Christianity for the Rest of Us: How the Neighborhood Church Is Transforming the Faith

by Diana Butler Bass

For decades the accepted wisdom has been that America's mainline Protestant churches are in decline, eclipsed by evangelical mega-churches. Church and religion expert Diana Butler Bass wondered if this was true, and this book is the result of her extensive, three-year study of centrist and progressive churches across the country. Her surprising findings reveal just the opposite—that many of the churches are flourishing, and they are doing so without resorting to mimicking the mega-church, evangelical style. Christianity for the Rest of Us describes this phenomenon and offers a how-to approach for Protestants eager to remain faithful to their tradition while becoming a vital spiritual community. As Butler Bass delved into the rich spiritual life of various Episcopal, United Methodist, Disciples of Christ, Presbyterian, United Church of Christ, and Lutheran churches, certain consistent practices—such as hospitality, contemplation, diversity, justice, discernment, and worship—emerged as core expressions of congregations seeking to rediscover authentic Christian faith and witness today. This hopeful book, which includes a study guide for groups and individuals, reveals the practical steps that leaders and laypeople alike are taking to proclaim an alternative message about an emerging Christianity that strives for greater spiritual depth and proactively engages the needs of the world.

Genres: Religion, Christianity, Theology, Nonfiction, Faith, Spirituality, Church

321 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2006

About the author

Diana Butler Bass is an author, speaker, and independent scholar specializing in American religion and culture. She holds a PhD in religious studies from Duke University and is the author of seven books, including the bestselling Christianity for the Rest of Us, released by HarperOne in 2006. It was named as one of the best religion books of the year by Publishers Weekly and Christian Century, won the Book of the Year Award from the Academy of Parish Clergy, and was featured in a cover story in USA Today. Her much-anticipated next book, A People's History of Christianity, will be released in March 2009 from HarperOne. She is currently Senior Fellow at the Cathedral College of the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. Bass regularly consults with religious organizations, leads conferences for religious leaders, and teaches and preaches in a variety of venues.

Bass blogs at Progressive Revival on Beliefnet and Sojourners' God's Politics. She regularly comments on religion, politics, and culture in the media including USA Today, Time, Newsweek, The Washington Post, CNN, FOX, PBS, and NPR. From 1995 to 2000, she wrote a weekly column on American religion for the New York Times syndicate. She has written widely in the religious press, including Sojourners, Christian Century, Clergy Journal, and Congregations.

From 2002 to 2006, she was the Project Director of a national Lilly Endowment funded study of mainline Protestant vitality—a project featured in Newsweek, U.S. News and World Report, The Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times. Bass also serves on the board of directors of the Beatitudes Society.

She has taught at Westmont College, the University of California at Santa Barbara, Macalester College, Rhodes College, and the Virginia Theological Seminary. She has taught church history, American religious history, history of Christian thought, religion and politics, and congregational studies.

Bass and her husband, Richard, live with their family in Alexandria, Virginia. She is a member of the Episcopal Church of the Epiphany in downtown Washington, D.C.

Reviews

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book annoyed me. Maybe I'm just not the intended audience, but it rubbed me the wrong way all the way through. I read to about the halfway point, then skimmed to the end. It did get terribly repetitive, so I didn't appear to miss too much by skimming.

Butler Bass starts off by talking about how she dislikes "self-absorbed and isolating" spirituality. This got me all excited, because I feel similarly. However, I couldn't help but feel that many of the congregations she profiles who supposedly counter this tendency of mainline Protestant spirituality really were just more of the same, sometimes with a somewhat exotic twist, and as a rule more numerically successful than average. My feeling of alienation from the book and the people it profiles only grew as I read onward.

While the book is about "liberal and progressive" churches, it could have been so without outright declaring "evangelicals" as the enemy. Throughout the book "evangelical" is used as a synonym for "bad" or "backwards" or--an issue that should be discussed more openly in "classless" America--"uncouth." You can be anything you want, just don't be "evangelical"--we don't do such things in polite company. Throughout the book, class conflict was an unspoken backdrop, never addressed to its face. As a girl raised in an evangelical Quaker church where working class 'burbs meet rural fields, I'm sensitive to this issue, and don't have the luxury of simply ignoring it. The apologetic Anne Lamott NPR Christians aren't just afraid of being seen as "intolerant" like those evangelical bugbears (in fact they are openly intolerant in their own ways). They are afraid of being seen as cheez-whiz eating, TV watching, unironic Jesus kitsch-sporting "trailer trash."

The author of this book is fond of repeating, over and over again, lists of the kinds of people found in these liberal churches. "Black and white, straight and gay" in particular gets reiterated again and again. While diversity is certainly admirable, Butler Bass makes the usual "progressive" mistake and completely fetishizes it. It's almost like all an old Methodist or Lutheran church needs to revitalize itself is a token black family and a gay mascot.

Butler Bass mourns the loss of the old neighborhoods and moral certainty she grew up with, but neither does she nor the people she profiles seem willing to compromise to regain such a thing. The "enemy" (those low-class conservative evangelicals) must be warded off at all costs. You get the impression that Jesus loves everyone, especially gays and "the homeless," except those embarrassing country cousins. Unironically at one point she points out that "moral purity" is out and that people just want "community" and "don't care what their neighbor is doing." Presumably she means to say that we don't care what our neighbor is doing in his bedroom, but does she not realize that you can't have COMMUNITY without "busybodies" who "care what their neighbor is doing" at SOME level at least? Moral continuity and community require at least some level of "judgementalism" to uphold agreed upon community standards.

I also kept wondering as I read, where are the kids? Because it's great that you're winning converts, but most people eventually have kids. And if they don't feel comfortable there with their kids, the church will die, still, eventually, it will just take a little longer to get there. Many of these churches seemed either oblivious or downright hostile to the needs of children. There were lots of labyrinth walks and "Celtic harp music" (oh, rolling of my eyes) and "contemplative silence" and the word "genteel" was using approvingly quite frequently. But where are the kids supposed to go, in the midst of all this yuppy meditation time?

So anyhow. What makes a dying mainline church come back to life? I was interested to know, because I'm currently looking for a new church after my young family was coldly and unceremoniously squeezed out of an ELCA Lutheran congregation we had called home. I felt increasingly pushed away by the number of sermons that were the pastor railing about politics (from a far left POV) and the disinterest in ministering to families with young kids as compared to the "educated young urban professional" crowd. I loved the traditional worship style but it felt colder and hollower every week, and the pastor was personally offended when I didn't jump for joy at her increasingly flamboyant embrace of moral relativism. The church is dying, and I wonder what could bring it back. According to Butler Bass, my old church was doing everything right. They were a "RIC" church, welcoming sexual minorities. (Loudly and obnoxiously at times.) They were traditional. (Traditional is good, apparently, while "exclusivist" or "conservative" are bad.) They even have "the homeless" attending worship. But still, they're going down fast. Apparently Butler Bass' arithmatic doesn't work for every church.

There were all your stock NPR Christian characters in this book, the pastors getting arrested at protests, the Christian Reiki practitioners (REIKI? barf), the Episcopalian druid services (yes not making that up), the tepid equivocation that maybe moral relativism isn't good. The general tone of smug elitism. Woo! Now I go back to pondering whether to go Catholic or back to the evangelical "low church."

[Rhonda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This Baltimore native did study on Pew Grant of mainline churches which were "making it," thriving, and not ultra-conservative mega churches. Very interesting insights, author very winsome in person, heard her speak last week and read book in advance. Thought provoking as well.

[Josiah Richardson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one was a bit all over the place, but begins by telling the reader why such a book is necessary. We are told that there is a massive decline in church attendance (I don’t dispute this) and the explanations are that the church has ostensibly been unable to meet the average church-goer where they are now in life (I mostly disagree with this explanation, at least as far as what the author intends to mean by it.) After this introduction it brought to memory something P.G. Wodehouse wrote after hearing an author give a lengthy explanation of her book “It was one of the dullest speeches I ever heard. The Agee woman told us for three quarters of an hour how she came to write her beastly book, when a simple apology was all that was required.”

But the rest of the book is about the author’s visits to different churches across the denominational spectrum to see how they are adapting to our changing culture. It becomes clear after a few pages that “the rest of us” referenced in the book title simply means liberal Christianity, which is fine to write about if you run out of rusty nails to step on, but seems out of place for a book touted to be a sort of investigative report on Christianity not in part but as a whole. We see in these churches that they are focusing on art, inclusivity, conservation efforts, and other tactics to entice people to attend their churches. The old adage that “What you win them with is what you win them to” mixes well here with another adage that “they leave you how they found you.” As soon as this current cultural fad passes, it will be on to the next one leaving you and others behind that came there for the LGBTQ communities, furry conventions, and tree planting communion services.

Very rarely was the theological drift ever referenced as a possible explanation for waning church attendance, in fact it was downplayed as conservative orthodoxy being a hindrance to welcoming churches. This is the sort of book that Machen would have in mind when he wrote Christianity and Liberalism, in that what the author and these churches that she visited aren’t finding new ways to exist in Christianity but they have developed and maintained another faith entirely. I read this book so that you do not have to.

[glenn boyes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first became aware of this book shortly after it was published. I wish I had read it a long time ago. So much water under the bridge personally, and for the Church in America. Recommended.

[Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

While the popular media, both secular and religious, have long written off "Mainstream Protestant" denominations as dying, diminishing, and doomed, this book gives an alternative to this "conventional" thinking.
Diana Butler Bass took a three-year pilgrimage exploring a number of vital mainline congregations throughout the United States. What she experienced led her to conclude that, in spite of being irrelevant, mainline Protestantism may indeed hold the essence of where the Church needs to be going in order to reach a increasingly post-modern, secularized society where the more and more people are identifying themselves as "spiritual, not religious."

These newly-vibrant, traditional Protestant congregations have embraced a variety of styles in a variety of places, but each of them have discovered an "ancient/future" approach that both upholds the traditions of their foundations as well as speaking authentically to the society around them.

I found Bass' analysis insightful and inspiring. I recommend this book to anyone interested in exploring how to transform and enlivening Christian community while still maintaining the center of what is important for the faith.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

First, this wasn't my choice of a read, it was picked for my group.
Its was entertaining to read Bass sharing all her experiences in the various churches along her pilgrimage. But in the end I was hoping she'd give a bit of an outline, maybe, on programs, or outreach that she'd suggest for the New Emerging revitalized church to put into practice.

I could identify with a few of the church goers, and to some degree I think my congregation is doing some of this stuff, to attract the pilgrims in our area. But I think over all, my church needs a better plan to minister to the people, and give them the feeding, alot of us, new and current members, feel like we need.

[Rini Cobbey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book and forced myself to finish. The narrator (audio) was truly horrible. She did accents for interviewees being quoted and they were obnoxious, offensive, and unnecessary. Occasionally I heard an idea that resonated. But mainly I heard the same concepts repeated ad nauseum. Maybe I should have read the cliffes notes for myself. I think the thesis was the church should be purple politically and mainline churches are hipper than they used to be. Which, maybe fine. But I wholeheartedly do not recommend this book. You guys, the narrator was ridiculous. Why didn't anybody say "Nope. No."

[Erica · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were parts of this book that I really enjoyed, and parts which really bothered me. By and large, I found myself agreeing with the author, if annoyed by some of the folks profiled. I guess it just feels like sometimes people tend to become very self-righteous when talking about what worship, or church community, or pastoral responsibility should or shouldn't look like, rather than traveling the journey that is theirs to travel with as much integrity as they can. If that makes sense.

[Marvin · Rating 2 out of 5]

From reviews, I thought this might make a good resource for an adult CE class. It's OK, but it doesn't really have either much theological depth or much practicality. Its premise is good: mainline Protestant churches don't need to be in a state of decline if they pursue certain practices, such as hospitality, good worship, attention to beauty, testimony, pursuit of justice, etc., and she offers examples of Methodist, Episcopal, & Presbyterian churches who are succeeding on these grounds.

[Joel Roberts · Rating 2 out of 5]

meh, i thought it awfully boring in places, repetitive, and a little stilted in its sample profiling of the "neighborhood church". i wish the author had condensed her sections; she would have cut the book effectively in half.

[Susan Marrier · Rating 2 out of 5]

Diana Butler Bass undertook in the early 2000’s to study “mainline” Protestant churches in the USA and learn what gives some of them vitality while many are faltering. Common signposts were hospitality, discernment, healing, contemplation, testimony, diversity, justice, worship, reflection, and beauty. There is much here to inspire and inform churches wishing to grow in their mission and spirit, though not by mere imitation. She makes clear that the ten churches she studied in depth were transformed by deep attention to tradition, practice, and wisdom, based in Scripture and learning to know and follow Jesus.
All fine for the first 2/3 of the book. After that, it becomes very repetitious, and with digs, sometimes sarcastic, at the Evangelical wing of the church; not helpful for tolerance and understanding in an ever increasingly adversarial culture. The last third also is clearly aimed at readers in the USA, with much attention to the political landscape, which of course has changed, or rather deepened, in the last twenty years. The book needs an update, or maybe just needs to jettison the last 97 pages.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

The common point of view these days is that the so-called "mainline churches" are losing members. Along with this is the assumption that they are doomed, and that only more conservative evangelical churches are growing. Diana Butler Bass offers a different perspective in her book that shares experiences discovered in a study supported by the Lilly Endowment.

While it is true mainline congregations are having a difficult time, it is too soon to write an Obituary. Butler Bass studied ten mainline congregations that are growing and thriving. She shares ten practices that characterize these faith communities (hospitality, discernment, healing, contemplation, testimony, diversity, justice, worship, reflection, beauty) You may consider these to be signs of renewal.

Some call this her best book-I haven't read her others- but I found this to be easy to read. Our Book Club just finished it. Our congregation is in transition at the present time. This was a helpful book that offers an interesting look at congregations from all regions of the United States. The so-called "mainline church" seems alive and well in these congregations.

[AngelaGay Kinkead · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook. Mainstream Christian churches have been written off by many. How have some strengthened and what are the themes reflected in those that are fresh, reaching people and making a difference? Book's a bit dated, and seems to rehash the obvious in some ways, but that's because it was researched and written between mid-1990's and it's publish date in 2007. BUT -- had I been reading the book, rather than listening, I think I would have successfully absorbed the message by reading the beginnings and endings of each chapter and section summaries. All in all, a helpful, thought-provoking resource.

[Sharon Archer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I struggle with the agenda of the Christian Right and the idea that if you are liberal, well you can’t be Christian...
The world is not in a cosmic battle between good and evil. The republican platform is not an interpretation of scripture. “By defining politics as winning, often in terms like destroying the enemy and defeating Satan they rightfully frighten people away from any talk of Christians in politics.” We need discussion, discernment, debate, and compromise.

[Joan · Rating 5 out of 5]

First it must be noted that the research and data used in this book may be dated now as this was published in 2006. However, the basic premise left me encouraged about finding a relevant worship experience in future mainline Protestant churches. Many will continue to decline and die but the churches Bass writes about are growing and thriving and providing an avenue for spiritual growth and transformation of both individuals and communities.

[Jacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m really drawn to the “via media”. The third way between the secular left and the religious right. This book was a refreshing look at the beliefs and practices of actual churches who fill that gap. Now how do I find one near me?

My biggest gripe is the book was a little heavy on the in and out group dichotomy (it’s in the title) with evangelicals being the out group.

Found this book at Tattered Cover Bookstore in Denver.

[Marcia Ledford · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was transformative for me and a congregation. Great for congregational "reboot." Dr. Butler Bass visited several churches around the US a wrote about how each group focused on specific attributes of a healthy congregation, like beauty in worship, for instance. I'll always have a copy of this book. My dog ate part of it (really), and I replaced it.

[David LaLone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Diana Butler Bass writes abut moderate to liberal churches that are doing well in the early 2000's. It was a joy to read this book 15+ years after it was published. It is still a relevant book as we look at the mainline church landscape. Diana is able to make you feel at home in these churches she visits. They each have rich stories to tell.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent analysis of contemporary mainline churches that have adapted to the changing needs of congregations who are questioning the business-as-usual mid-20th century approach to Protestantism in the US.

[Ferrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a good and important book. It's been out a few years now and is about mainline churches, but I find in compelling now even for someone like me who is not part of the mainline tradition. Anyone who cares about church would find this interesting.

[Christine Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great discussion on how to keep mainline Protestantism vibrant in a changing world.

[Marsha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is non-fiction, but a very interesting analysis.

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Helpful

[Martha]

A few dated moments, but a book chock full of ideas of how progressive mainline churches can stay alive and thrive. Worth a look in our post-lockdown world.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great guide for churches who will not attract or influence very many people, but who remain true to a progressive view of the faith.

[Michael Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The introduction didn't really grab my attention but I kept reading. I got the sense that the author, Diana Bass was trying to establish her credentials as a pastor and an author. I guess the part about her "being qualified" to write about the subject was a bit off-putting.

I could relate to Chapter one: Vanished Village and how the author Diana Butler Bass experiences and description of the church she grew up in and its decline.

It was very interesting how each of the congregations she got to know and wrote about were distinct and different. Churches from various denominations (Presbyterian being one of several) that were able to independently develop faith communities. Each seemed to have its own spiritual emphasis which helped connect the church and its members to Christian heritage.

It was also refreshing to see the inclusivity exhibited by each church.

Even though it was a brief part in the book, I thought she hit the nail on the head with her observation that in each case, it was the local church and not it's larger national denominational body that was making the difference in terms of establishing a growing community.

While contrasting the "liberal" Christian Church identities with the conservative christian counterparts, I would have liked to read how Bass' contrast of what a "liberal" church means compared with secular liberalism in politics.

At any rate, the book was worth reading.

While reading the book, I was thankful that I was able to be a member of a church that also established a missional identity that has attracted people of many ages.

[Elena · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has some worthwhile insights, and will be useful for my congregation to consider. However, there were some aspects of the book that rubbed me the wrong way. It is very much a white church book, speaking to white church people. Yes, some of the churches discussed have racial diversity, but the author spent much more time discussing political diversity than racial diversity.

Her approach to political diversity was very centrist, a sort of "good church people can be either Republican or Democratic" view - and, in the end, leans toward advocating a political centrism that I find empty and spineless. I agree with her that linking Christian faithfulness to a party platform is wrongheaded, but centrism is not the better way.

And finally, there is an offhanded comment midway through the book where she derisively mentions an Episcopal priest who brought some kind of paganism or earth spirituality into his congregation. I found her dismissal of that as obviously too far - openness run amuck - to be evidence of her own shallowness and prejudice.

That casual dismissal runs alongside wholehearted praise of all of her study congregations - she doesn't mention any of those churches' flaws or dysfunctions. I'm sure that approach makes it easier to find churches to study - knowing that if you invite her in, she'll only say nice things and tell you how cool your church is. But it leaves me feeling a bit deceived - especially since I've heard that one of her ideal "purple" churches is actually totally run by the Republicans in the congregational leadership, and attempts to squash organizing by the liberals in the church.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are looking for a prescription for vital Christianity based on a study of Scripture, you will be disappointed in Christianity for the Rest of Us. This book is the result of a study, or pilgrimage as the author calls it, to refute critics who say that only conservative churches can grow. She knew that "other" Christians existed and set out to discover them and learn the characteristics of those mainline Protestant churches that are thriving. The study was a serious, three-year study, the numerical results of which are tabulated in an appendix that would be expected in an academic study. It included additional visits to churches to verify her initial conclusions.

She found ten characteristics in these vital churches, which she has termed hospitality, discernment, healing, contemplation, testimony, diversity, justice, worship, reflection, and beauty. She devotes a chapter to each of these characteristics, explaining their meaning by giving examples of what she found in specific churches. Not all of the vital churches demonstrated all ten characteristics. The churches themselves presented a diversity. All of the churches exhibited "the same spiritual triad: connection to tradition, commitment to Christian practices, and concern to live God's dream. Together, tradition, practice, and wisdom embody the Christian life."

[Tucker · Rating 4 out of 5]

A theory-meets-practice book about how to run churches that are more about communities than about institutions. There's an inspiring passage about serving those in need, including homeless people in church activities, and making visible public statements about it. Some chapters explain specific traditions, virtues, or practices - like discernment or testimony - as the author understands them in light of her liberal Christianity.

The book opens with an anecdote where she felt anxious during a moment of silent reflection in church and wanted something more other-directed. However, later in the book she does recognize the power of silence and centeredness.

There is also a weird dig at an Episcopal priest who was defrocked for holding "druid services" to attract "neo-pagans". He is accused of embodying "relativism" and avoiding "difficult questions of moral goodness," which to me does not follow. However, a subsequent chapter on diversity is valuable and compensates for this error.

[Alicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book. I didn't care for the title, but I really enjoyed the content of the book. The author spent three years traveling to different churches and then in the book describes different things that the churches are doing well. The whole time I was reading, I kept thinking "I want to go to a church like that." It has given me so many ideas to think about and has made me look at different aspects of my own spiritual life. I found at the end of the book there was a section of study questions for each chapter. I wish I'd known about this section when I was reading the book. It would have enhanced the book for me a lot. Check them out if you choose to read this book.