Une Église protestante se meurt de bonnes intentions.
En 1965, la United Church comprenait plus d’un million de membres. Elle en a perdu plus de la moitié. Elle était un des piliers respectés de la société canadienne-anglaise. Aujourd’hui, elle se meurt; l’âge moyen de ses fidèles est de 65 ans.
Margaret Wente, Globe and Mail
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Back in the 1960s, the liberal churches bet their future on becoming more open, more inclusive, more egalitarian and more progressive. They figured that was the way to reach out to a new generation of worshippers. It was a colossal flop.
But something else began changing in the 1960s, too. The liberal churches decided that traditional notions of worship were out of date, even embarrassing. They preferred to emphasize intellect, rationality and understanding. “When I went to seminary, we never talked about prayer,” says Mr. Ewart. “I had an intellectual relationship with Jesus. But love Jesus? Not so much.”
As the United Church found common cause with auto workers, it became widely known as the NDP at prayer. Social justice was its gospel. Spiritual fulfilment would be achieved through boycotts and recycling. Instead of Youth for Christ, it has a group called Youth for Eco-Justice. (…)
If you really, really care about the environment, why not just join Greenpeace?
Aussi
L’Église Unie envisage de demander à ses membres de s’abstenir de potiner (gossip).