Thread by @dianabutlerbass

I'm hearing anecdotally that a number of progressive mainline churches are seeing a post-pandemic steady influx of ex-evangelicals looking for new spiritual homes.

This doesn't mean that all ex-evangelicals are making this shift, but it suggests that at least some are.

In the 1990s and early aughts, the progressive mainline attracted mostly disaffected Catholics - a trend that strengthened congregations & attendance.

That the next disaffiliation wave might come from disgruntled & deconstructing evangelicals isn't surprising.

Mainline types: Don't expect this is a trend where folks will knock down your doors. You're going to have to prove yourselves trustworthy, open, loving - and you'll need to overcome years of stereotypes these folks learned in evangelicalism - you'll need to earn their respect.

One of your best resources will be the ex-evangelicals already in your congregations - those who grew up in evangelicalism in the 70s, 80s & who left a while ago.

They'll understand. They'll be great mentors to younger ex-evangelicals. It will be tender and fraught and hard.

This will be much, much harder than when all the Catholics suddenly showed up. Because there's more misunderstanding & animosity between evangelical & mainline Protestants.

But it could also be the sort of healing American Protestantism has needed for decades.

Younger ex-evangelicals grew up in a far narrower, far more intellectually reactive, and right-wing political environment than many of us did in mid-late 20th cent. Purity culture, CCM, abortion politics - a different ballgame than decades earlier.

The multi-generational nature of ex-evangelicalism (something that most scholars haven't begun to venture into) could be contentious and create a lot of tension if not handled with genuine care and deep listening.

There will be generationally different theological and spiritual needs because of the different backgrounds of ex-evangelicals (depending on when they left and what was going on in evangelicalism at the time).

No "when I was your age" stuff, please. That will not help.

Creating deep cultures of storytelling -- "journey telling" -- in congregations will be a good starting place. I'm a BIG believer in the power of spiritual memoir to heal rifts and heal our own hearts.

And, again, mainline types: Dump the magical thinking. Nobody's going to save your church (or your denomination) unless you put in the hard work of listening, learning, and authentically caring about the lives and hurts and hopes of the people who wend their way to your community

FYI: ex-evangelicals aren't coming to your church because they want it to be like what they left - they might come because they are hoping, with all their hearts, there's a different way of being Christian.

One that isn't mean.

And that isn't in the news every other week about hypocrisy and scandal.

Love God. Love your neighbor. Love the messy, beautiful diversity around you. Love the wounded world.

Practice joy and justice. Trust. Tell the stories of faith over and over and over again. Create, imagine, envision.

Be your most beautiful, welcoming selves.

Don't be fake.

If you hang out a rainbow flag or an "Everyone is Welcome" sign, do it for real. Make sure no one who comes feels like a stewardship target. Welcome them as pilgrims - brave people (do you know how much COURAGE it takes to go to church these days?) looking for God, hope, love.