Megachurch pastor Rick Warren suggested Sunday that mainline churches need to reconcile with evangelicals to counter their mounting problem of membership decline.
“The reconciliation is that in a pluralistic world…we [Christians] need to be on the same team because we share the same Saviour,” Warren, of Purpose Driven fame, contended Sunday.
He was speaking with the dean of the Washington National Cathedral, Samuel T Lloyd III, who observed that evangelical churches are thriving and full of vitality, whilst most mainline denominations are confronting worrisome membership decline.
During the cathedral’s weekly Sunday Forum: Critical Issues in the Light of Faith, Lloyd asked Warren how mainlines should tackle the problem.
“100 years ago the phrase ‘social gospel’ first came out,” Warren responded. “Some people took that to mean only if we reform the social government and society and not personal faith in Christ Jesus – that is, if we make the world a better place – we don’t need personal redemption.”
That idea led to mainline churches going “one way” and evangelical churches another way, he said.
In general, mainline churches focused on social morality such as fighting poverty, racism and economic justice. Meanwhile, evangelical churches concentrated on personal morality such as personal salvation, fighting pornography, and upholding family values.
“Who’s right? The fact is both are right,” Warren emphasised. “Somehow we got divided like Jesus didn’t care about society or members of society didn’t need Jesus. I think we need both.”
Warren called for “reconciliation” between mainline and evangelical churches and reminded the audience that Jesus taught his followers to love their God with all their heart, mind and soul, as well as to love their neighbours as themselves.
“You can’t just love your neighbour; you [have] got to love God,” Warren said. “And you can’t just love God; you have to love your neighbours. And mainline protestant and evangelical – we need both wings.”
Earlier in the programme, Warren spoke of his 20,000-member Saddleback Church, an evangelical church that has more than 400 ministries reaching out to different parts of society including prison ministry and programmes helping people infected with HIV/Aids.
The megachurch pastor also praised small church groups that meet in people’s homes in strengthening Saddleback. The church has more than 3,600 small groups stretching 100 miles away from the main campus – or at least one in every city in southern California.
