What Church Leaders Can Learn from Vital Liberal and Evangelical Protestant Churches

by James Wellman

Over the past decade I, along with my graduate assistants, have been studying vital liberal and evangelical Protestant churches across the country and more recently in the Pacific Northwest region. It was suggested that I write something on what church leaders can learn from vital liberal and evangelical Christian churches. I like to learn from both sides; some of us are ‘one-siders’; I’m a ‘two-sider’. If you are the former, read your side; but you might be surprised by what you might learn from the other side!

What we mean by vital is churches that attract new members; members who say how much they love their churches; organizations whose finances are robust; fellowships that care about each other and proclaim a good news message of hope, faith and charity. Truth be told, there are many more vital evangelical churches in this region than there are vital liberal churches. But numbers and success are not everything. The churches that are in our study are all Protestant, a few are Presbyterian, and some are mainline but most are evangelical, non-denominational or independent churches.

The principles of vitality we propose below are general tendencies garnered from numerous examples. They are pure types that don’t exist perfectly in individual churches. Each taken to the extreme can become a weakness. So we offer them as food for thought, ideas to chew on, perhaps to spit out or to digest—items to nurture your soul and vitalize your churches.

Principles of Vital Liberal Churches:

1. Epistemological modesty. There is an assumption in liberal churches that all human perspectives are radically contingent. Nothing insures that one can come to certainty or proclaim that one has the absolute truth. The idea of taking the scripture literally is simply seen as impossible. All that one has is a Christian tradition in scripture and in history with which one is in conversation. This is not relativism in the sense that anything goes; this is the difficult and gut wrenching work of responding to the tradition with mind, heart and body. It takes all the tools of our present age, historical, sociological and economic to enter into a dialogue with the tradition. This is not a faith with simple answers or with a large safety net, but a high wire religion of challenge and demand, intellectually, spiritually and in action. What is the demand? The integration of thought and action.

2. Integration of thought and action. At a liberal church in Oakland, California, we suggested to some of the lay leaders, “Why don’t you recite the Nicene Creed?” We were ferociously rebuked for encouraging them to say something that they did not fully comprehend, believe or live out in their daily lives. The threat of hypocrisy is the critical standard by which the tradition is judged, lives are lived and church is constructed. This is summed up by the St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal motto that proclaims, “Honest questions, shared experiences and Ancient traditions.” In these churches, no question is out of bounds; no human experience is foreign even in the midst of the worship services, and ancient traditions become new again as they are lived out in real lives. For liberal Christians the tradition only becomes true as it is lived. What is not important is numerical growth.

3. Indifference to numerical growth. Evangelism is the elephant sitting in the room in liberal congregations. Most reject the very idea of having numerical growth as a goal. For them, the fascination with numbers is a sign of a consumerist culture that they find immoral. That is, when numbers are the game, new people become means and not an end. Moreover, the new people most church growth seminars seek mirror the church. Liberals say, Jesus welcomed the very ones no one else wanted. This leads to an obsession with inclusiveness.

4. Obsession with inclusiveness. Liberal churches seek to include those most churches reject. In every liberal church we have studied gay and lesbian members are welcome and invited into leadership. They read scripture, preach the gospel and nurture their children in the faith. Of course, scripture can be argued and gay marriage is debatable, but in real life, gays and lesbians are integral members of congregations and are often the backbone of these churches. At an Oregon Presbyterian church gay and lesbians speak openly of their partners in worship; they weep over those they have lost; they celebrate their children’s lives; they stand up for justice; they pray for those who persecute them—in fact they pray, nearly weekly, for Fred Phelps—one of the chief haters of gay folk. For these churches grace precedes repentance.

5. Forgiveness comes before repentance. Liberal churches practice a radical acceptance of others. Forgiveness is not conditioned by repentance. For these churches, forgiveness goes to the root of human existence; it is a universal reality that Christ has reconciled everyone, all things to himself, so that nothing and no one is excluded. For liberal Christians to exclude anyone is to silence the gospel. Moreover, the hallmark of Jesus’ ministry is “open commensality.” That is, Jesus shows ultimate hospitality toward the ones everyone else rejects. This openness includes openness to truths in other religious traditions.

6. Finding spiritual depth across traditions. It is not uncommon for some to say that liberals are relativists or that they don’t really pursue their faith seriously. On the contrary, in our research we are continually stunned by the seriousness of liberal churchgoers. They are anxious to live out their faith; to find ways to deepen and take risks with their spiritual lives. For them, as one churchgoer said, “Jesus is the way that they follow but not THE way.” Now, of course, for many conservatives this statement annexes them from orthodoxy and even from heaven. But for liberals this means that they do believe in Jesus but they find help from other traditions that feed their soul and develop their spirits. For them it is a simple fact that when other religious traditions are read and understood in their fullness, they are life-giving. Indeed, for liberal Christians, the ultimate confirmation of their faith is that after all their searching they come back to Jesus. He shows them the fullest picture of God and leads them into the fullest expression of a God-filled life. One of our most profound experiences was sitting with eight liberal churchgoers, half of whom were gay, sharing the depths of their spiritual conversions to Christ. It could have been an evangelical prayer meeting, but in this case, the conversions led them more deeply into ministries of justice for their brothers and sisters, who they felt were excluded and persecuted by most churches.

To sum up, liberal churches celebrate uncertainty, are in dialogue with other belief systems, forego absolutes and seek the integration of practice and belief. In some ways, there is a strictness within vital liberal churches that does not allow for easy faith or for casual church-going. In many ways, these are Protestant virtuosos, who demand that faith is lived or else rejected. To be sure, grace is radical but so is the demand to do justice. In this sense it is not surprising that these churches fail the popularity test. They are counter-cultural. They offer neither uncomplicated answers nor simple rewards, but a challenging message that the One who they call Lord love and welcome those who are least, last and lost. He expects his followers to do the same.

Principles of Vital Evangelical Churches:

1. Epistemological boldness. If there is one thing that characterizes all the evangelical churches we came across is boldness. Boldness with the word of God; boldness in evangelism; boldness in challenging immoral behavior; boldness in speaking and knowing the truth. The scriptures are the root of their identity and the Bible is trustworthy, plain and clear. If liberals see contingency then evangelicals know certainty. This is not to say that questions are not allowed, but that questions have answers and those answers can be discerned in scripture. People want to hear from the preacher a clear and convincing perspective. Even if they disagree we’ve noticed again and again, the respect and joy that congregations express when they know what the preacher believes and why he or she believes it. People are moved by boldness in body and in soul. They also feel that they are held accountable for their actions and words.

2. Communities of accountability. Many of the evangelical churches that we studied are growing and sometimes rapidly. Every one of these churches uses small group ministries to help congregants know each other and hold each other accountable. This isn’t heavy handedness. In fact, one of the factors that most impressed us was the vulnerability found in evangelical communities. These aren’t communities of saints but groups of sinner, who are open with their pain and real about their mistakes. Pastors, lay leaders and new members are attracted to these groups because they are places where they can be real and they can grow. Accountability means being real with one’s limitations and being encouraged to grow in faith. Out of these close knit communities comes the easy way in which these churches invite others to come to their churches. “All are friends here; we like each other; we know each other; we forgive each other; we enjoy each other. Do you want to come to our church?”

3. Numbers count. Evangelism is not in the closet in evangelical churches. It is out and it is proud! In evangelical churches, much of the conversation is about expansion and growth, in numbers and in facilities. There is little hesitation about growth. In fact, sometimes they simply open new buildings without particular space needs and watch them fill up! In one case, they doubled the size of the family and children sections of the church and this new building alone doubled the size of the congregation. This underlines an important focus of their outreach: families, youth and children. In every evangelical church we saw, children and youth programs are exploding. New gyms are being built. Church kids and their friends; unchurched kids and their friends are all welcome. Everyone is welcome and visitors are expected. But it is not like anything goes, indeed, quite the opposite. We saw very challenging sermons and messages to congregants. These are often tough love churches.

4. Speak the truth in love. This was not true in every evangelical church but in many we saw preachers hold forth on very tough cultural, moral and political issues. These are not milquetoast congregations. The issues are fairly predictable, but they are held up with conviction. There are many voices against abortion, against gay marriage, against pornography, against loose morals in the media. This does not mean that these are places of moralistic judgment. Indeed, even as pastors and lay people speak about these moral issues, they quickly add that they feel their deep need for repentance in their lives and the need to walk in love. The distinction between sin and the sinner is frequently mentioned; though this is a distinction that everyone claims for themselves. Repentance is critical; grace is not conditioned by repentance but repentance is necessary even as grace is undeserved. While this sounds serious (and it is) these are not places without humor and gaiety. Indeed, if anyone knows how to use every form of popular culture, it is these churches.

5. Bring out the clowns. The creativity within many of these churches surprised and made us feel that somehow something new was happening. From chain saws being started in a sermon on Sunday morning, to clowns popping out in the middle of the fellowship hour, to candy being thrown into the congregation, these churches use every form of popular culture to create a feel that says, this is not religion; it is a relationship with a God filled with wonder, joy and expectation. It is hard not to feel excitement upon entering these churches—not only expectation but a sense of empowerment that one must do something for others.

6. Empowering people to serve. Evangelical churches are places where there is little bureaucratic obstruction between the motivation to serve and the action of service. In other words, one does not need to check out every idea with a committee. If someone has a nifty idea to help others then they are set free to go do it. We all know that University Presbyterian Church in Seattle has a genius for this kind of service action. Mission is but one step away and the priesthood of believers is as real as the person in need next to you. Service to others means mission to the world. We found short-term and long-term missionaries are a part of every evangelical church that we came across. Their presence reminds the churches that the world is bigger than their suburban backyards and that most people in the world are neither Americans nor middle class. Indeed, most people in the world are poor and need our service.

In sum, evangelical churches are places of excitement, certainty and bold expectation. The excitement is that people love these churches; they invite their friends to these churches and their children cannot wait to get to these churches. They are certain because their questions are answered and they trust that what the scriptures say is true and the pastor can be trusted because he speaks from that truth. They are places of expectation because the faith means that the spirit is real; it calls people to do great things for God and for each other. And finally, it calls people to a hope in Christ that says in Christ there is victory, compassion and courage to boldly witness to the good news that brings joy and abundance.

I hope I have made it clear why we can be two-siders; God is big enough in Christ to reconcile and make us all new. We will disagree; people of good conscience do that. What I have seen in all of these churches are people of good conscience trying to live their lives with purpose, justice and compassion. I hope that these words inspire you, make you think, and help you to vitalize your churches, for Christ’s sake.

This article is based on my “Religion Without A Net: Strictness In The Religious Practices Of West Coast Urban Liberal Christian Congregations.” Review of Religious Research, 2002, Volume 44:2 Pages 184-199. It is also taken in part from my “The Churching of the Pacific Northwest: The Rise of Sectarian Entrepreneurs." In Religion and Public Culture in the Pacific Northwest: The None Zone, edited by Patricia O'Connell Killen and Mark Silk. Religion by Region Series. Walnut Creek: Alta Mira Press, 2004.