Theology in the Twenty-First Century Church: Or, A Concluding Unscientific Postscript to the Last Century

Based on a presentation for the Center of Theological Inquiry, Princeton, this essay profiles major theological, social, and cultural challenges confronting the Church today in North America. Using an informal and thoroughly unscientific survey of a small group of respected congregational leaders (the survey was conducted by the author in preparation for the presentation), the paper allows two questions to focus attention on concerns facing contemporary Christian communities of faith. The questions asked were: “What are the two or three biggest challenges facing your congregation as it looks to its future?” and “How do you go about reflecting theologically on these challenges?” Five challenges emerged and are explored in the paper: pluralism, stewardship, “therapeutism,” consumerism, and Pelagianism. The meaning of each of these terms takes a sometimes surprising shape because of the particular contexts of the congregational leaders surveyed.