The Profile and Public Face of an Episcopalian

Two weeks ago, I attended a special program sponsored by my local church. The presentation was by one of the foremost researchers on brain health and more recently on new methods of treatment. He happens to be the son of one of our members. She is active in our Episcopal Women’s Group. After a general introduction on what we have learned about the brain in the past 20 years and especially its elasticity, he turned to such topics as PTSD, dementia, stroke rehabilitation and even depression. There were almost exactly 50 people present and predictably most were members of our church. As usual, the only advertisement for this presentation was through our email newsletter and word of mouth. The presentation was informative, but so was the audience.

I came to that meeting having recently read the Pew Research Report on the place and make up of religion in American and listening to Ryan Budge’s commentary on it in one of my favorite podcasts.  I was especially sensitive to the information on members of the Episcopal Church. About 35 of the attenders met the reported profile of our median membership. The remaining group varied from the six characteristics by only one or two. What is the profile of the median member of the Episcopal Church? They are predictably:

·       Women over 55 years of age

·       Highly educated

·       Affluent (compared to the US median income of $80,000)

·       White

·       Politically aligned with the left

·       And I would add because it is implied in the report, upwardly mobile

Of these median characteristics, I matched four. Having been an Episcopal Priest for 53 years, I was, as usually, comfortable being there. I noted the presence of one woman who was 40 years old. I learned this from her questions at the end of the presentation. I also learned that she is a veteran who suffered from PTSD, knew about the presenter, and was eager to enter a trial study that was recently approved by the CDC. I noted that although she enthusiastically engaged the presenter, she did not interact with our members, and they did not initiate conversation with her. As soon as she had her questions answered, she left. So much for hospitality let alone any attempt at evangelism at the one person not meeting much of our profile.

Let me pause to note who does meet all six of these characteristics and was most recently in the public press. It is, of course, Bishop Budde of the Diocese of Washington who preached the now infamous sermon at the service for national unity with President Trump and many of his administration present. I mention this only to underscore how she underscored our public profile.

Whatever we make of this profile and why this represents the face of the Episcopal Church, here is the most surprising fact about those in it not just Episcopalians. This portion of the population makes up one of the highest percentages of those annually leaving Christian churches. I think this paradox is both a good thing for our community and a challenge. Here is the good thing.

In recent months, I have noticed on my social media platform a number of women who meet this profile and who have left conservative and evangelical churches. Several cite the abuse they had received as members as the reason for this. The abuse ranged from control, manipulation, gender discrimination, and even sexual abuse. One of these women who I have come to appreciate in her writings is Christy Lynn Wood. I subscribe to her articles on Substack. She says she had to “deconstruct” her faith formed in such a church to reconstruct her faith based on rediscovering the real Jesus as opposed to the image used by her former church to control behavior especially the behavior of women. Remember that the two largest Christian bodies in the U.S. are the Roman Catholic Church and the coalition of varies Christian churches that operate under the “Evangelical” banner. I messaged her that “The Episcopal Church Welcomes You.” She responded that she had checked us out and saw us favorably.” Right now, she is most focused on reforming evangelicals. Here is the good news. We have often been a refuge for such women, and it is to our credit that we offer a safe place for them. This became especially true after our efforts to include women in all our leadership. This group not only includes former evangelicals but also former Roman Catholics.

Now here is the challenge. Notice several things about this profile. It is by nature a group with a high value for a college education. I have often mentioned elsewhere how this is a liability for our community in a country where only 35% have any college education. Notice also the intellectual assumptions we already make in our church in preaching, teaching, and Christian education. Notice too how different this is from the vast majority of worldwide Anglicans especially women. Notice along with this our current weddedness to leftist political goals. But especially notice who does not fit our profile and our often-unconscious reactions to them. Remember the 40-year-old woman veteran.

Ryan Budge, author of 20 Myths about Religion and Politics in America, noted our profile and commented that if we wish to reverse our decline, we might aim our evangelism and church planting at a wider profile. He suggests that this includes those seeking churches less identified with the political left (or right) and who seek churches that build bridges between others rather than contribute to the polarization in our society. There are a growing number of such people, and he documents this in his book. He notes somewhat ironically that this used to be the strength not only of the Episcopal Church but of most mainline churches in the U.S. What, we might wonder, changed this? Could it be that the more our current profile has come to dominate our identity? Remember even a declining church adds new members. In doing this have we lost contact with those seeking something different from our current bias and agendas? I would suggest that our profile reveals a community of open minded people convinced of our inclusiveness and diversity who are largely unaware of our own identity. For example, despite all our conversations about inclusiveness, we remain about 85% white. This is a fact that almost none of our current leaders care to mention.

Budge goes on to note the fastest group of Americans moving toward the Christian faith. They are males between 20 to 35 who are seeking a community of faith that provides them with a structured way of building their faith. For us that would be Prayer Book, Creeds and Catechism. Budge suggests that our current churches made up of our current profile will not be able to do this. He suggests that an investment in younger clergy interested in planting new churches among their peers and who reach out to such people no matter their gender, their political affiliations whether Democrats, Republicans or Independents, would give us a more hopeful future. Let me close with an observation that shows the challenge in doing what Budge suggests.

Do you know that the average age of our newest clergy at ordination is 45 years of age? Given what Pew has found and what Ryan Budge is suggesting, obviously we need a radical rethinking of our future recruitment of leaders and how they are educated and trained for ministry if we wish to have a more hopeful future. The question before our current leadership is whether we are willing to do this not only for the sake of our church but for the mission of Christ to society in a time of major polarization and upheaval.