When I look at the church, what gives me hope?
Two things are true: The Church will survive no matter what, and the institutional church may not survive how we know it. As a church leader, a survivor of the ways the church gets it wrong about race and human sexuality, and as someone who works to equip churches in various ways, I see a major change happening as we speak in the US. I believe deeply that this old thing is passing away and that the younger generations who aren’t looking to hierarchical structures and who refuse to let themselves be diminished will follow the prompting of God’s spirit to build something new: new ways, new rituals, new communities that may be as foreign to our current eyes as our modern institutional church would be to 1st-century Christians looking at our churches today. May we all find ways to grow into what’s to come.
Darren Calhoun, Associate Fellow at Christians for Social Action and Vocalist in The Many
Twitter: @heyDarren
Instagram: @heyDarren
Facebook.com/DarrenCalhoun
Read what others are saying:
- Church + Boldness = Hope – Bridget Eileen Rivera
- Church + Latinx Millennial Christian Leaders = Hope – Alexia Salvatierra
- Church + Clarity = Hope – Lauren Grubaugh
- Church + Marginalized Voices = Hope – Soong-Chan Rah
- Church + Openness to Different Voices = Hope – Randy Woodley
- Church + Stifling the Spirit = Hard to Hope – Myles Markham
- Church + God’s faithfulness = Hope — Nikki Toyama-Szeto
- Church + Gracious Spirit of God = Hope — Al Tizon
- Church + Recognizing God’s Presence = Hope — Kristyn Komarnicki
- Church + Reformation = Hope — Erina Kim-Eubanks
- Church + Embodied Faith = Hope — Brandi Miller
- Church + God’s perfection = Hope — Shane Claiborne
- Church + Stifling the Spirit = Hard to Hope — Myles Markham
