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.
