Church Tomorrow?

“Remarkable . . . a vision for the future that is decidedly not the way we’ve always done it but instead shaped by the way of Jesus and his love.” –from the foreword by Michael B. Curry, former Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal ChurchThe Nones, Dones, Unchurched, spiritual-but-not-religious (SBNRs). Call them what you will, they're a dominant force in American religion and the majority among Millennials and Gen Zers. In Church Tomorrow? Stephanie Spellers presents hard truths about declining religious affiliation in America, paired with stories and wisdom from her interviews with dozens of young people who either grew up with no faith or gave up formal religion. Along the way, she observes a course called “Becoming Nonreligious in America” at Santa Clara University; in Atlanta, Georgia, she attends Sunday Assembly, a secular congregation that caters to agnostics and atheists; just outside the Twin Cities, she interviews college students and leaders to discover current faith trends; and in New York City she comes home to meet spiritual but not religious young adults who once attended her own church. 

As she listens and learns, she asks: Why are younger generations passing on church? What spiritual pathways and communities are they creating? And how could their insights help to shape the future of Christian community? Listen up – today’s young Nones and Dones have a prophecy for the church of tomorrow.Praise for The Church Cracked Open"If you are looking at the landscape of the church and wondering, ‘How’d we get here?’ and what’s next, I invite you to board Rev. Spellers’s plane and take in the big picture with her. Take in the history, the theology, the pain, the beauty, and the hope that her view from thirty thousand feet offers. When she lands the plane, you’ll realize—there’s simply no better guide out there." --Nadia Bolz-Weber, author of Accidental Saints“Spellers courageously challenges American Christians to have tough conversations surrounding imperialism, racism, and self-centrism. Moreover, she offers solutions that bring us back to what Jesus intended the church to look like and function.” ― Herman Baxter, Jr., The Christian Century“Congregations seeking to wrestle with their own past practices and future hopes will find this book a very helpful guide. Do not expect easy answers or simple solutions: this is amap to the land without roads, where only trust in the love of God and a community of loving pilgrims will find—not a city on a hill—but a family of faith.”  â€•Tobias Stanislaus Haller, Anglican Theological Review 

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