Category Archives: Post-Evangelicalism

Nostalgia. As bad as relevance.

Nostalgia. It’s as bad for you as “relevance.” Sunday in church, the pianist played a lovely arrangement of the old Maranatha! chorus, “I Love You, Lord.” Then in response, we sang another chorus that has been a big part of my adult Christian experience, “Give Thanks.” In the more traditional service at our church, we sprinkleContinue reading “Nostalgia. As bad as relevance.”

You can take the boy out of evangelicalism . . .

You can take the boy out of evangelicalism, but you can’t take the evangelical out of the boy. I’m coming to terms these days with the fact that I’m a spiritual mongrel, and one of the strong components of my spiritual makeup is my evangelical heritage (in the modern sense of the word — theContinue reading “You can take the boy out of evangelicalism . . .”

iMonk Classic: How My Wife’s Catholicism Has Changed Me For The Better: A Birthday Reflection

First posted in September, 2008. I got some nice things for my 52nd birthday. A new iPod. (Blue, 4th generation Nano. Be envious.) A book of Benedictine Daily Prayer. (I’m figuring it out.) Birthday cake (Oatmeal. Mmmm) with my wife, daughter and son-in-law. (Their rendition of Happy Birthday somehow made me feel I was boardingContinue reading “iMonk Classic: How My Wife’s Catholicism Has Changed Me For The Better: A Birthday Reflection”

Jeff Dunn: Crossing Over

This was first posted in August, 2013. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. (Joshua 1:9, NIV) Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. (Revelation 2:4, NKJV). I hope you will allow meContinue reading “Jeff Dunn: Crossing Over”

Damaris Zehner: The Crossroads

First posted in June, 2011. Last month, at Easter, my family and I joined the Catholic Church.  Each of us would phrase our reasons for doing so somewhat differently, but here are a few of mine.  I offer them not to preach or gloat, just to share a decision faced by quite a few ofContinue reading “Damaris Zehner: The Crossroads”

Jason Stellman: I Fought the Church and the Church Won

Note from CM: This week we are featuring stories of friends who found their way into the Roman Catholic church. The post-evangelical journey takes many different forms, and this is one of them. Michael Spencer himself experienced this in his family when his wife Denise converted to Catholicism, and you will find many articles inContinue reading “Jason Stellman: I Fought the Church and the Church Won”

My So-Called Evangelical Life (2)

In spite of the televangelism scandals and the failed presidential run of Pat Robertson, the evangelical right remained the political and cultural baseline for measuring the status of religion in American public life. The emergence of groups like Moral Majority, wrote theologian Richard John Neuhaus in the mid-1980s, “kicked a tripwire” in the ongoing church-stateContinue reading “My So-Called Evangelical Life (2)”

Another Look: The Coming Evangelical Collapse (3)

Note from CM: Here is the last of the three “Evangelical Collapse” pieces that Michael Spencer wrote five years ago. I think five years provides a good mile marker at which to look at what he said then, how it compares to the landscape today, and what we might see ahead. We’ll stick to discussingContinue reading “Another Look: The Coming Evangelical Collapse (3)”

Another Look: Evangelicalism as a Way Station

Note from CM: We will continue with Michael Spencer’s “Coming Evangelical Collapse” series and get back to an overview of the “Age of Evangelicalism” in the U.S. — roughly 1970-2008 — in a day or two. But for today, here’s another look at a suggestion of something that evangelicalism does well. This reflection was firstContinue reading “Another Look: Evangelicalism as a Way Station”