The Art of Peopleing

Dear Gatherers:

This past week I read an editorial by Jessica Gross (NYT 3/12/25) exploring the decline in religious affiliation as millennials have come of age. Gross explains how they were disenchanted by the ‘malfeasance’ of various faith groups brought to light by both sexual and financial scandals. Quoting Christian Smith’s new book Why Religion Went Obsolete, Gross highlighted, “The scandals violated most of the virtues believed to make religion good. They demonstrated that religion did not make people moral, did not help its own leaders cope with life’s challenges and temptations, did not promote social peace and harmony and did not model virtuous behavior for others.” Gross continues by observing that religions did not make people good, and so the generation raised during the height of revealed religious corruption, decentered faith communities as part of the fabric of their social organization.

I’m puzzled. Because if this generation was looking to center moral behavior in personal and civic life, why has there been a corresponding rise in political affiliation as a hallmark of identity. Did politicians somehow become a virtuous alternative to corrupt clergy? Have people flocked to party affiliations and identity politics because they are unsullied by the corruption of money? To say that church affiliation has declined because the church became too corrupt only makes sense if people have flocked to new havens of unpolluted association.

While unveiling the immorality of trusted faith leaders certainly had a chilling effect on the attractiveness of religious affiliation, I think that has become a convenient excuse for the growing congregation of the non-aligned. Disaffection isn’t only happening to the church, many institutions from bowling leagues to Rotary clubs, are facing the same existential crisis, even the ones unsullied by scandal.

I think the problem of institutional decline is far more mundane. People are annoying; in person gatherings are a pain.

It’s easy to blame every social ill on pandemic carryover, but this problem pre-dates COVID. Organizations that require simultaneous attendance for their existence are facing devastating loss. As a culture we have become impatient with sacred time.

Accommodation to this trend takes many forms. FPCLG has recorded our worship services for decades, but it wasn’t too long ago the recordings were made for shut-ins who longed to be with us in person. but were too infirm to be present. The recordings were hand delivered – a cassette for the homebound. A real human being brought not only the audio archive, but also a token of physical presence. Now, the services are posted online for the convenience of anyone who wants to ‘do church’ while running errands or dozing in the living room. The experience is open for all – at any time or any place. Each week the ‘attendance’ at our online services and sermon podcasts dwarfs our live sanctuary audience by five to eight hundred percent, a number our denomination does not even bother to track.

What concerns me is not the growth of freeloaders who never have to feel uncomfortable by the passing of an offering plate, it’s what is happening to our capacity to be with one another. Yes, people are annoying. Doing something at a specific time together is annoying, but the growing intolerance for things held at the same time and place is hastening our devolution. It’s impossible to figure out how to dwell together in peace if we’re never in the same room.

The challenge for the church isn’t the purging of corruption, that should happen without question. My challenge is for us to keep honing our interactive superpowers – to be with one another in simple, practical and regular ways. At some point the world is going to need people who have toughened the callouses necessary for human gathering. People are wired for community and when the world grows weary of biking, eating, sharing, reading and bowling alone, we’ll be ready to remind them how it’s done.

Still loving to see you in person, I remain

With love,
Jonathan Krogh
Your Pastor