Introducing The Re-Churching of America
Reviving Religious Life With The Knowledge We’ve Gained
This new Evolve collection, “The Re-Churching of America,” begins with a seemingly simple question: Is America re-churching, or are our religious communities and institutions continuing to decline? Surely there are indicators that point in both directions.
If there is a resurgence—and that is what this collection is rooting for—what do we want the resurgence to look like, and not look like? How do we ensure that a re-churching of America doesn’t benefit fundamentalists, extremists, grifters, and those who appropriate faith to “sanctify” prejudice and inflict real harm on the people they tell you to hate?
Our tag line for the collection is “Reviving Religious Life With the Knowledge We’ve Gained.” There is no denying that over the past century, Americans have gained inordinate knowledge from science, technology, and cultural interchange. We’ve acquired wisdom and understanding from movements for economic and racial justice, women’s and gay liberation, environmental stewardship, and collective struggles against war, imperialism, and colonialism, both at home and abroad.
Although the series is rooted in a specifically Christian context, the goal of re-churching extends to mosques, synagogues, temples, gurdwaras, jamatkhanas, prayer halls, etc. We argue that a flourishing religious mosaic is vital not only to America’s soul but also to its security and success, and that any re-churching worthy of the name must reject fear and control in favor of love and healing.
