Liberal Churches Rant
For most of the time we've been in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, Amanda and I have been attending Binkley (officially The Olin T. Binkley Memorial Baptist Church). To put it mildly, it is progressive (a Duke Divinity student called it "the crazy liberal Baptist church"). Binkley has been quite a change from the more moderate congregations we've experienced in the past. It was created in the Civil Rights era as a place where blacks and whites could worship God together, overcoming the bitter division of other Southern congregations, and since that time it has made a point of being at the forefront of equality and social justice. A huge portion of its budget is split up among dozens of humanitarian organizations. All text and hymns are gender-neutral and politically correct. And as a "welcoming and affirming" church, it aims to be inclusive of all, regardless of race or sexual orientation. One of the precious darlings in the preschool Sunday School (er, Church School) class that Amanda taught has two mommies.So is it really welcoming? Sure, as long as you're a well-educated liberal Democrat.
That's what has bothered me most about being at Binkley. Two years ago, after leaving University Baptist in Charlottesville (where I am proud to remain a member), I was ready to find a church in Chapel Hill that had absolutely no ties to the demonic Southern Baptist Convention but that also didn't rely on PowerPoint and a praise band for worship. Binkley does fit those requirements - it was sort of kicked out of the SBC in the early 1990s - but Amanda and I don't fit its requirements quite as well. The church doesn't have any official statement that all members must be registered Democrats, but it might as well. The ministerial staff members are great, and I don't think I've ever heard a sermon that explicitly endorsed a political candidate, but discussions in Church School classes and elsewhere make it quite clear what type of person is not welcome at Binkley. If you aren't well-versed in philosophy, history, and theology, you won't understand a lot of what goes on in Church School. If you aren't a liberal Democrat, you'll find it uncomfortable to laugh at jokes about conservatives and middling moderates.
It reminds me of being back at UVA, where you couldn't have a discussion with another student without the conversation turning to which adult alcoholic beverages were the best. For those of us who chose not to drink, it was a bit lonely. I think that's how Amanda has felt sometimes at Binkley. I guess you could also say that we've felt overlooked - we have been there for nearly two years, and we've been involved in handbells and teaching the kids this year, but still, people walk past us in the hallways and refuse to say hello, give a friendly nod, or make eye contact. Perhaps they are focused on the day's social justice task, or perhaps a young white heterosexual couple is simply of no use to them. Some parents of the kids in Amanda's class don't know her name. This is by no means representative of everyone; there are some awesome people at Binkley who we've gotten to know fairly well, most everyone is friendly once you know them, and as I said before, the ministers are great. But it isn't welcoming. Sometimes, it seems more like a social justice army than a faith community.
We're moving to Greensboro in less than a month, and it will be time to find a new church. Many of the more friendly Binkley folks have noted that we might not find a church like Binkley in Greensboro (I have avoided the temptation to say, "Yes, thank God.") and have asked if we'll commute to Chapel Hill on Sundays. Not so much. I mean, I tend to lean a little more towards the liberal side than Amanda does, so I can't see myself being happy in a very conservative/ evangelical/ fundamentalist church, but I don't want to force her to attend a church where she doesn't feel at home. Neither do I want for us to end up attending separate churches.
The solution: in Greensboro, we must find a moderate church that really does welcome people like us. I heard an NPR podcast recently with an interview of the retiring Cardinal Theodore McCarrick in D.C. who had been a staunch advocate for a moderate position for the Catholic church. When I heard it, I realized that, despite my general sympathy for liberal views and my problems with fundamentalist positions, I identify most with the middle. That's okay with me, and I need to find a church where that's okay too. I close with a quote from that interview (please excuse me if the Latin is incorrect).
"There's a great line from the old fathers of the Church: 'In medios dat viritus - In the middle is virtue.'
And some people are going to say, you know, that's mediocrity; it's not. It's real courage to be able to stay in the middle and resist the extremes."
- Cardinal Theodore McCarrick
Labels: church
posted by Peter @ 15:52
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