Episode 50: When Is Inclusion a Bad Thing?
10/05/21 • 64 min
Support the podcast: enroutepodcast.org/donate
One of the biggest gifts Mainline Protestantism has given to many people is the work of inclusion. It’s the belief that churches should be places where the walls that separate people by race, gender, sexual orientation are torn down. Mainline churches were at the forefront of the civil rights movement, welcomed women into roles of leadership and allowed LGBTQ persons to participate openly in church life.
But are there limits to inclusion? For many years, the Mainline churches were involved in demographic inclusion, like we just discussed above. The goal was to bring diversity into the life of the church, but the basics of the faith, like what is found in the Nicean or Apostles Creed such as the divinity of Jesus Christ, the Trinity, and the Resurrection would be held in common. But over the last two or three decades, there has been a shift towards what might be called conceptual inclusion. Inclusion here is not about the role of women or LGBTQ people in the church, but about allowing heterodox ideas in the larger church. Those ideas would include the views shared earlier like the divinity of Christ or the Resurrection.
What kind of church does that look like? According to Episcopal Priest Frederick Schmidt, it leaves Mainline Protestantism with no reason for existing. Schmidt is currently the Vice-Rector of Good Shepherd Episcopal Church in Nashville. He is an Episcopal Priest, spiritual director, retreat facilitator, conference leader, writer, and academic. Before his current position, Schmidt held the Rueben P. Job Chair in Spiritual Formation at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, IL, and directed the Job Institute for Spiritual Formation. We talk about the dangers of conceptual inclusion, the loss of religious language in the public square and in the church and what this all means for Mainline Protestantism.
What Are We Being Inclusive For?
Mainline Struggles in the Rural Midwest
The Progressive Obsession with Fundamentalism
Be sure to rate us and leave a review. Share the podcast with others! What did you think of the podcast episode? Questions? Send an email: [email protected].
website: enroutepodcast.org
YouTube: https://bit.ly/enrouteyt
Get full access to Church and Main at churchandmain.substack.com/subscribe
Support the podcast: enroutepodcast.org/donate
One of the biggest gifts Mainline Protestantism has given to many people is the work of inclusion. It’s the belief that churches should be places where the walls that separate people by race, gender, sexual orientation are torn down. Mainline churches were at the forefront of the civil rights movement, welcomed women into roles of leadership and allowed LGBTQ persons to participate openly in church life.
But are there limits to inclusion? For many years, the Mainline churches were involved in demographic inclusion, like we just discussed above. The goal was to bring diversity into the life of the church, but the basics of the faith, like what is found in the Nicean or Apostles Creed such as the divinity of Jesus Christ, the Trinity, and the Resurrection would be held in common. But over the last two or three decades, there has been a shift towards what might be called conceptual inclusion. Inclusion here is not about the role of women or LGBTQ people in the church, but about allowing heterodox ideas in the larger church. Those ideas would include the views shared earlier like the divinity of Christ or the Resurrection.
What kind of church does that look like? According to Episcopal Priest Frederick Schmidt, it leaves Mainline Protestantism with no reason for existing. Schmidt is currently the Vice-Rector of Good Shepherd Episcopal Church in Nashville. He is an Episcopal Priest, spiritual director, retreat facilitator, conference leader, writer, and academic. Before his current position, Schmidt held the Rueben P. Job Chair in Spiritual Formation at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, IL, and directed the Job Institute for Spiritual Formation. We talk about the dangers of conceptual inclusion, the loss of religious language in the public square and in the church and what this all means for Mainline Protestantism.
What Are We Being Inclusive For?
Mainline Struggles in the Rural Midwest
The Progressive Obsession with Fundamentalism
Be sure to rate us and leave a review. Share the podcast with others! What did you think of the podcast episode? Questions? Send an email: [email protected].
website: enroutepodcast.org
YouTube: https://bit.ly/enrouteyt
Get full access to Church and Main at churchandmain.substack.com/subscribe
Previous Episode
Bonus: Who Killed Sears and Kmart?
For over a century, Sears was one of this nation’s leading retailers. In the 1920s, you could literally buy a house from Sears. The postwar years saw Sears moving into malls across the land. KMart started in 1962, the same year that saw a number of other discount retailers like Target and Walmart open for business. Throughout the 1970s and 80s, KMart became the go-to place for finding things at a good price. Shoppers were on the lookout for their famous blue light specials.
Over the last decade, hundreds of stores were closed and the two chains are now basically defunct.
The common story is that Sears and Kmart didn’t keep up with the times and they pin the blame on the rise on Amazon. Now the online retail behemoth does have a role in the demise of Sears, but it's only a small role. Actually, the reason Sears and Kmart have vanished from American retail is because of one man- the one-time CEO of Sears Holdings, Eddie Lampert.
In this bonus episode, we hear from retail journalist Warren Shoulberg who has followed Lampert and what he did to Sears. Shoulberg is a long-time expert in all things retail and the right person to talk about what really happened to Sears. This part of a larger interview I did with Shoulberg on retail will show up in a few days, but it’s important to hear this story about one retailer and what its downfall says about American society in general. So let’s hear from Warren Shoulberg.
Warren Shoulberg's Column in Forbes
Support this Podcast: https://ko-fi.com/dennislsandersBe sure to rate us and leave a review. Share the podcast with others! Questions? Send an email: [email protected].website: enroutepodcast.orgTwitterFacebook PageYouTube: https://bit.ly/enrouteyt
Get full access to Church and Main at churchandmain.substack.com/subscribe
Next Episode
Episode 52: What Is Christian Democracy with William Fleming
The United States stands alone among major democracies in having just two parties. For many years that was okay; because the Democrats and Republicans were actually two coalitions with smaller “parties” within them. But as the parties have become purer, our politics have become more polarized and unable to govern. It has also left a lot of people who were once part of either party on the outs. Pro-life Democrats and Moderate Republicans have become rare in our political culture.
Could a third party break the logjam? History would tell us no but William Fleming would say yes. Fleming is the head of the Georgia state affiliate of the American Solidarity Party. What’s unique about this party is the ideology that it springs from. The ASP is a Christian Democracy party. You might think this is some kind of far-right theocratic party, but it’s not. Instead, Christian Democracy is an ideology that is ground in Catholic Social Teaching and Neocalvinist thought. It takes these teachings to provide solutions on issues such as poverty and the environment. The parties are found throughout the world, with the most well-known being the Christian Democrats in Germany and the Christian Democrats of Chile.
In this episode, we learn about Christian Democracy and the American Solidarity Party.
Please leave a rating or review on your podcast platform. Share the podcast with others! What did you think of the podcast episode? Questions? Send an email: [email protected].
website: enroutepodcast.org
YouTube: https://bit.ly/enrouteyt
Get full access to Church and Main at churchandmain.substack.com/subscribe
If you like this episode you’ll love
Episode Comments
Generate a badge
Get a badge for your website that links back to this episode
<a href="https://goodpods.com/podcasts/church-and-main-298819/episode-50-when-is-inclusion-a-bad-thing-39901924"> <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/goodpods-images-bucket/badges/generic-badge-1.svg" alt="listen to episode 50: when is inclusion a bad thing? on goodpods" style="width: 225px" /> </a>
Copy