This week, Pastor Margo will offer excerpts from the Confession of Belhar and articles on the “Purple Church” for our reflection, in the wake of tumultuous national events and in the “bleak midwinter” of COVID. Come along for the ride!
Confession of Belhar (September 1986): https://www.pcusa.org/site_media/media/uploads/theologyandworship/pdfs/belhar.pdf.
We believe:
that this unity can be established only in freedom and not under constraint; that the variety of spiritual gifts, opportunities, backgrounds, convictions, as well as the various languages and cultures, are by virtue of the reconciliation in Christ, opportunities for mutual service and enrichment within the one visible people of God;
Reflection from Rev. Dr. John Wimberly, author and contributor to the Presbyterian Outlook and the Christian Century, and congregational consultant with a PhD in systematic theology and an Executive MBA. https://www.congregationalconsulting.org/purple-church/
Lately, I have been working with congregations that quietly describe themselves as purple. In these congregations, people who are politically conservative, progressive, and centrist come to worship God, deepen their spirituality, and work together to create a more peaceful, just, compassionate world. My question to these congregations is: Why do you talk so quietly about your purple nature? Why not proclaim it from the rooftops?
It is well documented that younger generations value and enjoy diversity. They prefer situations where there is racial, ethnic, age, LGBT, economic and other forms of diversity in the room. “Politically, millennials are the most independent generation,” reports CNN’s Hunter Schwartz. “They’re the least likely to see big differences between the Democratic and Republican parties. Last March, the Pew Research Center found that 44% of millennials identify as independents.
Poll after poll reveals that the American public is disgusted and discouraged by the polarized nature of our society. Given that fact, why do so many congregations brand themselves as “progressive” or “conservative”? Isn’t a more diverse, heterogenous congregational identity preferable? Wouldn’t such people find inspiration and hope in the good news that there are people of faith who welcome political diversity rather than seeing it as a problem? Wouldn’t the overwhelming majority of our neighbors who decry the uncivil nature of political discourse today be intrigued by a congregation where people can discuss differences of opinion in a civil, even love-filled manner? I think the answer is yes.
Breaking down the harsh discourse in this country is not going to start at the top and trickle down. It will start at the community level and work its way upward. What organization is more community-based than a congregation? As a result, what organizations are better positioned than congregations to start the return to a society where politics is a form of diversity, not yet another form of “us versus them?”
The political orientation a congregation chooses to project is a fundamental, strategic decision. In strategic planning, we need to consider how our congregations wants to position itself in our polarized society. Does it want to be progressive, conservative, or purple? There have always been and always will be congregations known to be politically progressive and conservative. We need them. But progressive congregations started to decline years ago, and conservative congregations are starting to decline now. This decline will only accelerate, because polling shows that most millennials and Gen Zers object to religious politically partisan congregations.