Increasingly, societies in Western Europe and North America are described as post-secular. However, what this means is not at all clear and is therefore somewhat controversial. It is also unclear what this means for those who are pastors and ministers in such societies.
You are warmly invited to a seminar that will highlight issues related to the questions that the post-secular condition poses to those who want to understand what it means to be church on post-secular terms. This seminar will take place at Wabash College from November 20-22, 2024.
The remainder of this memo seeks to spark thought in invited presenters and give a sense of the themes of conversation at our seminar next November.
The societies in Europe and North America have to a large extent, and increasingly more often, understood themselves as secular – meaning that religion is a sector of society clearly delineated from other parts, and distinct from other institutions that contribute to it. Secularization has also implied that the role of religion has diminished, and that less people identify as religious. Religions, and Christianity in particular, does not play an obvious part in society any more as the immediate legitimator of values and aims. Instead, pluralism, individualism and materialism/consumerism seem to have taken on a larger role in peoples’ lives. Furthermore, social alienation and the lack of experiencing a reality that creates resonance and meaning may also be connected with the consequences of an increasingly secular society.
However, the post-secular can be seen as describing another layer of society than those connected with the secular. The increased attention to and recognition of religion and faith as playing a stronger role in peoples’ lives can be seen as a reaction to the fragmentation of community, and the longing for values other than those determined and promoted by the market and consumerism. It may also result from the fact that many people experience a lack of control of their own lives and their political conditions and look to religion to find ways to improve their situation. It may also result from the quest of finding an all-encompassing meaning of life that consists in more than work and consumption, and the search for experiencing reality as something that resonates with and offers a deeper sense of life.
Accordingly, the post-secular includes a renewed interest in spiritual life that nevertheless also implies a recognition that secular rights and freedoms of expression are a prerequisite to the renewal of spiritual enquiry. It also entails the recognition of spiritual and intellectual pluralism (in the societies we address here), while recognizing the repression sometimes inflicted on individuals or societies in the name of both religion and secularism!.
Thus, the secular and the post-secular seems to be in tension, but also conditioning each other. They are both present at the same time. On the one hand, the post-secular is a response to some of the shortcomings and lacks in a secularly oriented society, on the other hand, it also challenges to positive outcomes of a secular society not directed by one specific religion or based on religious faith. It also means an affirmation of religion’s continued influence on peoples’ lives and behavior in a way not always recognized by sociologists who point to its diminished role.
Moreover, the simultaneity and possible tension between the secular and the post-secular may play out differently in different contexts. There is, e.g., a considerable difference between Europe and the US in terms of how religion plays a role in the public sphere generally, and in politics, more specifically. This is among the topics that this seminar will have to address.
Thus, the post-secular calls for a more varied and nuanced discourse on the values of society. But it also represents a risk in terms of polarization of society and the politization of religion. It is against this backdrop that we also must ask,
Relate to plurality. This means that pastors increasingly will have to relate to a post-confessional situation in which ecclesial denominations will have to find new ways to promote spirituality in an environment that lacks the understanding for what religion can contribute to experiencing life as a place for resonance and meaning beyond the immediate. It also means that traditional “religious conformity” will have to be replaced by a deepened appreciation of plurality.
Populism. It also means that churches must find means to mitigate and avoid the traps of populism and show that the sources on which they rely can provide new means for community across political borders and a deepened respect for those who are different.
Preaching. Reconsidering how to preach the Gospel in a post-secular context means asking: What is the fundamental message Christianity offers to a society that no longer takes the meaning of religion for granted, and where religious literacy is decreasing? How is it possible to present the Gospel as central to human orientation and transformation in ways that provide an alternative to secularism and consumerism?
Ecclesiology: Church Isn't Chaplain to a Destructive Army. At many times in its history the church has been co-opted by society to provide damage relief and emergency care to the victims of new forces in the public sphere. The rise of mendicant monasticism in the 13th century, for example, flourished precisely because it highlighted and addressed the plight of the displaced persons in an increasingly urbanized society as poor people flocked to cities in the 12th century. Indiana, where this seminar will be held, has for decades touted its extremely low tax rate as an attractant for businesses, relegating the provision of social needs and services to volunteers from Christian churches and private charities. What ways do we envision the church relating to society in a way that goes beyond providing relief to the victims of post-liberal capitalism and authoritarian regimes?
A Church Attentive to Withdrawal Symptoms. In the modern world of Christendom, when non-religious civil society nonetheless related intensely to the realities of church life, certain things could be taken for common. The drumbeat of the church year shaped communal festivities, grief, and sociality. Basic social mores were established and could thus be predictably reacted to (obviously many of those mores presented problems, but everyone knew what they were). The decline in influence of Christianity on civil society is apparent, but Christians should be aware of the problems created by the receding wave of Christianity. Can we describe some of these “withdrawal symptoms” of once-Christendom-influenced society? Can we understand these features as opportunities to re-present the gospel in a way fitting this simultaneously secular and post-secular context?
What is the task and role of the church in a post-secular society? The church must be aware of, and protest against the politicization (and general instrumentalization) of religion. Religion is about more than the immediate “benefits” or uses of society. The church must also address injustices and contribute to social transformation in ways that recognize both the role of tradition, community, and individual choice for the fostering of values that all of the society need.
Metaphors for Sacred and Secular Realities. In his Letters and Papers from Prison Bonhoeffer spoke of the role of the church in a world “come of age.” In German this is “mündig,” related to mund, or mouth. The word describes those who are now responsible enough to speak for themselves. During the pre-modern and early-modern times, society was not quite prepared to manage its own schools, hospitals and other institutions that we now associate with healthy civic life. But by Bonhoeffer’s time, the secular institutions had become mature. A recent New York Times article discussed the difficulties and joys of parents “befriending” their adult children. Is this an apt metaphor to understand the simultaneity of secular and post-secular realities? Rather than viewing them as rivals, or detractors, or certainly enemies, the church might view secular institutions as their adult children. What are some other fruitful and evocative ways of construing this relationship?