Members of Lay Movement "Don't Like Church"
Take a look at this interesting Chicago Tribune article about the Focolare movement in Chicagoland.
But there is one stupifyingly stupid bit:
Since its founding, Focolare, the Italian word for "hearth," has grown to nearly 90,000 members worldwide. Most live in Europe, where the percentage of people who attend church has declined rapidly in recent decades. The Gallup International Millennium Survey found that just 20 percent of respondents in Western Europe and 14 percent in Eastern Europe attend religious services regularly.
Catholic lay movements have helped fill the cracks, said Dorian Llywelyn, a professor of theological studies at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.
"They are attractive to people who don't like church but who want to get involved with their faith," Llywelyn said.
HUH? You take life-long vows in a lay movement, which incidentally means that you attend daily Mass because you don't like church?
Stupid comment by professor? Terrible writing by journalist augmented by lame editing? Or both?
Or did Llywelyn mean "the movements are attractive to people who don't like average parish life?" This is not fair or true either but note the implication: life in intentional Christian community is not "church" and is somehow opposed to "church".
Just how did the professor and/or writer get that idea?
posted by Sherry W @ 5:32 AM
3 Comments
3 Comments:
Well, I think it dovetails with the narrative that Jesus's message and religion are fine and all until it gets screwed up by those "churchy" types. Those that don't attend services aren't selfish or godless -- they're searching for a more authentic spirituality than what churches are offering!
So, the set up personal spirituality as being in tension with involvement in an established church, which isn't true.
I think those that leave "church services" may be on a search for more "authentic spirituality" - but I'm not sure where that search will take them... if not to another "church service."
I think a lot of postmoderns go on this "search" and often leave church because the church does this or that or has this problem or that...
And yes, I think "churches" have a lot of problems - just like families do... but, turning our back on attending church is like turning our back on attending weekly dinners with our family.
I think a change can occur when people see ourselves united with the Church universal - all the living and even those that have died in Christ - that we realize we are in a great communion of persons - we are like Israel, a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation (cf. 1 Peter).
It is in this communion of people that we learn how to love and how to love the God who is not just One, but a communion of persons himself.
Our individualistic culture goes against this ... and when we cut ourselves off from the life of the Church ... our personal spirituality - becomes just that. Our image of God becomes subjective and ends up reflecting ourselves more than the living God (cf. PBXVI, Jesus of Nazareth).
But, of course, all this needs to be communicated to this generation ... and the church is not doing to well in obeying our Lord in "going" and "making disciples." And by "going," I mean leaving the church building and not being "churchy" and doing the work of evangelization (which is really just to live an authentic Christ-centered life in joy and love - and not hide in under a bushel!)
As a Jesuit professor, Llywelyn does not seem to have any particular background or experience with lay movements (or parishes?). So it may be that he's repeating a common line he picked up somewhere.
Sherry,
I wonder if you have any comment on Amy Welborn's recent post on the business of parishes, especially in terms of the reform of intentional discipleship.
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