, support to LGBTQ people and people with disabilities. They provide access to technology many people cannot otherwise access including internet access, computers and printers. Libraries even help feed their communities via community gardens, farmers markets and nutrition programs. The list of creative services libraries provide is endless.

One of the greatest things libraries offer their communities is grace. In our commodified society where everything has a price and most interactions are transactional, libraries are the exception. You can use a library whoever you are even if you do not pay taxes to support it. Increasingly libraries are doing away with fines, because they realize the fines penalize the people who need library services the most. In a society intent on trying to sell us something at every turn, libraries remind us of how great it is to share, borrow and return things. We don’t have to get everything from an Amazon van and then pay for a storage unit to hold all our stuff we didn’t need in the first place. Instead, we can simply borrow it from the library and return it--for free! 

90% of Americans describe their local library as “friendly and welcoming.” Two thirds of Americans say closing of their local library would have a major impact on their community. 50% said they had visited their local library in the last six months. As a local minister, I can tell you the chances of your average church getting such good ratings is slim and none. Maybe it is time we consider why this is the case.

Grace and Peace,

Rev. Chase Peeples

P.S.--I wrote this piece for my congregation's oct. 7 church newsletter before I read this wonderful essay published in Christian Century which makes much the same point.