{"id":10938,"date":"2017-01-18T22:11:13","date_gmt":"2017-01-19T06:11:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dminlgp.com\/?p=10938"},"modified":"2017-01-18T22:11:13","modified_gmt":"2017-01-19T06:11:13","slug":"the-culture-and-church-dance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/the-culture-and-church-dance\/","title":{"rendered":"The Culture and Church Dance"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Pews\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Culture and church appear to have a delicate dance, they move together and help define the characteristics and qualities of each. Their symbiotic relationship requires both to evolve so as to accommodate the development of the other. In reading about the evolution of the British evangelical church and the relationship it has with culture, the question is not, “who’s leading who?”\u00a0 but rather, “how do they work together so both may thrive?” The mixture of church and state complicated this dance further, as the monarch was the supreme head of both.<\/p>\n

As culture and church move together, they make room for the other and develop a rhythm that both find themselves dancing to whether they want to or not. When one tries to find complete independence of the other, both suffer. As British society and Evangelism shifted through the various eras, each had an influence on each other, pressuring one another to shift in it’s beliefs, values, and behavior. For instance, the Romantic era had a significant influence on the church. Irving, who was described as a romantic, gained celebrity status for his ability in “blending Evangelical religion with the latest intellectual fashions”(Kindle, 2258). Romanticism was attributed to the “chief explanation” of transforming Evangelicalism in the 19th century (Kindle, 2566). Similarly, when recreational activities increased in the 1870’s, churches recognized the “need to provide recreational facilities” (Kindle, 2781). Upon doing so, the religious community had a significant partnership with the recreational community. Not diminishing the powerful work and draw of the Holy Spirit, this speaks to the churches ability to thrive within society when they can become culturally relevant.<\/p>\n

The historical evangelism evolution is fascinating and important to learn from. Becoming culturally relevant and engaging is critical to the survival of the church’s existence, just as society depends on the moral and religious beliefs offered by the church.\u00a0 As a child, I was reminded of a big church split we went through due to whether or not to keep the pews.\u00a0 Many saw the pews to be culturally irrelevant and wanted a more contemporary space, while others saw this as a sacrilegious act and disrespectful. Even as a youngster, I found this fight to be ridiculous and could not understand how this would warrant such conflict. After reading about how people purchased pews, and the nicest ones were afforded by the wealthy, I realized this went back generations. The status was determined by the pew you purchased, and people were treated with greater respect with the type of pew they had. In a dynamic, shifting culture, I admire Evangelical Christians who make culturally relevant changes without sacrificing the integrity of the church.\u00a0A sad irony, my childhood church was leveled and replaced with something very culturally relevant…condominiums.<\/p>\n

A fundamental premise in forming America was a separation of church and state.\u00a0 With the intertwined relationship of church and state playing off one another, I am grateful this separation doesn’t complicate the delicate balance any further. I am also inspired to continue to develop a culturally relevant dance between church and society, making it easier and more inviting for people to meet the One who it is really all about.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Culture and church appear to have a delicate dance, they move together and help define the characteristics and qualities of each. Their symbiotic relationship requires both to evolve so as to accommodate the development of the other. In reading about the evolution of the British evangelical church and the relationship it has with culture, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":86,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[12],"class_list":["post-10938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-bebbington","cohort-lgp7"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/86"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10938"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10938\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}