Thank you for this, Reverend! It was beautiful and hopeful and true -- like poetry you can stand on. :-) What strikes me also is that your whole article can apply just the same to the Catholic church (which I belong to), with really only one change: Instead of "continuing" down the road of radical inclusion, we have to start heading down that road. You guys are ahead on that path, and thank you for lighting the way.
Thank you for that…truly. And you’re right: so much of this conversation crosses denominational lines. Every tradition has its own work to do, its own tender spots to heal. I’m grateful for the places in the Catholic Church where that road toward inclusion is being walked with courage. We all end up learning from one another.
I LOVE THIS!! You are spot on...our purpose is the Kingdom here in our midst...as we bring it we have it. Love at work, wrestling, sweating, jostling for recognition. The Saints and Sinners in ALL of us meeting, including G-d in the circle. Thank you!
Thank you for this. And yes, that mix of saints and sinners in all of us is exactly where the Kingdom tends to break through. It’s messy and holy all at the same time.
Beau: it’s happening all over Bible Belt Alabama and Mississippi.
I see mainline pastors and churches across our region doing the hard self evaluation and internal core values work of choosing to wrestle with the tough moral and doctrinal questions; choosing to learn and change and grow, rather than stalemate and die; choosing to serve the most vulnerable people groups in our neighborhoods and communities; and choosing to teach and live a better theology in the midst of religious extremism which has polarized so many believers.
Guys like you who are heralding the Call for a return to First Love and to the Way of Christ in the are SO important in this age and era. I appreciate your work and am grateful that our paths have intersected. 🕊️💜
Just had lunch with our new Rector and discussed many of the same ideas. thanks so much for putting it so eloquently and hopeful. I look forward to more.
I love hearing that. When church leaders are having these kinds of conversations, it gives me a lot of hope. Grateful for your encouragement and glad the piece resonated.
Its that unconditional acceptance and extravagant welcome that matters. Mainline churches that don't want to accept trans people, are doomed to attrition and selling the buildings they love.
Yep. You can’t preach “all means all” and then whisper “well… except them.” People feel that disconnect instantly. The places choosing real welcome over gatekeeping are the ones with a future.
You have such a gentle strength in the way you express yourself. It is pure and true. I carry hope along with you but the weaponization from my evangelical fundamental upbringing is still in healing mode. Maybe someday I will be ready to step back into a church. But today is not the day.
Thank you for saying that. And honestly, I get it. Healing from that kind of spiritual harm takes time, and there’s no deadline you have to meet. If and when you ever feel ready to step into a church again, it should be a place that meets you with safety, not pressure. Until then, keep healing at the pace your soul can handle.
Thank you, Danielle. That table…wide, welcoming, no qualifiers…is the thing that keeps me believing the Church can rise again. Grateful to share that hope with you.
As someone who is on the fence, but still on the outside, I appreciate your views and the people who are finding renewal. I tried going to a church service this year, but it just felt weird. The people were welcoming and respectful, but I felt like a phony - I didn't really believe. To be fair, I consider myself an atheist, but most non-religious people still consider themselves spiritual. So, perhaps what you said still applies to many people - just not me.
I wrote a post, "Do I Have Faith?" if people are interested.
I would disagree with you on one part. I think there does not need to be some leadership. Right now, when people think of Christians - they think of Mike Johnson, Matt Walsh, Alisa Childers, Joel Osteen and various others that represent this toxic Christian nationalism and/or grifting. I can only think of a few current public figures that I think - "Yeah, there's someone I can support for their Christian values."
Because of the lack of definition you will often hear people calling out Christian hypocrisy (ex. TikTok baby formula request), and then adding "I don't mean all Christians". Christians like you are being painted with the same brush as the Christians that scare me (and I think you too). The effect of the lack of leadership is that people can't tell the difference.
I’m really grateful you wrote this. Truly. And I don’t hear anything “phony” in what you described…walking into a church as an atheist and noticing how it feels is just honest observation. A lot of spiritually curious people share that same experience.
And you’re right about public leadership. The people who dominate the microphone right now often represent a version of Christianity that scares me too. When the worst voices are the loudest, it becomes almost impossible for folks to tell the difference between toxic religion and the kind of humble, justice-seeking faith that rarely makes headlines.
I am 80 years old. I grew up in a mainline Protestant church but left the Church during the Civil Rights years in the late 50’s and early 60’s due to the hypocrisy I saw in the Church leadership and refusal to welcome brothers and sisters of color. I “found Jesus” again in the 70’s in a small non-traditional home church and have spent years reading scripture, studying church history and doctrine, while serving the poor, refugees and marginalized communities. However I struggle to get past the scriptural warnings about same-sex relationships. Maybe it’s my age and the cultural context of my upbringing but, although I love these people (some in my own family), I have not found a way to accept their behavior as acceptable in scriptural context. HELP!!
Thank you for sharing so honestly, and I hear your struggle. Many people raised in that era wrestle with how to read those passages.
For me, the turning point came when I started looking at the cultural, historical, and linguistic context around the “clobber texts.” The more I studied, the more I realized those passages weren’t describing the faithful, mutual, loving relationships we see today…they were addressing exploitation, power imbalance, and idolatry.
If you’re open to it, there are some beautiful, faithful resources that unpack this with real depth. But even beyond that: your love for the people in your life is already telling you something true about God’s heart. Sometimes the Spirit leads our compassion before our theology catches up.
Wherever you are on the journey, I’m grateful you’re asking these questions with humility and genuine love.
Love this story, its what COR is all about!! Big picture question I'm curious to your thoughts on - gen z & millennials are going to church more often than ever before, why have mainline churches largely failed capture this demographic? I think it's because most of the new churchgoing gen z and millennials are inspired to go to church when exposed to it in conservative media or by conservative Christian influencers, and so they are more often directed to non-denominational or Catholic churches, but I'm just me lol what do you think?
Thanks for this question, Carson! It’s one I think about a lot! I think you’re onto something with the conservative media/influencer pipeline. There’s been a massive investment in Christian content creation on that side (think Daily Wire, PragerU, all the “cultural Christianity” stuff), and it’s working. They’ve figured out how to make church feel countercultural and edgy in a way that appeals to young people who are tired of feeling adrift. But here are some other thing I’ve been thinking about…
1. We’re terrible at marketing. Mainline churches often assume “if we build it, they will come.” Meanwhile, non-denoms are often SEO experts and focus on marketing and engagement. I’ve mentioned this specifically at COR. We are probably the only mega church in the US without a massive social media presence.
2. Certainty sells. Young people are facing economic anxiety, climate dread, political chaos, and some churches offer clean answers and a clear roadmap. The mainline offers “holy mystery” and “faithful wrestling,” which is beautiful but harder to sell on TikTok. I hope that makes sense.
3. I think we tend to undersell what we have. Liturgy, intellectual depth, sacramental theology, justice work that’s baked into our DNA…these are things Gen Z actually values. We just haven’t learned how to talk about them in accessible ways. (Something I’m working on!) lol
That said, I do think there’s a quieter stream of young people finding their way to mainline churches because of what we offer. They’re not going viral, but they’re here…and they’re staying. We just need to get better at helping them find us.
What do you think? Any ideas for how we bridge that gap? I’d love to grab coffee with you guys sometime too to talk more! 😊
Lovely, hopeful post. I don't actually think it's about being "mainline" at all, though. I think it's about the church remembering to become human again, and the need to do things on a human scale -- small gatherings, time spent caring for one another and for one's neighbors, sacraments that look more like supper than pageant. If you want to call it mainline, fine, but I'm not sure God cares.
Please help me understand the part about same-sex relationships. I noticed your comment about resources that describe the proper context for "clobber" passages; please elaborate. Along the same lines and the idea that "all are welcome," what about fornicators and adulterers? The Bible seems clear on the condemnation that will fall upon those involved in "sexual immorality," so how does the Mainline approach these relationships between consenting adults?
Please also help me understand the "radical inclusion" of Jesus. Jesus told Peter that the large majority of those who listened to him were spiritually blind and deaf (Matt. 13:15) and would be excluded. He said that people who lie are children of Satan (John 8:44). He said people who invent religious rules nullify God's word (Mark 7:13), and the list of religious people who do that, Mainline or otherwise, seems endless.
He also said, "I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! 51 Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division" (Luke 12:49-51).
I get that we should love our neighbor as ourselves, and I wholeheartedly reject the intolerance that comes from politically-rightist, self-identified Christians. But I also think we aren't loving our neighbors if we don't show them their sin which they call "righteous" or "pure." I suppose all these problems can be swept away by saying the Bible doesn't mean what it says, but I think anyone who does that is taking a huge risk. And even if the view is correct that the original context of the Scriptures does not include our present circumstances, what translation of the Bible do you recommend that can be taken at its word?
The short version is that when you dig into the history, the passages that talk about same-sex behavior are addressing very specific practices in the ancient world, things like exploitation, power imbalance, and temple rituals, not the kind of loving, mutual relationships we see today.
Mainline churches don’t just ignore sexual ethics; we apply them to everyone the same way, whether straight or gay. What matters is fidelity, consent, honesty, and the actual health of the relationship. And when Jesus talked about “division” or called out sin, he wasn’t targeting marginalized people, he was confronting religious leaders who used Scripture to burden others and protect their own power. That pattern shows up again and again.
As for a translation you can trust, I usually recommend reading the NRSVue or the CEB, because they’re both careful, scholarly, and not shaped by a political agenda.
I know that’s a lot in a small space, but that’s the heart of how many of us approach these questions.
I can identify with this post! Having walked away from God and the Episcopal church (and any form of religion) over 50 years ago because I saw hypocrisy in a church that preached the gospel. Misogyny, sexism, racism, homophobia, a mindset more appropriate for the era of the Old English of the the approved prayer book and KJV Bible, and a reluctance to embrace & get into the pressing social issues of the time seemed to reflect a church big on tradition, incense, and regal vestments but not a church of the community or for the community.
The good news? I have very recently returned to a rural Episcopal church in the Diocese of NY that actually does welcome all, walks the walk of being a part of and embracing the community, and a church that strives to live the words of Christ.
I am grateful for the Diocese of NY’s willingness to evolve, embrace compassion, & offer itself to/for community in all its iterations.
I am grateful for the part of me willing to address my anger and shortcomings (an ongoing project!), and that never totally tuned out the faint tug of sanctuary to be found in a pew surrounded by stained glass windows made brilliant by morning sun.
And, of course, I now know that during those 50+ years, I was never alone; we are never alone. God waits patiently for the jubilant or quiet moment that our hearts open- in us, in our communities, and in the world’s faith communities.
Thank you for your always thoughtful writing and “Becoming Mainline”!
Your words are a gift. And that image of stained glass catching morning light…what a beautiful way to describe the slow return of hope. I’m grateful you found a community that embodies compassion rather than just recites it. That’s the kind of church I believe in, too.
Your story reminds me that God doesn’t rush us back, doesn’t shame us for leaving, and doesn’t disappear in the in-between years. Just waits, patiently, until something tender in us cracks open again.
Thank you for sharing this. It makes me even more hopeful for what the Church can become. Thanks for reading and for always being so supportive of my work.
Thank you for this, Reverend! It was beautiful and hopeful and true -- like poetry you can stand on. :-) What strikes me also is that your whole article can apply just the same to the Catholic church (which I belong to), with really only one change: Instead of "continuing" down the road of radical inclusion, we have to start heading down that road. You guys are ahead on that path, and thank you for lighting the way.
Thank you for that…truly. And you’re right: so much of this conversation crosses denominational lines. Every tradition has its own work to do, its own tender spots to heal. I’m grateful for the places in the Catholic Church where that road toward inclusion is being walked with courage. We all end up learning from one another.
Lasting revival. The church became more interested in numbers and less interested in changing lives and challenging beliefs.
Totally. We lost the plot when we made metrics the mission. The Spirit moves where people are actually being formed.
I LOVE THIS!! You are spot on...our purpose is the Kingdom here in our midst...as we bring it we have it. Love at work, wrestling, sweating, jostling for recognition. The Saints and Sinners in ALL of us meeting, including G-d in the circle. Thank you!
Thank you for this. And yes, that mix of saints and sinners in all of us is exactly where the Kingdom tends to break through. It’s messy and holy all at the same time.
You touch the heart of it. You make space for all in quiet ways. I’m grateful for you and the wisdom you share.
Thank you for saying that. I’m just grateful to be walking this road with people like you.
Yes Yes Yes!!! 🙌🏽💜
Love the energy! Appreciate you so much, Robby.
Beau: it’s happening all over Bible Belt Alabama and Mississippi.
I see mainline pastors and churches across our region doing the hard self evaluation and internal core values work of choosing to wrestle with the tough moral and doctrinal questions; choosing to learn and change and grow, rather than stalemate and die; choosing to serve the most vulnerable people groups in our neighborhoods and communities; and choosing to teach and live a better theology in the midst of religious extremism which has polarized so many believers.
Guys like you who are heralding the Call for a return to First Love and to the Way of Christ in the are SO important in this age and era. I appreciate your work and am grateful that our paths have intersected. 🕊️💜
This post encapsulates in just a few words some things I’ve been feeling on a gut level for some time. You’re spot on. Thank you!
Just had lunch with our new Rector and discussed many of the same ideas. thanks so much for putting it so eloquently and hopeful. I look forward to more.
I love hearing that. When church leaders are having these kinds of conversations, it gives me a lot of hope. Grateful for your encouragement and glad the piece resonated.
Its that unconditional acceptance and extravagant welcome that matters. Mainline churches that don't want to accept trans people, are doomed to attrition and selling the buildings they love.
Yep. You can’t preach “all means all” and then whisper “well… except them.” People feel that disconnect instantly. The places choosing real welcome over gatekeeping are the ones with a future.
You have such a gentle strength in the way you express yourself. It is pure and true. I carry hope along with you but the weaponization from my evangelical fundamental upbringing is still in healing mode. Maybe someday I will be ready to step back into a church. But today is not the day.
Thank you for saying that. And honestly, I get it. Healing from that kind of spiritual harm takes time, and there’s no deadline you have to meet. If and when you ever feel ready to step into a church again, it should be a place that meets you with safety, not pressure. Until then, keep healing at the pace your soul can handle.
Loove this article, and especially the radically open and welcome table. Optimistic with you!
Thank you, Danielle. That table…wide, welcoming, no qualifiers…is the thing that keeps me believing the Church can rise again. Grateful to share that hope with you.
As someone who is on the fence, but still on the outside, I appreciate your views and the people who are finding renewal. I tried going to a church service this year, but it just felt weird. The people were welcoming and respectful, but I felt like a phony - I didn't really believe. To be fair, I consider myself an atheist, but most non-religious people still consider themselves spiritual. So, perhaps what you said still applies to many people - just not me.
I wrote a post, "Do I Have Faith?" if people are interested.
I would disagree with you on one part. I think there does not need to be some leadership. Right now, when people think of Christians - they think of Mike Johnson, Matt Walsh, Alisa Childers, Joel Osteen and various others that represent this toxic Christian nationalism and/or grifting. I can only think of a few current public figures that I think - "Yeah, there's someone I can support for their Christian values."
Because of the lack of definition you will often hear people calling out Christian hypocrisy (ex. TikTok baby formula request), and then adding "I don't mean all Christians". Christians like you are being painted with the same brush as the Christians that scare me (and I think you too). The effect of the lack of leadership is that people can't tell the difference.
I’m really grateful you wrote this. Truly. And I don’t hear anything “phony” in what you described…walking into a church as an atheist and noticing how it feels is just honest observation. A lot of spiritually curious people share that same experience.
And you’re right about public leadership. The people who dominate the microphone right now often represent a version of Christianity that scares me too. When the worst voices are the loudest, it becomes almost impossible for folks to tell the difference between toxic religion and the kind of humble, justice-seeking faith that rarely makes headlines.
Thanks again for sharing your thoughts, Paul!
I am 80 years old. I grew up in a mainline Protestant church but left the Church during the Civil Rights years in the late 50’s and early 60’s due to the hypocrisy I saw in the Church leadership and refusal to welcome brothers and sisters of color. I “found Jesus” again in the 70’s in a small non-traditional home church and have spent years reading scripture, studying church history and doctrine, while serving the poor, refugees and marginalized communities. However I struggle to get past the scriptural warnings about same-sex relationships. Maybe it’s my age and the cultural context of my upbringing but, although I love these people (some in my own family), I have not found a way to accept their behavior as acceptable in scriptural context. HELP!!
Thank you for sharing so honestly, and I hear your struggle. Many people raised in that era wrestle with how to read those passages.
For me, the turning point came when I started looking at the cultural, historical, and linguistic context around the “clobber texts.” The more I studied, the more I realized those passages weren’t describing the faithful, mutual, loving relationships we see today…they were addressing exploitation, power imbalance, and idolatry.
If you’re open to it, there are some beautiful, faithful resources that unpack this with real depth. But even beyond that: your love for the people in your life is already telling you something true about God’s heart. Sometimes the Spirit leads our compassion before our theology catches up.
Wherever you are on the journey, I’m grateful you’re asking these questions with humility and genuine love.
Love this story, its what COR is all about!! Big picture question I'm curious to your thoughts on - gen z & millennials are going to church more often than ever before, why have mainline churches largely failed capture this demographic? I think it's because most of the new churchgoing gen z and millennials are inspired to go to church when exposed to it in conservative media or by conservative Christian influencers, and so they are more often directed to non-denominational or Catholic churches, but I'm just me lol what do you think?
Thanks for this question, Carson! It’s one I think about a lot! I think you’re onto something with the conservative media/influencer pipeline. There’s been a massive investment in Christian content creation on that side (think Daily Wire, PragerU, all the “cultural Christianity” stuff), and it’s working. They’ve figured out how to make church feel countercultural and edgy in a way that appeals to young people who are tired of feeling adrift. But here are some other thing I’ve been thinking about…
1. We’re terrible at marketing. Mainline churches often assume “if we build it, they will come.” Meanwhile, non-denoms are often SEO experts and focus on marketing and engagement. I’ve mentioned this specifically at COR. We are probably the only mega church in the US without a massive social media presence.
2. Certainty sells. Young people are facing economic anxiety, climate dread, political chaos, and some churches offer clean answers and a clear roadmap. The mainline offers “holy mystery” and “faithful wrestling,” which is beautiful but harder to sell on TikTok. I hope that makes sense.
3. I think we tend to undersell what we have. Liturgy, intellectual depth, sacramental theology, justice work that’s baked into our DNA…these are things Gen Z actually values. We just haven’t learned how to talk about them in accessible ways. (Something I’m working on!) lol
That said, I do think there’s a quieter stream of young people finding their way to mainline churches because of what we offer. They’re not going viral, but they’re here…and they’re staying. We just need to get better at helping them find us.
What do you think? Any ideas for how we bridge that gap? I’d love to grab coffee with you guys sometime too to talk more! 😊
Lovely, hopeful post. I don't actually think it's about being "mainline" at all, though. I think it's about the church remembering to become human again, and the need to do things on a human scale -- small gatherings, time spent caring for one another and for one's neighbors, sacraments that look more like supper than pageant. If you want to call it mainline, fine, but I'm not sure God cares.
Please help me understand the part about same-sex relationships. I noticed your comment about resources that describe the proper context for "clobber" passages; please elaborate. Along the same lines and the idea that "all are welcome," what about fornicators and adulterers? The Bible seems clear on the condemnation that will fall upon those involved in "sexual immorality," so how does the Mainline approach these relationships between consenting adults?
Please also help me understand the "radical inclusion" of Jesus. Jesus told Peter that the large majority of those who listened to him were spiritually blind and deaf (Matt. 13:15) and would be excluded. He said that people who lie are children of Satan (John 8:44). He said people who invent religious rules nullify God's word (Mark 7:13), and the list of religious people who do that, Mainline or otherwise, seems endless.
He also said, "I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! 51 Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division" (Luke 12:49-51).
I get that we should love our neighbor as ourselves, and I wholeheartedly reject the intolerance that comes from politically-rightist, self-identified Christians. But I also think we aren't loving our neighbors if we don't show them their sin which they call "righteous" or "pure." I suppose all these problems can be swept away by saying the Bible doesn't mean what it says, but I think anyone who does that is taking a huge risk. And even if the view is correct that the original context of the Scriptures does not include our present circumstances, what translation of the Bible do you recommend that can be taken at its word?
Thank you for asking this in such an honest way.
The short version is that when you dig into the history, the passages that talk about same-sex behavior are addressing very specific practices in the ancient world, things like exploitation, power imbalance, and temple rituals, not the kind of loving, mutual relationships we see today.
Mainline churches don’t just ignore sexual ethics; we apply them to everyone the same way, whether straight or gay. What matters is fidelity, consent, honesty, and the actual health of the relationship. And when Jesus talked about “division” or called out sin, he wasn’t targeting marginalized people, he was confronting religious leaders who used Scripture to burden others and protect their own power. That pattern shows up again and again.
As for a translation you can trust, I usually recommend reading the NRSVue or the CEB, because they’re both careful, scholarly, and not shaped by a political agenda.
I know that’s a lot in a small space, but that’s the heart of how many of us approach these questions.
Beau, you are spot-on!
I can identify with this post! Having walked away from God and the Episcopal church (and any form of religion) over 50 years ago because I saw hypocrisy in a church that preached the gospel. Misogyny, sexism, racism, homophobia, a mindset more appropriate for the era of the Old English of the the approved prayer book and KJV Bible, and a reluctance to embrace & get into the pressing social issues of the time seemed to reflect a church big on tradition, incense, and regal vestments but not a church of the community or for the community.
The good news? I have very recently returned to a rural Episcopal church in the Diocese of NY that actually does welcome all, walks the walk of being a part of and embracing the community, and a church that strives to live the words of Christ.
I am grateful for the Diocese of NY’s willingness to evolve, embrace compassion, & offer itself to/for community in all its iterations.
I am grateful for the part of me willing to address my anger and shortcomings (an ongoing project!), and that never totally tuned out the faint tug of sanctuary to be found in a pew surrounded by stained glass windows made brilliant by morning sun.
And, of course, I now know that during those 50+ years, I was never alone; we are never alone. God waits patiently for the jubilant or quiet moment that our hearts open- in us, in our communities, and in the world’s faith communities.
Thank you for your always thoughtful writing and “Becoming Mainline”!
Your words are a gift. And that image of stained glass catching morning light…what a beautiful way to describe the slow return of hope. I’m grateful you found a community that embodies compassion rather than just recites it. That’s the kind of church I believe in, too.
Your story reminds me that God doesn’t rush us back, doesn’t shame us for leaving, and doesn’t disappear in the in-between years. Just waits, patiently, until something tender in us cracks open again.
Thank you for sharing this. It makes me even more hopeful for what the Church can become. Thanks for reading and for always being so supportive of my work.