COX PREDICTS DEMISE OF RELIGIOUS HIERARCHY

The latest issue of  Foreign Policy celebrates the magazine's 35th anniversary by asking 16 leading thinkers to speculate on ideas, values, and institutions we take for granted today that  may disappear within the next 35 years.  Harvey Cox of Harvard Divinity School predicts the demise of religious hierarchy. "The notions of consumer choice and local control have stormed the religious realm, and decentralization of faith is now the order of the day," he writes. "Religious leaders who once could command, instruct, and expel now must cajole, persuade, and compete." Interestingly, he says this is true of Catholicism, Buddhism and even Islam as well as Protestantism. The advantage of this, Cox suggests, is that people who make religious choices rather than simply accept what is passed down from on high tend to be more mature believers. The disadvantage is more and more  fragmentation.
COMMENTS (11)
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Comments

[Revwilly]

I've often wondered, setting aside making appointment, who would miss bishops if they suddenly disappeared?

[Dean Snyder]

I understand bishops spend a lot of time these days dealing with complaints against clergy. If there were no hierarchy, who would keep us clergy accountable?

[John]

Why on earth would any fool want to be a bishop or DS? I'd rather have the worst appointment in the conference.

[Revwilly]

Dean,
We are not held accountable by Bishops - at least that is my experience. Who holds the Bishops accountable? I know,The Book of Discipline. That would work for me too.

Let me ask again, this time setting the accountability thing aside, what would be different if there where no Bishops? I don't think they would be missed at all.

[Dean Snyder]

Bishops make appointments, provide prophetic vision, conduct annual conferences, supervise conference staff, and serve as the public face of the church. Aren't these things important?

[Revwilly]

I agree that Bishops make appointment, but I have yet to be led by a Bishop with a prophetic vision. As to those others things just about anybody could do those.

[John]

Bishops also handle those tough media questions like, "Why was one of your pastors arrested today for child molestation?"

I never want to answer that one.

[Revwilly]

You guys aren't making a very strong case for having Bishops.

[Dean Snyder]

I worked for Bishop Felton May for seven years. He was and is a prophet. Bishop[ Schol is calling us here to discipleship in a powerful way.

I don't think the problem is having bishops; I think the problem is that we do not often elect leaders because our number one concern as clergy is job security and not being too challenged. We probably get the kind of bishops we deserve, but that doesn't mean the problem is the existence of bishops. The problem is that we as clergy doin't really want leadership.
Dean

[Revwilly]

Dean,
I think there is great truth to what you say. Bishop May was an exception to the rule. In my Annual Conference have have never nominated anyone for Bishop who has actually grown a church in a numerically significant way. Marjorie Matthews came from our Conference as the first woman Bishop but she had only pastored small churches. The same would have been true of Sharon Rader had not Judy Craig appointed her to a larger church which had no significant growth during her time of leadership. I would welcome Adam Hamilton or Mike Slaughter or Mark Beason as Bishops. These guys and I'm sure there are some women as well, have actually grown church from essentially nothing in come cases. How can you lead a denomination towards growth if you have never done it yourself? But in my conference that is not considered to be important. There are other agendas which are more important. We see no correlation between a persons track record as pastor and their suibability to be a Bishop.

[Revwilly]

That would be "suitability" in the last line!