More Light (and Growth) at Second Presbyterian Church, Nashville

Second Presbyterian Church, a welcoming and affirming More Light Church in Nashville, is growing at a time when many churches in liberal and conservative denominations are in decline. According to Rev. Mary Louise McCullough, in addition to pursuing social justice, "successful liberal churches remember to take care of people?s spiritual needs." This includes meaningful worship and Bible study. ?People thought that we had veered so far from the Bible,? McCullough said about those who criticize Second's welcome of LGBT people. ?That is so far from the truth.?

Nationwide, the numbers don?t look good for the Episcopal Church and other mainline Protestant denominations, most of which tend to hold more liberal beliefs. From 2000 to 2010, most suffered double-digit percentage declines in membership, leading some to wonder if those denominations can be saved in the future.

But in Nashville, those mainline churches have showed surprising strength and have grown in membership over the past decade. That?s due in part to Nashville?s growing population. But those churches also have found success by finding ways to balance between doing good works in the world and meeting the spiritual needs of congregation members.

The Rev. Mary Louise McCullough, the new pastor at Second Presbyterian Church in Nashville, said she used to have her doubts about liberal Christianity.

At times, she said, liberal churches focused on social justice but neglected spirituality.

?What distinguishes the liberal church from the United Way, I used to wonder,? said McCullough, who became pastor at Second Presbyterian in June.

McCullough, who grew up Southern Baptist, said the successful liberal churches remember to take care of people?s spiritual needs. That includes meaningful worship services with good music and lots of Bible study.

One of her favorite Bible passages comes from the Gospel of John, where Jesus tells his followers, ?I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.?

McCullough said that her former church in Pittsburgh was often criticized for being too liberal because it, like Second Presbyterian, welcomed gays and lesbians.

?People thought that we had veered so far from the Bible,? she said. ?That is so far from the truth.?

Churches such as Second Presbyterian and St. David?s are part of a new trend among liberal or progressive churches, said religion scholar Diana Butler Bass, author of ?Christianity After Religion.? She said that starting in the 1980s, many liberal churches and theologians began to rediscover spirituality and the Bible. That makes them very different from liberal churches of the past.

?Today, you get a church that is socially liberal, that is open to gay and lesbian folk, but they are going to be studying the Bible and in prayer groups,? she said.

Bass also points out it?s not just liberal churches that have declined in recent years. Conservative denominations such as the Southern Baptist Convention and the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church also have declined.

Source: http://www.mlp.org/article.php/ChurchGrowth

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