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CURRENTLY IN BOOKS
Connecting faith with daily life

Raymond Bystrom

The Crisis in the Churches: Spiritual Malaise, Fiscal Woe
Robert Wuthrow. Oxford, 1997.

In this book, sociologist Robert Wuthnow predicts tough financial times ahead for the church. Giving as a percentage of family income is on a downward spiral. He warns that churches will start “dropping like flies” unless serious action is taken.

However, the financial crunch is only a symptom of a deeper spiritual problem. Church members are not connecting faith with everyday life, and Wuthnow places the lion’s share of the responsibility on the shoulders of pastors. The North American church is predominantly middle-class, and the clergy have failed to speak to the concerns facing middle-class people. Wuthnow laments: “They have preached tithing – but have forgotten to say anything about the remaining 90% of their people’s financial burdens. They have asked for an hour on Sundays but neglected the relationship between faith and the 40 to 50 hours that people spend at work.”

Of course, some church members may not want their pastor to call them to be faithful Christians where they work, live and play. But if churches are to survive the present and future economic crisis, pastors must recall the grand confession, “God is Lord of all.”

Wuthnow’s purpose is not to condemn pastors, but to consider how they may minister more effectively to the person in the pew. He drives home his point by drawing on three kinds of data: (1) interviews with pastors and lay leaders from 60 US churches, small and large, conservative and liberal; (2) an analysis of over 200 sermons; and (3) a Gallup survey of over 2,000 working Americans. Wuthnow also examines five congregations, looking at them as economic communities.

Wuthnow also gives the reader a close-up of the lives of three middle-class church members – Betsy, Frank, and Sherlynda – who face an increase in the number of hours at work, emotional stress in the workplace, conflict with co-workers, burnout, and the struggle to juggle work and family commitments. Financial pressures also create a lot of anxiety for these people – not only paying bills but also guilt about some purchases. And they struggle with ethical decisions in the workplace.

So how is the church doing in helping these people? Not very well, it appears. Betsy says she receives no help from her church. Frank says the church has never influenced the way he works or handles money. Sherlynda claims that the only connection between her work life and her church is that she takes her son to the daycare centre at the church in the mornings and picks him up on her way home.

Wuthnow repeatedly underscores the sad reality that the values and actions of active churchgoers do not differ significantly from the less active. The middle-class enjoys enormous resources – education, job training, houses, food, longevity, freedom from fear and violence. Yet, it feels overburdened with too much work and too many bills. Middle-class folk acknowledge the need to think more about spiritual issues. But when they turn to the church for help, the church doesn’t deliver the goods.

Wuthnow is at his best when probing the Sunday-Monday gap but less helpful at proposing solutions. He urges congregations to develop seminars that connect faith and finances, discussion groups that teach people Christian values, and sermons that link work and faith. Yet pastors often feel ill-equipped to address the economic and financial questions of their members. It’s easier to call attention to the needs of the poor beyond the walls of the church.

What’s really good about Wuthnow’s book is his plea to think more Christianly about work, stewardship, vocation, money and justice. I believe pastors are called to empower God’s people for ministry in the world. Wuthnow shows that if pastors can respond to the wounds of the people, then the financial crisis in the church will take care of itself. Sounds good to me.

Raymond Bystrom is associate professor of pastoral ministries at Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary, Fresno, Calif. This article was distributed by Mennonite Economic Development Associates.

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Last modified December 9, 1999.

© 1999 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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