Five Values Post-Evangelicals are Seeking as They Reengage in Church

Recent studies have identified a noteworthy trend: younger people seem to be returning to church. These finding are consistent with what we have observed in our work with No Harbor. Confirming our ubiquitous claim that deconstructing people still desire Jesus, many post-evangelicals are now actively seeking out faith community—but not necessarily in the evangelical church. We have observed that many people who rebuilt their faith in our No Harbor cohorts have chosen either Catholic traditions (Episcopalian or Anglican) or Mainline Protestant traditions. There, they are finding values that have become increasingly important to them. As a result of Caryn’s work as a therapist who helps people process religious trauma, and through our relationships with the people in our cohorts, we have identified five values that post-evangelicals are seeking as they reengage in church:

Safe Community: Some of the most common forms of trauma post-evangelicals report to us from their past church experiences are rejection and isolation because of the questions they asked and their failure to toe the line. In well-meaning attempts to correct and produce conformity, they have been railed by apologetics, explanations, and admonitions, which have further alienated them. So, as they begin to reengage in church, they are desperately seeking community where they can expose their innermost feelings without flinching, where they can express doubt and be met with kindness rather than judgement. “Safety” has ironically become a trigger word for evangelical gatekeepers who misguidedly understand it as a license to sin. But it is rather a license to love and an invitation to continue on a journey with Jesus and his people. A safe community means one can freely give the gift of allowing one’s true self to be known by another and be certain that this gift will be warmly received with acceptance and love.

Liturgical Worship: The church growth movement in the 1980s produced a “culturally relevant” and “seeker sensitive” worship service, creating familiarity with dress, music, and language. A generation later, the desired effect of these reforms to be “relevant” has given way to suspicion and anxiety in the hearts many Millennial and Gen Y Christians. So, post-evangelicals are re-discovering liturgical churches, finding that they provide a structured and soothing environment, serving as an oasis among 21^st century chaos. The liturgy is not subject to the whims of the pastor, but is instead predictable and, being furnished by ecclesiastical authority, credible. The seasons provide rhythms, and the lectionary provides a connection to the global body of Christ. The formality helps usher worshippers into a disciplined space, shielding them from our disordered, doom-scrolling culture for a brief respite. The successive elements in the service unfold the gospel message, while inviting worshippers to participate in its proclamation. All these things provide safety and a connection to a greater and sacred whole, which is so sought after among today’s seekers.

Revamped Politics: It is said, likely with much wisdom, that the gospel has political implications and there is therefore no way for the church to be both relevant and non-political (1). Most post-evangelicals accept this as an axiom. However, the politics in their evangelical past was primarily focused on protecting religious rights and freedoms. Whether fighting to ban gay marriage or to mandate the display of the Ten Commandments on school walls, the policies endorsed by the church were geared to preserve our way of life and advance our cultural agenda. But the post-evangelical departure from evangelical politics is not a partisan reversal. Suspicious of both major political parties, post-evangelicals have revamped their politics. Seeing themselves as global citizens, they endorse policy to protect weaker people in the world rather than the interests of the American church. Whether supporting legislation that feeds the poor, provides healthcare, advocates for housing availability, welcomes and protects immigrants, preserves the environment, or fights against genocide, post-evangelicals believe the church should have a global prophetic voice that holds world leaders accountable to put into practice Jesus’ teachings about how we should treat “the least of these.”

Connected Spirituality: A hallmark of late 20^th century evangelicalism was an ordered discipleship process which focused on the acquisition of knowledge which in turn produced measured behavioral outcomes such as serving in church ministry and engaging in evangelism. This emphasis on knowing and doing initially produced numerical church growth. But ultimately, it culminated in legions of people feeling spiritually disconnected and emotionally burned out. As post-evangelicals re-connect with church, they are yearning for a deeper and more wholistic spirituality. They are seeking environments which engage emotions and senses, value experiences, embrace mystery, and appreciate beauty. They are learning to see the sacredness in all things, experiencing God in their surroundings and in the ordinariness of everyday life. They are discovering the contemplative disciplines which embrace mystery and mindfulness, terms used pejoratively in evangelicalism but largely embraced in Catholic and Mainline traditions. Rather than “disciplemaking,” “spiritual direction” has become the work of the minister to the post-evangelical follower.

Radical Inclusivity: Foundational in evangelical strategy was to distinguish between Christians and non-Christians and then to define how the faithful should relate differently to each group: fellowship with the saved and reach the unsaved. So, non-Christians became a project, and if friend, then primarily with the goals of having “spiritual conversations” and to invite them to church. Post-evangelicals have grown fatigued by seeing every co-worker, relative, and neighbor as a mission. Furthermore, in the current divisive environment, many post-evangelical people have reported to us that their non-Christian friends seem to act more like Jesus than their Christian friends (we hear this a lot). Therefore, former evangelicals have grown to despise the exclusivity of their past and have learned to appreciate the sincerity of people of other faiths. While not diminishing their own faith in Jesus, post-evangelicals now desire inclusive environments in which there exists a willingness to be shaped by the experiences of people from all walks of life. Rather than being threatened by people of different identities or points of view, they value the stories of others. Modeling the table ministry of Jesus, they are looking for environments where all enjoy a seat at the table and participate in the mission.

(1) I received some pushback about this statement, saying that “the gospel is not political.” I affirm this concern. And I would agree if we were to say that the gospel is not partisan, that is to say neither right nor left with respect to American politics. But the message that Jesus preached was the Kingdom of God is coming. In the time of Caesar, a very politically charged message! Jesus raised issues such as releasing prisoners, feeding the poor, caring for the sick, and welcoming strangers (foreigners). All of these issues show up in our political conversations today. Post-evangelical people care deeply about these issues, and as a church we must engage honestly and openly with these very valid concerns.