What is The Great Emergence?

Garrison Keillor said,

“Anyone who thinks sitting in church can make you a Christian must also think that sitting in a garage can make you a car.”

Welcome to The Soul Podcast. I’m Stacey Wheeler.

This will be the second and final episode about the shrinking of religion in the world… and the growth in spirituality. And I want thank Pastor Dan Spacek, of the First Church of Christ Auburn, California for his input and assistance on these two episodes. Thanks Dan. I feel blessed to call you a friend. 

I needed a religion quote to open the show with and that one from Garrison Keillor made me smile. To be clear, I understand the value of attending a church, a synagogue, a temple -or whatever word your faith chooses for its house of worship or reflection. For many of us, our house of worship is a walk alone in nature. It makes sense that we’d return again and again to the place where we feel we best connect to Source. For some it may even become a ritual. There can be great value in ritual. And being in the presence of others who have a shared belief can also help sustain your belief. Build on it. Expand it. And I think that’s why organized religion is attractive to many. 

We’re entering a powerful moment in the evolution of religion and spirituality. Religions have gone through constant change over the past 2000 years. Like all evolutions, most of these changes are subtle and gradual. But historically, there’s been massive transitions in the church every 500 years or so. In the past 2000 years, there have been three major shifts in Christianity. The last happened 506 years ago, when the Protestant Reformation began in 1517. This led to massive changes. 

The reformation happened because people wanted more control over their spiritual life, without interference from the church. The new freedom that emerged after the reformation allowed people to examine their spiritual life in ways they’d never been able to. Remember, this is when we were coming out of the dark ages, where thousands of people had been killed by the church for daring to worship differently. People were able to safely step outside of the rigid structures of the church to discuss spiritual ideas in new ways. It led to a time of great spiritual philosophy. As time went on, groups of like-minded people formed organizations that became new churches… no longer affiliated with the Catholics.

The change was massive. 

And here we find ourselves 500 years on… at the head of what seems to be a new spiritual shift. 

Some religious scholars believe we’re entering a predictable cycle. Phyllis Tickle is the author of The Great Emergence: How Christianity is Changing and Why

She calls this time, The Great Emergence.

And she says the Great Emergence will affect every part of our lives—religiously, socially, culturally, intellectually, politically, and even economically. And she says these changes are happening so rapidly, and in so many ways, that we may struggle to adapt quickly enough. 

She says,

“In the religious sphere, many people have observed that these kind of changes seem to happen every 500 years—a period of upheaval followed by a period of settling down, then codification, and then upheaval again because we do not like to be codified.”

Phylis Tickle says,

"People are looking for a new and different encounter with God. The strength of Protestantism was its rationalism—it took religion to the head. But today people want religion that also touches their hearts. It’s not anti-intellectual; mind and reason are still very important. But people want more than just an intellectual challenge. They want something that moves them emotionally, as well. It is bringing the heart and the head together."

This shift is an evolution in how we approach our spiritual life. It could be that it’s an instinctual response. It appears we have an in-built desire or requirement to have an acceptable form of spiritual experience in our lives. Even if that’s not what we call it. After all, an atheist who find joy in walks in nature may not think of walks in nature as a spiritual activity. I’d argue that more often than not, it is. 

More people each year report they are spiritual but not religious. Yet we don’t hear people say they are religious but not spiritual. That’s because religion is something laid upon something that already exists in us. A spiritual nature is part of our human inheritance at birth. We all have it, even if we don’t recognize it. Some turn to religion to organize their spiritual lives. Others either don’t embrace religion, or reject it after trying it on. 

And for hundreds of years, the religion we practice has been primarily based on where we are born and raised. 

Phyllis Tickle wrote, 

“Religion, whether we like it or not, is intimately tied to the culture in which it exists.”

If one is born in a Catholic dominated country, they will most likely become Catholic. The same is true for Muslim countries, Hindu countries… and so on. So, for thousands of years people did not chose their religion. It was essentially assigned to them at birth… if at all. 

After the reformation, many new religions were born when people protested against the Catholics and the Protestant faiths were born. Same God, but different ways of connecting to it.

And now, 500 years on, it seems technology may be one of the driving forces in the next big shift. And the internet is at the center of it. It’s never been easier to study other culture’s religions than it is today. Throughout human history you were expected to accept the religion of your country or culture. Now those walls are coming down. And this is especially true in western cultures. The reformation was a time of great religious philosophy. Today we’re entering a time I believe will be a great age of spiritual philosophy and exploration. We’re looking at deeper questions of the Soul. 

There’s a shrinking of organized religion, as we’ve known it for the past 500 years. And new rafts of thought are emerging. All driven by the same sort of desire. The desire to understand the big questions of life. Key among them are the questions, “What is consciousness” and “What if my purpose.” These are essentially ‘meaning of life’ questions; the philosophical questions we’ve been asking from the moment consciousness emerged. And throughout history. There’s a part of us that reflexively seeks answers to the question of our existence.

At the core of this change that’s emerging is the deep desire to connect to Source. And it seems that’s always been the driving motivation for spiritual evolution in our cultures.  

And this is not specific to Christianity. Look around the world today. The Muslim world is also experiencing a mass evolution, as people seek answers to the age-old questions. There are countless ways to get to that place we intuitively seek. There are many paths to the top of the mountain, all leading to the same peak. Whatever path you choose is yours. With intention it will lead you there.   

The spiritual journey has always existed. It lives in each of us. Inside every person is a desire to find spiritual fulfillment. The spiritual emergence we have entered opens the door wider to the journey toward a reunion with ourselves. What will each of us find there? Will it be peace, clarity of mind, wisdom, compassion… joy? Perhaps all of those. And how will it change our world when great numbers of us achieve spiritual fulfillment? Time will tell. But the emergence is clearly happening. Are you ready to lean into it?  

Religion is in decline in the world. And that’s okay. We’re going somewhere beautiful. We’re entering a time of greater authenticity. We’re giving ourselves permission to be our true selves. We’re seeing the guard-rails of cultural expectations fall away. In the 80s a had a pierced ear and my hair changed color frequently. And it was seen by many as weird. I had to remove the earring at work because some found it offensive or unprofessional. The change in the past three decades is massive. Today people feel empowered to try on different versions of themselves to seek their authentic self. There’s never been a time people felt this level of personal freedom. 

And change can be messy. Great change is historically preceded by chaos. This is because the pendulum must break free and swing to an extreme before settling somewhere in the middle-where the new normal is finally found. And the emergence has begun. Will it become more extreme before it settles? Where will it all lead? Only time will tell. In this great emergence, spirituality will influence culture in ways we can’t yet imagine. And it will have ripple effects across all aspects of life.

Are you on your path to the top of the mountain? What steps are you taking today to get there? How’s the view from where you’re standing today? Enjoy the journey back to Source. Enjoy the journey back to you.