Muddling Toward Maturity Blog

ETHNIC CHURCHES PROVING THE SOURCE OF RENEWAL IN NORTH AMERICA

It's a fascinating story.  Timothy Tennent, President of Asbury Seminary, writes:    (HT: Justin Taylor)  [my emphases]

[...]  While we are witnessing the dramatic decline in Christianity among Caucasians, the Western world is, at the same time, witnessing the dramatic growth of newly emerging ethnic congregations.  The Chinese, Hispanic, African and Korean congregations, in particular, are experiencing unprecedented growth.

This weekend, for example, I had the privilege of speaking at the Rutgers Christian Community Church. It was planted only thirty years ago by a handful of Chinese students from Rutgers University. Today, it is a thriving Christian community with several thousand members. They have English, Mandarin, and Cantonese congregations and are in the middle of a major building program to build a new sanctuary.

Prior to my coming to Asbury I lived in the Boston area.  Boston is the home of a major spiritual awakening. More people have come to Christ in Boston in the last three decades than during the Great Awakening, but it has largely gone unnoticed, because it is occurring primarily among African, Chinese, Korean, and Hispanic peoples. There are over 50 different African congregations in Boston and, indeed, on any given Sunday in Cambridge, Massachusetts, more people worship Christ in a language other than English than in English. It has been called the “quiet revival.”

I am convinced that the greatest source of renewal in the North American church will be found in these emerging ethnic churches. Pastors across this country should begin planting ethnic congregations in their facilities and nurturing their growth. Boston already has more shared-facility churches than any other city in the country. May this trend continue.

 

THOMAS KIDD - "A RELIGIOUS HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION"

Justin Taylor posts a number of positive short reviews of  God of Liberty: A Religious History of the American Revolution.  Samples:

“This deeply researched, clearly organized, and well written book illuminates a complex and often controversial history. The Revolutionary and Constitutional periods were neither ‘Christian’ nor ‘godless’ as these terms are used in modern polemics. Instead, patriots and leaders of the early United States united to support disestablishment and common principles about the need for virtue to insure republican freedoms, despite holding different personal beliefs. Thomas Kidd is a remarkably sure-footed guide through this treacherous historical terrain.”—Mark Noll

“A truly ‘revolutionary’ book, in all the right ways.”—Rodney Stark

 Taylor links to a 10-minute introduction to the book by Dr. Kidd on C-Span’s BookTV.

THE CHRISTIAN HISTORY OF THE YMCA

The YMCA is now calling itself the "Y".  This triggered John Murray's reflections in Wall Street Journal: (excerpt)

And herein lies the challenge that began when the YMCA moved away from its evangelical mission in the 1930s and continues today—what to do with the C in the YMCA. Speaking to the national council of the YMCA in the 1970s, evangelist Billy Graham said that to change society was to "change men's hearts first." Take, for example, the conversion experience of Cornell student and future Nobel Peace Prize winner John Mott. . .

In his book "The Soul of the American University," Notre Dame professor George Marsden demonstrates the impact of the YMCA in an era when more than 3,000 of the American missionaries who went aboard from 1899-1915 were products of the YMCAs and YWCAs. "By 1921, the YMCAs reached their numerical peak with 731 chapters on the approximately 1,000 [college] campuses in the country; they had enrolled well over 90,000 members, or about one in seven, in a student population of about 600,000."

GALLUP: 78% OF AMERICANS IDENTIFY THEMSELVES AS CHRISTIANS

Gallup reports:

PRINCETON, NJ -- This Christmas season, 78% of Americans identify with some form of Christian religion, a proportion that has been declining in recent decades. The major reason for this decline has been an increase in the percentage of Americans claiming no religious identity, now at 13% of all adults.

Below are two charts.

G

Gallup polled another question also:

Me: Check the Gallup website for interpretive comments on these polls and two others:  on church membership and on whether or not religion is out of date.  I found interesting Gallup's concluding comments:

Although a little more than one out of five Americans do not identify with a Christian faith, the Christmas season has ramifications for a broader segment of society. A Gallup survey conducted last year showed that 93% of all American adults said they celebrated Christmas.

R. A. TORREY (1856-1928) - MAJOR AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LEADER OF AN EARLIER AGE

Earlier generations of Christians were well acquainted with the famed American Bible teacher, scholar, and evangelist, R.A. Torrey.  The renown of R.A. Torrey during his lifetime reached enormous heights.  I have known of him for years (in fact an uncle of mine was named after him), but I've not read very widely or deeply in his writings.  Today I looked on the internet and discovered a treasure trove of materials at The R.A. Torrey Archive.  The website contains entire books, numerous articles, and various resources related to the man.  Particularly interesting to me was an audio recording of a sermon preached by R.A. Torrey.  It is the only voice recording that has survived.  I listened to it (it is 27 minutes) and was  struck by the depth and