I grew up Catholic, during the charismatic movement. Now I am a Unitarian-Universalist, a non-creed based religion. Both are great examples of love-forward creeds. My relatives in Ohio are all good “ Christians” who no longer follow the teachings of Jesus, which is weird since the “Christ” part of Christian should embrace his teachings.
Thank you. I am a minister (Presbyterian, ret.), and your observation of and prediction for the White Evangelical Church is spot on. Of course, the same is true for what used to be called "Mainline Protestantism" (30 years ago Martin Marty said we are now "Old Line Protestantism"). Many churches are dying for the same reasons you suggest. The ones which are flowering are the ones who faithfully embody the ministry of Jesus. The ones which do not are slowly dying and they should. The late James Lawson (a hero of mine for decades) said before he died, "I am not a Christian. I am a follower of Jesus." Communities of faith flourish when they do the same.
WOW! Thanks for sharing this, TJ! Perfect addition to John's powerful words. Making "Good Trouble" with beautiful, peaceful voices!! Love this & working on this happening in Texas as well!
The challenge is to hold onto the teachings of Jesus and reject the pull of power provided by “organized religion”, regardless of its denomination. The need for separation of church and state continues.
I read your letter, and something stood out to me.
The structure feels familiar. A church is addressed directly. Its failures are named. Its spiritual decline is warned about.
That sounds very close to the letters to the churches in Revelation.
But there is one difference I cannot get around.
In my reading and interpretation of Revelation, even the churches with serious failures were still given a warning, a chance, and a call to repent. They were rebuked, but not simply discarded. They were confronted, but not treated as beyond redemption.
Your letter names the failures, declares the body dying, and then seems to place hope only in what rises after it is gone. Yet in the letters to the churches, I do not see complete hopelessness. I see correction. I see warning. I see consequence. But I also see the possibility of return.
So my question is sincere:
If Jesus offers correction as a doorway to redemption, why does your letter seem to offer condemnation as a conclusion?
I am not defending hypocrisy. I am not defending cruelty. I am not defending religious institutions that protect power while neglecting mercy.
But if the message is meant to reflect Christ, shouldn’t there still be a path back?
Because when the warning becomes a verdict, and the verdict leaves no room for repentance, it starts to sound less like a prophetic call and more like a sentence already handed down.
And that leaves me wondering:
Are you calling this church to return to Christ, or are you simply announcing that you have already decided Christ is finished with them?
Unfortunately, there are some evangelical churches growing like wild fire. Some new churches are breaking off from the denomination and becoming a non denominational church. It's a rock show every Sunday with young and middle aged people. Having grown up in an evangelical church it is scary to me. More hate being spread in the name of God.
Evangelical churches do not have to align with hate filled politics. That is an unwise choice that was made for influence and greed. Now there is push back. Out of the ashes perhaps there can be a resurgence of the teachings of Jesus instead.
"They’ve listened to you preach incessantly about the immorality of the world, the dangers of greed, the corrupt nature of power, the poison of untruth, the evils of sexual perversion—and watched you willingly align with politicians embodying all of these."
Then they attempt to hypocritically excuse this alignment by claiming they're voting for a president not a pope or pastor, as if our values are meant only to be expressed in the church space. SMH!
"The developments in the United States are moving towards dictatorship, what the founders wanted to avoid," said Staffan Lindberg, the V-Dem Institute's founding director.. "It's the most rapid decline ever in the history of the United States and one of the most rapid in the world." Lindberg said V-Dem downgraded America's rating based on the Trump administration concentrating executive power, overstepping laws, circumventing the Republican-led Congress as well as attacks on the news media and freedom of speech. V-Dem stands for Varieties of Democracy. More than 4,000 scholars contributed data to the report, which is the largest of its kind.
DONALD TRUMP: AGGRESSIVE RHETORIC AND POLITICAL VIOLENCE
During Donald Trump’s presidential candidacy and presidency political discourse in the United States became more hateful and divisive. The targets of his verbal attacks were most of all racial, ethnic, and religious minorities, the news media collectively and individual journalists, and well-known politicians, mostly Democrats. There was a rise in bullying incidents in schools against minority students.
DONALD TRUMP’S APPROVAL RATING HITS NEW LOW ACROSS THREE POLLS WITHIN DAYS
Trump has, however, rejected negative interpretations of his polling numbers, telling NewsMax in a phone interview earlier this week, “It is a problem I'm not on the ballot. Everyone says if I was on a ballot we'd win in a landslide. I have some of the best poll numbers I've ever had.”
FOX NEWS “YES! DON’T GO WOKE, DON’T GO BROKE. THE TIDE IS TURNING. WOKE IS UNSUSTAINABLE”
⬆️The MAGA TDS Enemy Within = “ART OF THE DEAL”= Fake News, Deep State, Anti-Democracy, Fear Mongering Fascist white “christian” Nationalists, Racist Propagandists, GASLIGHTING Obstructionists, Conspiracy Theorists, SELF-DESTRUCTIVE, Treasonous Divisive Lying Domestic Terrorists ⬇️
Trump’s biggest lie, repeated ad nauseum, is that he won the 2020 presidential election and that it was stolen from him. Neither Trump nor anyone else has ever provided a scintilla of evidence to justify this MAGA lie. Trump’s pathological lying has helped unleash a torrent of new lies and conspiracies from the Trump faithful.⬇️
WOKE⬇️ 2020 ELECTION DENIERS LIVING THE LIES IN 2020-2026+: REPUBLICANS WHO VOTED TO OVERTURN THE 2020 ELECTION
Of all the things that Donald Trump did on day one, none were more controversial than pardoning nearly 1,600 people charged in connection with the insurrection attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021
WOKE⬆️⬇️FOX NEWS’ SEAN HANNITY SAYS HE KNEW ALL ALONG TRUMP LOST THE (2020) ELECTION
Fox News star Sean Hannity – one of President Donald Trump's strongest allies on the air and one of his closest advisers off it – admitted under oath that he never believed the lie that Trump was cheated of victory in the 2020 presidential election by a voting tech company.
By now, most Americans are used to Trump and his administration’s daily blizzard of lies.They are part of a sustained attack on the major pillars of American democracy to intimidate people into submission so he can rule without guardrails, constitutional protections, checks and balances—or the truth.
TO STOP EXPOSING THEM ALLOWS THEM TO METASTASIZE,
WOKE⬇️⬆️MANUFACTURED CONFUSION: GASLIGHTING AS A TOOL OF POWER IN THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION
Trump’s revival of the term “fake news” marked a dangerous shift in political discourse. In doing so, he borrowed directly from fascist regimes’ playbooks, where truth was whatever the leader declared. ⬇️
WOKE⬇️WHY TRUMP ACCUSES PEOPLE OF WRONGDOING HE HIMSELF COMMITTED—AN EXPLANATION OF PROJECTION
Donald Trump has a particular formula he uses to convey messages to his supporters and opponents alike: He highlights others’ wrongdoings even though he has committed similar acts himself.
WOKE⬇️TRUMP BRUSHING ASIDE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE, ESTABLISHES RELIGIOUS LIBERTY COMMISSION
Trump’s lack of humility, his cruelty toward the vulnerable, his rejection of Christ’s moral teachings, and his political manipulation of Christianity prove that he is not a true follower of Christ. Instead, HE IS A WOLF IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING, using religion as a tool for power while disregarding the values of mercy, love, and humility that define Christian faith. (Trump Bibles $50. Signed $1,000)
WOKE⬇️WE STILL NEED MORAL ACCOUNTABILITY FOR JAN. 6
What does it mean for Trump and his accomplices and enablers to be held accountable for inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection? And what does accountability look like for so many others who may not have broken any laws, but have amplified the Big Lie for their own political benefit, despite the clear danger these lies pose to our democracy
Yet in addition to legal and political ramifications, Jan. 6 also demands moral and spiritual accountability. The insurrection further revealed the danger posed by violent right-wing extremism and white nationalism, including groups like the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers, and the Three Percenters. Many of these groups go hand-in-hand with white Christian nationalism, a central and galvanizing force behind Jan. 6 that has not received nearly enough scrutiny.
"History will have to recall that the greatest tragedy of this period was not the vitriolic words and violent actions of the bad people, but the appalling silence and indifference of the good people.
A DEDICATED GROUP OF AMERICANS FIGHTING FOR RIGHT VS. WRONG, NOT LEFT VS. RIGHT
The phrase that stands out is “a working theology of love.”
Because that is what so much of white evangelicalism has failed to produce.
It produced certainty. It produced culture war. It produced obedience, exclusion, fear, and political power.
But if a faith does not make people more merciful, more truthful, more protective of the vulnerable, and more capable of loving the neighbor, then what exactly is being preserved?
From where I sit, the death of that kind of religion is not the death of God.
It may be the clearing of space where something more honest can finally breathe.
This age of the decline of White Nationalist Evangelicalism has been a time of growth in my own Parish. At a time when our Church has been, it has been pointed out to us by the Pew Foundation, and our own conservative split off the ACNA, shrinking and dying, it just does not seem to be so. We are in a growth phase, and most of these new seekers are refugees from the White Evangelical pseudo-Churches. We see more as time goes on, craving the surety of Scripture understood properly, and our beauty in ritual and sacramental theology. They see Jesus in a new way, not an exclusionary, finger-pointing way, but inclusive, open, and accepting of difference in people. It seems to be a time of coming rebirth. We have become a haven of rest and surety. Not the "Dead Christianity" that Evangelicals often label us.
Oh, this is GORGEOUS!! Or at least it would be if it weren't true, and speaking of real horrors committed on real people by fake Christians. But brilliant, brilliant, brilliant! I am currently writing a blog series on my personal (not yet Substack-affiliated, but hoping to do it soon) blog, and the series is on 'The Problems of Evangelicalism'. I would love to reblog this on there; I have used your material before and I would like to assume that it's ok to share this - but if not, pelase let me know and I shall refrain! Thanks, what a great post!
I grew up Catholic, during the charismatic movement. Now I am a Unitarian-Universalist, a non-creed based religion. Both are great examples of love-forward creeds. My relatives in Ohio are all good “ Christians” who no longer follow the teachings of Jesus, which is weird since the “Christ” part of Christian should embrace his teachings.
Thank you. I am a minister (Presbyterian, ret.), and your observation of and prediction for the White Evangelical Church is spot on. Of course, the same is true for what used to be called "Mainline Protestantism" (30 years ago Martin Marty said we are now "Old Line Protestantism"). Many churches are dying for the same reasons you suggest. The ones which are flowering are the ones who faithfully embody the ministry of Jesus. The ones which do not are slowly dying and they should. The late James Lawson (a hero of mine for decades) said before he died, "I am not a Christian. I am a follower of Jesus." Communities of faith flourish when they do the same.
I also think of myself as a folk of Jesus.
Thank you for pointing this all out as these people are currently doing in Memphis Tennessee today
https://bsky.app/profile/thetnholler.bsky.social/post/3ml6xyueums2v
WOW! Thanks for sharing this, TJ! Perfect addition to John's powerful words. Making "Good Trouble" with beautiful, peaceful voices!! Love this & working on this happening in Texas as well!
The challenge is to hold onto the teachings of Jesus and reject the pull of power provided by “organized religion”, regardless of its denomination. The need for separation of church and state continues.
John,
I read your letter, and something stood out to me.
The structure feels familiar. A church is addressed directly. Its failures are named. Its spiritual decline is warned about.
That sounds very close to the letters to the churches in Revelation.
But there is one difference I cannot get around.
In my reading and interpretation of Revelation, even the churches with serious failures were still given a warning, a chance, and a call to repent. They were rebuked, but not simply discarded. They were confronted, but not treated as beyond redemption.
Your letter names the failures, declares the body dying, and then seems to place hope only in what rises after it is gone. Yet in the letters to the churches, I do not see complete hopelessness. I see correction. I see warning. I see consequence. But I also see the possibility of return.
So my question is sincere:
If Jesus offers correction as a doorway to redemption, why does your letter seem to offer condemnation as a conclusion?
I am not defending hypocrisy. I am not defending cruelty. I am not defending religious institutions that protect power while neglecting mercy.
But if the message is meant to reflect Christ, shouldn’t there still be a path back?
Because when the warning becomes a verdict, and the verdict leaves no room for repentance, it starts to sound less like a prophetic call and more like a sentence already handed down.
And that leaves me wondering:
Are you calling this church to return to Christ, or are you simply announcing that you have already decided Christ is finished with them?
Truth. Thank you for speaking it.
Unfortunately, there are some evangelical churches growing like wild fire. Some new churches are breaking off from the denomination and becoming a non denominational church. It's a rock show every Sunday with young and middle aged people. Having grown up in an evangelical church it is scary to me. More hate being spread in the name of God.
Evangelical churches do not have to align with hate filled politics. That is an unwise choice that was made for influence and greed. Now there is push back. Out of the ashes perhaps there can be a resurgence of the teachings of Jesus instead.
"They’ve listened to you preach incessantly about the immorality of the world, the dangers of greed, the corrupt nature of power, the poison of untruth, the evils of sexual perversion—and watched you willingly align with politicians embodying all of these."
Then they attempt to hypocritically excuse this alignment by claiming they're voting for a president not a pope or pastor, as if our values are meant only to be expressed in the church space. SMH!
💙🙏🏾🇺🇸THE STATE OF OUR CONSTITUTIONAL REPUBLIC💔✌🏿🌎
5/05/26
TRUMP IS DISMANTLING DEMOCRACY AT ‘UNPRECENTED’ SPEED, GLOBAL REPORT FINDS
https://www.npr.org/2026/03/20/nx-s1-5754021/trump-democracy-autocracy-dictatorship-reports
EXCERPT⬇️ READ ALL⬆️
"The developments in the United States are moving towards dictatorship, what the founders wanted to avoid," said Staffan Lindberg, the V-Dem Institute's founding director.. "It's the most rapid decline ever in the history of the United States and one of the most rapid in the world." Lindberg said V-Dem downgraded America's rating based on the Trump administration concentrating executive power, overstepping laws, circumventing the Republican-led Congress as well as attacks on the news media and freedom of speech. V-Dem stands for Varieties of Democracy. More than 4,000 scholars contributed data to the report, which is the largest of its kind.
DONALD TRUMP: AGGRESSIVE RHETORIC AND POLITICAL VIOLENCE
https://pt.icct.nl/article/donald-trump-aggressive-rhetoric-and-political-violence
EXCERPT⬇️ READ ALL⬆️
During Donald Trump’s presidential candidacy and presidency political discourse in the United States became more hateful and divisive. The targets of his verbal attacks were most of all racial, ethnic, and religious minorities, the news media collectively and individual journalists, and well-known politicians, mostly Democrats. There was a rise in bullying incidents in schools against minority students.
DONALD TRUMP’S APPROVAL RATING HITS NEW LOW ACROSS THREE POLLS WITHIN DAYS
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-approval-rating-new-low-polls-11906012
EXCERPT⬇️ READ ALL⬆️
Trump has, however, rejected negative interpretations of his polling numbers, telling NewsMax in a phone interview earlier this week, “It is a problem I'm not on the ballot. Everyone says if I was on a ballot we'd win in a landslide. I have some of the best poll numbers I've ever had.”
FOX NEWS “YES! DON’T GO WOKE, DON’T GO BROKE. THE TIDE IS TURNING. WOKE IS UNSUSTAINABLE”
⬆️The MAGA TDS Enemy Within = “ART OF THE DEAL”= Fake News, Deep State, Anti-Democracy, Fear Mongering Fascist white “christian” Nationalists, Racist Propagandists, GASLIGHTING Obstructionists, Conspiracy Theorists, SELF-DESTRUCTIVE, Treasonous Divisive Lying Domestic Terrorists ⬇️
WOKE⬆️⬇️DONALD TRUMP AND HIS CULT OF LIARS
https://democracy21.org/news/freds-weekly-note/donald-trump-and-his-cult-of-liars
FACTS BE DAMNED IN THE TRUMP UNIVERSE
Trump’s biggest lie, repeated ad nauseum, is that he won the 2020 presidential election and that it was stolen from him. Neither Trump nor anyone else has ever provided a scintilla of evidence to justify this MAGA lie. Trump’s pathological lying has helped unleash a torrent of new lies and conspiracies from the Trump faithful.⬇️
WOKE⬇️ 2020 ELECTION DENIERS LIVING THE LIES IN 2020-2026+: REPUBLICANS WHO VOTED TO OVERTURN THE 2020 ELECTION
https://www.reuters.com/graphics/USA-TRUMP/LAWMAKERS/xegpbedzdvq/
WOKE⬆️⬇️TRUMP WORLD AND CONSERVATIVE MEDIA CONTINUE TO REWRITE JAN. 6 HISTORY.
https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2025/january-6-pardons-violent-attackers-capitol/
Of all the things that Donald Trump did on day one, none were more controversial than pardoning nearly 1,600 people charged in connection with the insurrection attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021
WOKE⬆️⬇️FOX NEWS’ SEAN HANNITY SAYS HE KNEW ALL ALONG TRUMP LOST THE (2020) ELECTION
https://www.npr.org/2022/12/22/1144926308/fox-news-sean-hannity-dominion-lawsuit-trump
EXCERPT⬇️ READ ALL⬆️
Fox News star Sean Hannity – one of President Donald Trump's strongest allies on the air and one of his closest advisers off it – admitted under oath that he never believed the lie that Trump was cheated of victory in the 2020 presidential election by a voting tech company.
WOKE⬇️TRUMP’S LIES ARE TOXIC
https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/trump-lies-media-propaganda-facts-democracy/
EXCERPTS⬇️ READ ALL ⬆️
By now, most Americans are used to Trump and his administration’s daily blizzard of lies.They are part of a sustained attack on the major pillars of American democracy to intimidate people into submission so he can rule without guardrails, constitutional protections, checks and balances—or the truth.
TO STOP EXPOSING THEM ALLOWS THEM TO METASTASIZE,
WOKE⬇️⬆️MANUFACTURED CONFUSION: GASLIGHTING AS A TOOL OF POWER IN THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION
https://nlawcrdj.medium.com/manufactured-confusion-gaslighting-as-a-tool-of-power-in-the-trump-administration-cac5dfed1475. EXCERPT⬇️
Trump’s revival of the term “fake news” marked a dangerous shift in political discourse. In doing so, he borrowed directly from fascist regimes’ playbooks, where truth was whatever the leader declared. ⬇️
WOKE⬇️WHY TRUMP ACCUSES PEOPLE OF WRONGDOING HE HIMSELF COMMITTED—AN EXPLANATION OF PROJECTION
https://theconversation.com/why-trump-accuses-people-of-wrongdoing-he-himself-committed-an-explanation-of-projection-237912
Donald Trump has a particular formula he uses to convey messages to his supporters and opponents alike: He highlights others’ wrongdoings even though he has committed similar acts himself.
WOKE⬇️TRUMP BRUSHING ASIDE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE, ESTABLISHES RELIGIOUS LIBERTY COMMISSION
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/01/trump-religious-commission-church-state-00321814
TRUMP: “We’re bringing religion back to our country, and it’s a big deal.”
WOKE↔️John 8:32 “You Will Know The Truth, And The Truth Will Set You Free” ⬇️
WOKE⬇️DONALD TRUMP: A WOLF IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING AND ANTI-CHRISTIAN HYPOCRISY
https://medium.com/@sheena_marie/donald-trump-a-wolf-in-sheeps-clothing-and-the-anti-christian-hypocrisy-03bd89a6d223.
THE FALSE CHRISTIANITY OF A POWER-HUNGRY LEADER
Trump’s lack of humility, his cruelty toward the vulnerable, his rejection of Christ’s moral teachings, and his political manipulation of Christianity prove that he is not a true follower of Christ. Instead, HE IS A WOLF IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING, using religion as a tool for power while disregarding the values of mercy, love, and humility that define Christian faith. (Trump Bibles $50. Signed $1,000)
WOKE⬇️WE STILL NEED MORAL ACCOUNTABILITY FOR JAN. 6
https://sojo.net/articles/we-still-need-moral-accountability-jan-6
What does it mean for Trump and his accomplices and enablers to be held accountable for inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection? And what does accountability look like for so many others who may not have broken any laws, but have amplified the Big Lie for their own political benefit, despite the clear danger these lies pose to our democracy
Yet in addition to legal and political ramifications, Jan. 6 also demands moral and spiritual accountability. The insurrection further revealed the danger posed by violent right-wing extremism and white nationalism, including groups like the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers, and the Three Percenters. Many of these groups go hand-in-hand with white Christian nationalism, a central and galvanizing force behind Jan. 6 that has not received nearly enough scrutiny.
WOKE⬇️WE ARE THE SAVE AMERICA MOVEMENT
https://thesaveamericamovement.org
AMERICAN VALUES ARE UNDER THREAT
"History will have to recall that the greatest tragedy of this period was not the vitriolic words and violent actions of the bad people, but the appalling silence and indifference of the good people.
A DEDICATED GROUP OF AMERICANS FIGHTING FOR RIGHT VS. WRONG, NOT LEFT VS. RIGHT
WE THE MAJORITY IN UNITY
EMPOWERED AND FREE TO BE
BUILD BACK BETTER, WWJD
EMBRACE TRUTH, JUSTICE,
SPIRITUAL INDEPENDENCE,
EQUALITY, DIVERSITY AND
DEMOCRACY FOR ALL. IT’S
NOT THAT COMPLICATED.
🙏💔👶✌🏿🏳️🌈👮🏻🇺🇸🌎💙🙏🏾
I can see it in the numbers of my neighbors that stay at home on Sunday mornings! Praise be to God!
They are choosing to die because they refuse to choose to live. They aren't living Jesus, they are living greed/self. Thanks for the great essay.
The phrase that stands out is “a working theology of love.”
Because that is what so much of white evangelicalism has failed to produce.
It produced certainty. It produced culture war. It produced obedience, exclusion, fear, and political power.
But if a faith does not make people more merciful, more truthful, more protective of the vulnerable, and more capable of loving the neighbor, then what exactly is being preserved?
From where I sit, the death of that kind of religion is not the death of God.
It may be the clearing of space where something more honest can finally breathe.
I am a Cradle Episcopalian.
This age of the decline of White Nationalist Evangelicalism has been a time of growth in my own Parish. At a time when our Church has been, it has been pointed out to us by the Pew Foundation, and our own conservative split off the ACNA, shrinking and dying, it just does not seem to be so. We are in a growth phase, and most of these new seekers are refugees from the White Evangelical pseudo-Churches. We see more as time goes on, craving the surety of Scripture understood properly, and our beauty in ritual and sacramental theology. They see Jesus in a new way, not an exclusionary, finger-pointing way, but inclusive, open, and accepting of difference in people. It seems to be a time of coming rebirth. We have become a haven of rest and surety. Not the "Dead Christianity" that Evangelicals often label us.
Let the Church be the Church.
Oh, this is GORGEOUS!! Or at least it would be if it weren't true, and speaking of real horrors committed on real people by fake Christians. But brilliant, brilliant, brilliant! I am currently writing a blog series on my personal (not yet Substack-affiliated, but hoping to do it soon) blog, and the series is on 'The Problems of Evangelicalism'. I would love to reblog this on there; I have used your material before and I would like to assume that it's ok to share this - but if not, pelase let me know and I shall refrain! Thanks, what a great post!
Thank you John.
This is where hope lies!