Pent-Up Baptism?

There's a noteworthy article in India.com's Outlook on Christianity in Kerala: one of the largest Christian communities in India and one of the oldest in the world.

The title? "Pent-Up Baptism" How's that for evocative?

The bottom line sounds a great deal like the stories we hear from Latin America: the Pentecostals are coming and main-line Christians, especially Catholics are leaving for Pentecostal groups in great numbers.

"Catholic clergy estimates that such desertions, if unchecked, will earn the Pentecostal church more followers in Kerala than the mainstream ones by 2020."

The language is more colorful that we are used to seeing in stories on the same topic:

"frenzied alternatives", "crazed sects" BUT

there are also some useful observations.

Father Paul Parathazham, a sociology professor at the Papal Seminary in Pune, who surveyed "flock stealing/flock desertions" in 2002, says the Church should be "perturbed" by the phenomenon. His study located three reasons for the near-exodus: the absence of Christian fellowship in mainline churches, an inability to "experience" God and decreasing exposure to the scripture. The report prompted the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India to issue a set of guidelines—it conceded the symptom of the "unmet religious needs of the faithful".

The Conference felt the answer to the problem was making prayers more spontaneous, appealing and personalised. The Catholic church has also sought initiation of the bcc—Basic Christian Community—movement through family units for closer interaction.

If a section of the clergy sneers at migrations, Fr Parathazham's survey reveals that 83 per cent left in times of personal crisis when they were deprived of emotional support—or lack of pastoral care.

Note: "unmet religious needs of the faithful"

Note the list: lack of fellowship, little "experience" of God, decreasing exposure to Scripture, Lack of emotional support and pastoral care during crisis.

Sounding familiar?

Now, look again at the assumptions behind the Nameless Lay Group. It is nearly a perfect match.

It isn't rocket science. The bishops in Latin American have come to nearly identical conclusions. In an era where lay people around the globe have attractive and readily available religious and spiritual alternatives to Catholicism, millions won't stay or come back unless they experience the faith as personal, living, and life changing.