In Portland, Oregon, where Marcus Borg called home and where it is estimated that seventy-five percent of the population does not affiliate with any particular faith community, I find myself dreading the question, “What do you do for a living?”
I’m a Lutheran pastor.
Most of the time, my response solicits perplexed looks. Maybe it’s because I’m young. Maybe it’s because they’re wondering if I’m like the Christians they see on TV. Maybe they’re afraid I might evangelize to them. Maybe it’s because the only other “ordained” person they’ve met is their friend from college who got ordained online to officiate weddings. Most likely, it’s because they are part of the 65 million people in the United States who check the box “none,” when asked for their religious affiliation.
Regardless of the reason for their perplexity, it can sometimes feel like I start these conversations at a deficit and am just trying to get back in the black and keep the conversation going. In the Pacific Northwest, especially among people under forty-five, it is clear that the church is no longer at the center of society.
Those of us in the progressive Christian milieu have seen many of our churches and denominations shrink. We’ve spent a great deal of time lamenting this migration from the center. We’ve searched for analysis and answers in books and blogs. We’ve listened to countless speakers in denominational meetings give us answers to help us change, shift, and bring people back to the church. Some things work. Most things don’t. It all leaves me feeling like we are stuck in the same conversation.
How do we get un-stuck?
Instead of searching for a path to lead us back to the center, I wonder if it’s time to embrace being a decentered Church on the margins. In order to do this, I’m convinced we need the next season of listening. This will require a shift from the answers of outside experts to the local wisdom of people who have been pushed to the margins. It will mean a change from focusing on denominational preservation to building collaborative ecumenical relationships that listen, act, and learn together. Finally, it will mean that we listen to the deep longings of the 65 million folks who may never enter the doors of our churches.
So, how might this lead us to better engage the heart of Christianity?
It’s hard to believe that it’s been over eighteen months since our friend, Marcus Borg passed away. Marc’s scholarship illuminated a decentered Jesus on the margins living and ministering against the backdrop of an Empire at the center. In today’s Portland, this portrait of Jesus feels more timely than ever. While it would be tempting for us progressive Christians to pretend we
have all of the answers, I think Marcus was right when he said that the values of compassion, empathy, and gratitude would lead us to a contemporary faith.
For a long time I tried to find the perfect cocktail of words to describe to a perplexed people what it means to be a Lutheran pastor. It turns out, the only thing that keeps the conversation going is compassion, empathy, and gratitude. May these values lead us to the margins of our world and the margins of our own stories as we embark on the next season of listening.
Rev. Ron Werner, Jr., Portland, Oregon
