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32 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An Important, Edgy Book That Pulls Back the Evangelical Curtain to Explore the Fragile Nature of A Shrinking Movement, May 7, 2008
This review is from: The Fall of the Evangelical Nation: The Surprising Crisis Inside the Church (Hardcover)
This is an important book by a veteran observer of American religious life -- explaining in plain, convincing terms why a lot of our assumptions about the power of "evangelicals" and "megachurches" are myths. If you're inside this movement yourself, Wicker's book almost certainly will open your eyes to the fragile nature of your movement and your style of doing church.
Wicker is a veteran religion writer, who reported on staff at the Dallas Morning News for a number of years. She's also the well-received author of a couple of earlier books on America's spiritual culture. Her 2003 book, " Lily Dale: The Town That Talks to the Dead (Plus)," examined Americans' fascination with "Spiritualists" that stretches back at least 130 years. That turned into a best seller and received a lot of media attention.
Later, she wrote a book, " Not In Kansas Anymore: Dark Arts, Sex Spells, Money Magic, and Other Things Your Neighbors Aren't Telling You (Plus)," about Americans' long-running interest in, at least occasionally, dabbling in eccentric traditions.
Now, she's back with this book-length examination of America's large evangelical movement -- scraping away at the often fearsome political veneer that, she argues persuasively, some very sharp political operatives have draped over the surface of a major segment of American churches.
There's an angry edge to the opening section of this book in which she takes these political operatives to task. In fact, some of Wicker's opening lines are written with, we might say, journalistic hyperbole. Here's an example. She argues in the Introduction: "Evangelical Christianity in America is dying," and, "Nobody knows what to do about it." Well, it's clear that evangelicals will survive, even if their community shrinks as it shakes itself out. We've still got remnants of religious movements that have survived thousands of years. Evangelicals won't become extinct. And, concerning that second line: It's also obvious that lots of people think they know what to do about this. Jim Wallis (author of " The Great Awakening: Reviving Faith & Politics in a Post-Religious Right America") certainly does, so does Ken Wilson (author of " Jesus Brand Spirituality: He Wants His Religion Back") -- and so do many other prophetic voices emerging in the evangelical world.
Don't let the sharpness of that opening edge or those overly broad statements dissuade you from reading this terrific book. Wicker knows this field after years as a journalist specializing in covering religion.
And you'll find that, even though the book opens in anger, it winds up turning for home with a remarkably compassionate voice. Toward the end of her book, she points out to readers that many of us probably have had doubts, questions and alternative interpretations kicking around in our hearts and minds for years -- and, finally, we're reaching a point at which we don't have to blindly accept an authority figure dictating doctrine to us. We're all on a search in this era, she argues. And, for many readers, reaching that point in her book is going to feel like a warm hug from a friend.
What's really fascinating here is that Wallis in a couple of recent books and Wilson, especially in his newest book, make somewhat similar points from an evangelical perspective. And they're not alone. This doesn't undercut Wicker's book -- in fact, it underlines that she's onto something very important that's emerging across the evangelical landscape.
Wicker is not merely arguing that the evangelical movement is losing members at the fringes. Quite the contrary, she's arguing that some of the smartest and most deeply committed people at the core of the movement -- say like Ken Wilson himself -- are restlessly shaking the pillars of the movement and especially are telling many of the "religious right" political operators to hit the road.
This book is a solid choice for helpful analysis in an era of very confusing religious change.
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21 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
An overview of a topic, May 9, 2008
This review is from: The Fall of the Evangelical Nation: The Surprising Crisis Inside the Church (Hardcover)
I enjoyed Christine's work at the Dallas Morning News. She was part of one of the best religion pages in the country.
Two Postives about the book:
1.) She looks at the religious landscape of America from a long view bringing together many parts to form a complete picture. She does not connect the dots but does it more in an impressionistic fashion. She talks about the decline of the American church and that church leaders look outside the US for examples of leadership. That is Philip Jenkins thesis in the Next Christendom. She brings Phyllis Tickle and the emerging folks into the mix who talks about the next cultural quake that will shift Christian thinking like the Reformation, the monastic movement, etc. She quotes George Barna, the evangelical pollster. I nodded several times and she wrote a synthesis of what my reading and thinking has been as I read and listen to Christian thinkers.
2.) Her antecdotes are humanizing of evangelicals and former evangelicals.
They provide the human dimension.
3.) Her journalistic writing style provides a quick read. I read the book in about three and half hours.
Negatives
1.) Wicker has a point of view. That point of view is not entirely neutral and she claims that. Is it fair? At times, but at other times I wonder about her interpretation of folks. I will say that point of view is worth hearing, but she is part of the evangelical church that has fallen away. She is an actor in this movement. So, there are points when I question her point of view. However, for some folks that may mean that she provides a voice that needs to be heard.
2.) I think she left out one interesting aspect of the problem of the church. Education. The evangelical church of today now prides itself that its leaders are not overly educated. They have a life of experience that has prepared them to pastor not a seminary education. While the workforce is getting more specialized and more educated, the local church is not lifting up education as essential to be on staff.
In fact, a lack of education is more helpful in growing a church at times.
Continuing as we face a flat world more educated world...Evangelical Christianity will lack the ability to communicate with it. All of those students who learn creationism will now have to compete in classrooms with folks who learned evolution. The test is on evolution not creationism.
I think the impact of evangelicals on education is also an element that is part of the disconnect with the world that people in the evangelical world feel and is leading to the decline.
Overall, this book is an introduction and synthesis of folks who have done some of the heavier lifting. Willow Creek, George Barna, Jim Wallis, MacLaren, et al. This is a journalistic treatment that provides some synthesis to others' work. It is worth a read.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not as Strong as We Think We Are, January 23, 2009
This review is from: The Fall of the Evangelical Nation: The Surprising Crisis Inside the Church (Hardcover)
"We are not as strong... as we think we are..."
That powerful line from an old Rich Mullins song comes to mind as I think about evangelicalism in America today, especially after having read a new book by Christine Wicker: The Fall of the Evangelical Nation: The Surprising Crisis Inside the Church (2008, Harper One).
Is evangelicalism dying? Christine Wicker thinks so, and she says she has the statistics to prove it. Wicker starts off her book with a grim prognosis:
"Evangelical Christianity in America is dying. The great evangelical movements of today are not a vanguard. They are a remnant, unraveling at every edge. Look at it any way you like: Conversions. Baptisms. Membership. Retention. Participation. Giving. Attendance. Religious literacy. Effect on the culture. All are down and dropping. It's no secret." (ix)
What is so devastating about Wicker's book is the way she picks apart our inflated numbers so she can demonstrate the small size of the remnant truly committed to evangelical beliefs. She whittles down the official number of Southern Baptists (16 million) by focusing on church attendance . She then whittles down our number of baptisms by pointing to the frequent practice of "rebaptizing" those who have already been baptized in our own churches (ouch!). She whittles the number down even further by taking into account inflated church numbers caused by church hoppers.
Wicker demonstrates with statistics that "image is everything" when it comes to evangelicalism. The number of evangelicals in our country is astoundingly low. We're not 25% of the population. We're nowhere close. At best, we make up 3.7%. One of the purposes of Wicker's book is to "take back" the voice of the religious from evangelicals:
"The majority of American Christians have been so marginalized by public rhetoric and news coverage that they don't even know they are the overwhelming majority of Christians and that they are the Christians who actually represent American religious values, not the religious right." (55)
I wish I could say that Wicker's bias inclines her to overstate her case in order to make a point. But I can't. She's right. As she painfully takes us into the world of megachurches, evangelism initiatives, house churches and the religious right, she ably demonstrates that evangelical power is crumbling.
At times throughout her book, Wicker (a cautious outsider who still considers herself linked to evangelicalism) provides insight that is spot-on. Take for example her reaction to Willow Creek's Reveal study, which concluded that one out of four people at the church was stalled or dissatisfied with their spirtual growth:
"Willow Creek pastors believe they have a solution. They must stop playing the role of parent and start playing the role of coah. Willow Creek leaders say mature Christians need to learn to feed themselves instead of relying on the church to feed them. There is only one problem with that solution. The majority of these dissatisfied Christians are already reading their Bibles, praying, giving, witnessing, and serving. They love Jesus and their lives are centered around him. They are able to feed themselves. It is their church that isn't able to feed them." (122)
Other times, Wicker's prescription is just plain wrong. She believes the underlying problem of the evangelical downfall is in our distinctiveness (165-6). The problem for Wicker is that evangelicals are hung up on distinctive beliefs that should be jettisoned for heightened popularity in contemporary society.
Of course, the mainline denominations who, over a century ago, took the advice Wicker espouses now have church buildings that are emptier than our own. No... our problem is not that we are too different; it's that we are not different enough. It is our lack of distinctiveness that has led to this crisis.
But regardless of some of Wicker's faulty prescriptions, her descriptions of an inflated evangelical bubble are painfully accurate. That's why church leaders need to read The Fall of the Evangelical Nation. We need a good dose of realism that cuts through all the hype of evangelical power and prestige. Rich Mullins was right. We're not as strong as we think we are.
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